St. Louis County Executive Sam Page delivered his annual State of the County Address on March 11 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Though various county-related topics were touched on, Page spent the majority of the time highlighting the hard work of county employees across all departments.

“I started in elected office young and idyllic. I stayed in office because I believed that I could make a difference,” Page said. “So much noise in public office is dedicated to the conflict …  but so much good is happening that never gets attention, and that’s too bad. I’m here today so I can share a few of the stories about how our county employees are making a difference and how the leadership of our department directors is making St. Louis County one of the best places to work in the country.”

Page’s opposition to Proposition B – which would allow the county council to remove department heads with a super majority vote – was also briefly touched on, along with the reallocating of $10 in unspent ARPA county funds to help the ongoing campus redevelopment plan at the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus.

As far as anything South County-related, Page mentioned the new Affton-Southwest Police Precinct – the Officer Blake Snyder Building – which opened in March 2024. The new precinct, located at 11500 Gravois Road, was named in honor of Officer Blake Snyder who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2016. The facility is just over 15,000 square feet, more than three times the size of the old precinct. 

“I’d like to remind folks that we are the largest county in the state with one million people. Some joke that we have nearly that many municipalities, but at last count, it was 87, along with 23 fire districts and 22 school districts,” Page said. “The variety of services the St. Louis County government provides is impressive, and the teams who provide those services are as dedicated and hardworking as you’ll find anywhere. In St. Louis County, our biggest investment is public safety.