City Hall Improvements in St. Louis

Missouri

Most people from St.Louis have heard about the scandal with the treasurer’s office. A federal grand jury has charged the treasurer’s office employee, Mr. Fred W. Robinson, with stealing more than two hundred thousand dollars from a charter school that was no longer in existence. Aside from being charged with stealing, he has also been charged with receiving more than $30,000 a year for four years when he did not even show up for his job. Robinson has not gone to court as of yet.

St. Louis, unlike other areas, is a city that has nothing to do with a county. It has actually been this way since the late 1800’s. While St. Louis is not a part of a county, it still needs to have certain aspects that a county would have. These aspects include having a sheriff and a treasurer. In many instances, these employees are able to get away with not showing up for the job but still getting paid for it simply because people are unaware about them and what their job actually is.

In fact, Robinson is not the only employee to be accused and charged. There have been many scandals taking place since 1981. Such scandals include employees who were receiving their pay but were not showing up for their jobs as well as employees who were selling and dealing drugs. It is amazing to think of all of the scandal that has taken place since Mr. Williams has been in office.

One would think that the people who are in office would have to answer to someone and that someone would finally be held accountable. However, it simply does not seem to be working out that way. There is no way for the county offices to be held accountable, it seems. The offices simply do not utilize an effect system with their checks and balances.

Because of all the scandal, there have been plenty of different civic leaders who have been trying to eliminate the mischief by simply removing the independent status of these offices. However, all attempts of this have failed. In fact, n 2004, civic leaders tried to change it so that the mayor would be able to decide who would be a part of the count offices instead of having the public elect these people. However, the attempts to do this were not successful. Voters rejected it simply because they believed it would take away their ability to vote for who they wanted while giving all of the power to the mayor. It is understandable why voters would feel such a way but in the same sense, it is quite unfortunate.

In order for things to get better, Mr. Williams should be removed from the office. Of course, he should only be removed if he has actually done something illegal. However, it does seem as though some suspicious and illegal activity has been taking place with him in office.