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Florissant City Council Uproar
Citizens Pack Florissant Council on Tim Jones
Arrest ….Councilman Issues Apology
By Jeremy Thomas
The Florissant City Council had a packed house from citizens wanting to voice their opinion on the arrest and charges against Councilman Timothy Jones for soliciting prostitution in South St. Louis on Oct. 8. Local media, such as KTVI-Fox 2 and KMOV, were present during the meeting, and Timothy Jones was at his council seat.
“I would like to apologize to the city council for the bad press that I have brought on to the employees of this city, to the city itself, and to the citizens of this city. I have learned a hard lesson and I am ready to work hard to move on and please the citizens of this city, and do the job I was voted in to do,” Jones said.
There was a total of 22 speakers who spoke, with slightly more than half requesting or demanding councilman Jones to either be removed from duty or step down as councilman. Those patrons mentioned that his actions have been a black eye to the city and that his actions are not suitable for a man in his position.
“The citizens of Florissant deserve a better councilman. Timothy Jones has been an embarrassment to this city. His recent arrest. along with his previous DWI arrest, makes him unsuitable to be a councilman. He needs to either step down or be removed immediately,” June Schmidt said.
Other patrons said that Jones had done remarkably good things for the city. Some patrons, such as husband and wife Herman and Brenda Davis, specifically described how Jones met them at their house whenever they had an issue, and how he has resolved several community issues in the past.
“I have spent 35 years in Ward 2. I just want to express how grateful and appreciative I am of Timothy Jones and I support him,” said Linda Church. “He has been the only councilman that ever came and sat down on my front porch and asked me what I needed, and actually gone out and done it. He has done this numerous of times.”
The council announced that Mayor Thomas Schneider was not at the meeting due to a meeting he had scheduled in Jefferson City. The majority of citizens in the room were not receptive to the announcement and some even proceeded to boo and question the mayor’s motive.
On Tuesday, Mayor Schneider sent The Independent News a copy of the letter he had sent to council president Joe Eagan on Oct. 24. The letter stated that he had a meeting with Gov. Jay Nixon scheduled on Oct. 27 to discuss “mutual concern about special interest tax breaks” that have cost the City of Florissant more than $500,000. The mayor said it was one of several subjects they talked about, including urging Nixon to continue support of the Florissant Rotary and its application for renewal of the Florissant License office.
The Florissant Rotary Club has always distributed its profit to local charities including Marygrove, the Florissant Valley Industries Sheltered Workshop and the Emergency Assistance Ministry (TEAM Food Pantry), the mayor noted.
