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Florissant: Passage of Bill Blocking City Employees to Campaign Gets Unanimous Approval
By Carol Arnett
In somewhat of a surprise move, the Florissant City Council last week “unanimously” passed a bill that would prohibit department heads and other city employees from campaigning in city elections or running for election in the city. The bill does not prohibit employees from campaigning in other elections, such as statewide elections or national elections.
The bill was introduced at a previous meeting by Councilman Tim Lee. At that meeting, Lee noted that several other municipalities have similar laws.
Mayor Robert Lowery was originally against the bill, with several council members telling various media outlets that he was lobbying against it.
However, at Monday’s meeting, Lowery stated that he would not veto the bill. “I walked in here intending to sign this, and I will,” Lowery said.
Lowery added after the meeting that he thought the bill and the employees’ involvement in elections was “over-emphasized.” He pointed to City Clerk Karen Goodwin as an employee who has never campaigned. “She told me after she started that she never wanted to, and she never has,” Lowery said.
Two people who had run for councilman and lost spoke against the bill. Greg Striebel, who narrowly lost to Mark Schmidt in Ward 8 in the last election, said he was surprised when he ran. “I thought I could get some yard signs, and go meet my neighbors,” he said. “I didn’t realize I would be running against the entire administration and department heads.” Striebel urged the council to pass the bill unanimously.
Gregory Heise echoed Striebel’s sentiments. He ran last April in Ward 5. “Several people refused to sign my ballot petition because city officials had already been by for my opponent,” he said. He also said that he was followed by a city official as he went door – to – door. “Government cannot be ruled by intimidation,” he said.
City Attorney John Hessel addressed concerns that some councilman said they had in defining city employees. “The bottom line is that if you do not get a W2 form, you are not an employee,” Hessel said. “It does not apply to volunteers or contractors.”
Hessel also added that the bill was written so that people could campaign for themselves, since the mayor and council members are city employees.
