This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 11, 2011 - After months of internal discord within the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, Gov. Jay Nixon finally has taken action by replacing three of the members.
According to an announcement from the governor's office this morning, Nixon has nominated new members -- all of whom will need approval from the Missouri state Senate.
Those being removed are board chair Eileen McCann, a Democrat, as well as fellow Democrat Clarence Dula and Republican Carol Wilson. Republican incumbent Jack Lary has been renominated.
Although most of the current board had won praise in recent years for revamping the operation's procedures, relationships broke down last summer when McCann was elevated to chairman by the governor. Other board members and staff privately contended that they were being targeted by McCann, who in turn accused the others of misdeeds. Nixon's staff had been beset by complaints of board discord since last fall.
The three new names announced by Nixon are in line with behind-the-scenes reports circulating for several days. The terms for all expire in January 2013:
-- Retired circuit Judge Joan M. Burger, a Democrat named to be the new chair. According to the governor's announcement, she "served as a Circuit Judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit from 1995 to 2008. Her service on the bench included special assignment as a Drug Court Judge; she also has served as a volunteer judge in the Truancy Court Program since 2000. Burger graduated cum laude from Saint Louis University Law School. She has been active in community and charitable organizations in St. Louis for several years."
-- Lary, who has been asked to remain as board secretary. As the announcement states, "Since 1992, Lary has worked as a senior manager for Cardinal Business Equipment Sales. A military veteran, he has been active in numerous community groups, including Parents as Teachers and the St. Louis Ambassadors, and served as commissioner of Air Pollution Control for the City of St. Louis. He is a recipient of the Mayor's Civic Award."
-- Benjamin M. Phillips Sr., a Democrat who resigned in 2009 as director of administration for the St. Louis City Treasurer's Office. He currently is a senior consultant for Phillips-Moss Group. He previously served on the Mechanical Licensing Board for the City of St. Louis, was elected twice as Missouri state president of Blacks in Criminal Justice, and was appointed to the 22nd Judicial Commission.
--- Andrew Schwartz, a Republican who is the founder of AJ Adhesives, a distributor of industrial adhesives to manufacturers. As the announcement notes, "AJ Adhesives and Mid-America Packaging is headquartered in St. Louis, with branch locations in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Seattle and Tulsa. He is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and is active in community and youth sports organizations in St. Louis."
The election boards in the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City and Jackson County are made up of gubernatorial appointees. By law, the board chairman is of the same party as the governor, while the secretary is of the opposing party.
UPDATE: Jeff Rainford, chief of staff to Mayor Francis Slay, said in an interview later that the mayor's office had complained to Nixon's staff for months about the recent problems with the Election Board. "Right after the (Nov. 2) election, we brought it up,'' Rainford said. "We were very candid."
For example: Board chair McCann had refused to allow the mayor's office to have a representative watch the vote-counting on Nov. 2, even though Slay's staff has done so at all elections for almost 10 years. Rainford said the representative was to simply make sure that proper procedures were being followed.
Rainford said the mayor was particularly concerned because he and his staff have had a high regard for city Republican elections director Scott Leiendecker and assistant Democratic director Matt Potter, who were seen as key instigators of reforms that had improved the board's operations in recent years. Slay was concerned that the two were being mistreated in recent months, Rainford said.
"Not everyone was part of the problem,'' Rainford explained, referrring to the board. But he added that now there was a change, Slay and his staff weren't going to go into detail about who was deemed to be the problem. The new nominees, said Rainford, "seem like good people."
Nixon press secretary Scott Holste said in a statement that it took awhile for the governor's office to replace the board because "the governor wanted to have the right nominees in place, and sometimes that takes time."
