Ellisville Council Is 'Bush League,' Post-Dispatch Editorial Says

An editorial in Monday's edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called Ellisville city council members "bush league" in their actions leading to the suspension of Mayor Adam Paul last week.

Council members voted 5-0 on Wednesday to suspend the mayor while it prepares to convene a sort of "evidentiary hearing" on March 20 to investigate the charges leveled against Paul.

The mayor was elected largely on an "anti-Walmart" platform and he has been outspoken in his opposition to the city's efforts to attract the department store to the corner of Clarkson and Manchester roads.

The charges that have been leveled against Paul include:

• Discussing publicly details of a closed-session council discussion on personnel.
• Trying to replace the city attorney without the council’s approval.
• Ordering city employees to carry out tasks, in spite of the city charter prohibition on council members specifically managing city employees.
• Drinking and swearing on the job.

The Post-Dispatch editorial says the charges amount to little more than "government gone wild" when compared to the hijinks, horse-trading, swearing and drinking that happen in the Missouri capital — or Washington DC, for that matter.

"This rush to judgment, this zero-to-impeachment-in-60 seconds attitude, is a symptom of what’s wrong with our political system. We have lost the ability to disagree," the newspaper wrote in its editorial. "Going to court and seeking impeachment? That’s bush league."

At least one reader agreed in a comment posted with the editorial. Chelsea Cameron wrote: "Thank you for this. This should be a wake up call to the city council of Ellisville how they are being regarded as a mockery of our legal system. I must wonder, is there any recourse the residents have against this city council? They are acting so far outside the lines that one can only wonder how much money Sansone and Wal-Mart have given these people!"

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