ST. LOUIS–A north St. Louis County Fire District which has been mired in controversy and legal acrimony with a vocal group of residents and the city of Hazelwood for years added a new legal layer Wednesday, less than two days before a deadline to file for a disputed recall election.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday against the St. Louis County Board of Elections asks a judge to force the board to decertify the Nov. 8 recall election of all three Robertson Fire Protection District Directors.
The district serves portions of Hazelwood, Bridgeton and unincorporated St. Louis County.
Mike Conley, the Board’s Secretary, told Spectrum News Wednesday that he and Chairman Joan Noel, and Treasurer Becky Reinsmith, would all still file for the recall vote, which would be held as part of November’s general election. The deadline to file is 4:30pm Friday.
Noel and Reinsmith could not be reached by phone Wednesday.
The suit claims that County Election officials received requests from voters who signed the recall petition, asking for their names to be withdrawn due to what they say was “misrepresentation and/or fraud”. The number of withdrawn signatures would put the petition below the required amount to move forward with the recall.
“To withdraw these signatures as requested would require the Election Board to make a decision on facts without all parties involved having an opportunity to state their position. The Election Board believes that this decision is best made by a Judge who will hear sworn testimony and other evidence presented by the interested parties,” Election Commissioners Eric Fey and Rick Stream said in an Aug. 4 letter.
The named plaintiff in the suit is Gabriella Phillips of Hazelwood, suing on behalf of Robertson Fire Protection District taxpayers. Phillips is the daughter of Robertson Fire Protection District Chief Todd Phillips.
Jennifer Guyton, President of Citizens to Save Hazelwood & Fire Services, a group that has railed against what it claims is corruption within the Robertson Fire Protection District, is one of three candidates who have filed to run in the recall race. She says the other two, Steve Field and Maggie Sieve, are not affiliated with her organization.
Guyton told Spectrum News she was aware of three allegations of fraud connected to the petition drive to prompt the recall vote, with each coming from friends or family of current Robertson Fire Protection District board members or staff. Guyton says Robertson is falsely fueling rumors that signing the petition would mean supporting the dissolution of the district itself.
The fire district has been in a protracted legal fight with the city of Hazelwood since 2017, when the city canceled its contract, citing excessive costs and mismanagement by Robertson’s board. The district filed a breach of contract suit in 2018 which remains unresolved today while Hazelwood continues to make annual payments. The city has claimed that the agreement, which in 2021 still cost Hazelwood more than $4 million, is one reason why Chapter 9 bankruptcy could be “inevitable”, Mayor Matt Robinson told residents in an open letter in June in explaining why some city services have been suspended.
Conley, a former Hazelwood City Council member, believes the recall campaign is “a blatant attack by the city.”
When asked if the city or city officials had any role or financial stake in backing the citizen’s group, City Manager Matthew Zimmerman said in an email, “The City does not have a stake, financial or otherwise, in the citizens committee. They are an independent group registered with the State. The City (and Robertson) has supplied any information the committee has requested. That is our only participation.”