By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A long-shot running for St. Louis License Collector says he'd fire himself if he were to win.
Republican Pat Herod acknowledges he has little chance of beating Alderman Michael McMillan. The two are vying to replace Greg Daly, who is running for Collector of Revenue.
But Herod says if he were to win, he'd work to get rid of his job and merge the duties and workers in the License Collector's office with that of the Collector of Revenue.
"They don't need the top guy," Herod said of the position he's running for. "I challenge the typical person walking down the street to tell me the what the difference is between someone who's collecting licensing fees and someone who's collecting revenue."
McMillan, the 19th ward alderman, is not running on a platform to get rid of the office he's running for: "A long time ago when these offices were broken apart in terms of financial management, it was done in order to make sure corruption is kept to a minimum by keeping financial management offices separate."
Such a change also would need voter approval.