St. Louis County Executive Sam Page made no mention on Tuesday of his indictment over a mailer regarding a failed countywide proposition.
But during the first full St. Louis County Council meeting since a grand jury indicted the Democratic chief executive, one of Page’s adversaries disputed the idea that charges are politically motivated or frivolous.
“The county executive has been charged with serious crimes that are of his own doing,” Councilman Dennis Hancock, R-Fenton said. “No one told him to do it, and no one coerced him into doing it. He allegedly violated the law because he chose to, and now the attorney general is doing his job and holding him responsible for making those choices.”
A grand jury indicted Page last week on two misdemeanor election offenses and two counts of felony theft “by deceit” over the spending of county money. At issue is a mailer Page’s office sent out with public money that his detractors say was aimed at torpedoing Proposition B. That was an unsuccessful April ballot initiative that would have allowed the county council to fire department heads with five out of seven votes.
Page attended Tuesday’s council meeting and spoke on several topics during his weekly report. But he didn’t mention the indictment and didn’t make himself available to reporters after the meeting.
Before adjournment, Hancock, who is running for county executive in 2026, criticized Page for sending out the mailer, which he said crossed a line between educating the public about Proposition B and openly advocating against it.
And he disputed the idea from some Page defenders that the charges were political posturing since GOP Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office presented the case to a grand jury.
At least six of the seven members of the council are considered either hostile toward or skeptical of Page. But several of his adversaries have held off on calling for his resignation.
“If he figures that he can handle all of this with the personal issues that he has, that's his prerogative,” said Councilwoman Rita Days, D-Bel Nor. “I will not be calling for his resignation or anything like that. That's something that he has to deal with on his own.”
Councilman Mike Archer, R-St. Louis County, emphasized that Page is considered innocent until proven guilty. Archer, a former prosecutor, said he wasn’t surprised Page didn’t bring up the indictment during the meeting.
“This is the prosecutor coming out in me and the criminal defense attorney coming out, he was probably advised not to say anything about the indictment and just stay away from that,” Archer said.
When asked what this indictment means for St. Louis County government, Archer said: “Right now, absolutely nothing.”
“Because what we want to do is we want to continue on with the work of St. Louis County government,” Archer said.
Despite the deluge of media coverage, Days, Hancock and Archer all said they haven’t received any calls or emails from constituents giving their opinion about the indictment. No one during the council’s public forum sections commented about it.
“I think that folks are going back and forth with the fact that the attorney general did it, and they kind of look at this as that's par for the course in terms of what he's doing,” said Days, pointing to his effort to oust St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery from his post.
Hancock said there’s not much the council can do about the indictment, especially since they have no power to remove the county executive. Page would have to forfeit his office if he’s convicted of a felony.
“You know, our hands are really tied here,” Hancock said. “And it's a criminal matter now. And so it's in the court system – so I don't know that there's a whole lot that we can do.”
Despite his harsh criticism during the meeting, Hancock said it’s up to Page whether he plans to continue serving as county executive.
“I'm not going to say anything about him resigning. I don't think he should resign. I think he needs to fight this, he should fight it,” Hancock said. “He's spending his own money to do it. But to me, what he needs to do is think long and hard about other people that are involved in this. Besides him, his family, the people of St. Louis County, the employees of St. Louis County, they're all watching this unfold in real time as well.”
