Mayor Jones Fires Back at Governor Parson

the state government. Where cities are allowed to exist, or where cities are allowed to flourish, despite what the state does — or in spite of what the state does.

“I think in the past you saw a more collegial relationship between cities and the state government, but now it’s more antithetical,” Jones continued.

Written by MONICA OBRADOVIC

Missouri’s reputation for extreme conservatism harms St. Louis, Mayor Tishaura Jones says.

The mayor sat down with the Riverfront Times a day after she railed against “far right-wing Republicans” in Jefferson City during her second State of the City address last week.

She discussed a wide range of topics, from Republicans in Jefferson City to the prospect of Kim Gardner running for reelection. At one point she laid into Missouri’s conservative politics and its adverse effects on the city of St. Louis.

Missouri has one of the strictest abortion laws compared to any other state. This year, Missouri legislators filed more anti-LGBTQ+ bills than any other state. And the state’s loose gun laws could very well be the reason why Black people fall victim to homicides here more than any other state in the nation, a recent study concluded.

“We have seen that conventions have

2 Prosecutors Leave the Circuit Attorney’s Office Alex Polta and Chris Desilets depart after contempt of court hearings

Written by RYAN KRULL

Assistant Circuit Attorneys Alex Polta and Chris Desilets have parted ways with Kim Gardner’s office, leaving the city’s Violent Crimes Unit with only two prosecutors, according to a document shared with the RFT Polta had been with the CAO for more than six years. In early April, Polta took extended medical leave, seemingly with the blessing of the office.

However, a few weeks later, when no one showed up to the first day of a murder trial in a case assigned to Polta, Judge Scott Millikan threatened to hold Gardner or someone else from her office in contempt of court.

decided not to come here,” Jones said.

“Students have decided not to come here for secondary or post-secondary education because of our abortion laws. If things get even more extreme, I’m wondering how that’s going to hurt our economy as well.”

To legislators in Jefferson City, Jones said during her State of the City address, a 12-year-old receiving gender-affirming care is “a bigger threat than a 12-yearold with an assault rifle.” She described legislation against transgender kids and their families as “ugly attacks.”

At an April 24 hearing before Judge Millikan, Polta appeared in court and said, “There really is no excuse for nobody showing up for trial,” but he also indicated his supervisors were well aware he was on leave.

Ultimately there was no finding of contempt in that case.

The other departing prosecutor, Desilets, is also facing a contempt of court charge after twice failing to show up for court hearings (see “Another Blow for the Circuit Attorney’s Office,” pg. 9). At the time, he told the judge he was in charge of approximately 104 felony cases — cases that will now need a new prosecutor.

News of Desilets departure broke Monday morning when Desilets did not appear in court for the cases of Javonn Nettles and Andre Anderson, who are charged with murdering a 7-year-old girl, D’Myah Fleming, and her father, Darrion Rankin-Fleming, on Laclede Avenue near Saint Louis University in January 2021.

The killing shocked the neighborhood and the city as a whole. Both men were arrested in spring of 2021, but in the past two years the murder cases have meandered through the courts. In what’s become a common practice under Gardner, prosecutors dropped and refiled charges

Last month, Governor Mike Parson visited St. Louis and told reporters that crime in St. Louis harms the image of the state, and that when he travels to recruit businesses, he has to “deal with that situation all the time.”

But Jones said she deals with the flip side of that problem — and that Missouri’s negative image could contribute to St. Louis’ population decline.

“I think that people look for places where there’s opportunity,” Jones said. “They look for places where there isn’t a lot of interference between the cities and

Yet there are many contributing factors to the perception that the area is troubled. If the national narrative isn’t focused on Missouri’s reactionary policies, such as the attorney general’s attempt to restrict transgender health care, they’re often highlighting dysfunction, such as the problems plaguing the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office.

Circuit Attorney Gardner came under intense public scrutiny after a man out on bond crashed into and maimed a visiting teenager. News of the crash cascaded into widespread criticism of Gardner’s office. The Missouri Attorney General has launched an investigation into the office.

Jones said shortly after the crash that Gardner had “lost the trust of the people.” When asked if Gardner had lost her personal trust, Jones said she “stood by” her previous statement.

“I realize that is a difficult office to run, and we have offered our support, because no one wants to see the Circuit Attorney’s Office fail,” Jones said.

Gardner has said she’ll run for reelection despite calls for her to resign. Will Jones support her?

“We’ll see if she runs for reelection,” Jones said. “You know, filing doesn’t open until February 2024. People can say that they’ll run and then change their mind. You never know.” n

Desilets in indirect criminal contempt of court.

At 9:30 a.m., no one from the Circuit Attorney’s Office was in the courtroom. Eventually, assistant circuit attorney Rob Huq appeared in Desilet’s stead. Polta’s departure unfolded last week. On Thursday, Gardner sent him a letter saying that he was never approved to take leave, “yet you have not reported to work and have failed to cover assigned duties.”

The letter gave Polta until 5 p.m. Friday, April 28, to either resume his duties as normal or to provide documentation supporting his leave.

The letter concludes: “If you do neither of the above, we will assume that you have abandoned your position with the Office, and we will process your resignation accordingly.” against them in April.

In his final hours with the prosecutor’s office, Desilets filed a motion to continue Nettle’s case. Hearings in both cases were scheduled Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. in the courtroom of Judge Michael Noble, who last week said there was sufficient reason to charge both Gardner and

At 4:21 p.m. Friday — a bit shy of that 5 p.m. deadline — Gardner sent a terse message to her office: “Team: We want to wish Alexander Polta well on his new endeavors.”

When asked what those new endeavors were, Polta replied, “The future is vast.”

According to documents sent to the RFT, the two prosecutors remaining in Violent Crimes are Srikant Chigurupati and Adam Field. n