Transparency

Initiated a State Audit of County Government: We can only know all the ways to hold County government accountable if we know exactly what happened over the past few years. To find out what really happened in the past and how we can prevent corruption in the future, I requested that State Auditor Nicole Galloway audit County government, the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and the St. Louis County Port Authority.

Made Public Records Accessible: We began placing more public documents online than ever before, including department policies and procedures. This process began with the Department of Justice Services and the Department of Public Health.

Established a Sunshine Law Working Group: We established a working group tasked with changing our legal approach to the Sunshine Law, one that will prefer disclosure over closure on a caseby-case basis.

Began Livestreaming County Council Meetings: In another act to increase transparency, I ordered our Information Technology department to work with the County Council to arrange for the livestreaming of all County Council meetings. Livestreams will begin on August 27, 2019. The public may access these presentations through our County website or via our YouTube channel.

Made County Executive Reports Accessible to the Public: We also have made videos of the Reports of the County Executive at County Council meetings available to the public on the County’s website. The public will now know what we’ve been working on each week.

Closed Stenger’s Off-The-Books Slush Fund: My predecessor maintained a private bank account that served as an unmonitored, unchecked slush fund with no way to track spending from the account. After closing this account, we returned the money to the

County’s general fund and asked Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway to examine it as part of her audit.

Obtained an Audit of the Animal Care Shelter: The Division of Animal Care and Control (“AC&C”) has been the subject of significant controversy in recent years. To reestablish trust in the community, we obtained an extensive audit of AC&C by an auditor with national experience and an excellent reputation. We are now implementing the auditor’s recommendations for best practices, polices, procedures, training, and protocols. We also requested supplemental appropriations to support these efforts.