Walking Door-to-Door With Mary Berner

Mary Berner, 48, is running as the outsider in this year’s Ladue mayoral race. She faces a formidable opponent in Councilman Anthony Bommarito. She knows that.

Facing tough odds is nothing new to this resident. She’s lived in Ladue nine years and that’s a “newbie” in terms of years of residence.

On a beautiful spring day, she continued her walking foray into the community. She estimates she’s knocked on almost 2,000 doors. I tagged along to watch her in action. But that's OK because she gets to meet the residents firsthand. And they (the residents) get to sound off on exactly what’s on their minds. Berner is determined to literally walk her way right to the front door and into the Council Chambers at Ladue’s City Hall, just after the April 5 election.

She’s fully aware of the opposition launching barbs and charges against her. Opponents have questioned her marital status, her time commitment and her lack of experience serving in government.  Critics have questioned her lack of experience in holding this office.

For instance Fred Phillips questioned her time allowance to the job in consideraton of her work schedule. This comment was posted on the Patch Activity Stream.

"I, too am concerned that Mary's airline schedule might become an issue...I don't know how much she might gone in a given month or week? Which job really comes first," questioned Phillips.

Berner is a pilot for American Airlines. She has routes all over the U.S. and Canada. Being at the controls of a sleek MD-80 jetliner and having the fate of hundreds of passengers in her hands is a challenge she relishes. She is divorced, and has not previously held any elected position.

“I remember a time when women were not allowed to fly combat aircraft. They were, however, allowed to ferry planes with broken parts back and forth. How about that?” she asked with a chuckle.

Berrner pledges to bring a no-nonsense style of leadership to the . She thinks its high time for new leadership.

Her goal is to come in and shake up some things.

“The pension fund for public employees needs looking at,” she said. In her view, there won’t be enough tax dollars to keep that fund solvent at current rates.

She looks at local businesses, and thinks vacancies should all be filled. She’s speaking in terms of filling empty spaces and creating new shopping experiences. Already, she’s fostering ways to bring life .

She pledges to put forth a comprehensive plan to attract new and different businesses to Ladue and do what she can to help grow the tax base while keeping taxes low.

She’s a joiner. Recently she sat in on the contentious board meeting held to explain the budget to the constituents. “I think there needs to be stronger bonds between the local (Ladue) school district and city hall," she said. She is all for fostering good relationships with other governmental and educational bodies.

Nothing is sacred to Berner. She is more than willing to look at services like the city’s 911 call center.

"I really don’t know why we aren’t members of East Central Dispatch Center (ECDC)," she said. ECDC is the call center fielding emergency calls for Olivette, Clayton, Webster Groves, Maplewood, Shrewsbury and Richmond Heights.

Berner grew up in a tax accounting environment. She knows the ins and outs of good fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities. Her plans call for examining future budgets line by line.

As an airline pilot, she knows firsthand the responsibility of being a leader, not a follower. She often has had to make tough calls in highly stressful situations.

On a beautiful spring day, she continued her walking foray into the community. She estimates she’s knocked on almost 2,000 doors. I tagged along to watch her in action. But that's OK because she gets to meet the residents firsthand. And they (the residents) get to sound off on exactly what’s on their minds. Berner is determined to literally walk her way right to the front door and into the Council Chambers at Ladue’s City Hall, just after the April 5 election.