New Ladue Mayor Facing Some Interesting Decisions

When a new mayor takes over, that person moving in hopes things will go smoothly, especially in the early going.

For Ladue’s mayor Anthony Bommarito, just elected to the office in April, there have been a few rough spots along the way. On the flip side, there's been some real early going successes. The mayor has a contract in hand to clean up portions of Deer Creek which runs through the heart of the community.

The city is completing paving projects on both Clayton and Ladue roads from border to border. "The city is generally getting spruced up," said the major.

A New Job for Fire Chief Ted Jury

Monday night, the Brentwood Board of Aldermen announced the hiring of Ladue’s Fire Chief Ted Jury. Jury, 54, is a very popular figure inside Ladue government who has worked for the city for 29 years. “I am very happy to have this opportunity to go to Brentwood," Jury said. " What you can say is that I am retiring from Ladue to do this. I will have my pension from Ladue when I leave.”

"I am sorry to see Ted (Jury) go. I wish him the best of luck. I wish I had worked with him longer," said Bommarito.

Jury does not have a start date for the Brentwood position yet. Jury will replace Bob Niemeyer, 70, who is retiring after working for the Brentwood department for 49 years.

The move means Jury will be taking over a smaller department. Ladue has two engine houses, two fire trucks and an ambulance and a staff of 31. Brentwood’s department is smaller with one fire house, one fire truck and one ambulance. The Brentwood staff is 23, including the chief.

Contracts have a brief life

Meanwhile, at the regular monthly meeting of the Ladue Board of Aldermen, two potentially hot-button contracts disappeared from the agenda.

The first was a proposed public relations agreement with Aimee Whitelaw (A.M. Whitelaw Consulting) for $95.00 per hour for communications and public relations services.

The second item, taken off the agenda was a contract with Kiku Obata for design services for the city at a cost of $48,320.00. The Obata proposal was to do some design work to entice new businesses to fill vacancies in the commercial district along Clayton and Ladue roads.

"We discussed these two contracts in executive session. They were personnel matters. No action was taken. No contracts were signed. That's OK with me," said Bommarito.

"I prefer to look forward, not backwards with the city," he said.