County Executive Announces
Plans For World Domination…
Starting With Our Fire Department
Forget about Alexander the Great. He was an amateur when it comes to asserting power over your neighbors. County Executive Joe Ortwerth has him beat hands down. In the “we can’t believe he said that” portion of today’s news, the County Executive announced he had all the authority he needed under the County Charter to take over any fire district, fire department or for that matter any municipal service he wanted to. His crack County Counselor was there to back him up and claim the Charter gave them power over “ALL” services of any municipality or political subdivision except school districts.
Wow! You have to admire the audacity. What would have taken Alexander the Great a good size army and a few elephants to accomplish, Joe Ortwerth is able to do with one attorney. He is truly a legend in his own mind. I would recommend Joe hold off on the coronation, however, till he gets a second opinion…say from a high school civics class.
Consulting the entrails of sheep or the local oracle might have been good enough for an ancient Macedonian to base his conquests upon, but Ortwerth may need a more firm legal foundation. People in this country tend to frown on overthrowing democracy. We’re sort of use to it.
What Joe Ortwerth wants to do is to consolidate all of the fire districts, our city fire department and the county ambulance service under one giant agency and, of course, under his control. Now some consolidation of fire districts might be a good thing, if all sides sit down and agree to it. But nothing is gained by city taxpayers, who currently don’t have to pay a separate fire district tax. Allowing the County to “steal” millions of dollars of fire apparatus and buildings we’ve already paid for, and then increase our property taxes, adds insult to injury. If County residents want better fire service, let them pay for it. Don’t tax us to give them full-time professional firefighters, if they weren’t willing to raise their own taxes to replace volunteer departments.
Of course what Ortwerth announced is more far sweeping than just taking over the fire department. He announced all municipal services, including our Parks System, are subject to be taken over by the County. I simply can’t believe the County Executive and County Counselor have uncovered a principal of law so profound as to change the relationship of municipal and county governments throughout the State of Missouri. It goes against everything I’ve learned about Missouri government. St. Charles City is a Constitutional Charter City. We are a creation of State Government, the same as the County. We have powers equal to, and in some cases greater than, those of the County. No where in Missouri’s Constitution does it say that cities in Missouri are subservient to the counties they are in.
Sometimes specific services are reserved for one or the other. For example, the County does restaurant inspections and we are prohibited from doing restaurant inspections. But it was the Missouri General Assembly that decided that’s the way it should be…not a creative interpretation of the County Charter.
I would have thought after wasting $500,000 of taxpayers money fighting a losing battle against the City of St. Peters over TIFs that the County Executive would slow down a little on trying to rewrite State Laws through the courts. But his latest “interpretation” of State Law, the Missouri Constitution and the County Charter sets the stage for legal battles that will make the St. Peters fight look tame…and cheap.
Speaking of the County Charter, I thought I should take a moment to introduce the County Executive to this important document. Later he can go back to using it to polish his armor.
SECTION 1.600: RESTRICTIONS
“Nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to give to the County of St. Charles any rights or powers over or pertaining to school districts; fire protection districts; or Cities, Towns, or Villages that are not granted by law to First Class Charter Counties.”
So in other words the County Charter specifically says “nothing” in the County Charter should be construed as to giving the County “any rights or powers” over any city. But isn’t that just what the County Counselor and County Executive said they were doing…construing the Charter to give them power to take over any municipal service? Shouldn’t a County Executive be upholding the County Charter?
Here’s another part of the Charter they must have missed:
SECTION 10.500: INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
“In order to eliminate duplication of services and to provide for an equitable distribution of costs to all County residents, all departments, officers, boards and commissions provided for in this Charter, or later created, shall cooperate and coordinate their respective activities with the cities, towns, and villages and special purpose districts of the County. Any new service…shall be provided to or made available for all municipal residents provided such new service or activity is requested by resolution of the city, town, or village.”
First, it would seem to me that the framers of the County charter and the voters who approved it, wanted the County to get along with its neighbors, i. e. the cities, towns and villages. They wanted to discourage the kind of strife Ortwerth seems to feed on. I particularly like the part that says if the County offers its residents new services the cities have to request that service be extended to them. So if the County were to take over the operation of the fire and ambulance districts of the county, it would appear clear the only way that new service could be extended into the City of St. Charles would be by our requesting it by resolution. That must not be the part of the Charter that Ortwerth was referring to either.
The portion of the County Charter dealing with the powers of the County Council (Section 2.529) first says what they can do, then places a specific restriction that their power only covers those areas “outside” incorporated cities, towns and villages. Here is the exact language so you can see it for yourself:
“Exercise legislative power pertaining to public health and welfare, Police and traffic, building construction, and planning and zoning, in the part of the County outside incorporated Cities, Towns, and Villages…”
Even when the County Charter gives the County authority to tax or regulate business within an incorporated area, it does so only with the “consent” of the city (Section 2.514). Now why would the framers of the Charter put that language in, if, as the County Counselor said, municipalities are subject to the will of the county? This same section also contains this language in the same vein, “Nothing in this Charter shall preempt the power of any local government to license, tax, and regulate in accordance with the Constitution and the applicable law…”
Another interesting section of the County Charter gives the County the power to enter into “cooperative agreements” with cities to provide common services (Section 2.528). Now there is a novel approach. Why not sit down with your neighbors, the municipalities, to cooperate rather than trying to impose your legal will.
Section 3.612 speaks even more directly to this point:
“Promote and encourage cooperative relationships between the County and the political subdivisions within the County in matters relating to public health, safety, and public welfare and any and all other governmental functions in which the people of the County could gain through better cooperative arrangements…”
I know talking isn’t as much fun as putting your enemies to the sword and burning down their villages.
