CLAYTON — St. Louis County Chair Rita Heard Days said she will press forward with a measure to update the county’s 24-year-old whistleblower protections law despite the council’s failure on Tuesday to override County Executive Sam Page’s veto of a similar measure.
Pointing to riveting testimony by corrections officers and others about staffing and safety concerns at the county jail, Days said that her bill would serve an immediate need.
“There are people who want to talk about situations and they feel they cannot do that because of retaliation,” Days said. “This bill is simply for protection of the people who work for St. Louis County.”
Asked Wednesday if there is a version of the bill that he would support, Page pointed to a parallel idea by the St. Louis County Human Relations Commission, supported by his ally Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, to update county ordinances to match a 2017 state whistleblower law.
“I’m sure there is a version of the bill that I would support if it’s consistent with its original intent, which is to align St. Louis County ordinances with state law,” Page said.
The bill he vetoed aimed to update the county’s whistleblower ordinance, last revised in 1997, by adding language to expand the county’s definitions of qualifying employees, qualifying allegations of mismanagement and prohibitions against retaliatory discipline.
Among other provisions, it would specify that county supervisors would not be able to prevent employees from talking...
Welcome to Reality Check, NewsGuard’s nonpartisan newsletter that tracks the false claims and conspiracy theories that shape our world — and who’s behind them. Please support us by becoming a premi...