Richmond Heights City Council Meets Joint Study Commission Applicants

NEWS RELEASE -

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, MO (Thursday, September 1, 2005) — At a special meeting held on Monday, August 29, the Richmond Heights City Council met a majority of the residents who have applied to work with a group that will study the benefits and drawbacks of merging the cities of Richmond Heights and Clayton.

Twenty-five of the applicants attended the meeting and were given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the council and to ask questions about the study process. At least 12 individuals will be named to serve as voting members representing Richmond Heights on the JSC, giving Richmond Heights a total of 20 representatives. Clayton also will have 20 representatives on the 40-member study commission.

Each of the City’s will select a co-chair to head the JSC. Clayton has selected Daniel L. Human – a former Clayton alderman and son of a former Clayton Mayor – as its representative. The City of Richmond Heights is expected to announce its co-chair when it names the rest of its representatives to the JSC.

Richmond Heights Mayor Betty Humphrey and Clayton Mayor Ben Uchitelle have both chosen to serve as non-voting members of the JSC in order to give the committee more independence.

The JSC’s primary purpose is to look at the possibility of merging the two City governments into one. The two-city study committee is expected to convene for the first time at the end of September at a yet-to-be-named location. The JSC will then meet at least once a month for 18 months. The group has the option of continuing for another six months, if needed, to complete its work. All meetings must be open to the public.

When completed, the JSC’s findings will be turned over to the governing bodies of both municipalities. If both city governments approve the JSC’s recommendations, each City will submit the matter to voters.

Both cities had asked for volunteers to serve on the JSC. Here are the names of the Richmond Heights applicants: Jerome Ballato; Mark Billeaud; Matthew Casey; Dr. Susan M. Culican; Christine Dresch; Lori Fiegel; Mary Lou Fitzsimmons; Doug Fluchel; Elizabeth Foster; Kenneth Gurney; Audrey Helbling; Susan Hilton; Kathy Holman; Marcus Holmes; Nicholas Kannady; Mary Jane Kernan, Ph. D.; Sally Kopman; Michele Kopolow; Mark Livingston; Michael Markenson; Joan Newman; Edward Notter; Robert Pieper; Cynthia Prost; Alice Provaznik; Kathy Rittenbery; Jeff Saeger; Thomas Smallwood; Jim Thomson; Greg Vatterott, Jr.; Joyce Walsh and Kathy Wright.

Richmond Heights City Council Members are Mayor Betty Humphrey; Timothy Gallagher and Paul Lore (District 1); Mike Jones and Lillian Underwood (District 2); James Beck and Gina Mitten (District 3), and Camille Greenwald and Constance Williams (District 4).

Citizens can make comments and review feedback from others by visiting www.mergerstudy.org. This site is independently maintained. Information is also available on each of the city’s Web sites, which are www.richmondheights.org and www.ci.clayton.mo.us.


For More Information, Please Contact:

Bola Akande, Assistant City Manager
(314) 645-5129, Ext. 109
bakande@richmondheights.org

Irene Johnson, Public Relations Coordinator
(314) 646-7658, Ext. 103
ijohnson@richmondheights.org