After the meeting was called to order by President Bob Garagiola, Terry Werner delivered the invocation, and Beth Russell led us in song with “Side by Side”.
Bob detailed our upcoming
programs;
- Oct. 17, Lisa Stone, SLU Women’s Basketball Coach
- Oct. 24, Ed Wheatley, author of book re St. Louis Browns baseball
- Oct. 31, Dr. Kelvin Adams, St. Louis Public Schools and Young Citizens Awards
and then made a string of announcements;
- Polio Eradication day is 10/24
- the end of the Rotary Golf season last Tuesday, 10/08
- Rolling for Rotary at Olivette Lanes is happening on 11/24- contact Don Klackner for additional information.
- Volunteer opportunity at Lift for Life Gym on 10/15, contact Helen Difate
- Head over to Urban Chestnut in the Grove on 10/15 (after LFLG) from 5:00 – 6:30 for Happy Hour billed as “Oktoberfest- Club 11 Social”
- Volunteer opportunity to plant trees and flowers around the Jewel Box in Forest Park with the Flora Conservancy on Saturday, 10/26
- Check your e-mail for Rotary Dues statements and alert the Club if you have not received one or if there are any issues
- Suzanne Schoomer promoted the blood drive next week, 10/17. Donate and get a SLU pullover courtesy of David Pokorny (all sizes are available)
- Jim Sheets reminded us of the Veterans Day program with the MAC on 11/07
President Bob turned things over to our Sergeant at Arms, Dan Conway, to introduce our Guests and Visiting Rotarians. Dan told us more about life and more pets in the Conway household growing up, before announcing our guests (Jim Enright, Lawrence Barker, Debbie Milne and David Casteel) and visiting Rotarians (Raffi Andonian and Nicole Kliebert from Santa Fe and Gary Neal from Fresno).
Bob called on Jim Conway to introduce our speaker- STL County Executive, Dr. Sam Page.
Sam started by noting that he is a former member of our Rotary Club. His primary focus since taking office as County Executive has been to clean up the mess his predecessor had left behind and restore trust in government. Here are some of his talking points;
- Four executive orders were signed last week to address governance issues related to ethics and eliminating “pay to play” in politics.
- In response to the problems of the last administration, Missouri State Auditor, Nicole Galloway, is performing an audit of St. Louis County Government. This could take up to one year.
- Five new members have been appointed to the Economic Development Board
- Plans for the County to address crime on Metrolink – see October 7th Post-Dispatch article. https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/columnists/sam-page-city-and-county-need-to-work-together-to/article_97a1a931-30f5-5c43-b99a-40ae4f561f4d.html. The county would provide 18 officers to patrol trains and have county police commanders take over the direction of security. This is part of a larger effort to reduce crime in the region.
- Work is ongoing to make a couple hundred appointments to various County agencies that were needed.
- Nine St. Louis County members were appointed to the Board of Freeholders. Along with nine City of St. Louis and one State appointment the board will work to improve City/County governance and address other issues in the region. The freeholders successfully proposed MSD for the region in the 1950’s. Any proposed changes to government structure would require approval of both City and County voters.
Bill Piper was lucky enough to hold the winning ticket in the 50/50 but drew the six of Diamonds for only a $6 payout. The Ace of Clubs would have netted him $868. The pot continues to grow and can be used for any purpose. President Bob adjourned the meeting at 1:05