"Let It Go" Councilmember Says After Post-Election Uproar

Creve Coeur's City Council will be back in session Monday, two weeks after one member defended herself after comments made at an earlier meeting that some felt compared speaking up about alleged dirty political tricks to the Holocaust.

Ward 4 Councilwoman Jeanne Rhoades addressed a letter to Ward 1 Councilwoman Cynthia Kramer May 28 and submitted it for the city record at the most recent council meeting that night. 

On May 13, Rhoades spoke in defense of Kramer's opponent in the April election, David Caldwell and pointed to an attack mailer that went out in the final days of the campaign against him. Kramer has denied any connection to the mailer, which was paid for by an employee of the same printing company Kramer used.

In making her comments May 13, Rhoades invoked the words used during a council invocation earlier this year to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day. The reference garnered a rebuke from Kramer and later Ward 3 Councilman Bob Hoffman. 

In her May 28 letter, Rhoades defended the reference, saying "you both chose to magnify just this one small item--and that gives the distinct appearance of striving to create the most inflammatory reaction to distract from the primary topic....I certainly never spoke disrespectfully of any victims of any sort, nor even remotely suggested that those unspeakable atrocities had parallels to local politics in any way."

Councilwoman Kramer declined several opportunities provided by Patch to respond to the contents of the letter. 

Tuesday, Councilman Hoffman said "the elections have passed. The council in my opinion needs to be a cooperative working body for the good of the community." He also said he waited until the end of the May 13 meeting to make his comments critical of Rhoades' comments, because it was during the "Business from the Mayor and City Council" which he said was the proper time to do so and not in the public comment period.

One of Rhoades' other critiques of Kramer is that she used the same printing firm that was linked to another last-minute political mailer in the 2012 Mayor's race. Hoffman said Tuesday that he won't use the firm, acknowledging that in doing so you have to take the "baggage" that comes with it. But he said that was an individual choice.

After complaints dating back three election cycles, Hoffman said it was time to "Let it go." He also defended the