Conflicts Raised, Compromise Reached At Tense Council Meeting

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — Citizens and some city councilmembers had a showdown earlier this week over the council's failure to reappoint Rosalind Williams to the Plan Commission. Ordinarily, citizens who are nominated to the city's commissions are allowed to serve two terms if they wish. Williams was not given that choice, and Irene Chaudhry was on the agenda to be nominated in her place.

"We have an extraordinary situation with this appointment that does not involve the candidate for appointment, but rather the process of appointment," said councilmember Paulette Carr. "There are 13 candidates for reappointment on the agenda for this evening, and one candidate who was not reappointed."

Carr said the nomination of Chaudhry to replace Williams would leave Ward 2 with only one representative on the commission, while the others would each have three. She compared the affair to an incident in 2011 when U-City mayor Shelley Welsch asked for the resignation of Economic Development Retail Sales Tax Board member Gloria Nickerson. Welsch said at the time that Nickerson's appointment violated Missouri's Sunshine Law since it was not placed on the agenda 24 hours prior to the council's vote. The city attorney agreed, but some board members argued the mayor did not have unilateral authority to ask for Nickerson's resignation or appoint someone in her place.

Williams, who has a masters in urban planning from the University of Washington, previously served as director of planning and development for the cities of Kirkwood, Mo. from 1984 to 2005 and Ferguson, Mo. from 2006 to 2013. Many citizens found it unconscionable that Williams' professional experience, which she offered to the city for free as a member of the commission, was being taken for granted.

But, that experience is why Williams was not offered reappointment to begin with, councilmember Rod Jennings told Patch. Jennings is the council liaison to the Plan Commission, and asked councilmember L. Michael Glickert, who originally appointed Williams, to appoint Chaudhry in her place.

"A lot of people don't know there was a black community in Kirkwood called Meacham Park that was just decimated, and many people were forced to leave to make way for development," Jennings said. "Some of the families had been there 20, 25, 30 years and were moved allegedly by eminent domain and other tools and instruments. They really didn't have a choice."

Meacham Park was annexed by mostly-white Kirkwood in 1991. Racial tensions had long simmered in the communities — though constitutionally unenforceable, one Kirkwood neighborhood association's bylaws banned African-Americans from living in its community until it was finally repealed in 2013. Soon after annexation, the city declared much of Meacham Park blighted and used eminent domain — the government's power to seize private property — to build a Wal-Mart and other commercial developments where family homes once stood. Though the economic development had its benefits, Jennings said many of those displaced from their homes never had the chance to share them, and almost all of them were black.

Williams oversaw the Meacham Park commercial and residential development project, according to her biography on the website for the Center for Architecture and Design. For Jennings, who is black, that's a reason for concern. He doesn't want to see the same thing happen in University City.

Jennings also cited Rosalind's work to bring developers like Novus to University City and her involvement with a private community development group that stands to benefit from her work on the Plan Commission as possible conflicts of interest. "Rosalind creates a relationship with a developer, who says he's going to pour money into the community. She sits on the Plan Commission, where she's in a position to direct that money. And she also belongs to an organization that is in a position to receive the money and, I'm afraid, stands to reap millions," he said.

Jennings said he appreciated Williams work for the city, and welcomes her to continue working with developers and private groups while advising the city in an unofficial capacity. But, he feels it is in the best interest of the city that she not continue to serve on the Plan Commission.

When asked for comment after the council meeting, Williams said, "Citizens serve free and put in their time, and I have some special abilities to share. I don't care for the insinuation that something is happening [behind the scenes] or that there are possible conflicts in my participation. I'm a professional planner and I have insights that maybe other planners don't have, so I think that may be the problem." Williams had not yet heard Jennings' concerns or the rationale behind his decision.

Councilmember Carr proposed a compromise when she moved to postpone the appointment until January, when both Williams and Chaudhry will fill vacant positions. The vote was six in favor, with Jennings alone voting against the compromise.

Jennings, who was unhappy with the deal, said he plans to run for reelection and keep a close eye on the council's majority in the years to come. "They can look forward to me continuing to look into the contracts and secret, backroom deals," he said.

(An earlier version of this story incorrectly implied Williams was responding directly to Jennings' allegations. In fact, she had not yet heard those allegations. Patch apologizes for the error.)

Photo: Rosalind Williams speaks at the University City Council meeting Monday night as councilmembers Jennings, Carr and Steve McMahon look on. (J. Ryne Danielson/Patch)