Crestwood Mayor Fires Back at Challenger

With voters going to the polls Tuesday to choose a Crestwood mayor, incumbent Mayor Roy Robinson said Friday he was fed up with falsehoods from the campaign of his opposition.

"It is so false," Robinson said Friday. "I haven't been negative at all, but my opponent has run a negative campaign."

Robinson, 68, has been mayor since 2005 and now runs for a third term. He faces Ward 2 alderman since 2009, Jeff Schlink, 41. Both are longtime Crestwood residents.

"My credibility, my honesty, is more important to me than anything else," Robinson said. "I wish people would call me if they have any question about these things. I'll answer them."

Robinson pointed to charges by his opponent of unbalanced city budgets.

"That's a lie. Just last meeting we had a $85,000 surplus," Robinson said.

At issue was a recent report from the city finance office that said while city revenues were down in the fourth quarter of 2010, cutbacks on spending were up, showing a $355,000 budget surplus of the capital improvement fund.

Robinson said for example, the city may borrow money among departments to "pay off" the city swimming pool during tough economic times, and then replenish it when things pick up.

Crestwood has been battered by the loss of sales tax revenue from the mall, Crestwood Court, to the tune of some $2 million a year. 

Other charges about cutbacks on street maintenance, tax increases, utilities and city debts led Robinson to point out that the whole Board of Aldermen votes on changes in these matters. Additionally, Robinson said there was $3.5 million of debt when he took office.

He said he has cleaned up city government since he's been in office by reducing debt, reducing legal fees, reducing staff and eliminating dependence on credit—all without a reduction in services to residents.

"I don't take credit for everything, but I get things done," Robinson said. 

A third charge riled Robinson about reductions in city safety personnel.

"All of that has been by attrition," Robinson said. "We just haven't hired someone else when someone left or retired. That's all that has been."

"I have the endorsement of the firefighters," he added. Robinson's campaign literature cites the support of Professional Fire fighters of Eastern Missouri (Crestwood), IAFF LOcal 2665.

Robinson said he "works well" with the Crestwood mall owners and when the economy picked up he expected an overhaul there would come about, but said he hasn't made any promises. The mall owners have said they want to it turn into a recreation destination.

Robinson has lived in Crestwood for 31 years with his wife Joan. They live on Cordoba Lane. Robinson was Ward 3 alderman 1988-1992. He is a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska, majoring in criminal justice and political science. He is retired from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in St. Louis—which is part of the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Schlink has lived in Crestwood 15 years. He and his wife Kim, and four children live on Capri Drive. He is a department leader in the compliance division of Edward Jones. Schlink has a Masters degree in computer resource management from Webster University and a B.A. in management from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Here's the link for Alderman Jeff Schlink's profile by Patch earlier.