Ward 3 Alderman Gus Elliott
View Message from Alderman Elliott
Gus Elliott lives in Cave Springs Estates and has been a resident since March 1997. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri at Rolla Electrical Engineering Programs, the Longview Community College Computer Science and Engineering Programs and the Fort Osage AVTS Electronics Program. He works as a Principal Engineer for bioMerieux, Inc., teaches at St. Charles Community College and serves as a St. Charles County Election Judge-Supervisor. He and his wife, Beth, have three children.
Gus was re-elected in 2011 to serve as a Ward 3 Alderman for a second term. Gus served on the City’s Planning & Zoning Commission from 2004 to 2007.
Gus currently serves as the Aldermanic representative to the City's Parks, Recreation and Arts Advisory Board and the St. Peters Youth Leadership Council.
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Message from Alderman Elliott
You Can’t Fight City Hall –We’ll Work With You
“You can’t fight City Hall,” goes the old saying. Don’t tell that to a certain young man I know. His name is Nick, he’s ten years old, and he knows better. In St. Peters, anyway.
Nick had a dream, and he was passionate about it. He wanted to raise a couple of hens in his backyard for a 4-H project. Frankly, when I read the letter he sent to the mayor and aldermen, my gut told me that it would be overwhelmingly unpopular. Raising chickens in St. Peters, indeed! Then, I talked with him. He made an extremely well-reasoned and well-researched case for it. You may agree or disagree with his position, but there was no question that he had thought it through as well as any high-dollar lobbyist could. The problem was, how could the City be convinced to let him move forward with his 4-H project when our code prohibits it?
The First Amendment guarantees the right of U.S. citizens to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The City of St. Peters affords our residents the opportunity to exercise that right at the beginning of each meeting of the Board of Aldermen, and that’s exactly what Nick did. He prepared a presentation, complete with illustrations, graphs, and statistics, and he attended a meeting. He provided a compelling fact-based case for his position and suggestions to make it easier to implement. At the end of his presentation, the aldermen voted unanimously to refer his request and suggestions to a joint work session to be considered for inclusion in the City’s land use code.
At the time of this writing, the ultimate outcome of this process is still in the future for Nick. The issue has fueled a healthy debate, filled inches of newsprint, and become a campaign issue in a recent election. That all adds up to one thing: Whether the code change comes to be or not, it is receiving careful attention, and it is being taken very seriously – even though it will be another eight years before Nick can vote. That is what the process is all about.
Do you, like Nick, have a grievance in need of redress? The process he followed can be used as a three-step template for making City Hall work for you:
1. Identify the problem and solutions that have either worked well elsewhere or that stand a good chance of working, based on factual information.
2. Contact your alderman. Explain what your problem is and how you propose to solve it and ask him or her to sponsor it as a Board action.
3. Before your alderman brings your request before the Board of Aldermen, address the whole Board yourself during public comments, taking care to be professional and presenting both problem and solution, using pertinent facts, statistics, and visual aids to drive your point home.
Mileage will vary. Like any worthwhile endeavor, there is no guarantee of success, but there is a guarantee that you will be carefully listened to, and your points weighed and considered.
The Board of Aldermen holds a 5 p.m. work session and a 7 p.m. business meeting on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. If you feel strongly about something and would like to exercise your right to redress, you can address the Board of Aldermen at the 7 p.m. business meeting during the public forum segment. Just remember to arrive a few minutes before 7 p.m. to fill out a yellow card and place it in the basket to secure your opportunity to speak. Good luck!
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