Steve Stenger Biography
Steve Stenger (Steven Stenger) is an American attorney and a former Democratic politician. From January 2015 to April 2019, Stenger served as County Executive of St. Louis County, Missouri.
Steve Stenger Education
He graduated from Bishop DuBourg High School and briefly toured as a singer with two local bands, The Stand and The Painted Faces. He then went to University of Missouri-St. Louis and majored in accounting.
After that, Stenger became a certified public accountant(CPA) and went to law school at St. Louis University. After law school, Stenger got a job as a lawyer and CPA at Ernst & Young. Stenger later helped start the law firm Klar, Izsak and Stenger, where he is a partner.
Steve Stenger Career
Stenger was the prosecuting attorney of a city government from 2005-2008. From 2009 to 2015, he was on the St. Louis County Council. Stenger represented the sixth district, which contained about 145,000 people in south St. Louis County.
In 2011, he became Chairman of the Council. In 2014, Stenger defeated Charlie Dooley, a long-time incumbent, during the Democratic primaries for St Louis County Executive. Steve Stenger proceeded to win the St. Louis County Executive general election, narrowly edging out his Republican opponent Rick Stream.
Stenger took office as St. Louis County Executive in 2015. On April 29, 2019, he announced his resignation on after being federally indicted.
Steve Stenger Age
Stenger was born in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood located in southwest St. Louis City, but was brought up in Affton, Missouri. He likes to keep his personal life private hence it is not known when he was born or when he celebrates his birthday.
Steve Stenger Family
He is the son of Pete and JoAnn. His father father was a union telephone lineman with Southwestern Bell. He has sisters and brother.
Steve Stenger Wife
Stenger married Allison Stenger in 2009 and together they have two children, Madeline and Lincoln. He was previously married to Julie Stenger.
Steve Stenger Resign
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger has resigned after a federal grand jury indicted him in a pay-to-play scheme. Stenger’s attorney Scott Rosenblum confirmed the resignation with 5 On Your Side shortly after the indictment came down.
Stenger submitted his official resignation letter to St. Louis County Counselor Peter Krane. In it he stated:
“It has been an honor to serve the people of St. Louis County as St. Louis County Executive. The past four years have been some of the most fulfilling years of my professional career.
“I have determined after much thought that it is in the best interest of our County and my family that I resign as St. Louis County Executive effective immediately.”
There are conflicting reports through various St. Louis County sources about when the county council will meet to discuss what’s next. Whenever the meeting happens, council members will be required to name a replacement for Stenger. The replacement must be a Democrat—because Stenger was a Democrat—but the person does not have to be a seated member of the St. Louis County Council. The only requirement for the replacement is that they’re a registered Democrat in St. Louis County.
Stenger is facing three counts of honest services bribery/mail fraud.
Stenger secretly used his position as county executive to make money and, in turn, help companies enrich themselves “through corrupt means,” according to the indictment.
Specifically, Stenger is accused of making sure John Rallo and his companies Cardinal Insurance and Cardinal Creative Consulting got contracts with St. Louis County in 2015 and 2016 in exchange for campaign donations and fundraising events.
Stenger also is accused of ensuring Rallo and his company Wellston Holdings, LLC, got the options to buy two properties in Wellston, Missouri, which were held by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of St. Louis County in 2016 and 2017.
The indictment accuses Stenger of taking steps to “hide, conceal and cover up his illegal conduct and actions, including making false public statements.”
Stenger has not yet commented on Monday’s developments. He is scheduled to appear in federal court at 1 p.m. Monday for his initial appearance and arraignment.
If convicted, each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution also is mandatory.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office took up the investigation in March. That’s when a federal grand jury issued a subpoena to St. Louis County seeking records involving Stenger, according to St. Louis County Councilman Ernie Trakas. Trakas told 5 On Your Side this followed an initial investigation St. Louis County Council launched months ago into the Wellston land deal, the Northwest Plaza and other transactions.
In both of those transactions, the council raised questions about Stenger’s alleged involvement in offering high-dollar deals to the owners of both properties. Both of the property owners also contributed thousands to Stenger’s campaign.
According to Trakas, the subpoena ordered St. Louis County to hand over Stenger’s call history, texts and emails with current and former county employees about county contracts.
Stenger was on the rise in local politics before the federal investigation was launched.
He was set to become the de factor “metro mayor” if the city-county merger would get approved. The “Better Together” proposal called for Stenger to automatically become the metro mayor until an election could be held in 2024.
However, Unite STL—the group behind the Better Together plan—decided to change course and move up the special election to November 2022. They cited community conversation, rather than the investigation, as their reasoning.
On Monday, Unite STL spokesman Ed Rhode offered this statement on Stenger’s resignation:
“While the reunification effort is unaffected by today’s development, we do believe that it underscores the need for change and the potential benefit of reforming and streamlining St. Louis Government.”
Source: www.ksdk.com