Term length Four years Formation 1821 Website Office of the Mayor | Inaugural holder William Carr Lane Salary $131,820 | |
 | ||
The mayor of the City of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis' city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the board of aldermen.
Contents
Forty-five individuals have held the office of mayor of St. Louis, four of whom — William Carr Lane, John Fletcher Darby, John Wimer, and John How — served non-consecutive terms. The most terms served by a mayor was by Lane, who served eight full terms plus the unexpired term of Darby. The current mayor is Francis G. Slay, who took office April 17, 2001, and who won a fourth four-year term on March 5, 2013. As of April 27, 2013, he is the longest-serving mayor of St. Louis. The second-longest serving mayor was Henry Kiel, who took office April 15, 1913 and left office April 21, 1925, a total of 12 years and nine days over three terms in office. Two others — Raymond Tucker, and Vincent C. Schoemehl — also served three terms as mayor, but served seven fewer days. The shortest serving mayor was Arthur Barret, who died 11 days after taking office.
Duties and powers
St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822, shortly following the state of Missouri's admission to the Union four months prior. In accordance with its new charter, the city changed its governance to a mayor-council format and elected its first mayor, William Carr Lane, on April 7, 1823.
Elections
The mayor is elected for four years during the general municipal election, which is held every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April. Primary elections are held in March prior to the general municipal election. The mayor is usually sworn during the first session of the Board of Aldermen two weeks after the election. The next election for mayor will be in 2017.
Under the original city charter, the mayor was elected to a one-year term. The mayor served a two-year term after the adoption of a new city charter in 1859. The mayor's office was extended to its present four-year term after passage of the Charter and Scheme in 1876 which separated the City of St. Louis from St. Louis County. The mayor is not term limited.
Succession
If the office of mayor becomes vacant through death, resignation, recall, or removal by the board of aldermen, the president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor until a special mayoral election can be held; if the office is only temporarily vacant due to disability of the mayor, the president only acts out the duties of mayor. Should both offices be vacant, the vice-president of the board of aldermen becomes mayor.
Five people have acted as mayor: Wilson Primm following the resignation of John Darby; Ferdinand W. Cronenbold following the resignation of Chauncey Filley; Herman Rechtien following the death of Arthur Barret; George W. Allen following the resignation of David Francis; and Aloys P. Kaufmann following the death of William Becker.
Other high offices held
This is a table of governorships, congressional and other federal offices, and ranking diplomatic positions in foreign countries held by St. Louis mayors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented Missouri.
* Denotes those offices that the mayor resigned to take. † Denotes those offices that the mayor resigned to be mayor.Living former mayors
As of September 2008, four former mayors were alive, the oldest being James F. Conway (1977–1981, born 1933). The most recent death of a former mayor was that of John H. Poelker (1973–1977), on February 9, 1990.