JEFFERSON CITY — A spat between Gov. Mike Parson and state Sen. Steve Roberts has cost a former mayor of St. Louis her post on a high-profile board.
Gov. Mike Parson’s office confirmed Wednesday he has withdrawn his appointment of four St. Louis area officials to various state boards and commissions, including former St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson to the University of Missouri Board of Curators.
Parson spokesman Johnathan Shiflett said Roberts, D-St. Louis, broke longtime tradition by refusing to sponsor Krewson and the others in the Senate confirmation process.
Krewson, who left office in 2021 after one term, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a bachelor’s in education, psychology, and special education from Truman State University.
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“Mrs. Krewson has been an advocate for the region and would have brought her valuable CPA skills to the board,” Shiflett said in a statement.
Krewson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Parson also scuttled three other April 12 appointees from the region, including Winston Calvert, former chief of staff to St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, and former St. Louis police chief Dan Isom to the Bi-State Development Agency, which oversees MetroLink. Also withdrawn was the Rev. Darryl Gray of St. Louis, a pastor at Greater Fairfax Baptist Church, to the Missouri Workforce Development Board.
Roberts said the governor did not give his office a head’s up about the appointments before they were announced.
“I, along with several other senators, learned of the appointments from the news after their press release. For every previous appointment, the governor’s office reached out weeks or months prior to their announcement so appointees could be properly vetted by my office as intended in the state’s Constitution,” Roberts said in a statement.
“I’ve spoken with Dan, Lyda, and Darryl over the last few weeks, and I know they would all serve admirably in their respective roles, but they understand my position that the governor failed to respect the citizens of St. Louis and the Fifth District by not contacting my office,” Roberts said in response to questions from the Post-Dispatch.
The governor’s office disagreed.
“We in fact have communicated with Senator Roberts on multiple occasions over the last few months. However, the only constituent Senator Roberts advocated on behalf of was himself to get a paid appointment to the Public Service Commission and his father to be appointed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators,” Shiflett said.
The Public Service Commission pays about $113,000 annually, while members of the House and Senate earn about $37,000 per year. Mizzou curators are paid for expenses related to their work on the board.
Roberts acknowledged he had discussed the Public Service Commission as an option.
“I expressed an interest in the PSC in January of this year, prior to ultimately choosing to file for a second term of office. The governor has appointed multiple former senators to watchdog roles on various commissions,” Roberts said.
The senator added he had not spoken with Parson about his father and the university board.
“Last session I mentioned my father’s interest in the position to a member of the governor’s staff as they were looking to fill the expired term given that he has served on seven different boards of trustees of public and private universities. But I have not followed up since,” Roberts said.
The governor’s office said it chose Calvert and Isom from a list submitted by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.
Shiflett said the governor believes “Mr. Isom’s background in public safety and Mr. Calvert’s experience in local government and nonprofit advocacy would have been valuable additions to the board.”
Mayor Jones on Thursday criticized Roberts for “playing politics” and not being “involved” in St. Louis issues, unlike his colleague Sen. Karla May, the Democratic state senator representing the western half of the city.
“Sen. May has always stepped up and fought for the issues that are directly affecting her citizens,” Jones said. “We just wish that Sen. Roberts would do the same.”
Roberts said one of the appointees does not live in his Senate district.
“Mr. Calvert is not a resident of my district, so it sounds like Governor Parson has bigger problems than just me,” he said.
The positions will remain vacant for the time being.
“We will reassess our options during the interim and also look for nominees outside of Senator Robert’s district who wish to serve their region and the state,” Shiflett said.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. Thursday with comments from St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones.