Politics & Government

Mayor Glantz Defends Campaign, Cites 'Political Maneuvering', Will Cooperate With Ethics Probe

A complaint filed Thursday with the Missouri Ethics Commission alleged misrepresentations with regard to campaign finance disclosures and possibility of an attempt to deliberately confuse voters in Creve Coeur's Mayoral election last month.

In a telephone interview Monday morning Mayor Barry Glantz addressed the ethics filed against him by Ward Four Councilwoman Jeanne Rhoades and defended his election campaign,

Glantz said "When you hold public office, you're subject to all sorts of public scrutiny," adding that he has "nothing to hide" and will cooperate fully with any investigation by the Missouri Ethics Commission.

In her complaint, Rhoades points to a problem with a $2,000 donation made by Garrick Hamilton, on behalf of 3G's Yogurt. Rhoades believes Glantz misrepresented Hamilton's primary employer since Hamilton is general counsel for the , one of the area's largest developers and long a major player in Creve Coeur development circles.

Find out what's happening in Creve Coeurwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Glantz told Patch he believed the donation to be coming from 3G's Yogurt because the actual check came from the firm. Glantz said he knew Hamilton was, in fact General Counsel for the Koman Group, but also believed Hamilton to be the proper contact for 3G's Yogurt. Glantz said a solution could be something as simple as fixing a clerical error.

Hamilton has not returned a weekend email or a Monday morning phone call seeking comment.

Find out what's happening in Creve Coeurwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The remainder of the complaint revolves around a controversial mailer sent out in the closing days of the campaign by Donna Dill, critical of Glantz's opponent in the mayor's race, Laura Bryant. Dill claimed to be a Creve Coeur resident in the mailer, which was produced by Mark's Quick Printing, the same firm that worked on Glantz's campaign.

Glantz Monday again denied knowledge of Dill, and said he had not attempted to figure out who she is. He called her mailer "A low point in the campaign season." He added that how Mark Brown, the owner of the printing firm, chose to run his business was "up to him," but said Brown did "a very good job" of executing the campaign that was asked of him.

Dill declined to comment on the complaint when reached by phone Friday. Brown is out of the country until next week according to a store employee reached Monday.

Glantz chalked the complaint up to some degree of "political maneuvering" as Rhoades has been a longtime supporter of Glantz's opponent in the race. While pledging cooperation with what comes next in the process and taking full responsibility for his campaign, Glantz said he is looking forward, not back, and that he is "trying to immerse myself in the responsibilities of the job," as Mayor.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Creve Coeur