CLAYTON — ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Council Chair Shalonda Webb said Thursday she will reestablish the council’s ethics committee to look into County Executive Sam Page’s side job.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County executives are not allowed to work second jobs under a 2022 charter amendment, and Webb said the county executive’s role “is full-time with no days off.â€
“People deserve answers, and they deserve them now,†Webb wrote in a press release.
Webb did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Page is proud to volunteer, said Doug Moore, his spokesman. Page’s office is working on a proposal that would give county employees time off to volunteer, Moore said.
“We want to provide as many opportunities as we can to improve morale, engage with our community and demonstrate that ºüÀêÊÓƵ County government cares about its employees and its communities,†Moore said in a prepared statement. “We encourage the council to join us in these efforts.â€
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Page volunteers at SSM Health ºüÀêÊÓƵ University Hospital, he and a hospital spokeswoman both said Wednesday. He is not paid and only works as a volunteer anesthesiologist in the hospital’s operating rooms, said spokeswoman Maryanne Wallace.
Medicaid records obtained by the Post-Dispatch appeared to show Page getting reimbursed at least nine times last year. But Page said while the claims were filed under his name, any money paid out goes back to the hospital.
The council’s ethics committee, which doesn’t meet regularly, has investigated Page before. In 2021, the committee, made up of a four-person majority hostile to Page, decided to investigate Page for the same issue: his side job.
The investigation became moot in April 2022, when county voters approved a measure by 61% barring county executives from secondary work.