By Antonio D. French
Filed Wednesday, August 16, 2006 at 12:34 PM
During the power outages last month, more than 1,500 people were left in the dark at Lambert Airport after three separate power generators failed. An investigation by Chris Hayes of Channel 2 News revealed that those generators had not been properly serviced in years, despite claims by the airport's deputy director, Girard Slay, brother of Mayor Francis Slay, that they had been tested as recently as June 30. Labels: Mayor
At a press conference after the storms which knocked power out to much of the region, Girard Slay told reporters that the generators had been regularly maintained -- including the June 30 test which he said included them being ran "at idle speed for a half hour." He told the same thing to Lambert's director, Kevin Dolliole.
But records reviewed by Channel 2 showed the June 30 "tests" did not allow the generators to run at all. In fact, according to the station's report which aired last night, there is no record of the main terminal's generator being turned on at all since September of last year.
After learning the truth about the maintenance records, Dolliole told Channel 2 that the situation was "unacceptable" and said he has notified Mayor Slay about pre-disciplinary hearings which may include his brother.
Slay has posted a comment about the situation on his blog. He notes that "a supervisor initially claimed that [the generators] had been tested every month." He does not mention his own relationship to that supervisor.
18 Comments:
Isn't it funny how Mayor Slay's "blog" doesn't allow comments?
8/16/2006 1:24 PM
The other funny thing is how Mayor Slay's blog states:
"The credit goes to ... Fox 2 News"
No mention of the Post-Dispatch's investigation. Guess they're still in the dog house.
8/16/2006 2:38 PM
"(On his blog) He does not mention his own relationship to that supervisor."
Um, Richard Callow is not related to Girard Slay.
8/16/2006 2:51 PM
Its not a blog.
Its propaganda.
Slay does not even create the content.
And one cannot provide feedback...
8/16/2006 3:32 PM
The person in Gerard's position is supposed to be an engineer, Gerard is not. Gerard is also very opposed to hiring outside consultants to do work he feels his staff can do. Looks like he will be overruled on this one.
8/16/2006 7:54 PM
Slay should just call his two buds DJ Johnson and Floyd Irons and ask them to go beat some people up and this will fix everything. Fix it the Slay way-Intimidate people. I think it is time that we not only slice a "City Hall" cake in front of him, but mail him some uhaul boxes so he can start packing for his move out of City Hall.
8/16/2006 11:38 PM
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8/16/2006 11:43 PM
Gerard Slay has a high school diploma so what do you expect out of him. He was given his position because he is the Mayor's brother, not because he met the qualifications. He was the former supervisor of the janitorial crew at the Airport.
Do your research and you will be appalled at this bull@#%$! This appointment was the worst example of nepotism in history. Gerard Slay was jumped over many other qualified people to receive this job.
Mayor Slay will do whatever the hell he wants to do and nobody is going to stop him. People stop your whining because you know the facts and you are not going to do anything about it!
Gerard Slay will stay in the position until Mayor Slay decides he won't! Keep your packing boxes because Mayor Slay is going to be Mayor until he decides to leave.
Remember, we have an electronic voting machine now and Mayor Slay controls the outcome of any election. The election machines can be programmed to produce any result Mayor Slay wants the machines to produce.
Mayor Slay is the BOSS! Mayor Slay is the LEADER! Mayor Slay is the KING! Mayor Slay RULES THIS DAMN CITY! Now shut the F*^% UP PEOPLE, AND FOLLOW THE LEADER!!!!!!
8/17/2006 7:49 AM
These comments are bullshit. Slay is no prince, but don't let your Slay-paranoia get the best of you. Look at who sits on the airport board--Slay is not the only one. If Gerard Slay did something wrong, Slay's competitors would be the first to jump on it. If people think G. Slay or F. Slay did something wrong, put up or shut up.
8/17/2006 10:36 AM
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8/17/2006 11:42 AM
I had the conversation last night with an elected official, in my effort to have more elected officials blog, about, among other topics, the Mayor's "blog." First, what is the definition of a blog? Does it require interactivity--the ability for readers to add their comments? I'm not sure. Further, I'm not sure it matters. The basis behind blogging is for the author to share his or her opinions on matters of interest to him or her. While it is fun for we readers to be able to add our two cents--some comments aren't even worth that--I'm not sure it is a requirement. The person I was trying to convince last night to start blogging asked whether the Mayor's site is, in my opinion, a blog or just a well-updated website. Again, I'm not sure it matters. It does its job well of disseminating information of interest to the owner.
8/17/2006 5:18 PM
I'm following up on the airport generator story Sunday the 20th at 9 p.m. with more on Girard Slay's involvement.
I'd like to stay on this story after that as well. It would be nice to talk to an airport worker, but based on threat of termination it's probably unlikely. However, if anyone knows a union rep. involved in this issue, that may be another direction I can take.
Please e-mail me with any information at chris.hayes@fox2ktvi.com
8/17/2006 8:06 PM
Travis, I respectfully disagree.
Blogs are generally the opinion of the author. Mayorslay.com is advertised as Slay's blog, yet he does not post the content. It is well known that Richard Callow posts the content. Whether Slay has the personal time to blog, I cannot say, but I think it would be more appropriate, or at least more personal, if Callow noted himself as the author of the posts. He is Slay's PR director, so this does fall under his job, yet to post on Mayorslay.com without a disclaimer leads the reader to believe that Francis is composing the posts himself.
The comment issue. Blogs which do not allow comments are structured in this way for the purpose of keeping the author in a positive light. If Mayorslay had a bunch of negative comments, it would look bad. There is the spamming aspect as well.
In the end, the website does have some good information, and I do believe it at least has Slay's approval, yet I would like to see discussion and credit to the author.
8/17/2006 10:55 PM
Gerard is too far up the food chain to review maintenance records, the only issue here is his ability to manage and be effective in his position. Someone below him apparently felt he could get away with lying to Gerard. Since Gerard does not possess the necessary qualifications for his position, this probably fosters the needed animosity for those under him. This puts the new director in a tight spot. Griggs refused to let Francis-Rainford push him around, therefore the Colonel was forced to resign. What will the new director do with the mayor's brother?
8/18/2006 6:45 AM
Doug:
I'm not sure we are necessarily in disagreement. I don't know who writes the blog, but as it is commonly said that it is Richard Callow, I grant that, but as you point-out he does so as the Mayor's voice. I would assume the Mayor to be more tasked with running the City than to have time to blog, but that does not mean that he is not intimately involved with the content. After all, many books are "written" by busy individuals who don't have the time, but hire ghost writers to help them get their message out.
As for the interactivity of the site, I suspect it has more to do with liability and time than anything else. For example look at the amount of time Antonio spends policing this blog, and imagine how many more visitors the Mayor's blog has. Now if that time is not spent policing the blog, then issues of slander can arise. I'm sure you can see the logic behind having a closed blog if you do not have a full-time staffer to run it, which I wouldn't want my tax dollars to pay for.
8/18/2006 8:12 PM
FOX 2 totally beat the Post-Dispatch on this story. They had the first story that led to the first statements by G-man Slay. They've been driving this investigation and the Mayor know's it because his staff keeps calling the airport to make sure his brother doesn't mess-up any more than he already has. The man should gracefully "retire" and save the city a ton of cash and further embarrassment.
8/18/2006 9:24 PM
Wow, the Mayor's unqualified brother involved in a scandal? If we were discussing Mayor Bosley, there would already be a public outcry to rid the airport of his brother and to ride Bosley himself out of town. Oh well, to be expected. I'm waiting for the editorials to call for G. Slay's head on the chopping box. But, I'm not holding my breath.
8/19/2006 4:07 PM
P.S. Before I get a bunch of corrections, since proper use of phrases seem to be such a big deal on blogs, I meant "chopping block."
8/19/2006 4:09 PM
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