St. Louis County Council Names New Chairman

Michael O’Mara (D-Florissant), District 4 was elected the new St. Louis County Council chair at the first council meeting of 2012 Tuesday night. He takes the helm from Steve Stenger (D-Affton), the councilman for District 6. Kathleen Burkett (D-Overland), District 2, is now the vice chair.

O’Mara is a Florissant native, and has been on the council since 2000. He was the chair, last, in 2007.

He was an All-American soccer player before playing professionally in Kansas City and St. Louis. He joined the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562, and is currently an international representative for the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Sprinklerfitters.

O’Mara’s priorities this year for St. Louis County focus on the economy. He said he wants to put more people to work and bring more jobs to the county.

“We ran into a tough economy at the end of the year,” O’Mara said. “If we look at what we can accomplish earlier on in the year, I think we’re going to be that much better for St. Louis County.”

He plans on working on the budget earlier this year, than the council did in 2011. He’s said he’s seen rough times in the past on the council, but is upbeat about his relations with County Executive Charlie Dooley for the next year.

“I’m a compromise person, I think we can compromise,” O’Mara said.

County Parks are also a priority.

“What do we need to do for the next 20 years for our county parks?” he asked. “How are we going to make them grow, how are we going to maintain them?”

O’Mara called the county parks a long-term project that needs to be looked at quickly, and plans to establish a separate panel of council members to look into the matter.

However, he also said that the top priorities of St. Louis County citizens are safety and parks.