St. Peters Alderman Gus Elliott resigns

St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano made a brief announcement before opening the St. Peters Board of Aldermen meeting on Thursday, Sept. 13. Pagaon said, “I am announcing that effective today Gus Elliott has resigned as alderman of the city of St. Peters.”

That was as much as Pagano would say about the former Ward Three alderman.

This past February Elliott admitted to law enforcement officials to altering a Missouri Ethics Commission complaint he helped create that accused fellow Ward 3 Alderman Tommy Roberts of election fraud. The MEC complaint appeared to be written by city Communications Director Lisa Bedian and was distributed in the city and to local media.

At the time, Roberts was running for reelection in April.

The MEC complaint alleged that Roberts was an anonymous producer of negative ads against Elliott and former state representative Cynthia Davis while they were running for elected positions in April 2011.

Roberts denied the allegations and has been charged with no wrongdoing.

A St. Peters Police investigation and another by a special prosecutor failed to determine that Elliott had harassed Bedian and no charges have been filed against him. However, the situation divided St. Peters throughout the summer.

After the announcement, Pagano declined to say what Elliott’s resignation means to the city.

Elliott served on the city’s planning and zoning commission from 2004 to 2007 before being elected alderman in 2007. He was reelected in April 2011.

During the public comments period of Thursday’s meeting several residents implored the board to allow the mayor to appoint Terri Violet to fill Elliott’s remaining term of about 2-½ years. Violet has been active in civic functions in the city. She ran twice to represent Ward 3 but lost to both Elliott and Roberts.

Between the board’s work session and its regular meeting Thursday night Elliott’s nameplate was removed from the dais. His photo and biography were missing Thursday evening from the city’s Web site.