Is your St. Clair County Board member coming to work? Here are their attendance records
Elected St. Clair County Board members meet at least once a month to make decisions about county business as part of their job. But in recent years, only one meeting has had perfect attendance.
At least one board member — and as many as six — were absent from the rest of the meetings since the last election, which was in November 2022.
It may not be the only time your St. Clair County Board member is on the clock working for you, but monthly board meetings are when they come together to approve policies, spending, appointments of county officials, and more. Meetings also give members of the community an opportunity to publicly address the County Board with concerns and questions about its decisions.
This board has voted on buying the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, allocating $30 million in COVID-19 relief dollars, raising salaries for elected officials and about 100 appointees for county jobs and board positions.
Some County Board members haven’t missed any of the 24 meetings in the past two years. Others have been absent almost half of the time.
Illnesses, injuries and work conflicts were common reasons County Board members said they missed meetings. Other reasons included vacations and family commitments like a birthday, wedding or funeral.
County Board members who aren’t drawing a pension are paid a salary of $19,419. (The County Board chairman makes $95,899, which will increase next year to $106,540.)
A little over half of the board members are also receiving medical benefits, according to documents St. Clair County provided the Belleville News-Democrat in response to a public records request.
Medical benefits cost the county between $737 and $2,189 per board member each month in 2024, depending on whether spouses and children are also covered.
One board member also participates in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund for a pension, which cost the county $28 per month in 2024.
Health issues, family and work conflicts cause frequent absences
Richie Meile, who represents part of O’Fallon and Shiloh in District 25, has an attendance record of 54% since the November 2022 election, when he was selected for a second term. He has missed 11 of the 24 meetings that have occurred.
Meile said the reason for his absences is an injury to his back that isn’t improving with surgeries.
“My back went out after I got elected the first time,” Meile said, referring to the November 2018 election. “… I had a back operation, and then it didn’t work so they operated again. Consequently, they have operated three times and every time they operated on me, it’s gotten worse.”
Meile said now it’s difficult to drive a car, and he can’t walk without the use of a walker.
He ran for a second term in 2022 despite his injury because he said his constituents asked him to. Meile said he wants to finish out his term, but he won’t be seeking re-election in 2026.
Meile contends that he doesn’t miss “important votes.” He voted in favor of the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds purchase, the COVID-19 relief spending plan for the county and salary increases for elected officials. (A 1.32% raise for County Board members takes effect after Meile’s term ends in 2027.)
“I can still function as a County Board member and as a chairman on committees,” Meile said Monday night after the County Board’s management information committee meeting. Meile is the chairman of both the management information committee that meets as needed and the environment committee that meets monthly.
“I got two years left,” he added. “When that’s done, I’m done.”
Roy Mosley Jr., who represents East St. Louis, Brooklyn and Madison in District 3, also has an attendance record of 54% since the last election.
Mosley Jr. said he was caring for his sick father Roy Mosley Sr., 84, before his death in 2023, which caused him to miss meetings. Then in 2024, he took evening classes that conflicted with some County Board meeting nights, he said.
Outside of the monthly meetings, Mosley Jr. said his County Board work has included taking frequent calls from residents who can’t pay their property tax bills. Mosley Jr. is the assistant chairman of the County Board’s trustee committee, which deals with delinquent taxes and foreclosures.
“You have people reaching out to you all the time: ‘What can I do when I’m behind on my taxes?’ ‘How can I keep my home?’” he said of the questions he receives.
Mosley Jr. said he also goes out into the community to survey properties for the county demolition program. So far this year, St. Clair County has used a little over $500,000 of a $2 million state grant to demolish 65 derelict properties in Washington Park, Cahokia Heights, Belleville and East Carondelet.
“Last year was a difficult year,” Mosley Jr. said in a recent interview. “But this year, now things are getting back to normal for me.”
For several board members, jobs outside of the County Board have conflicted with some meetings.
That was the case for Steve Gomric of District 8, CJ Baricevic of District 16, Jana Armstrong Moll of District 23, Matt Smallheer of District 27, Ed Cockrell of District 20 and Kevin Dawson of District 24.
Gomric, who represents part of Belleville, has an attendance record of 67% largely because of new work travel, he said. He missed eight meetings.
Gomric left his position as general manager of the Gateway Grizzlies in 2022 to become the director of operations for The Perfect Mound, a sports accessories seller. He said the new role required him to go to multiple national trade shows over the past two years, but he expects to be traveling less in the future.
Family commitments also kept Gomric from a couple of meetings, including the funeral for his father James Gomric, 81, and a baseball game for his son, a high school senior hoping to play at the collegiate level.
“I think this is more anomalous than anything else,” Gomric said of his recent absences.
Stephen Reeb of District 13, who missed six meetings, did not respond to the BND’s requests for comment about his absences.
This story was originally published October 3, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
