Francis G. Slay - Term As Mayor

Term As Mayor

Slay was successful in his first campaign for mayor in 2001, defeating incumbent mayor Clarence Harmon and former mayor Freeman Bosley, Jr. in the Democratic Primary. A great deal of residential re-development took place within the city during Slay's first term in office, including increased redevelopment in the Washington Avenue Loft District. During his first term in office, Slay was also involved with a number of controversial proposals, including construction of a new St. Louis Cardinals baseball stadium in downtown St. Louis and the redistricting of aldermanic wards required after the 2000 census. Slay also supported a controversial plan to redevelop the historic Old Post Office, which included the demolition of an adjacent historic office building, the Century Building for a parking garage. Slay was re-elected to a second term as mayor in 2005 and to a third term in 2009. He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. On April 19, 2007 he endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. On June 9, 2008, however, after Clinton ended her campaign, Slay announced his endorsement of Barack Obama. Slay is a member of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners. During his term, St. Louis was named the most dangerous city in the country in 2006 and 2010, as well as the second most dangerous city in 2007. After the release of the 2010 census Slay stated that he was surprised to learn that St. Louis had lost more than 29,000 residents since the year 2000.