Robert G. Lowery

Infobox Mayor
name = Robert G. Lowery, Sr.


caption =
office = Mayor of Florissant
term_start = February, 2001
term_end =
governor = Matt Blunt
predecessor = James J. Eagan
successor = "Incumbent"
birth_date = 1940
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
constituency =
party = Democratic
spouse =
profession =
religion =


footnotes = Uncle of Deputy James Lowery

Robert G. Lowery, Sr. has been the current mayor of the city of Florissant, Missouri in northern St. Louis County, Missouri, since November, 2001. Upon the death of much loved Mayor James J. Eagan in 2000 Council President John Moran was Mayor pro tempore and the successor to the position of mayor. But Lowery despite a very definitive City Charter was shown on a local newscast upon the announcement of Eagan's death, walking down the sidewalk in front of City Hall with his briefcase to take control. Moran was told he would not need to take over as Mayor per the charter, that Lowery would take care of the city.

Lowery succeeded Mayor James J. Eagan who died in November 2000. Though an election was held to determine who would succeed Eagan, Robert Lowery's position as the new Mayor of Florissant seemed eminent.

Law Enforcement Career

Lowery had formerly served as the police chief the of the City of Florissant. This was until his retirement in 2001, when elected mayor in February 2001 and Stephen Kruse became the new police chief. Kruse then resigned to accept a new position working in the private sector. On November 1, 2002, Lowery officially appointed William Karabas to be the city's police chief.

Throughout his career as police chief Florissant was consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in America.

Lowery had also worked as part of the Major Case Squad for the St. Louis County Police Department.

Community Redevelopment

Since taking office, Lowery led the way to many new renovations in the City of Florissant.

The first of these changes came in 2002, in the part of Florissant near Lindbergh Boulevard and New Halls Ferry Road known as Cross Keys. The area had formerly been a small shopping mall with only a few tenants left. The tenants that remain included a supermarket, a pharmacy, and a fashion store, all of which are still located near the area where the new shopping center replacing the mall that once stood their. Adding to the shopping center were several new restaurants and shops including a bookstore. This had been in the Eagan Florissant city plan prior to Lowery taking office.

Lowery's improvements are not limited to the Cross Keys neighborhood. A new bicycling and walking path that extends from the Sunset Park along the Missouri River to St. Ferdinand Park was recently completed in 2006. The path, most of which runs along the same path a some high voltage powerlines, connects much of western Florissant with the main section of Florissant via a foot bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. Much of the city is divided by Coldwater Creek, which has some natural and man-made tributaries that separate various neighborhoods from Berkley, Hazelwood, Florissant, Black Jack, until pouring into the Missouri River in unincorporated St. Louis County. A similar footbridge plan was slated to connect the Wedgewood subdivision to a foot path leading to St. Ferdinand Park's east entrance, but because of strong opposition by residents in the neighborhood, this plan never became possible.

Though the commercial redevelopment of Cross Keys is a success, much of the city's other commercial areas are still in need of the same renovation, especially the Florissant Meadows section of town near the city's historic Old Town area.

Controversies

Eminent Domain

According to a "Wall Street Journal" article published on August 3, 2005, a development firm turned down a $30 million dollar project to construct condominiums, lofts, and retail space when the owner of a piece of vacant land refused to sell. According to city officials, the developer did not want the negative publicity due to the controversy of eminent domain and eminent domain abuse. The company defended their pull-out stating poor soil conditions and flooding in addition to eminent domain issues were to blame.

Lowery commented "The company did not want the adverse publicity. People don't understand what eminent domain is. They think it's always taking grandma out of her house, and that's not true. I wouldn't touch anything like that. That's political disaster."

The developers had plans on building in Florissant's Old Town historic district, where many building are registered as historic buildings. The idea of putting an upscale development project certainly would not have been a suitable area. However, the project might have been ideal for areas such as the east side of the city where many buildings and businesses have become run down or closed.

While Mayor Lowery and former Florissant city coucilwoman Geri Debo pushed to promote the Old Town Florissant area as an Old St. Charles type area to potential businesses, the area did attract a few new stores, but the promised increased foot traffic did not come to fruition and those businesses closed and had problems selling their property.

Busch Wildlife

Another controversy that Lowery has tried to keep quiet about is his support for his son, Robert Lowery, Jr.

Robert Lowery, Jr. is the city administrator for the city of O'Fallon, Missouri in near by St. Charles County, Missouri. Since taking office, the elder Lowery has quietly supported his son on various issues including the annexation of August Busch Memorial Conservation Area in nearby Weldon Springs, Missouri. While the younger Lowery stated that the annexation was an attempt to be viewed as a "good neighbor." But a local government watchdog group as well as a few other city officials determined the plan to be a case of backdoor politics. As a fifth ward, the wildlife preseve owned by Adolphus Busch IV and maintained by the Missouri Department of Conservation would have allowed developers to move in and whittle away the propety for urban sprawl. Lowery argued that if the city did not annex the land, another nearby town would.

On June 14, 2007, the O'Fallon city council unanimously opposed the annexation for now. Attending the meeting was Mr. Busch.

Many people in O'Fallon, St. Charles County, as well as patrons of Busch Wildlife and an independent watchdog group would like to see Lowery step down not only for the Busch Wildlife incident but other instance of corruption within the O'Fallon government.

External links

* [http://www.florissantmo.com/govt/mayor.htm Office of Mayor] - A message from Mayor Lowery.
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05215/547987.stm Eminent-domain uproar imperils projects] - Michael Corkery and Ryan Chittum, "The Wall Street Journal" - August 3, 2005

Links related to Bob Lowery, Jr.
* [http://www.ofallon.mo.us/dept_admin_caoffice.htm City of O'Fallon, City Administrator's Office] - Information about Bob Lowery, Jr.
* [http://www.ofallonwatchdog.org/ O'Fallon Watchdog] - cites many issues involving Bob Lowery, Jr.
* [http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2007/06/19/news/sj2tn20070616-0617ofm_annex_1.ii1.txt O'Fallon won't annex Busch Conservation Area] - Nina Kult, "Suburban Journal" - June 19, 2007
* [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/talkofcharleytown/story/47B5CEF8192D33D4862572FF00155DD3?OpenDocument Fire ignited by wildlife area fiasco keeps smoldering] - John Sonderegger, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" - June 19, 2007
* [http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2007-07-04/news/follow-the-money/ Follow the Money] - An editorial in the "Riverfront Times" - July 4, 2007