Mayor-Elect: City Needs Some 'Healing' After Hard-Fought Campaign

Chesterfield’s Mayor-Elect says the city needs some “healing” after what he described as a hard-fought campaign that focused on his opponents backing of public financing for an outlet mall development.

Nation made the comment in an interview by the St. Louis Suburban Journals published this week. Nation will be sworn in as mayor on April 17 and told the publication that his focus will now be on the future.

"I recognize this was a hard-fought campaign and I think some healing needs to be done, which I certainly hope can occur sooner rather than later," he said. "I want to emphasize us all working together for Chesterfield's good."

Nation also said he would like “roll back tax rates where possible”  and added that the city has a lot of positives going for it, including its 25th anniversary, two outlet malls opening in Chesterfield Valley and a new Mercy Hospital development.

He said he wanted to keep the city moving in the same direction, but without using public financing for private development.

Such financing turned out to be a driving issue of the campaign, focusing on a $30 million Community Improvement District (CID) the council approved to help pay for site developments at the future St. Louis Premium Outlets. The CID is paid for by an additional 1-cent sales tax that will be levied on purchases at the shopping center.

Nation campaigned as being against the public financing from the start, deriding it as a public handout for a private corporation. The race turned divisive when supporters of his opponent, Matt Segal, accused him of misrepresenting his record since Nation was absent for the final vote on the CID.

A story on KMOV on Nation’s electioon also noted the issue, stating that “some residents believe Nation campaigned with the chance he could get rid of the tax increase when in reality, there is nothing anyone can do about it.”

His victory matches a wave of politicians elected on a rising sentiment against such public financing tools, particularly TIFs. In Chesterfield, former Mayor Nancy Greenwood and former council member Dan Hurt each won spots on the council after voicing opposition to public financing for developers.

The issue is particularly strong in Ellisville, where two candidates won council seats with strident opposition to a large TIF a previous council approved for a controversial Walmart development.