The Post Dispatch revealed devastating news last week for St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley’s reelection chances.  Mr. Dooley is hemorrhaging democratic support in the southern part of the county. A commenter on the story gives us a clue why:

“There are several reasons South Countians are upset with Dooley. The trash district is the big thing. His minions dragged me to court last month because I didn’t have trash service. At a vacant house. Another person was being prosecuted for not having trash pickup at her vacant lot. The unwillingness to spend 5 minutes reviewing a case before sending out a summons to make sure it’s valid (thus wasting several hours of his constituents’ time) made him lots of enemies in South County.” Read more…

As we’ve come to expect in this administration, anything dealing with shakedowns and county contracts has Dooley campaign manager and consiglieri John Temporiti right in the middle of it. Here’s an excerpt from a November 29, 2009 STL Post Dispatch article:

“Charlie Dooley’s best friend and his former campaign manager”

Temporiti’s efforts last year on behalf of Allied Waste shows the fine line that separates Temporiti’s private practice and his connection to county government.

Allied at the time was seeking hauling contracts for the county’s new trash districts.

At one point, Temporiti invited representatives of competing trash companies to his law firm’s office to discuss the program.

Bryan Barcom, of American Eagle Waste, said he was among about eight trash company owners or managers there. Barcom said Temporiti introduced himself at the meeting as “Charlie Dooley’s best friend and his former campaign manager.”

Barcom said Temporiti went on to say that not all the trash companies in the room would survive the trash districting program.

Barcom said, “He (Temporiti) said, ‘A few of you will be on board, but unfortunately, we’re going to put a few of you out of business.'”

“At that point, I said, ‘Who are you to say who will stay in business and who will go out of business?’ And from that point on, the meeting pretty much went downhill.”

Barcom, whose firm did not win any of the trash hauling contracts, is now a plaintiff in a suit that alleges that the county failed to give haulers two years’ notice before carrying out the program, as required by state law.

Allied eventually won contracts through bidding in two of the eight districts.

Temporiti denied that he made any comment about trash companies going out of business. Read more…

Related:

KMOX Investigates: Stimulus request steered toward Dooley campaign manager

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