ST. LOUIS - (KMOX) St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones says taking accountability for problems in Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office "is not weak or pointing fingers, accountability is when something goes wrong, you take accountability for it, you say this is my mess up and how can we work together to fix it." Jones says everyone has to be at the table to make sure this doesn't happen again.
The Mayor is referring to Janae Edmondson losing both her legs after being pinned under a car Daniel Riley is accused of hitting while driving wrecklessly.
Jones says she was disturbed by the statement Kim Gardner's office released late Tuesday on Janae's case. The mayor says she has not spoken with Gardner, but their staffs have.
In an effort to make St. Louis streets safer Jones says she has invested 40-million dollars in ARPA funds in a city wide traffic mobility study because "we want to make sure that St. Louisans are safe no matter how they get around."
Mayor Jones the first way to instill the trust of the people is for Gardner to accept accountability and look at where things dropped. "This individual (Daniel Riley) had multiple violations and we want to make sure that accountability is taken, that the process going forward is air tight so this doesn't happen again."
When asked by a reporter if mis-steps by Gardner's office has damaged the reputation of the City. Jones said, "I'll be honest with you, mis-steps by the office has damaged the reputation of the City. If you look at what's going on
in the Missouri Legislature, they are coupling these two issues together with state control over the police department, as well as taking away the authority of the Circuit Attorney's office."
Jones says she has pulled everyone together, including the CJC office to see where the gaps were in the Riley case. Jones says "the Circuit Attorney who has been there six years, this incident and others have highlighted the fact some improvements need to be made in her office. And, she really needs to do some soul searching whether or not she wants to continue as circuit attorney because she's lost the trust of the people."
