果酱视频

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The newly elected city sheriff said Monday he had every right to push out more than a dozen senior staffers at a cost of nearly $500,000 earlier this year, despite the impact on his budget.

Speaking to aldermen grilling him on the expense, Sheriff Alfred Montgomery said it was his 鈥減rerogative鈥� to clean house when he replaced former Sheriff Vernon Betts earlier this year.

And while he continued to cast the benefit payouts to former employees as questionable 鈥� and Betts鈥� fault 鈥� he said all the scrutiny was racially motivated.

Newly elected Mayor Cara Spencer brought in new staff, Montgomery said.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 the difference between me and the mayor?鈥� he asked. 鈥淚鈥檓 Black, and she鈥檚 white. That鈥檚 the difference.鈥�

The argument put an exclamation point on more than an hour of testimony in which Montgomery aggressively defended the firings and his department as the victim of unfair budgeting and media hit jobs.

Aldermen had called in Montgomery to give him an opportunity to explain a letter he sent last week threatening to stop taking city jail detainees to and from hospitals for medical care.

He had written that he would only resume service when the city agreed to boost his budget, which has been on track to finish $600,000 in the red this year. That had upset Spencer and aldermen, who have been trying to improve health care service at the jail after years of problems and deaths.

Montgomery started Monday鈥檚 hearing by rescinding his threat 鈥� on the condition that aldermen try to help him out.

But when aldermen started suggesting Montgomery was the cause of his own problems, he rebuked them as out of line.

And aldermen were not impressed by the comparison between Montgomery and Spencer. They said the mayor, who runs the city, has a very different job than the sheriff, whose staff is tasked with guarding courtrooms, serving court papers and transporting inmates.

They said Montgomery may have been justified in bringing in some new leaders.

鈥淏ut maybe not 17 people,鈥� said Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, the budget committee chair. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to know consequences.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lack of accountability in multiple places,鈥� said Alderman Michael Browning, of Forest Park Southeast.

鈥淎t least we got it all on record,鈥� quipped Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, of Tower Grove East.

The hearing, captured by a scrum of reporters and television cameras, was the latest spectacle for one of the city鈥檚 newest and most controversial officials.

Since taking office in January, Montgomery has been investigated for ordering the handcuffing of a top jail official, sued after telling a deputy to roll golden dice for his job and criticized for having a deputy . Then he hired high-profile lobbyists and purchased $12,000 worth of used golf carts.

But he drew new ire last week when he wrote a letter to Spencer saying his office would, starting June 9, stop transporting city jail detainees to and from hospitals for medical care 鈥渦nless and until additional resources are made available to our department.鈥�

He said his office had neither the money nor the responsibility for the service, though the office has performed it for decades.

He also questioned the legitimacy of part of the payouts to the workers he let go: $250,000 was for 鈥渃ompensatory time,鈥� he said, ostensibly for hours beyond the regular workday. And it was approved by the city comptroller shortly before Montgomery took office.

But Comptroller Donna Baringer, who took office in April, said the payout was legitimate: The city owed it to the people Montgomery fired.

On Monday, aldermen pushed Montgomery on all of that.

And when the sheriff and his staff talked about needing $800,000 or more per year to hire enough deputies to safely transport jail inmates and properly staff courtrooms, questions sharpened.

Aldermen asked why Montgomery had made the threat instead of just asking them for help. They ran through his various scandals and missteps, from the handcuffing incident to the golden dice to the creation of a no-gossip policy, which promptly leaked to the media. Browning prodded him about threatening to cut off transportation for detainees while having a deputy drive his kids around.

Montgomery said the deputy driving his kids was not on duty. He said many media reports were untrue. He said he鈥檇 tried to reach out to officials about his budget issues months ago but received no help. He said aldermen were asking him to do too much and then shorting him in his budget.

鈥淚f you need something from us,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need something from you.鈥�

Browning disagreed.

鈥淲hat you鈥檙e saying is, 鈥榃e need this money. Trust us,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淎nd the problem is that it is very hard to trust you.鈥�

The committee then approved several amendments moving money between departments in the budget for the upcoming year.

The sheriff鈥檚 office was not among them.