May 18, 2020

From the Desk of: The Honorable Betty L Thompson - 314-921-9970

Secretary: Queen P Daugherty

Moderator: Eileen Plump

RE: Endorsement Letter for Dr. Sam Page for St. Louis County Executive

 We are writing this letter of endorsement on behalf of Dr. Sam Page.

The Honorable Betty L Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award Committee and 100+ African American Women of Saint Louis County stand and support Dr. Sam Page because of his experience, transparency, and dedication to our community. He has shown great commitment and leadership since taking on the County Executive office on April 29, 2019.

Dr. Page and his team have been very busy. In their first 100 days his office released a report that outlined their progress and that increased transparency. Dr. Page and his team studied County deals to root out corruption and protect taxpayer’s money and implemented a new program to improve customer resources to address racial equity, reduce crime, and reform the criminal justice system.

In the next 100 days, the work continued by addressing pay equity, providing more resources for people with children, raising the County’s own minimum wage to $15/hour, implementing paid family leave, and protecting survivors of domestic abuse. Because of the work Dr. Page did in less than a year he was in office, for the first time the County received recognition as one of the best places in the region for women to work.

Since late February, Dr. Page and his team have channeled significant resources into slowing the progress of COVID-19 in our community. By February 28, 2020, over a week before St. Louis County had a single case, Dr. Page had created a COVID-19 specific website and hotline for the public. He announced a County stay-at-home order before Washington State issued its stay-at-home order, and that quick action saved lives. Dr. Page has and will continue to advocate for more testing and health services in North County, and he is working hard to secure more funding for our underserved communities. As the St. Louis American pointed out in their April 30th article “Page attacked for directing COVID-19 relief at black communities hit hardest,” early on Dr. Page recognized the disparate impact of COVID-19 on blacks in the County (2:1 in both deaths and cases) and has “called for ‘equitable rather than equal’ disbursement of COVID-19 relief funds.”

We as African Americans appreciate and applaud Dr. Sam Page and his team’s accomplishments and efforts with diversity. Dr. Page meets regularly with our committee and leaders in our community. One of his first official actions was to create a new position for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion headed by former 1st District Councilwoman Hazel Erby.

Dr. Page is an asset to our community and will continue to be a great St. Louis County Executive. We, the Honorable Betty L Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award Committee & 100 + African American Women of Saint Louis County, hereby endorse Dr. Sam Page for St. Louis County Executive and ask you to join us in voting for him on August 4th. Thank You.

Signed,

The Honorable Betty L Thompson

Co-signed by: