West Newsmagazine 12-14-16

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Graville named Chesterfield city attorney
December 14, 2016
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE I NEWS I 15
By JIM ERICKSON
The Chesterfield City Council on Dec. 5
approved Mayor Bob Nation’s
appointment of Chris Graville
as city attorney, a position he
has held on an interim basis for
more than seven months.
The vote on the appointment
was 7-0, with Councilmember
Bridget Nations [Ward 2]
absent.
When Graville, who owns
his own law firm in Clayton,
Graville
accepted the interim appointment in April,
councilmembers were at loggerheads on a
number of issues, including how to go about
replacing Michael Herring, who had retired
at the end of March, and who would serve in
his capacity during a search process.
Graville also had represented State Rep.
Sue Allen in presenting the results of an
analysis she had volunteered to do to determine
if Chesterfield ordinances and procedures
complied with state law. Although
a House staff attorney specializing in
municipal law conducted the study, Allen
had asked Graville to review its findings
with the council.
While those issues had divided the council
then, the vote on Graville’s appointment
strongly suggested that time and
opportunities to work together had erased
any remaining questions or doubts about
the interim attorney. Further, the goodnatured
banter councilmembers directed at
Graville before his appointment signaled
their approval.
“Is this the time for me to vote
‘no’?” Councilmember Randy
Logan [Ward 3] asked with a
barely concealed grin at one
point in the parliamentary process.
With mock seriousness,
Councilmember Barry Flachsbart
[Ward 1] said he didn’t
think the mayor would be able
to cast a tie-breaking vote if the
council deadlocked on Graville’s appointment.
An employment agreement, approved as
part of the appointment, calls for Graville
to receive a $3,000 monthly retainer. Legal
services provided in addition to those covered
under the retainer will be billed at
$175 an hour, with lesser amounts billed
for work done by associated attorneys, law
students and paralegals.
Graville is required to maintain malpractice
insurance of at least $1 million.
In addition to his work for Chesterfield,
Graville serves as prosecuting attorney for
Ballwin, Clarkson Valley and Fenton, and
is both city attorney and prosecuting attorney
for Warrenton.
A graduate of Parkway West High, he
earned his undergraduate and law degrees
at the University of Missouri.
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West County cities earn ‘safest’ title
By JESSICA MESSZAROS
An updated version of The Safewise’s
Report [www.safewise.com] list of the
20 Safest Cities in Missouri for 2016 was
released this fall, and it was another good
year for West St. Louis County.
The list was created by reviewing the FBI
Crime Report statistics for 2014 [the most
recent available.] Placement is based on
statistics regarding violent crimes [murder,
rape, robbery] and property crimes [arson,
burglary, theft]. For fairness from city to
city, likelihood of those crimes was calculated
as occurring out of 1,000 people in
each city. Cities with fewer than 3,000 residents
were not considered for “safe city”
designation, nor were cities that failed to
submit a complete crime report to the FBI.
All the cities have exceptional records
for violent and property crime, with 95
percent reporting no murders on the FBI’s
most recent crime report. Eighty percent
also reported less than ten violent crimes
overall and 70 percent of the cities reported
less than 100 total property crimes.
Ballwin took third-place overall, a large
leap from its sixth-place designation in 2015.
The city boasts an estimated rate of violent
crimes per 1,000 as only 0.26 and a rate of
property crimes per 1,000 as 6.88. Ellisville
took 10th-place on the list, a boost from its
11th place spot last year. The rate of violent
crimes per 1,000 is 1.09, its rate of property
crimes per 1,000 is 8.82. Town & Country
took 13th-place with a rate of 0.46 per 1,000
for violent crimes and a rate of 10.51 per
1,000 for property crimes. Webster Groves
immediately followed on the list with 14th
place, with a rate of violent crimes per 1,000
about 1.81, and the rate of property crimes
per 1,000 about 9.89.
Other cities that didn’t make the list still
received rankings. Creve Coeur was closest
at 21st place. Ladue took 22nd, Chesterfield
took 26th, Manchester took 28th,
Wentzville took 29th, Eureka took 35th,
Clayton took 39th, Kirkwood took 45th,
Maryland Heights took 54th and Olivette
took 74th place.
Valid thru
December 31, 2016