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April 14, 2026 — Meeting Minutes
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I've really enjoyed my service to the City of Clayton, and I'm hopeful that it's been helpful. I like to know
04-14-2026 BOA Minutes April 14, 2026 Page 10 of 10 how organizations work and why they do what they do, and my experience has enlightened me regarding the management and the operations of the City of Clayton. I am indebted to the City staff that have patiently helped me to understand the workings of the city government…outside of City Hall, I truly value the wide and varied relationships I've developed because of my service. I know I've met so many residents I doubt I would have ever engaged with. I've had the opportunity to meet and learn from many business and community leaders and other elected officials. I truly appreciate the relationships I've developed with all of you, my fellow council members. I believe we bring unique and valuable experience and expertise to our community that results in priority issues getting appropriate focus and attention…mine just happens to be finance, and I'm glad that so many of yours is something else. So that's good for our community and my experience has occurred in a very positive environment due to the quality and competence of our city leadership team. It's been a true pleasure to get to know the City of Clayton's outstanding staff and its professional advisors. I appreciate not only the professionalism that each person brings to their job, but also the patience they have shown in answering those many questions you talked about, regarding their roles, responsibilities, or other topics. So, thank you to every Clayton employee I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with. Finally, I am particularly proud of the work that Gary and I did to review the way we engage our citizenry in various boards and commissions. I have found that the majority of our residents are very trusting and confident of the workings of Clayton government…that is, until something happens that directly impacts their ability to enjoy the use of their property, the cost or quality of the services they obtain, or the real or perceived loss of their current quality of life. So, Clayton, like most municipalities, faces significant financial challenges in delivering the services and the service levels we become accustomed to; engaging more of our residents and more of our business community and drawing upon their experience and expertise is a foundational step in attacking those challenges, so I'm glad that we've done that. I am confident that Clayton's future is in good hands, and I look forward to watching your progress from a little bit farther away. So, thank you to everyone - Thank you very much!”
Motion made by Councilmember Buse to adjourn the meeting. Councilmember Patel seconded.
The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.
There being no further discussion, the City Council adjourned at 9:32 p.m.
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Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________ City Clerk
And of course, your financial acumen, and the rest of us might get glazed over sometimes, and you're even patient with us with that, and it's very much appreciated what you've contributed…So, thank you…for your city, your board, now City Council…thank you for all you've always done for our community, because it's from that…your involvement with our community, knowing our community, caring about it, that you've been such an effective advocate on this council and elsewhere…and the whole community, I'm just so happy that will continue, and it's a pleasure to know you and to have worked with you, and I wish you the best. Thanks for being part of that village.”
04-14-2026 BOA Minutes April 14, 2026 Page 8 of 10 Councilmember Patel • Flock cameras - interested in receiving additional information • Building Code issues - interested in receiving additional information
“Rick, thank you for your service. I know you served Clayton and our community long before your time on the board and council and certainly would welcome your continued service. So, I hope you'll let us know. I know you're not going to just go quiet. You're interested in a lot of different things in our region, and if there are any avenues that you're interested in serving through the city, ongoing, I hope that you'll let us know, and we would love to continue to have you.” Councilmember Feder • Maryland Walk annual meeting; residents raised concerns expressed about the bike lanes • Ward 3 coffee is scheduled 04/18 at Starbucks; Director/manager of the Opera Theatre will be attending • Economic Development Committee has designated subcommittees: parking infrastructure and small businesses • Clayton Chamber Collaborative • Missouri Growth Association event at Washington University scheduled for 04/22 • M.A.C. Ribbon cutting event scheduled for 04/22
“I’ve known Rick since he was on the school board. I think when I first came on this board, it was on the Non-Uniform Employee Pension Plan, that committee, which I've been on. Now I guess I'm on the Uniform….but anyway, I think Rick was the chairman at the time before he was on the board or the council, and I was really impressed how enthusiastic he was about the subject…and he knew a lot about it. I frankly thought it was like watching paint dry, but he was so enthusiastic, and he was so insightful of his questions, and obviously that has carried on to his service on the board...as I’ve mentioned how insightful I think he always is. We almost always agree, maybe earlier tonight, not so much, but generally we pretty much agree, and so I think he has brought just a tremendous amount of his business background and financial acumen…and finally, when the two of us served on our little subcommittee trying to deal with the various other task force committees, etc…it was really a good experience for me to spend a lot more time working with Rick, just one-on-one. I think we came up with some very good changes to the Charter. I think we see the product now…have 3 new committees, which I hope will serve us well…anyway, we never would have got there without Rick, and so again, I thank you for your service.” Councilmember Yorg • CRSWC – discussion on improvements to the swimming scoreboard, scoring system, and timing system
“Rick, I’ve already sent you a message before, but again I would just say, thank you, and I'm happy now I get to speak…I'm happy for you.”
Councilmember Waldman – “Rick, having worked with you the shortest amount of time I want to say thank you. You were always so welcoming to me when I first started, and offered to answer any questions that I had, and I really appreciate that. I'm inspired by your thoughtfulness and your knowledge on, and the way you question things…it's whenever you question things, I'm like, oh, that's a good perspective to think about, so I really appreciate that, but it's been really great working with you. Well, thank you for that, I appreciate that.”
I'm inspired by your thoughtfulness and your knowledge on, and the way you question things…it's whenever you question things, I'm like, oh, that's a good perspective to think about, so I really appreciate that, but it's been really great working with you. Well, thank you for that, I appreciate that.”
04-14-2026 BOA Minutes April 14, 2026 Page 9 of 10 City Manager Gipson –Received word that Maplewood passed the IT Agreement.
“Rick, it's been a pleasure. The questions that you've asked along the way have made us better. You've had us look at things, ways that we hadn't thought before... you know, we started putting an ordinance together, or got down the path on something and then we would have a Monday call, and Rick would ask some question…I'm like, oh man, we need to think about this for tonight…and then those conversations would carry over into this room, and oftentimes, we would improve things as a result of those questions and that conversation, and like others have mentioned, that insight is really, really valuable. You love finances, and I love the budget, and so that's been a lot of fun, too. I appreciate the questions and really the amount of detail, when you would go through and really take a look and try to understand what's going on with those numbers and how things are changing year over year, and then trying to apply long-term strategy to that to make sure that we're on the right track… and the Citizen Finance Committee is a great example. I think one of the first committee or board meetings I saw when I came here to Clayton was the Non-Uniformed Pension Board and I remember being really impressed…so I came from another city where we had a few boards and commissions, but we certainly didn't manage our own pension and I thought, wow, this town's on top of it. And you were chairing that meeting, and I mean, as Councilman Feder had mentioned, you know, just really great questions, really drove those meetings well. We're gonna miss you on the Pension Board…were you occupy that seat right now as a member of the City Council, and we just had that conversation or that realization internally just the other day, and we're like, oh man, Rick's the chair right now of the Pension Board, and he's on the Council, and so we're gonna really miss you in that role, because of the institutional knowledge with you being on that board for years and years, and just the way you drive those conversations, include everybody in those conversations, and really make sure that everybody in the room understands a very complex topic. So, when people are new to Non-Uniformed Pension Board or Uniformed, there's this really steep learning curve where, for the first year, people are just glazed over…people are reading reports and going through all this stuff, and you take the time to make sure that everybody understands what it is that they're doing, and we always appreciated that…I'm gonna miss you, and thanks for everything along the way. Thank you!”
Councilmember Hummell – “So, I did prepare some comments, if nothing else, to make sure that I was somewhat succinct, as I go through this...so, I wanted to share my thoughts…so I'm considering this my last meeting as a member of the City Council. I recognize that I may have some unfinished business to attend to at the beginning of the April 28th meeting, but I view tonight as the marking of the end of my term, and the 28th as the beginning of Betsy’s term. So, let's, you know, have her have the light next week, and I'm happy to take it this time. So, I want to reflect on my experience as a City Council member. So, one of my strong personal tenets in life is the belief that it's important to be personally involved in any organization you hold in high regard and deeply value. The Clayton community is one of those organizations for me. I moved to Clayton in 1984 and in addition to enjoying all the services and benefits of Clayton residency, I've had the opportunity to serve on many Clayton boards, commissions, and committees. My first experience dates to 2000, when I joined the Non-Uniformed Employee Retirement Fund, affectionately known as NERF…in violation of all of the…we want lots of different citizen participation which I have violated it to the ninth degree for a long time, but on the other hand, that may be because there's very few people that want to do this as much as I like to do it. So, the next NERF meeting is on May 11th, and that'll be the first one that I haven't attended in 26 years…that's a long time. There are probably some people that I'm sure think it's about time for that to be my last meeting…so, in addition to NERF, I think I have probably served on at least 8 different committees and commissions, and I've learned so much from my experience. I've really enjoyed my service to the City of Clayton, and I'm hopeful that it's been helpful. I like to know