FLORISSANT • Mayor Robert G. Lowery came here in 1960 as a young cop. He moved up the ladder to police chief and then to mayor, a position of extraordinary power in this city.

Now, some critics say, he is taking advantage of it.

They note that:

• Lowery sets his own work schedule, often not getting to City Hall until midafternoon.

• Lowery has a Florissant police officer serve as his driver and bodyguard.

• He has used city workers for his political campaigns.

• He has cost the city thousands of dollars by waiving fees for certain groups that used city facilities.

• City workers have spent hours, without charge, setting up and dismantling city equipment at city recreation centers for private groups, including Lowery's church and for his wedding anniversary.

Those critics say it's time for change — regarding both Lowery and Florissant's 'strong mayor" form of government.

They contend that Lowery wastes city resources and often does not put in a full day of work despite being the area's highest-paid mayor.

Lowery's power is a function of his experience — 41 years with the city's police department (22 years as chief) and nine as mayor — and of Florissant's form of government. Rare among Missouri municipalities, its 'strong mayor" system gives that position operational control of the city.

At $135,746 a year, Lowery's salary is about $16,000 more than that of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. Lowery also has a $10,000 expense account.

Like Slay, Lowery is a political leader. But unlike nearly every other mayor in St. Louis County, Lowery also acts as a city manager. He is charged with overseeing the day-to-day operations of a city of nearly 51,000 with a $32 million budget.

Critics of Lowery, especially those on the City Council, began speaking out against the mayor last year, about the time that a petition drive began for a state audit. The audit began in December; results are expected by early summer.

In the last four months, the Florissant City Council has twice rebuffed Lowery on key issues.

In January, the council prohibited city employees from working on political campaigns, even on their own time. The measure was directed at Lowery, who had been accused of using city department heads — on and off city time — for his campaigns.

And on April 12, the council voted to establish a charter review commission to consider changing Florissant's form of government. Lowery vetoed the bill, denouncing it as an attempt to usurp his power.

Karen McKay, a councilwoman and longtime antagonist of Lowery's, said the mayor's power and prestige were slipping.

"The council has begun to see that Lowery's popularity is dwindling, and they don't want to go down with the ship," she said. "If there ever was a time when Bob ran the city efficiently and appropriately, that time has passed. He needs to retire."

Lowery, 71, said quitting was not on his agenda.

"I am the target of a campaign by 15 or 20 evil people in this city who want to kick me out of office," said Lowery, a Democrat. "But I love this city too much to give up."

BUMPS IN A LONG ROAD

Lowery joined the Florissant Police Department in 1960 and rose through the ranks.

In 1979, then-Mayor James J. Eagan appointed Lowery police chief. The next year, Lowery became chairman of the Major Case Squad, the unit of investigators assigned to solve some of the area's most heinous crimes. Lowery led the unit for 20 years.

But his law-enforcement career had its bumps.

In 1990, KSDK (Channel 5) reported that Lowery had been seen consuming between 4 and 28 ounces of vodka while on duty on several occasions at different locations. Lowery later entered an outpatient program for alcoholism.

Lowery said last week that he no longer drinks. "I haven't had a sip of alcohol in 21 years," he said.

In 1999, Lowery's pistol was stolen at the old Famous-Barr department store downtown. He told police that he had given the weapon to his wife while he was trying on suits, and that someone stole her purse with the gun inside.

Two years later, Lowery easily defeated two other candidates to fill the unexpired term of Eagan, who died while in office.

Lowery has twice won re-election. He was unopposed in 2003, and in 2007 got 57 percent of the vote to defeat Andrew Podleski, now a City Council member.

Lowery said that under his tenure, Florissant has attracted many new businesses. He pointed to the $60 million redevelopment of the decaying Cross Keys Shopping Center. He also cited replacement of many of the city's aging bridges, improvements to many streets, and work with the Metropolitan Sewer District to overhaul the city's aging storm and sewer systems.

The criticism of Lowery has flared as Florissant, like many area cities, struggles with a budget crisis caused by falling sales tax revenue. City employees, including Lowery, have already taken a 3 percent pay cut. Lowery also cut his expense account to $10,000 from $20,000.

Now, there is talk of layoffs.

SHORT OFFICE HOURS

Two targets of critics are the mayor's work schedule and his use of a city police officer as a driver and bodyguard.

Several Florissant employees interviewed say that Lowery rarely shows up at City Hall before 1 p.m., and often later, and usually leaves about 5 p.m. It has been his routine, they say, for years.

The sources asked to remain anonymous, citing Lowery's authority to fire them.

On five work days — April 9 and April 12-15 — a Post-Dispatch reporter followed Lowery and his driver-bodyguard, Andy Quinones. The mayor did not leave his house before noon. On four of the five days, he went directly to a restaurant before going to City Hall. He never arrived at City Hall before 2 p.m. and on one day did not arrive until 4:15 p.m.

On April 13, he did not show up at City Hall at all during business hours.

In interviews, Lowery asserts that he is always on the clock. "I work for the people of Florissant 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.

He also cited a sleep problem that he said affected his work. "I have insomnia, so I don't get much sleep, but I'm working all the time."

He said all of his lunches "are work lunches." (A check of Lowery's personal expense account showed that he charged several lunches each month to the city last year.)

When asked what work he was doing before he left the house each day, Lowery said it was paperwork that he brings home from the office.

Lowery insisted that his day extended beyond normal business hours.

"I sometimes meet my wife at 5 or 5:30 for dinner and then she goes home and I go to meetings," he said.

He also said his appointment book would show many events scheduled on weekends. When a reporter asked to see the appointment book, Lowery denied the request.

Council members said they had asked Lowery to explain why he needed a driver and a bodyguard.

McKay and former council member Nancy Lubiewski said Lowery's explanation struck them as bizarre.

"He told us in 2007 that he needed a bodyguard because he was on al-Qaida's hit list," McKay said.

Lubiewski said she thought at the time that Lowery was joking. "But he insisted that he was serious, and that he could not discuss the matter further due to national security issues," she said.

Lowery said in the interview that his statement about al-Qaida was taken out of context.

"I will tell you that the police department did some work related to the Middle East, but that's all I can tell you," he said. "U.S. prosecutors advised me that I was never to talk about it."

Lowery also said that, as a former police officer, many threats had been made against his life.

"I feel like I do need his (Quinones') protection," he said. "And City Hall needs it and my assistant (Beth Goldstein) needs it."

Lowery then said that he was planning to replace Quinones, who was paid $56,326 last year, with a private security guard to save the city money.

WAIVED FEES

Florissant rents the James J. Eagan and John F. Kennedy community centers to residents and nonresidents. The fees, set by the City Council, are $600 for residents and $850 for nonresidents for seven hours.

A City Council document shows that Lowery waived those fees 36 times in 2008 and 2009. The uses ranged from religious services and receptions, to church trivia nights.

"I see nothing in our ordinances that allows anyone to waive those fees," said Tim Lee, a City Council member. "Here we are reducing salaries for our employees, and the mayor's giving away free rentals that, over the years, have amounted to tens of thousands of dollars."

Lee said that in March he received numerous complaints from city residents who were turned away from the Eagan center while the Northeast County Deanery, a Catholic organization, was using the building for a "Day of Prayer." Lee said Lowery waived the rental fee for the group.

"The building was not open to residents for two days — one day to set up and one for the day of prayer," Lee said.

Documents show that Lowery, who describes himself as "a very faithful Catholic," has waived fees for the deanery six other times since 2008.

At many events, city employees do the setup of tables, chairs and other equipment.

For five straight months in 2003, city workers prepared the Kennedy center so that St. Sabina Catholic Church — Lowery's parish — could hold weekend Masses while the church was being remodeled.

City workers devoted about six hours a week to setting up and storing equipment for the Masses, sources said. The gym was unavailable for other uses from Friday afternoon, after the gym was set up for the Masses, until Monday afternoon, when everything was put away.

The sources said that three years ago Lowery ordered city workers to set up about 100 chairs and 15 tables — all city property — at a Knights of Columbus hall in Florissant on the occasion of the Lowerys' 50th wedding anniversary.

In an interview, Lowery said the equipment for his anniversary celebration was set up without his knowledge.

And he said that he now would re-evaluate waiving fees because of the city's budget problems.

"I won't be doing it very much at all in the future, because of the current revenue crisis," he said.

He volunteered that, if anyone asked him to, he would reimburse the city for any fees that St. Sabina should have paid.

Lowery also said that the city attorney, John Hessel, told him the mayor had "full authority to waive fees."

But Hessel, city attorney since 1988, said Lowery had never spoken to him about waiving fees.

"There is nothing in the city ordinances that gives the mayor the authority to waive fees," Hessel said.

WORKING ON CAMPAIGNS

Lowery also has been accused of using city department heads — on and off city time — for political reasons.

Lowery has acknowledged that department heads worked on his campaigns, but he says only on their own time and of their own volition.

"I would never ask an employee to do political work on city time, because that's illegal, " he said.

Parks Department director Ron Veach, however, said he was on duty for the city when he suffered a back injury while moving campaign signs and their anchoring sandbags for Lowery in 2007.

Veach filed a workers' compensation claim against the city over the incident. Last month, the city paid Veach $25,000 to settle his claim.

In January, the council voted to prohibit all city employees from working on political campaigns. Lowery initially opposed the measure but ultimately supported it.

'STRONG MAYOR' SYSTEM

Under Florissant's charter, enacted in 1963 and last reviewed in 1974, the city operates as a 'strong mayor" form of government.

As mayor, Lowery sets and administers the city budget and has the power to hire, fire and discipline employees without council approval.

Terry Jones, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said few cities in Missouri had such a system.

Its strengths, he said, are built-in accountability and ability to get things done quickly.

"The principal disadvantage is that it concentrates more power in the executive branch than is typically the case in national, state, county or municipal governments," Jones said.

St. Charles, with 63,000 residents, also has the 'strong mayor" form. Its mayor, Patti York, is paid $60,000 a year.

On April 12, the Florissant City Council voted 5-4 to establish a nine-member charter review commission.

McKay, who introduced the measure, said the job of running a city the size of Florissant required a highly trained professional committed to working closely with the city's 230 full-time employees.

"I would like to see someone who at least has the academic credentials for such a complex job," she said.

Lowery said that he had a bachelor's degree, but he declined to say where he got the degree.

McKay, who operates a hair-styling salon, also said that Lowery, as city administrator, ought to be working in closer proximity with the city's staff.

"When he says he does his work from home, that is not professional," she said. "He needs to be in his office, administering the people who work for the city.

"His predecessor, Jim Eagan (mayor from 1963 until his death in 2000), was always at work by 8 a.m., and Jim knew which employees were at work, who was doing their job, and who was slacking off. That's what you expect when you pay your head administrator $136,000 a year."

City Council president Tom Schneider said that Eagan and Lowery had contrasting work styles. Lowery's strength, Schneider said, is promoting development in Florissant.

"He's always looking for progress," said Schneider, who has served on the council for 31 years. "He has redeveloped shopping centers, brought grocery stores to the city, improved the amenities at the recreation centers."

Lowery said he would seek a third term as mayor in next year's election, regardless of what became of the city's charter.

"I am not a perfect man," he said. "But you will not find anyone who loves the city of Florissant more than I do."