CLAYTON • One of the region's worst-kept secrets will burst open Tuesday with the official announcement that St. Louis County Councilman Steve Stenger will challenge incumbent Charlie Dooley for the county executive post in 2014.
The two men will face off in an August Democratic primary.
Stenger is scheduled to announce his intentions at an afternoon press conference in downtown Clayton.
He will be joined by labor leaders and other county officials who have broken with Dooley since a spate of scandals broke over the executive branch of county government.
Gregory Sansone, the developer appointed by Dooley to head the county police board is the subject of an FBI investigation into how the company he co-owned wound up with a $3.7 million heating and air conditioning contract for a new crime lab.
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Accountability questions were also raised over a top health department official who committed suicide as an embezzlement scheme in which he collected $3.4 million surfaced.
The Stenger campaign cited "an ongoing barrage of conflicts and managerial problems confronting the county executive and his administration," in a Monday press release announcing the council member's challenge.
Stenger is in his second term representing South St. Louis County.
Dooley, a former county councilman and Northwoods mayor, has held the top county post for ten years.
