ST. CHARLES — Mayor Dan Borgmeyer is defending his tenure and describing criticisms of his efforts leading St. Charles as “a lot of innuendo, misinformation and some outright lies.”
“Something as serious as a recall should be based on facts,” Borgmeyer told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday, the day after a group of five residents filed documents with the city clerk kickstarting a recall effort that could oust him from office.
He said he “supports the right of citizens to take action” through the recall process outlined in the city’s charter. But, he said, said the five petitioners — some of whom he said he doesn’t know — were on a “fishing expedition” to “get their 15 minutes of fame.”
Olivia Cross, one of the residents behind the recall effort, refuted the mayor’s claims and said that he was “brushing aside” the concerns of residents. She said volunteers have spent more than 100 hours compiling information.
“I think the mayor’s choice of words are very disrespectful,” Cross said.
In the paperwork filed with the city, the group cites various examples of what they allege are examples of “malfeasance” by Borgmeyer on other matters, such as failing to appoint city officials as required, not disclosing potential conflicts of interest, and violating the city’s ordinances barring when he accepted a $5,000 campaign donation from a developer who works as a consultant for the city on economic development issues.
With the documents now filed with St. Charles City Hall, the group awaits approval from St. Charles County Election Authority Kurt Bahr to issue the petitions.
They will need to collect signatures from 20 percent of the city’s approximately 57,000 voters — that’s more than 11,400 signatures — to get the recall issue on the April 2026 city election ballot. Cross said Thursday the group hopes to collect more than 15,000 signatures.
They have until Jan. 27 to collect signatures and submit them to election officials to be verified as belonging to St. Charles registered voters.
If voters do recall Borgmeyer, a special election would be called within 30 days to elect someone to fill the remainder of his current term, which is set to expire in early 2027.
Borgmeyer on Thursday expressed confidence that he could withstand the recall vote — if petitioners gather enough signatures to get on the ballot.
“I am constantly approached by people who are coming up to shake my hand and to tell me about how they appreciate the job we are doing,” Borgmeyer said.
He defended his years as mayor, saying that he is proud of the work that has been accomplished helping to grow the city as a tourism hub, bringing additional hotels and conventions to the city, navigating the city’s water woes and contamination issues, and helping make the new City Centre Complex a reality.
This $85 million project, which voters approved in April 2024, is transforming the former American Car Foundry property into a new city hall that will also offer space for the local historical society, a farmer’s market, a senior center and an arts and culture area.
“I’m proud of my track record,” he said.
Borgmeyer said he knows that sometimes his decisions are not always popular with residents — or with city staff.
“Every time I look under a rug, people come running out from underneath it with their hair on fire because they worry about what I am going to find under it,” Borgmeyer said.
“Everybody wants progress, but they don’t want to change,” he said. “And they don’t like the way the city is making progress.”
He’s recently been criticized for a vote he made at a planning and zoning commission meeting to recommend the St. Charles City Council approve a conditional use permit that would allow developers of a proposed data center to store up to 1 million gallons of diesel fuel for generators at the planned facility.
Environmentalists worried the location of the data center, which was near the city’s wellhead protection district, could lead to possible contamination of the city’s water wells.
On Thursday, Borgmeyer defended that vote, saying it was a procedural vote and that the generators had been vetted by the city’s staff.
“It wasn’t a vote for the data center,” he said. “There never was a vote for the data center. It was only a vote on the generators, and to send it to the full council so they could decide.”
The data center developer withdrew the proposal before the council could vote on the plan.
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Ethan Colbert | Post-Dispatch
St. Charles County reporter
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