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ST. LOUIS — Two restaurateurs, a car dealer, a photography business owner and an ousted city personnel director are Gov. Mike Kehoe's picks for the reconstituted ºüÀêÊÓƵ Board of Police Commissioners taking control of the city's police force this year.

Kehoe told reporters at a news conference that the picks marked the “next step for public safety in the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ.â€�

Kehoe made reimposing state control of ºüÀêÊÓƵ police one of his main priorities when he was sworn into office in January; the state Legislature moved swiftly to approve a plan in March.

But the board appointments are where the rubber meets the road: Together, board members will have the power to hire and fire police chiefs, control promotions and discipline and shape everything from the equipment on an officer’s belt to the beats officers patrol to the strategies they use to fight crime. 

The five commissioners are:

• Sonya Jenkins-Gray, a human resources professional who was the city's personnel director until she was fired in March for having a subordinate take her to Jefferson City in a city car for a personal matter during work hours.
• Chris Saracino, who with his family operates the Bartolino's restaurants and Chris' Pancake and Dining, and whose brother, Bart Saracino, served on the old police board 20 years ago.
• Eddie McVey, owner of Maggie O'Brien's bar and restaurant, across the street from the new soccer stadium downtown.
• Brad Arteaga, owner of an aerial photography business, a booster for the 2nd District Police Business Association and, until recently, a member of the city police oversight board, which hears complaints filed against officers.
• Don Brown, a Chevrolet dealer well known due to the dealership's years of TV advertising. Brown lives in ºüÀêÊÓƵ County and will be a nonvoting member.

They will serve along with Mayor Cara Spencer under the new state law. The mayor had been in charge of the police department under the law that had been in effect since 2013.

The appointments are subject to confirmation in the Missouri Senate, which Kehoe said would consider his picks when it reconvenes for the next legislative session in January.

If confirmed, Arteaga will serve a one-year term, Jenkins-Gray will serve a two-year term, McVey will serve a three-year term, and Saracino and Brown will serve four-year terms. Subsequent commissioners will all serve four-year terms.

The changeover to city control was approved by the Legislature after Missourians statewide voted to give ºüÀêÊÓƵ local control.

But this year, the Legislature backtracked and passed a law returning to the old model that had been in effect since the Civil War, despite protests from city officials who noted that the crime statistics have been falling in recent years. 

Kehoe cast the new law as a way to bolster law enforcement and help the city retain and attract residents and businesses. Both the city police union and the Ethical Society of Police, which advocates for minority officers, backed him, casting local control as a failed experiment that had hurt officers, hundreds of whom have retired or resigned without replacement in recent years. 

Spencer and her predecessor as mayor, Tishaura O. Jones, both opposed this year's change. So did Aldermanic President Megan Green, who has filed a lawsuit challenging it. 

On Monday, state Sen. Karla May, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ, and Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, of downtown, voiced unease with the nomination of just one Black person for the board in a city that's more than 40% Black.

“It would have been good to have a little more diversity,� Aldridge said.

But Kehoe said the appointments marked a significant move toward transparency, collaboration and "a safer future for the city."

He also said he wanted to assure police officers that the move is meant to support them and Chief Robert Tracy.

"The chief is the chief," Kehoe said. "He and his command staff will run the city department. The board is not going to run crime fighting. The board is going to be there to support the governance of this."

Kehoe also lauded Tracy's recent work in the department, which has coincided with significant year-over-year reductions in the homicide rate, and said the new setup will allow the department to get even better.

To officers, he said: "I will always have your backs."