ST. LOUIS — A proposed change to the arcane rules of the Board of Aldermen has set off a social media firestorm, after retired Fox 2 newsman Elliott Davis claimed a sinister plot against him.
It began with a brief livestream early last week. Davis, the former KTVI (Channel 2) reporter now putting his own spin on the news for , had a humdinger for his 184,000 followers: Aldermanic President Megan Green, he said, was trying to kick him out of aldermanic chambers at City Hall.
“It’s going to be a battle,†he said.
Green’s staff protested, saying it wasn’t true.
By the end of the week, Davis’ story had been broadcast to tens of thousands of people and picked up on talk radio. Green’s office was fielding call after call. And comments on Davis’ Facebook page had filled with anti-Green sentiment.
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“There is so much corruption in STL City,†one person wrote. “Keep on exposing them Elliott!â€
For years, reporters covering the board have largely roamed the grand, two-story aldermanic chamber unregulated, without credential checks or sign-in sheets.
But Green’s staff said that, since taking over the chamber in 2022, they have noticed some issues on the chamber floor during meetings: New TV reporters have set up outside space designated for cameras. People have come to the floor claiming an alderman’s invite. Once, a firefighter went back and forth with board members on a pension bill, right there on the chamber floor.
Green’s office researched how other governments handle access and came up with a plan:
They would start asking aldermen for guests’ names before meetings so board receptionists would have a list. And they would formally require reporters to be credentialed by the board before allowing them onto the floor.
Green’s staff sent drafts of new rules to regular beat reporters for feedback. They included language allowing for citizen journalists like Davis to be credentialed.
Then last Monday, things went haywire. Davis went live on Facebook from the chamber as a meeting was ending. He said unnamed sources told him Green was trying to change the rules to blackball him. Green, he said, had taken offense to some critical coverage of an outburst she made amid tense debate over the Rams settlement money and decided to take revenge.
“I’m here to put Board President Megan Green on notice,†he said. “I’m ready for a fight.â€
Later that day, Christine Ingrassia, Green’s deputy chief of staff, called Davis and tried to explain that he was wrong.
But the next morning, Davis was on the Marc Cox Show on KFTK (97.1 FM) retelling his story.
“I’m like one of those gunfighters,†he told Cox. “Let’s meet in the middle of the town, you know.â€
By the end of the week, the calls and emails to Green’s office were piling up.
Yusuf Daneshyar, Green’s press secretary, said it was the most feedback he’d seen since joining the office two years ago — a tenure that included the time Green backed a bill exempting homeless people from public urination laws.
Daneshyar said several people — from Green staffers to KSDK political editor Mark Maxwell — tried reasoning with Davis. Green said she couldn’t legally ban Davis for unflattering coverage even if she wanted. None of it worked.
In an interview Friday evening, Davis maintained that every word he said to his followers was true. He said the plan to credential press was ill-advised and unnecessary. And he said he would be watching at Monday’s meeting, when aldermen were scheduled to take up the proposed rules again.
On Monday, aldermen passed the new rules.
“None of these rules,†Green said at a news conference after the meeting, “were to ban press.â€
