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ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A frequent critic of county government has filed complaints against its top boss, claiming he illegally used taxpayer money to campaign against a proposition on Tuesday’s ballot.

Tom Sullivan, a University City resident, accused County Executive Sam Page of using nearly $5,000 for a mailer sent to voters about Proposition B, which would give the County Council the power to fire department directors and the county’s top attorney.

“Everything about the flier is clearly designed to influence votes against Proposition B,� Sullivan wrote in complaints filed Tuesday with two Missouri regulatory agencies.

Public officials and governments aren’t allowed to use taxpayer money to advocate for or against a campaign issue. But county officials have mounted “educational� campaigns multiple times in recent years, saying they were seeking to inform voters without taking a side, at least obviously.

The county spent money on a proposed 3% sales tax on the sale of recreational marijuana in 2023, for instance. Sullivan filed a complaint then, too.

Doug Moore, a spokesman for Page, said it is “proper, legal, and necessary to educate voters on ballot language.�

“Why Mr. Sullivan would want to keep voters in the dark goes against his long-time declaration as a government watchdog,� said Moore, who also pointed out Sullivan itself in an editorial this week.

Presort Inc. invoiced the county $4,999.55 for printing roughly 55,000 two-sided postcards, according to an invoice dated March 20 that Sullivan included in his complaints to the Missouri Secretary of State and the Missouri Ethics Commission. Postage cost the county $30,771.44, Moore said, for a total of $35,770.99 for printing and mailing.

The card clearly does no favors for the proposition, which councilmembers say is needed to hold county department directors accountable.

The card, for instance, says “directors could be fired during emergencies like snowstorms� — though councilmembers have said using the power to fire directors would be a last resort. They wouldn’t fire department heads without a good reason either, they have said.

And the card says the police chief could be “removed for political reasons,â€� while the council has said it won’t have the power to remove the chief. Only the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County Board of Police Commissioners has that power, councilmembers say. The commissioners in February voted to , carefully avoiding using the word “oppose,â€� and cited a lack of clarity as a reason.

The card also includes factual statements: The County Council called for the proposition to be put before voters. The council, with at least five of seven votes, could technically fire a director during a snowstorm or public health crisis. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County NAACP, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Labor Council AFL-CIO and business group Greater ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Inc. oppose Prop B because they say it will create instability in county government.

And Circuit Judge Bruce F. Hilton did call the ballot language “misleading, insufficient, inaccurate, argumentative, prejudicial and unfair� in his order removing the question from the ballot.

An appellate court ruling later put the question back on the ballot.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Friday to reflect the total amount ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County paid for printing and mailing the postcard.