Francis Gerard Slay (born March 18, 1955) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 45th

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of St. Louis, Missouri from 2001 to 2017. The first mayor of the city of St. Louis to be elected to the office four consecutive times, Slay is the longest-serving mayor in St. Louis history. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Education and early career

Slay graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1973. He received a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

from

Quincy University Quincy University (formerly known as St. Francis Solanus College, and today abbreviated as QU) is a private Franciscan university in Quincy, Illinois. It was founded in 1860 and enrolls about 1,100 students. History A small group of Francisc ...

and a J.D. degree from

Saint Louis University School of Law Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fr ...

. After graduating from law school, Slay served as a law clerk for Judge Paul J. Simon of the

Missouri Court of Appeals The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Missouri. The court handles most of the appeals from the Missouri Circuit Courts. The court is divided into three geographic districts: Eastern (based in St. ...

for the Eastern District. In 1981, he joined the law firm of Guilfoil, Petzall, and Shoemake where he specialized in business law and commercial litigation. Slay was elected to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 1985, representing the 23rd ward. In 1995, he was elected President of the Board of Aldermen, and in 1999 was re-elected without opposition.

Term as mayor

Francis Slay Sally Jewell Joe Biden 2014 3

Slay defeated

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

mayor Clarence Harmon and former mayor

Freeman Bosley Jr. Freeman R. Bosley Jr. (born July 20, 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American politician who served as the 43rd mayor of St. Louis (from 1993 to 1997), and the city's first African-American mayor. Early life and education Bosley graduated fro ...

in the Democratic Primary in 2001. During his first term, he oversaw significant residential redevelopment within the city, including the redevelopment of the Washington Avenue Loft District. Slay then negotiated the construction of

Busch Stadium Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (M ...

, the new

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

baseball stadium in downtown St. Louis, and the re-districting of

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

ic wards required after the 2000

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

. The Slay administration and its public and private partners have received national and international recognition for St. Louis's renaissance. In May 2007, Downtown St. Louis's revitalization was the subject of a Preserve America Presidential Award, the nation's highest award for historic preservation. In 2011, Citygarden won the Urban Land Institute's prestigious Amanda Burden Urban Open Space award. On October 26, 2011, the St. Louis Dispatch published Slay and his bodyguard assisted a victim who was assaulted in another incidence of The Knockout Game. He announced on April 8, 2016 that he would not seek another term as mayor, though he remains the longest-serving mayor of the City of St. Louis as of .

Post-mayor

Slay accepted a job as an attorney with the Spencer Fane law firm, at their office in downtown St. Louis prior to his term ending on April 18, 2017

Family

Slay is the second of eleven children. His father, Francis R. Slay, was affiliated with St. Raymond's Maronite Catholic Cathedral in St. Louis, and was the long-time Democratic Committeeman in the 23rd Ward, and who once served as Recorder of Deeds. Francis R. Slay died on March 16, 2011, aged 83. Slay and his wife Kim have two children and three rescued dogs. Slay is a

Maronite Catholic The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the ...

and also a supporter of the

Archdiocese of St. Louis The Archdiocese of St. Louis ( la, Archidiœcesis Sancti Ludovici) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the City of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perr ...

and of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

organizations in the city. He is of Lebanese and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

ancestry.Profile
politicalgraveyard.com; accessed November 25, 2014.

References

External links