ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Aimee Wehmeier travels from her Webster Groves home to the Walgreens across the street, where she picks up her prescription. It’s a trip that does not provide her with any sidewalks, so she uses her wheelchair in the street.
“For me, getting from point A to point B is a choice and a freedom,” Wehmeier said.
It’s a decision that may have been illegal if St. Louis County Executive Sam Page had not vetoed Bill 86 Tuesday morning.
“What makes it interesting is suddenly I go from a being a law-abiding citizen to somebody that is violating the law,” Wehmeier said.
She and her organization, Paraquad, asked Page to veto the bill that would ban people from traveling or sitting on roadways in unincorporated St. Louis County.
St. Louis County Councilman Ernie Trakas introduced the bill.
“If you live in unincorporated St. Louis County, you don’t matter, that’s the message Sam Page sent today,” Trakas said.
Cities like Ballwin, Chesterfield, and Manchester already have bills preventing what Bill 86 would have done in the unincorporated parts of the county.
“I expected a different outcome,” Trakas said.
The only way to get the bill passed now is to convince one of the three other councilors to change their vote to yes, which Trakas plans to do next Tuesday.
“I don’t have any expectation that we will get the fifth vote. I’m going to try, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope,” he said.