The Mayor of Cool Valley pledged Bitcoin for every resident. Now he faces an indictment.

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COOL VALLEY Three years ago, Mayor Jayson Stewart made a campaign promise to give $1,000 in Bitcoin to every resident of this small town in North St. Louis County.

Now, a broken promise, he also faces impeachment.

The aldermen are trying to remove him from office, claiming that he is misusing his municipal vehicle and gas card, failing to produce a municipal budget or fulfilling his duties.

Personally, I like the guy. Hes just not a good leader, said Cool Valley Alderman Jermaine Matthew. My goal and interest is to ensure that the residents of Cool Valley are taken care of.

Stewart told the Post-Dispatch that the hearing and investigation were a sham and an attempt to seize power in this northern county town of 1,000 people bordered by Berkeley, Normandy, Ferguson and a stretch of the Interstate 70.

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Their political agenda is hurting the city, Stewart said. If you want to get rid of me, beat me frankly. Beat me in an election. Find something I did that’s wrong.

The arraignment hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m.; Current and former city employees are expected to testify before the board of aldermen, whose members both brought the impeachment charges in a 3-1 vote and which will hear the case.

The fight pits a first-time mayor who is gaining attention against established elected officials who argue he is unfit for the job. Stewart says he’s a workaholic who likes to get things done in the background.

Stewart was elected in 2020 in an election that drew twice the typical turnout, winning 60% of the vote against former alderman Alvin Robinson and former mayor-now alderman Floyd Blackwell. If Stewart is impeached, Blackwell, the chairman of the council, will become mayor until the next election.

Stewart told the Post-Dispatch that the Bitcoin project is still ongoing and fully funded by a wealthy business partner who does not want to be identified. Stewart says the people of Cool Valley could get the money as early as this quarter if he’s still mayor.

If I’m not in power, they won’t come to study what I’m doing, Stewart said. They’re not just studying Bitcoin, I think they’re also studying me a bit.

When asked to verify, Stewart sent the Post-Dispatch copy-and-paste emails without the sender’s information about a university partnership. When contacted by the Post-Dispatch, one of the program directors at the University of Pennsylvania research center referenced in Stewart’s email said he was not currently engaged in any projects with Stewart or the town of Cool Valley.

The mayor did not respond when informed by the Poste-Dépêche.

However, city aldermen say Bitcoin is the least of their worries.

In July, the board voted to have Stewart return his city vehicle, an old, high-mileage police cruiser they allegedly use for personal reasons, saying he failed to show what were the city business he conducted using the vehicle.

The aldermen also voted to end the gas card for mayors, specifying that city leaders should not park vehicles in their homes overnight.

Stewart said he has yet to return the vehicle because he believes it is unconstitutional and in violation of other city ordinances. He also says he only used the vehicle for city business. He did not specify which order.

Matthew says Stewart has failed to ensure the city clerk fulfills his obligation to submit an official city budget for the past two years. As a general rule, an annual budget is voted following a discussion between the mayor and the council.

Stewart says the aldermen won’t meet him.

State law requires a city to submit a budget, showing the city’s annual plan for expected revenues and expenditures, to several state entities, including the state auditor.

Records show the state auditors office received a financial report from the town of Cool Valley in June for the fiscal year ending in 2021. The document includes actual revenues and expenses for fiscal year 2021 and proposals for fiscal year 2022. However, Matthew says the board has not been given a budget to discuss in the past two years.

Stewart did not provide any of the city’s bank statements to the Post-Dispatch, but did send an Excel spreadsheet showing the city had a balance of more than $500,000.

Requests for public recordings of budget documents to the City of Cool Valley clerk’s office have gone unanswered and unacknowledged. The former city clerk abruptly resigned from her post in November and, according to the impeachment document, did not share account passwords, office keys and financial records.

Aldermen argue that Stewart, named as the city’s chief law enforcement official, failed to ensure the clerk performed her duties and the city complied with state law.

Stewart grew up in North St. Louis County, attending John Burroughs School and later graduating from Miami University. He told the Post-Dispatch that he worked for a Grammy-winning music production company, for a crypto-based software company in California, and that he helped start a Cool Valley-based company, which, according to him, helps to clean up the oceans. Stewart said the company made millions.

The company, PL28, dissolved in 2021 and state records show that at the time the company filed its LLC paperwork in 2017, it was worth less than $30,000.

Now Stewart says he is 100% dedicated to being full-time mayor. Although he admits his critics are right, he could be more visible in the community. But he maintains that he is a good mayor. He said all bank accounts in town are in good standing.

We have a lot of things to take care of, our streets, our safety, our neighborhood, but you can’t take care of a business if you don’t know where your money is, said Cool Valley Alderman Earle Jones Collins. I will be so happy when we can move on with all this drama.

A selection of 2022 photos by Laurie Skrivan, who has covered St. Louis from nearly every angle as a Post-Dispatch staff photographer since 1998. She won the 2017 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Home and was a member of the Breaking 2015 News Photography Award given to St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographic staff.

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