Spencer picks cop as public safety director, former MoBot exec as operations chief

ST. LOUIS — Mayor-elect Cara Spencer announced more picks for key positions on Monday, including her public safety director and chief operating officer. St.

Louis police Maj. Shawn Dace will be the public safety director, overseeing the city’s largest department. Even with the St.



Louis police moving under a state-controlled board, Dace will oversee a large array of key functions, from firefighting to building inspections to the Citizens’ Service Bureau, charged with routing tens of thousands of citizen complaints to the appropriate responder. Dace joined the city police department in 1990 and in recent years has overseen South Patrol and served as deputy commander of the Bureau of Investigative Services, which includes homicide, sex crimes and arson detectives. Robert Herleth will be Spencer’s interim chief operating officer, one of the key people in charge of making city departments work.

That will be especially important for Spencer, who campaigned on promises to improve struggling services like trash pickup and road maintenance. Herleth was previously an executive at A.G.

Edwards and then at the Missouri Botanical Garden before retiring in 2015. At the garden, he worked on the redevelopment of McRee Town into the Botanical Heights neighborhood, among other things. Julian Nicks, whose resume includes stints at the high-powered consultancy Bain & Co.

and as CEO of tech job trainer LaunchCode, will be Herleth’s deputy. Spencer also announced that former Alderman Dan Guenther will be her liaison to the Board of Aldermen, another key appointment. It will be his job to navigate aldermen, especially President Megan Green and her progressive allies.

Green backed Jones in this year’s election, and criticized Spencer throughout. Guenther, who was considered a progressive alderman and has been friends with both women, could be a bridge. Meanwhile, Connie Johnson, an attorney and former Democratic state representative, will serve as director of the St.

Louis Agency on Training & Employment. And longtime City Hall attorney Michael Garvin will be interim city counselor. Spencer also said she would retain a number of people from Mayor Tishaura O.

Jones’ staff. They include Gilberto Pinela, who leads efforts to welcome new immigrants to the city, and Casey Millburg, Jones’ policy director, who an alderman once described as “slap-you-in-the-face competent.”.