Shady Mayor Stephen Thompson is hijacking a city salary study, intended to ensure fair pay for underpaid police and staff and twisting it into an excuse to line his own pockets and pad the board’s. That’s brazen, self-serving, and flat-out wrong.

Cottleville’s mayor and aldermen have always served in part-time roles. The job was never meant to be a paycheck. The previous mayor respected that tradition and never dared to chase personal raises. Thompson, on the other hand, is shredding that precedent for his own gain.

And the timing reeks. It wasn’t long ago that lawsuit transcripts revealed Thompson’s financial strains. Now, suddenly, he’s maneuvering for a raise, pretending it’s about everyone when it’s really about himself. That’s not leadership; it’s a con.

Meanwhile, police officers and city staff, the ones who actually keep Cottleville safe and running are left to wonder if their promised raises will be diluted by this scheme. To make matters worse, Thompson refuses to come clean about what other pay hikes he’s plotting for next year, leaving taxpayers in the dark.

This is opportunism, plain and simple. If Thompson has any interest in restoring trust, he should slam the door on raises for himself and the board immediately and put every dime toward those who serve this city full time. Until then, his actions speak louder than words: this isn’t about fairness, it’s about feeding his own wallet.

And let’s be clear: you heard it here from the very beginning , Thompson is not who he appears to be. His ties with Saint Peters, his background cloaked in secrecy, his obsession with keeping up a polished image through photo ops, and his glaring hypocrisy have been there all along.  This latest stunt only confirms the truth: Stephen Thompson puts Stephen Thompson first. Always.