St. Louis Carpenters Union top executive ousted
Leader of one of region largest union plagued by support of failed candidates, unpopular ballot initiatives in St. Louis
The Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council Albert Bond has been ousted from leadership, the St. Louis Observer has learned. His departure from STLKCCRC is not believed to be voluntary.
Bond’s leadership of STLKCCRC since September 2015 has been tumultuous, marked by unfruitful alliances with Rex Sinquefield-backed initiatives like the proposed “Better Together” merger of St. Louis City and St. Louis County and the failed privatization efforts of St. Louis Lambert International Airport, as well as providing political and financial support to now-convicted felon and former County Executive Steve Stenger.
The overlap between STLKCCRC and Sinquefield cannot be overstated, as both not only engage in similar ballot initiatives but further employ the same lobbyists, per the Missouri Ethics Commission:
During Stenger’s 2014 and 2018 campaigns for St. Louis County Executive, STLKCCRC contributed more than $130,000 to Stenger, who plead guilty to bribery and mail fraud and was released from Yankton federal prison camp in June 2021.
Most recently, STLKCCRC’s political action committee (or “PAC”), Carpenters Help in the Political Process (also known as CHIPP), donated more than $117,000 to St. Louis City Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed’s failed mayoral campaign committee and PAC, the One St. Louis PAC:
Sources have confirmed that the entire leadership of the Regional Council will be replaced with a trusteeship.
Multiple messages were left with both the local STLKCCRC office and with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters international headquarters in Washington, D.C., but no staff could be reached for comment. It is unclear what the Union’s next steps will be to replace Bond.
Story has been updated to include screenshots from the Missouri Ethics Commission’s website for the political campaigns of Steve Stenger and Lewis Reed.