The Man Who Would Be Mayor: How A Felonious Past Can Eclipse The Future

It was a position that offered less money and no benefits, but for Gerald B. French, Sr. it provided something far more valuable — the chance to make a difference.

On April 3, the 52-year-old was elected mayor of Vinita Park, a city in Missouri that covers under two square miles with slightly less than 2,000 people. His office was in an old building that had once been a house and that was now infested with black mold, French said. Still, he was excited about his position and what it meant.

“I was elated,” French said. “I was happy. It was a feeling of being accepted. The people had spoken, and it was time to get to work. I had some great plans for the city.”

But French, who grew up in St. Louis, had a past. He knew he was being watched. He knew that he was a role model for other men who wondered if they could overcome their past and become people who could make a difference in their communities.

He wanted to tell them yes. He had proven it. But, his victory was short-lived.

French had won the chance to lead the small municipality with more than twice the vote of his opponent, long-time Ward 1 Alderman Brian Gremaud.

As for why he believed he defeated Gremaud, “He didn’t have a platform to move the city forward or build the city up,” French said.

French promptly quit his job as the city’s public works director making $46,000 a year with benefits and got ready to settle into his new position with about $6,000 less money and no insurance.

He had run on the platform of a new day, a new voice taking Vinita Park to the next level. French said he wanted to interject some new life into the city. He and his 39-year-old wife were the youngest people on his block, he said.

The city hadn’t built a new house in years but had torn down four abandoned homes last year and planned to tear down at least seven more this year, French said.

He planned to implement a leaves removal plan because the city had so many trees that yards were flooded with fallen leaves. He wanted the residents to move the leaves to the curb and he would have a machine come and pick them up. He wanted to build a new city hall, give the employees a decent raise and bring back the Neighborhood Watch program, although he said there was hardly any crime.

French had moved to the city in 2014, two years after he had taken over the public works position. He said the neighborhood was quiet and, except for the occasional theft at night from unlocked vehicles, it was a relatively safe city with no serious crimes.

For years, the city hosted only four events: an Easter Egg Hunt; the Fourth of July Picnic in the park; a National Night out, and a Christmas celebration. But French wanted to see them do more. So, he came up with the idea for Burgers and Blues in the park to be held at least three times a year. French said he already had a band lined up.

But after two weeks in his new position, things began to unravel. Even before he took office, French was met with deception, leaving many to wonder if he was just a pawn in a bigger game set up by the man he thought of as a friend and a father-figure, the former mayor James McGee.

Still, in the end his ultimate undoing was the past he thought he had left behind. That past had returned with one phone call and French learned what others like him already knew — society will not easily forgive.

“Society will not allow you to bounce back,” French said.

The Return of the Past

The federal court judge in St. Louis looked at the man standing before him. He was an oddity in a courtroom of hardened criminals and repeat offenders.

“You are different from everybody else I see in my courtroom,” the judge told him. “You have a support system.”

The judge held up a stack of character reference letters of support for the man to see. They had been sent by members of the man’s church. The judge then told him to turn around. Behind him in the back of the courtroom were at least 30 church members. The man, a military veteran, began to cry.

The case was unique. Still, “I’m bound by law to sentence you to 24 months in prison,” the judge told him. He was also given three years of probation.

It had begun more than a decade earlier in 2004. Then, French had seven children and after paying child support, he had little money left. So, when an opportunity for easy money came along, he took it. All he had to do was deposit three counterfeit checks totaling more than $23,000 into his bank account. He got $1,500 out of the deal. He also brokered a deal to sell ½ a kilo of cocaine and took home about $600 to $700.  

French had grown up with loving parents, was a devoted church member and prided himself on always being there for his children just like his father was there for him. In 2006, he was convicted of the crimes and could no longer be there for his children. He admitted he had not thought of the consequences. He never thought he would get caught.

French was sent to the federal correctional institution in Forrest City, Arkansas. He quickly realized most of the inmates were repeat offenders who had grown accustomed to life in prison.

They would discuss which jail had the most food and French was stunned.

“I don’t see how people keep going back and back and back,” French said. “Once was enough for me. It was an embarrassment to my kids and my church.”

French never went back, but his case was rare. An estimated two-thirds of prisoners are likely to be arrested for a new crime within three years after being released, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. And three-quarters were arrested within five years, the BJS said in a 2014 report.

According to a study by the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, those who served time in prison were less likely to return if they found employment and made decent wages. But,most employers won’t hire felons. And, most American prisons only focus on punishment rather than rehabilitation. The prison system doesn’t give inmates the care or the tools they need to get a job once they are on the outside.

And many just give up. French has encountered some of them. “They don’t vote,” he said. “They have given up on society and themselves.”

French would urge them to vote. But the responses were always the same.

“’Why? They don’t look at us like people.’”

Still, French could understand. He had wanted to be a police officer and after getting out of the military he passed the test to become a state trooper. But before he could go before the oral board, his brother got into trouble and he had to pay the price.

Because he and his brother were close and he was with his brother before the incident, French was arrested. He found out that the prosecutor had him arrested to get his brother to surrender. His brother eventually turned himself in, but the case against French was continued so many times before it was dropped, he missed the deadline to go before the board.

“I fought for my country and came back and one person could sit on my life like that,” said French who served as an intelligence specialist in the military. The experience left him bitter and he gave up on becoming an officer. But for him, prison was a wake-up call, not a life sentence.

Elected Mayor by the People

After French got out of prison, his pastor helped him get a pickup truck and French worked various jobs such as cleaning abandoned houses and cutting grass with a lawn mower borrowed from the church.

He attended community college to become a funeral director. But before he could pursue it, Vinita Park’s mayor McGee offered French the public works director’s position. The two attended the same church and had been friends for a long time, French said.

Then in February, McGee told French he plans to retire as mayor. French saw an opportunity to do something more for his community. He wanted to show his sons that after all the struggles he could succeed. He wanted to show other felons that they too could get beyond their past. He didn’t expect that soon that hope would be gone.

Though, he was elected on April 3 and could technically take office on the 17th, French said McGee asked him to wait until May 21, that would presumably give McGee a chance to throw a big ceremony to welcome French.

Then McGee told French the mayor’s job would become part-time and the pay cut in half. That’s how the position was set up originally. Gremaud said McGee, who had been mayor since 2010, was the one who made the mayor’s position full-time by including additional duties and giving himself two raises in the same year, doubling his salary.

McGee added the duties of city manager, city administrator and public safety officer to his job description, Gremaud said. But the public safety officer was the duty of the police chief, he said.

“It was redundant, ridiculous and abusive of tax payer’s money,” Gremaud said.

It was also a violation of Missouri statute for a class 4 city, according to the Alderman.

Still, McGee was hoping to become city manager after the position changed, French said. On April 22, French attended a conference and returned two days later to find that McGee had held a special board meeting to create the position of city manager, French said.

McGee denied it, but French was suspicious. On April 26, at an event for mayors, French was told he didn’t have to wait until McGee’s May 21st deadline. Indeed, they were surprised he had not begun leading the city and urged him to do so. He decided to get sworn in on April 27 after notifying the city clerk and the police chief. He also tried to contact McGee, but never got a response. When he showed up at his new office, McGee had cleared out all the files.

French had not taken over the position for long when he received the phone call. The city prosecutor was looking into his criminal record and wanted his information to be sent to them. French contacted his lawyer to find out why.

The lawyer learned that someone had called the prosecutor’s office about his criminal record.

Gremaud said he was the one who called the prosecutor’s office. He said he had heard from someone else that French had a long criminal history, though he didn’t know the details, and he wanted to know if it would preclude French from serving as mayor.

It did. After serving only two weeks as mayor, French resigned on May 8. He said he didn’t know that under Missouri State law a felon couldn’t serve as mayor. It’s unclear if McGee did. He could not be reached for comment.

French said McGee dangled the offer of getting him his old job back as public works director by trying to get French to appoint him as city manager before he resigned. French refused.

French, who has two sons and a daughter living with him, said he’s not sure what to do now.

“I followed all the rules,” he said.

Still, French hasn’t given up. He’s working as an attendant at the city’s funeral home and in June, he plans to take the state test to become a funeral director.

“I just want to get back to my life,” French said. “Society has a way of putting a toe tag on you and counting you off as dead.”