Bellerive Acres Has Been Without a City Hall for 2 Weeks

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RYAN KRULL

Pasadena Hills City Hall

The website for the small north county municipality of Bellerive Acres lists the address for its administrative offices as being within the city hall for nearby Pasadena Hills, where Bellerive Acres has rented space since July 2021.

A recent visit to that address, however, revealed that no Bellerive Acres’ employees work there. A Pasadena Hills employee on the premises said that the woman who used to work part time for Bellerive Acres hasn't worked there for about two weeks.

Bellerive Acres, a municipality of a little less than 200 people, effectively hasn't had a city hall since March 11, city council member Maureen Roach tells the RFT.

Roach explains that until recently, Bellerive Acres and Pasadena Hills split the salary of one city clerk, who worked out of the Pasadena Hills’ City Hall. If someone needed a permit or had some other business with Bellerive Acres, this city clerk was the main point of contact. 

But on March 12, Roach says, Pasadena Hills’ Mayor Cynthia McCarthy informed Bellerive Acres’ Mayor Stephen White that as of the day prior, the clerk was no longer employed by Pasadena Hills. She hasn't been working out of the Pasadena Hills office since. 

"Our clerk is no longer welcome there, I don't believe," Roach says. 

It's not clear why the clerk is no longer welcome or where she has been working from. She is still employed by Bellerive Acres.

"[White] has not told any of our residents,” Roach says. "And you know, people have to go there to get permits and things like that."

The RFT reached out to Mayor White via phone and text message but did not hear back.

At a city council meeting last Thursday, a city council member attempted to bring this topic up, though the mayor clearly did not wish to discuss it in an open forum.

"I don't know if anybody was aware, but we don't have a city hall," city council member Tom Kiely said at the meeting, which took place at Normandy City Hall and on Zoom.  

"That's what the closed session is about," the mayor replied. 

"I went down there today and didn't know anything about it. We don't have a city hall," Kiely said again.

Mayor White repeated, "Yeah, that's what the closed session is about." 

"Ok. All right," Kiely said, and then moved on to other business.