St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer Places CEMA Commissioner on Leave, Releases Documents and Audio Regarding Siren Failure
ST. LOUIS, MO. – Today, Mayor Cara Spencer is moving to place CEMA Commissioner Sarah Russell on paid administrative leave pending a full external investigation into the actions of the City Emergency Management Agency on Friday, including the failure of the outdoor warning siren system. After learning of the failure of the sirens to be activated, Mayor Spencer immediately ordered an internal investigation. The initial focus was to correct the immediate issue, which Mayor Spencer did by changing the siren activation protocol to clearly place the responsibility of activating the sirens with the Fire Department. However, as the investigation continued, it became increasingly clear that there was not just one serious issue, but multiple. The mayor has directed her staff to initiate an external investigation to fully explore this and any other potential issues. Friday afternoon, CEMA staff, including Russell, were at a workshop at 1520 Market St. and were not at the CEMA office located