On Monday, Oct. 18, Chesterfield will experience a change in leadership as Mayor John Nations resigns to be the new president of Bi-State Development Agency (Metro.)

“I’m very excited to be offered this opportunity,” Mayor Nations said. “But it is with mixed emotions I leave the people of this community.”

A native Missourian, Mayor Nations graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1981, received a bachelor’s degree in public administration at University of Missouri St. Louis and studied law at St. Louis University. Mayor Nations then worked on various city planning, development and financial committees before being elected to the Chesterfield city council.

Mayor Nations served for nine years as head of Chesterfield. During his terms, Nations worked at increasing public programs and improving roads.

“We have dramatically expanded our services while lowering taxes,” Mayor Nations said. “We are now offering more parks and recreation activities than ever before. More than 3,000 kids play soccer and baseball in the Chesterfield valley.”

Nations also reached out to education systems, including institutions in the Rockwood School District.

“Chesterfield always works to strengthen its partnership with schools,” Mayor Nations said.

This partnership includes increased Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs (DARE) in elementary schools and more police resource officers on-campus. Mayor Nations also personally visited schools in the Chesterfield area every year.

But Mayor Nations credited improvements to citizens, not himself. In a letter published in the newsmagazine ‘Wildhorse Connection,’ Nations wrote, “These are not my accomplishments. They belong to you. As I leave, I am very proud that Chesterfield is respected across our region and across the Country.”

Council President Pro Temp Barry Flaschbart will take over as temporary mayor until 2011, when a special election chooses a mayor to finish the term, which ends in 2013.

Mayor Nations said he will work hard to ensure a smooth transition.

“I’ve been meeting with him on an on-going basis so he’s up to speed,” Mayor Nations explained. “I’ve known him since 1994. We get along really well.”

New mayors often set individual agendas with certain priorities and preferences. But Mayor Nations said he hopes the change won’t negatively affect MHS or Chesterfield.

As president of Metro, Mayor Nations will manage St Louis’s bus and train public transit program, St. Louis Downtown Airport, excursion boats on the Missouri River, and the trams and parking garages at the Arch.

 “I’ve always loved public service,” Mayor Nations said. “And Metro will be a new challenge, a new way to serve the people of this area.”

Mitch Campbell, sophomore and Chesterfield resident, was unaware of the news.

“Both dudes [Mayor Nations and Flaschbart] seem cool,” Campbell said. “So I’m pretty chill with it.”

Campbell said he hadn’t noticed any problems with Chesterfield so far.

Sophomore principal Dan Ramsey had a similar perspective.

“I don’t think it will have a big impact since Marquette’s in Clarkson Valley,” Ramsey said. “Whatever the circumstance, we still work hard with Chesterfield to improve our education.”

Mayor Nations left some parting words for MHS.

“I am so grateful for the privilege of having been mayor of Chesterfield,” Mayor Nations said. “Marquette is a big part of our community, and I want the students and parents to know how much I enjoyed working with them, and how thankful I am for how much they gave back.”