Parma muni judge sticks around as others quit

Parma Municipal Judge Phillip Santie remains in his post after several other city officials quit following the election of the town’s first African-American woman mayor.

The national news-making resignations followed the election of Tyrus Byrd as the mayor of the Bootheel-area town of about 700, according to news reports on television station KFVS.

After Byrd bested Randall Ramsey, who served as mayor for 37 years, five of six police officers and three officials — the clerk, the city attorney and the wastewater treatment plant supervisor — turned in resignation letters citing unspecified “safety concerns,” the station reported, citing Ramsey.

In a phone interview with Missouri Lawyers Media, Santie said he’d spoken with the new mayor and she asked him to serve. Santie, who has been municipal judge in Parma for about 18 years, worked with Byrd a few years ago when she was Parma court clerk.

“I’m going to serve until they let me go,” Santie said of the mayor and Board of Aldermen. “I’m not going to leave them hanging, no ma’am.”

Santie said he didn’t know why the other officials resigned. He locked up the court files until a new clerk is hired, he said. Court is usually held the first Tuesday of the month. “It’s going to be a challenge” for the city to have a new court clerk hired by then, he said.

Court and city clerk in Parma appears to be a job for one person, and prosecutor and city attorney also is a dual role, Santie said. A reporter tried to contact Byrd through the city hall number Monday, but the number was busy. Robin Northern, who had been the city attorney, couldn’t immediately be reached.

KFVS initially reported that Santie also had resigned, and he called to let him know he hadn’t, Santie said. He has fielded calls from local newspapers and residents and other judges who wanted to know what was going on, Santie said.

Missouri Lawyers Weekly profiled Santie in March for an article on non-attorney municipal judges in the state.

Santie, who doesn’t have a law degree, also presides in six other cities in the Bootheel region. The largest, the city of Malden, has a population of about 4,200. Santie won re-election for his 11^th two-year term as Malden municipal judge April 7. His other judgeships are appointed positions.