Editorial: What happens after Councilman Kevin de León’s apology tour?
Kevin de León walks across the stage after delivering his remarks during the recent meeting of the St. Louis City Council and then is escorted out afterward by Council President Melinda Feels and members of the Council. This is a photo from that meeting.
(Photo: STLToday.com)
There was a lot of confusion about de León’s intentions when he first announced it would be an apology tour. Some people have said that he just wanted to be transparent. Others say he was trying to show the public that he was taking responsibility for any wrong-doing in his office and that he was willing to offer an unvarnished apology.
But the question still remains: What does an apology after he’s convicted of lying about a council meeting mean?
On Aug. 4, City Councilor Kevin de León apologized to St. Louisans but did not mention his conviction of lying about the St. Louis Metropolitan Convention and Leisure Center District. His apology came one day after he was convicted in the St. Louis Circuit Court.
We asked de León about the apology and his conviction and his plans for future activities.
Q. What is your intention with the apology tour?
A. We wanted to have an event without creating a controversy when something bad happened, which happened in this case. We hoped people would see that we are sincere people and people who had an unfortunate incident happen in 2010 because we were trying to do the right thing.
Kevin de León (left), then-Council President Melinda Feels (third from left) and City Councilor Donnie Schoepf during de León’s apology tour announcement.
Q. How did you learn about your conviction? In the end, are you glad you have to go through this?
A. I feel very sad about it, for sure. It was an unfortunate situation and something that I didn’t mean to do. But it didn’t mean that I was not a truthful person.
Q. Will you be going through the same thing in the near future?
A. No.
