Megan Ellyia Green (born July 25, 1983) is an American politician and educator from St. Louis, Missouri. She has served as the President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen since 2022, having previously been the alderwoman from the 15th ward since 2014. Green is a progressive Democrat and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Originally from Upstate New York, Green moved to St. Louis in 2005 to participate in the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. She has a political science degree from Penn State and a PhD in education policy from Saint Louis University. Green is an adjunct professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, teaching public policy.
In November 2022, Green won the special election to replace President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, who resigned after being indicted on federal bribery charges. The first woman to serve as Board President, Green was re-elected to a full four-year term in April 2023.
Early life and career
Green was born in Oneonta, New York in 1983. Her father is a philosophy professor at SUNY Oneonta and her mother is a public school English teacher. She became politically active as a student at Penn State, participating in John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign and fundraising for the Democratic National Committee in Chicago. In 2005, she became a Coro Fellow and re-located to Tower Grove South in St. Louis.
As part of the fellowship program, Green worked for U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill. She later participated in Teach for America and was involved in an unsuccessful effort to create a new charter school in St. Louis. She was also a local organizer for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
St. Louis Board of Aldermen
Green was first elected to the Board of Aldermen on October 7, 2014, winning a special election in the 15th ward, which covers Tower Grove South and parts of Tower Grove East. Running as an independent, she received 46% of the vote and defeated three other candidates. Green had been endorsed by Board President Lewis E. Reed. She was sworn in on October 17, 2014. The special election had been called after the previous alderwoman, Jennifer Florida, resigned to become the city's Recorder of Deeds.
Green was re-elected to the Board of Aldermen in April 2015 with nearly 89% of the vote. Her primary opponent criticized her involvement in the Ferguson protests. In March 2017, Green was challenged by her predecessor, Jennifer Florida, in the primary. Florida was charged with third-degree assault against a man in St. Louis County during the campaign. Green defeated Florida by over 30% and won the general unopposed.
In 2021, Green won a re-match against Jennifer Florida in a nonpartisan election using approval voting. In June 2022, she was the chair of the Education and Youth Matters Committee and also sat on the Health and Human Services and Convention, Tourism, Arts, and Humanities committees. In November 2022, Green vacated her 15th ward seat upon being elected President of the Board of Aldermen.
Bribery allegations
Green alleged in 2015 that a "loved one" had been offered a political bribe in return for Green "dialing down" her opposition to a proposed football stadium. She went on to criticize the Board of Aldermen's "quid pro quo mentality" and said that "the deal cutting, bribery... at City Hall will never cease to amaze me." Green later apologized to Alderman Sam Moore after implying that he had accepted bribes in exchange for his vote on the planned stadium. St. Louis Public Radio reported that Green's allegations "seemed to irritate" her fellow board members and an investigation by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI determined that her claims had "no substance."
Reed radio show appearance
On January 11, 2016, Board President Lewis Reed was a guest on a radio show hosted by Bob Romanik. During the episode, Romanik called Green a "skanky bitch", "alderbitch", and "skanky-ass bitch". Reed laughed at these remarks and went on to criticize Green himself. His appearance on Romanik's show received considerable backlash and was condemned by then-Mayor Francis Slay. Reed later called Romanik's comments "out of line" and claimed that his laughter was due to shock. On February 11, Green released a statement asking Reed to apologize.