Mayor of St. Louis

Mayor of the City of St. Louis
Flag of St. Louis, Missouri
Incumbent Francis G. Slay since April 17, 2001
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	William Carr Lane
Formation	1821
Salary	$131,820
Website	Office of the Mayor

The mayor of the City of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis' city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the board of aldermen.

Forty-five individuals have held the office of mayor of St. Louis, four of whom — William Carr Lane, John Fletcher Darby, John Wimer, and John How — served non-consecutive terms. The most terms served by a mayor was by Lane, who served eight full terms plus the unexpired term of Darby. The current mayor is Francis G. Slay, who took office April 17, 2001, and who won a fourth four-year term on March 5, 2013. As of April 27, 2013, he is the longest-serving mayor of St. Louis. The second-longest serving mayor was Henry Kiel, who took office April 15, 1913 and left office April 21, 1925, a total of 12 years and nine days over three terms in office. Two others — Raymond Tucker, and Vincent C. Schoemehl — also served three terms as mayor, but served seven fewer days. The shortest serving mayor was Arthur Barret, who died 11 days after taking office.

St. Louis was incorporated as a city on December 9, 1822, shortly following the state of Missouri's admission to the Union four months prior. In accordance with its new charter, the city changed its governance to a mayor-council format and elected its first mayor, William Carr Lane, on April 7, 1823.

The mayor is elected for four years during the general municipal election, which is held every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April. Primary elections are held in March prior to the general municipal election. The mayor is usually sworn during the first session of the Board of Aldermen two weeks after the election. The next election for mayor will be in 2017.