Joe Holleman | Post-Dispatch
Political correspondent/columnist
ST. LOUIS 鈥 Mayor Cara Spencer on Thursday vowed to get answers on how former Comptroller Darlene Green, who retired in April, ended up reappearing on the city鈥檚 payroll and being issued a paycheck 鈥 while also just being issued a pension check.
鈥淭his is bonkers,鈥 Spencer told the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淚 want to get to the bottom of this.鈥
The mayor added that the city would hold onto any paychecks that are issued to Green so they can鈥檛 be cashed.
Meanwhile, the city鈥檚 new comptroller, Donna Baringer, said she鈥檚 continuing her probe of what happened. She is talking to several city departments.
鈥淲e have a concern that this could be more than just a clerical error,鈥 Baringer said Thursday. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e going through numerous emails and trying to track down the facts.鈥
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Baringer beat Green in the April election, ending Green鈥檚 three-decade tenure as the city鈥檚 chief financial officer.
But earlier this month, Green ended up back on the payroll 鈥 under the budget department, where her City Hall career began in the early 1990s. A paycheck for about $6,500 was issued to her on July 18, though it remains uncashed in the budget department office. And on Friday, she鈥檚 slated to have another check issued to her.
Meanwhile, Green this week also received a monthly pension payment of $3,751, according to the city鈥檚 personnel department retirement system.
The $6,500 paycheck for Green, to reflect two weeks of work, equates to an annual salary topping $168,000. That鈥檚 about $11,000 more a year than the current budget director, Paul Payne, makes.
Baringer said she is seeking answers on how Green ended up back on the payroll, especially since no one in the budget department officially rehired her. A separate department, personnel, is responsible for placing people on the city payroll.
When asked Thursday if she knew the budget department had possession of a payroll check issued in her name, Green said, 鈥淎bsolutely not. I had no idea.鈥
Green confirmed that she received her pension payment, but noted that she had experienced difficulties with the personnel department in getting her pension payments started.
鈥淚 wanted to start getting them in June,鈥 Green said, adding that the personnel department is a key player in the retirement system.
Baringer said personnel department supervisors are among those she wants to talk to as she unravels the situation. Those supervisors remain unavailable for comment, a spokesperson told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday.
The department director, John Unnerstall, is out of the office until Monday.
Biannca Lambert, human resources systems information manager and custodian of records for the department, also is out of the office.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken in June 2025 in this video. Edited by Jenna Jones.
