St. Louis- The president of a national strip club chain is running for the Mehlville School Board in south St. Louis County.
Michael Ocello runs more than a dozen clubs from Denver to Sauget to Indianapolis. The company is VCG Holding Corp. and its stock is traded on Wall Street. Ocello says this year's sales will crest at $30 million.
Ocello, 46, a husband and father of three, hopes to win one of two seats on the Mehlville board.
But his line of work - he prefers "adult entertainment" - is already stirring talk in the area.
"I wouldn't want that kind of guy running a school board," said Jeremy Parks, 21, in the Dierbergs parking lot on Lemay Ferry Road. "If he's that great of a guy, with good morals, he wouldn't be running strip clubs."
Ocello said that type of comment is offensive.
The women he employs are professionals, making a fine living, he said. The clubs are businesses, and many are upscale, he added.
Ocello, once a male dancer himself, describes himself as a businessman and a family guy; he likes playing with his grandchildren, riding motorcycles with his wife, watching old movies with his daughter and boating on the Mississippi River with the family.
He knew the race would be tough.
He's tiring of the strip club questions already.
There's no shortage of candidates. Five additional people, including both incumbents, have filed. The others candidates are a Union Pacific worker, a pressroom supervisor, a salesman, a retired teacher and a church fundraiser.
Several candidates said it will be rough for a man in adult entertainment to win the hearts of suburban, conservative district residents.
"I don't want to say anything negative about anybody," said Tom Diehl, the nonprofit fundraising consultant. "I imagine it might be tough for some voters to get beyond that issue."
Privately, at least one candidate asked Ocello what he's doing, Ocello said.
"I knew going into it I would receive a lot of scrutiny," Ocello said. "I think it's important enough to go through with it."
But district residents, from body shop workers to mothers picking up children after school, said a strip club exec would never get their vote:
"Doesn't seem like something I'd want around my school," said Diane St. Cyre, a parent outside of Mehlville High last Thursday.
Laurie Smith, an elementary school staff member, said, "Not to be judgmental, but if he's a strip club owner, no way! ... The job of being on a school board is a person who's going to stand up for your child's rights."
Said Scott Drown, 28, as he patched a car bumper inside the Maaco bodyshop on Reavis Barracks Road, "He'll definitely have a lot more eyes on him."
Others said they'd prefer not to judge a book by its cover. And those who know Ocello speak highly of him.
Barbara Geno, executive director of Clayton Child Center, said Ocello has been a strong board member for 10 years at Geno's school. "He's very well informed, very well read," she said. "He's a very bright man. I think he has very high morals and ethics."
Ocello said he's concerned the current Mehlville board is not connecting with residents.
This is an important election for Mehlville. The new board is almost sure to pick the district's next superintendent. Plus, the community just roundly defeated a tax levy increase, leaving school finances in question and $4 million in budget cuts on the table. Transportation, teacher jobs and free after-school sports all could go.
District staff and residents say they need strong leadership.
The candidates say they hope the race sticks to the issues.
