Updated at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 13 with outcome of special board meeting
A proposal that would have asked St. Louis voters to create an elected watchdog known as the public advocate is dead.
The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday failed to give first-round approval to the legislation. That means it will not be on the November ballot, and its supporters, including some members of the city’s Charter Commission, would have to try again.
“We had an obligation to honor the Charter Commission’s work the best way I can,” said its sponsor, 6th Ward Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez. “I realize that in this case, democracy was an imperfect, messy process with the commission, but I think the board has an obligation to try our best to make sure that those recommendations get to the ballot.”
Aldermen did not debate the legislation on the floor. But in committee, many raised concerns about the amount of power the position would have had.
“You do a little bit of the mayor’s work, you do a little bit of the comptroller’s work, you do a little of the Board of Aldermen’s work, you do a little bit of the city counselor’s work, and you’re there for four years,” 4th Ward Alderman Bret Narayan said.
In her committee testimony, Comptroller Darlene Green called the proposed position “redundant and nonessential.”
The Board on Tuesday did send four other proposed changes to Mayor Tishaura Jones. Her office said it is reviewing the legislation, including bills to:
- Create a Department of Transportation that would handle policy across all forms of mobility, including for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Give the board additional budgeting authority.
- Eliminate the cap on municipal fines for illegal dumping, unpermitted demolitions and other offenses “regarding the preservation and protection of environmental conditions."
- Change the name of the Board of Aldermen to the City Council and directs the city counselor to modernize the names of city departments.
Original story from Aug. 8
Plans to remake parts of St. Louis government are a step closer to the ballot.
The Board of Aldermen gave first-round approval to several proposals at a marathon meeting on Thursday that required multiple procedural maneuvers and featured an attempt to amend a bill on the floor.
Aldermen will vote to send the measures to Mayor Tishaura Jones next week. If she signs them, voters will weigh in during the November election. Most of the measures came out of the work of the Charter Commission.
“All of us really want to thank the Charter Commission for the countless hours that they put into getting those initiatives to us,” board President Megan Green said Thursday after the meeting.
Here are the measures that advanced:
- Board Bill 30, sponsored by Alderman Rasheen Aldridge of the 14th Ward, gives additional budget authority to members of the board.
Under the current charter, aldermen are able to make reductions in the budget but cannot increase spending in areas without the approval of the city’s fiscal oversight board. The proposed change gives aldermen the authority to make increases and eliminates the requirement that the Board of Estimate and Apportionment sign off on the budget once aldermen have weighed in.
“In the state of Missouri as a representative, you’re able to increase and decrease,” said Aldridge, a former state representative. “As a Senate member, you're able to increase and decrease. Even in Kansas City and St Louis County, their council has the ability to do so.”
- Board Bill 61, sponsored by Alderman Michael Browning of the 9th Ward, renames the Department of Streets the Department of Transportation.
“The mission of our streets department was written in 1914, a time when the most popular car was the Model T – a car that boasted a top speed of 40 to 45 miles per hour,” Browning said. "That language does not meet our needs today.”
The streets department is currently just in charge of paved roads in the city. The new department would handle transportation policy across all forms of mobility, including for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Board Bill 72, sponsored by Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez of the 6th Ward, eliminates the cap on fines for things like illegal dumping, unpermitted demolitions and other offenses “regarding the preservation and protection of environmental conditions.”
The charter currently caps the maximum fine for city ordinance violations at $500, an amount that’s been in place since 1970. If the cap is removed, aldermen would set the fines via ordinance.
“This bill is going to be a help where we have landlords who absolutely could afford to fix the issue, but the $500 fine is just the cost of doing business,” said 4th Ward Alderman Bret Narayan, a co-sponsor of the bill.
That cap would remain in place for owner-occupied buildings. The intent, Narayan said, is not to punish homeowners for not being able to cut their grass or fix their roof.
- Board Bill 76, sponsored by Alderman Shane Cohn of the 3rd Ward, changes the name of the city’s legislative body to the City Council and replaces gendered pronouns in the charter with the title the pronoun is referencing.
Aldermen rejected an amendment from Narayan that would have changed the name instead to the Board of Alderpeople.
The three members who represent the vast majority of north St. Louis – Laura Keys of the 11th Ward, Sharon Tyus of the 12th Ward and Pam Boyd of the 13th Ward – voted no on almost everything related to the charter commission on Thursday.
“In my community, they don’t think the process was open, they don’t think it was transparent,” Tyus said.
Public advocate delayed
Aldermen did not advance a measure that would create an elected public advocate. That position, which was one of the measures suggested by the Charter Commission, would audit the performance of departments, investigate complaints of mismanagement and serve as the city’s custodian of records.
The failed vote on a procedural motion means the board will meet twice next week, rather than once.
“I think we’ll see who’s committed to getting the Charter Commission recommendations to the ballot,” said Velazquez, who is sponsoring the bill.
She said a text-based survey of 325 registered voters in the city showed strong support for the idea of a public advocate. Opponents say it is an attack on Comptroller Darlene Green, who currently has the authority to conduct financial audits.
