By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Voters in St. Louis City rejected on Tuesday four changes to the City's Charter that would have re-structured city government.
Propositions A, B, C, and D would have given the mayor more power by making a number of elected officials appointed and transferring the control of the budget to his office. The Board of Aldermen would have also been reduced in size from 28 members to 15.
Opponents of the changes included Circuit Clerk Mariano Favazza, whose office would have become appointed if he won.
"I'm feeling very good that the voters of the city of St Louis have spoken with one loud voice that they want to keep their right to vote," Favazza said Tuesday night. "But I also am aware that the city needs to take a look at how we do business in our city. And that means everything from the mayor's office all across the board."
Proponents of the Amendments say they would have reduced bureaucracy, making city government more efficient.
Jim Conway, one of the four living former St. Louis Mayors who all endorsed the proposals, says it was a lost chance for people in the city to make their government more efficient.
"When you're amending something like a charter, it gets complicated and there's a lot of legalise and it's a little hard for people to understand," Conway said Tuesday. "If they don't understand it, they tend to vote no."
"Our biggest problem was that we weren't able to reach the people in the City of St. Louis like we had originally intended."
The amendments needed 60% approval to pass, but the closest any of the four got was 42% approval for Proposition A.
| St. Louis City Charter - Props A,B,C,D (60% approval needed to pass) | ||||
| Prop. | Yes | Vote (%) | No | Vote (%) |
| A | 59,950 | 41.8% | 73,722 | 58.2% |
| B | 46,527 | 36.5% | 81,020 | 63.5% |
| C | 49,636 | 38.7% | 78,751 | 61.3% |
| D | 49,228 | 39.8% | 74,513 | 60.2% |