St. Louis Observer: November 12, 2021
Ward redistricting drama continues; area nursing home workers join #Striketober; state filing deadlines for local political candidates changes; region falls short on affordable housing
Editor’s Note
As the nine-year St. Louis City ward redistricting and reduction saga likely comes to a close, this afternoon, we would like to revisit the history of this process and the challenges along the way.
Our City Charter requires that we revisit ward boundaries every ten years, redrawing them as populations shift throughout the City. Relying on U.S. Census data to redraw lines, the process historically has been marred by backroom deals and power grabs, sometimes targeting political opponents or gerrymandering wards to include political allies. When ward lines were redrawn in 2001, for example, current 1st Ward Alderwoman Sharon Tyus was the then-20th Ward Alderwoman, and she was drawn out of her ward. The 20th Ward was then relocated to South City, and the 10th Ward also was moved from South City, along the river, to cover The Hill neighborhood. The redistricting fight caught national attention when Tyus’ ally at the Board, Alderwoman Irene Smith, threatened to use a bucket to urinate during a filibuster on the Board floor.
The fight to redraw ward lines, as it seems, has always been quite messy.
On November 6, 2012, 61% of St. Louis City voters chose to reduce the number of wards from 28 to 14 through Prop R. In 1914, when the number of wards - 28 - was chosen, the City’s population was nearing 700,000. More than 107 years later, however, the City’s population hovers around 300,000, necessitating the decrease of elected representatives at the Board. Proponents of 2012’s Prop R applauded the decrease in wards, which would allow alderpersons to be paid a livable wage and to hire staff, enabling their full-time attention to the elected position. The current salary for an alderperson in St. Louis is $37,000, which has forced most representatives into obtaining secondary employment - in some cases, like in the 7th Ward, e.g., causing massive conflicts of interest between alderpersons, their employers, their campaign donors, and voters. Opponents of Prop R, however, expressed concern with the reduced representation of majority-Black wards.
Earlier this year, 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad introduced a bill to block voters’ 2012 decision, citing specifically the reduction of Black representation. That effort was vetoed by then-Mayor Lyda Krewson. Several members of the Board clearly showed concern for the impact of redistricting on Black residents at the start of 2021, but they notably failed to begin the redistricting process until late October, with less than two months to produce a final map. The artificially-truncated redistricting process has been criticized by residents and community organizations for a lack of transparency, failing to collect public input for nine years, and protecting political allies.
Assuming a final map is produced in time, every alderperson would be up for re-election in 2023, should they choose to run again. Odd-numbered alderpersons would initially serve a two-year term, while the Board President and even-numbered alderpersons would serve four-year terms. In the meantime, we expect nothing but drama, more backroom deals, and more power grabs as Establishment Democrats struggle to maintain power in a post-Prop R St. Louis.
In the News
Police and prosecutorial accountability
A new Missouri law, passed by the Legislature earlier this year, now requires law enforcement officers to undergo a mental health evaluation every 3 to 5 years and includes the establishment of a fund designed to help officers manage stress and process psychological traumas. Currently, the State Highway Patrol is conducting seminars for officers and their families to address rising domestic violence, alcohol and substance abuse, and mental health crises that are prevalent in the profession. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Kurt Erickson]
A recent FBI investigation into former Kansas City Kansas Police officer Roger Gulubski for systematically preying on Black women, further review of the police department has shown little effort by prosecutors to hold officers accountable for assault, falsifying police reports, and targeted Black residents. The FOIA-obtained records show a pattern by KCKPD, with hundreds of officers accused of misconduct without further investigation since the early 1990s. [KCUR/Steve Vockrodt]
Former St. Louis City Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards has been appointed to serve as a trustee for the Center for American and International Law, a Texas-based nonprofit that has been accused of promoting climate change denial. Edwards received his appointment comes approximately eight months after his resignation as City public safety director. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joe Holleman]
The former superintendent of the St. Louis City Workhouse, Jeffrey Carson, has announced his plans to retire from the City Department of Corrections. Carson oversaw Workhouse operations from 2017 until earlier this year, including several summers without working air conditioning, winters without working heat, and years of allegations of abuse and inhumane living conditions for persons detained in the facility. St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mark Schlinkmann]
Redrawing St. Louis City and County maps
Activists are voicing their displeasure, not just with the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen’s proposed new ward map, but also with the process of redrawing boundary lines ahead of the December 31 deadline. Residents and community organizations have alleged that the redistricting process has lacked transparency and public participation, despite voters’ 2012 overwhelming support for ward reduction, and Board President Lewis Reed is accused of backroom deals to help his allies on the Board retain power. [St. Louis American/Dana Rieck]
The Legislative Committee of the Board of Aldermen has released its third iteration of a proposed new ward map, this version being significantly different from the previous two versions presented to the public. The new map includes 80% of neighborhoods being contained into one ward and five wards that bridge the Delmar Divide. [St. Louis Public Radio/Corrine Ruff]
St. Louis County Democrats have proposed a new redistricted map for the County Council that would shift Black representation in the 1st District from a 75% Black majority bloc to a 40% Black minority, into the proposed 2nd District, which stretches from part of Chesterfield to the St. Louis City border. Although the map is the first draft, it has received immense public backlash from both residents and other elected leaders. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/ ]
Further reading
Following the 2007 legislative repeal of a 1921 law that required gun purchasers to obtain a permit from their county sheriff or police department prior to purchase, the number of gun-related deaths in the state has increased 58%. Other research has shown that gun-related suicides in Missouri have increased by 23% since the repeal, and gun violence is expected to increase with the Missouri Legislature’s passage of the “Second Amendment Protection Act” earlier this year. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Kaitlin Washburn, Hurubie Meko, and Humera Lodhi of the Kansas City Star]
A recent investigation has revealed that lenders continue to discriminate against Black borrowers and mortgagees of color in the City of St. Louis. Black families were found to be 145% more likely to be denied a home loan compared to white borrowers, and one bank in particular - First Mid Bank & Trust - was found to have issued less than 1% of its St. Louis-area mortgages to Black borrowers. [KSDK/Greg Miller, PJ Randhawa, and Erin Richey]
Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has issued new filing deadlines for potential candidates running for city councils and school boards across Missouri. The time period for candidates to file their intent to run for office has been reduced from approximately 6 weeks down to 3 weeks: December 7 until December 28. [St. Louis Public Radio/Jason Rosenbaum]
Workers and union members of three St. Louis-area nursing home facilities are on strike, protesting dangerous working conditions and poor wages. The facilities have been cited nearly $200,000 in fines since 2018 from both the state health department and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [Missouri Independent/Sophie Hurwitz, Tessa Weinberg, and Allison Kite]
The St. Louis Affordable Housing Report Card released earlier this week has revealed that more than 75% of City and County residents are living in housing that they cannot afford. The report also considered current funding for homelessness prevention, transitional housing and rents, mortgage and utility assistance, and housing needs for special populations, such as seniors and persons recently released from incarceration.[St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Janelle O’Dea]
Ongoing violence against Indigenous women and girls finally has been recognized as a national crisis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. While a recent report issued by the federal government acknowledges that the extent of the violence is unknown, its findings do indicate gradual movement by the Justice and Interior Departments to allocate resources, training, and infrastructure support to tribes and law enforcement. [Missouri Independent/Shondiin Silversmith]
A new documentary film, available through the St. Louis International Film Festival, focuses on the Cold War-era experiments on Black St. Louisans who resided in the Pruitt-Igoe housing project. The film focuses on U.S. Army-commissioned experiments that tested the impact of spraying zinc cadmium sulfide, a toxic chemical, over Black neighborhoods in the City to test the impact on residents’ health. [St. Louis Public Radio/Jeremy Goodwin]
Legislative & Legal Update
City of St. Louis
BB 101, introduced by Ald. Vollmer (Ward 10) and President Reed, would allow the Board of Aldermen to redraw their own ward boundary lines in consideration of voter-approved ward reduction and recent census numbers. The bill remains in the Legislative Committee with three versions presented to the public for comment and revision.
BB 132, introduced by Ald. Bret Narayan (Ward 24), would repeal local ordinances related to the possession of cannabis and paraphernalia in the City of St. Louis. The bill further would reorganize law enforcement priorities and amends the standards of “probable cause” & “reasonable suspicion” used by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The bill was passed out of the Health and Human Services Committee on November 9.
State of Missouri
The Missouri State Legislature is on recess until January 2022.
Take Action
On Saturday at 10 a.m., community organizers, activists, and elected officials will meet at the corner of Cass & Jefferson in protest of white millionaire developer Paul McKee’s appropriation of Homer G. Phillips’ name for a new three-bed private urgent care facility. McKee, who has faced widespread public scrutiny for using the name against the will of Black residents and leaders, has refused to attend town halls and listening sessions.