The St. Louis Observer: July 9, 2021
Federal COVID relief funds jeopardized; a busy week for police accountability; CJC bemoans understaffing in the wake of civil rights charges against former employee
Editor’s Note
What could you do with $500?
It could cover a car payment, or groceries, or help with childcare costs. It could pay for a security deposit for a new home, or a credit card payment. Overdue utilities and medical bills could be paid.
That $500 could stand between you and homelessness.
But not all leaders in St. Louis see a $500 cash payment as impactful to those who need it most.
During the Housing, Urban Development, and Zoning (HUDZ) Committee meeting on Wednesday this week, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed rejected Mayor Tishaura Jones’ proposal to give $500 to an estimated 10,000 St. Louisans who have struggled with unemployment or decreased income due to the pandemic, instead claiming that the cash payment would not “be transformational the way we need it to be.”
Reed then introduced his own proposal to allocate that direct relief to St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. This is the “transformation” offered by the Establishment.
Their “transformational” allocates federal pandemic relief funds to a police department that already receives more than $170 million each year, while routinely failing to reduce violent crimes and homicides, to timely process rape kits, and to prioritize people over property. The Establishment’s “transformational” means taking much-needed funds away from the individuals and families who live here and, instead, distributing them to private developers (many who have already received SBA grants and Paycheck Protection Program loans - corporate welfare).
Rather, real transformation comes in the form of universal basic income, allowing tens of thousands of St. Louis families to meet their needs every month. Transformational is a housing court diversion program that focuses on keeping individuals in their homes, rather than evicting them. Transformational looks like a 24-hour homeless shelter AND an intentional encampment for unhoused folks who are not ready or willing to go into a shelter environment. Transformational recognizes that the old ways of electoral politics don’t work for most St. Louisans and dares to envision a system that can uplift and benefit all.
We are a city of two “transformations,” but only one of those offers true, bottom-up change. We know trickle-down distributions of government funds don't work, and we know that over-policing doesn’t alleviate violent crime. We have a week to make our voices heard before the St. Louis Board of Alderman breaks for summer recess - read our Call to Action below on how to share your thoughts with city lawmakers before July 16.
In the News
St. Louis civil rights attorney Liz Ramsey breaks down wrongful convictions in the State of Missouri, the role of the Attorney general in keeping wrongfully convicted men and women behind bars, and the impact of the new Senate Bill 53 on the fight for exonerations in July’s Monthly Observer.
Police accountability and transparency in the St. Louis area
A collective of St. Louis activists - including Black clergy and the Ethical Society of Police - have demanded the termination of a St. Louis County investigator linked to the 1995 wrongful conviction of Lamar Johnson. Joseph Nickerson, a part-time employee of St. Louis County Police Department, was the lead city detective in a 1994 murder case that resulted in the wrongful conviction of Johnson. Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s conviction integrity unit uncovered unauthorized payments that were made to Nickerson’s sole witness and other police misconduct throughout the investigation. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joel Currier]
After distributing more than 600 units to its officers in November 2020, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department finally has adopted the use of body cameras, one of the recommendations from the 2015 Ferguson Commission Report. Only officers who “interact regularly with the public” will receive a camera. [KMOV/Kim St. Onge]
A St. Louis City Police Retirement System trustee was suspended by unanimous vote by fellow trustees, following accusations of unauthorized lobbying and public online posts. Gary Wiegert, a retired SLMPD sergeant and former president of SLPOA, posted on his public social media profile that he would not support or approve of PTSD- or COVID-19-related disability claims submitted by police and other first responders. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Erin Heffernan]
Ferguson Chief of Police Jason Armstrong has stepped down from his post after two years leading the Ferguson Police Department. Armstrong is the sixth chief at the embattled department to resign since 2014. [KMOV/Uncredited Author]
Meanwhile, current Normandy Police Chief Mark Hall has been asked to step down from his post, after allegations surfaced of his history of domestic violence while he was a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer. Normandy Mayor Mark Beckmann and some city council members have asked Hall to leave his post, but Hall has refused to step down [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Katie Kull]
Community programs continue to expand and develop as alternatives to policing
In an effort to address the food apartheid of North City, the SSM Hospital System and the St. Louis Area Foodbank have received a $65,000 grant to provide food distributions, nutritional education, assistance in applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and more. The hospital system stated that it would screen patients at its facilities for food insecurity and provide further assistance if a need is identified. [St. Louis America/Uncredited Authors]
Missouri jail and prison facilities struggle with ongoing civil rights violations
A St. Louis City Justice Center employee and a Northwoods officer were separately indicted by a federal grand jury, both for assaulting detainees in their custody. Former CJC civilian processor Edward Barber and Northwoods police officer Michael L. Bennett were each charged by the grand jury with deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal civil rights violation. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Robert Patrick]
A former female corrections officer has filed a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, hostile work environment, and retaliation against the Missouri Department of Corrections, one of several since 2017 where a female employee has alleged sexual harassment or gender-based discrimination. Millions of dollars in damages have been paid to former female corrections employees since prison chief Anne Precythe took over the department. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jack Suntrup]
Although St. Louis City consolidated its detention facilities by closing the Workhouse in June, the remaining facility (the City Justice Center) says it is still short-staffed by about 20 corrections officers. The CJC now houses 563 detainees, with a maximum capacity of 860 detainees, and employs 165 corrections officers. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Rachel Rice]
Further reading
Hazel Erby, the first Black woman to serve on the St. Louis County Council and mentor to many St. Louis-area public servants, passed away on the afternoon of Friday, July 2. Erby is survived by her husband, two daughters and a son, her grandchildren, and many friends and supporters who were touched by her legacy and impact. [Riverfront Times/Jenna Jones]
A new law affecting temporary license plate tags will soon take effect, allowing consumers to pay vehicle sales tax at the dealership and establishing internal systems to include sales tax and registration fees in financing packages at the point of sale. Temporary tags are frequently policed in the St. Louis area, with nearly 16,000 traffic citations issued by police in 2019 for invalid or improper plates. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Austin Huguelet]
The federal eviction moratorium expires on July 31 and Missouri will have a total of $570 million in federal housing relief assistance to distribute to an estimated 230,000 people living in the state who are at risk of eviction. Housing advocates have charged that state Republicans have interfered with the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) in its distribution of rental assistance and providing housing resources. [Missouri Independent/Rebecca Rivas]
Quote of the Week
There’s still people who cannot work. There’s people who haven’t been able to work through this. There’s people who lost their entire industries through this. There’s people who can’t wait another week, they can’t wait another month, they can’t wait six months for us to get it together here. And if we have the ability to provide direct assistance to them in any amount, I think we should.
— Ald. Bret Narayan (Ward 24) during a July 7, 2021, HUDZ hearing on Board Bill 2. Clip courtesy of @STLPoliticClips.
Legislative & Legal Update
City of St. Louis
Board Bill 2 has been amended and voted out of the Housing, Urban Development, and Zoning (HUDZ) Committee. Sponsored by Board President Lewis Reed, the aldermanic response to the Mayor’s community-sourced spending plan for $500 million in COVID relief funds striped direct assistance to all St. Louisans and redistributes those funds (while adding millions more) to private developers. Reed’s bill also removed $500 cash payments to unemployed and underemployed St. Louisans and redistributed those funds to St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Aldermen for Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, and 27 also requested bans in their wards for City-organized encampments for unhoused St. Louisans. [Riverfront Times/Jenna Jones; St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mark Schlinkmann]
Take Action
The St. Louis City Board of Aldermen breaks for summer recess next week on Friday, July 16, and some aldermanic committees plan to meet prior to the break. The full Board also will meet on Tuesday, July 13, at 10:00 a.m. before the final session.
We ask that, in the next week, you consider reviewing the City’s Aldermanic Committee Calendar and signing up to either present oral testimony or submit written testimony where available.
We echo our previous call-to-action because there are several incredibly important pending Board Bills that St. Louis needs, including Board Bill 2 (distributing American Recovery Act funds to St. Louisans; held up in HUDZ Committee); Board Bill 22 (legislatively halting evictions in St. Louis City; stalled in Public Safety Committee); and Board Bill 31 (regulating security and access to data collected by SLMPD; also stalled in Public Safety Committee). Learn more about how to present oral testimony or submit written testimony here.