Boards and Commissions in the City of St. Louis
On Twitter Mayor Slay has been asking for interested parties to speak up if interested in serving on a local board or commission. One recent tweet:
Wonder if Chuck Norris would like to serve on a City board/commission. (If YOU would, email wahbyr@stlouiscity.com and tell her.)
The following are the boards & commissions in the City of St. Louis or regional boards where our Mayor gets to appoint some of the members:
- 620 Market Transportation Development District
- Adjustment, Board of
- Adult Welfare Services, Board of
- Affordable Housing Commission
- Aging, Advisory Council on
- Air Pollution and Variance Review, Board of
- Airport Commission, City
- Art Museum Subdistrict
- Baden Market Centre Special Business District
- Broadway Hotel Transportation Development District
- Bryan Mullanphy Emigrant and Travelers Relief Fund, Board of Commissioners of the
- Building Appeals, Board of
- Cathedral Square Special Business District
- CB5421/5975 Transportation Development District
- Central West End North Special Business District
- Central West End South Business District Commission
- Central West End Southeast Special Business District
- Charity Solicitations Commission
- Cherokee-Lemp Special Business Districts
- Citizens Advisory Committee for Capital Expenditure
- Civil Rights Enforcement Commission, St. Louis
- Civil Service Commission
- Convention and Sports Complex Authority, St. Louis Regional Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC)
- Crime and Law Enforcement,
- Commission on Decent Literature Commission
- Demolition Contractors Board
- Developmental Disabilities Resources Commission (DD Resources)
- Disabled, Advisory Council on the
- Downtown Economic Stimulus Authority of the City of St. Louis (MODESA)
- Downtown Parks Business District
- Downtown Saint Louis Business District
- East-Loop/Parkview Gardens Special Business District
- Electrical Examiners, Committee of
- Enhanced Enterprise Zone
- Enright/Arlington Community Improvement District
- Equalization, Board of
- Firemen’s Retirement System of Saint Louis, Board of Trustees
- Forest Park Advisory Board
- Fumigators, Board of Examiners
- Gardenside Subdivision Special Business District
- Health, Board of
- History Museum Subdistrict
- Hospitals, Board of
- Housing Authority of St. Louis, Commissioners of the
- Industrial Development Authority
- Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority
- Land Reutilization Authority
- Library, Board of Directors St. Louis Public
- Locust Central Business District
- Loughborough Commons Community Improvement District
- Mechanical Contractors, Board of Examiners
- Mental Health Fund, Board of Trustees for the Community
- Merchants and Manufactures Tax Equalization, Board of
- Metro St. Louis HIV Health Services Planning Council
- Metropolitan Park and Recreation District (Great Rivers Greenway)
- Metropolitan Sewer Districts Board of Trustees
- Metropolitan Zoological Park & Museum District Board (Cultural District)
- Missouri Botanical Garden Subdistrict
- Missouri St. Louis Metropolitan Airport Authority
- Orpheum Theatre Community Improvement District
- Philanthropic Organization, Inc., St. Louis
- Planned Industrial Expansion Authority, Board of Commissioners of the
- Planning Commission
- Plumbers and Drainlayers, Board of Examiners of
- Plumbing Review, Committee of
- Police Retirement , Board of Trustees for the Maintenance and Admin. of the Alternative Sys. of
- Port Authority Commission
- Preservation Board
- Regional Cultural and Performing Arts Development Commission
- Regional Health Commission
- REJIS Commission
- Residence Inn Community Improvement District
- Retirement System City of Saint Louis, Board of Trustees
- Science Center Subdistrict, St. Louis
- Soldiers’ Memorial Building Commission
- Soulard Special Business District
- Special Administrative Board (Transitional School District)
- Sprinkler System Contractors, Board of Examiners
- St. Louis Center for International Relations d/b/a WTC St. Louis
- St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District
- Tax Appeals, Board of
- Tax Increment Financing Commission
- Taxicab Commission, Regional
- Tower Grove South Concerned Citizens Special Business District
- Transportation Development District
- Washington Place Special Business District
- Waterman/Lake Special Business District
- Westminster/Lake Special Business District
- Workforce Investment Board
- Zoo Subdistrict
The list is as of 7/15/2009. I received the list from my friend Seth Teel who got it from Robbyn Wahby, a staffer with Mayor Francis Slay.
Each of these 90 boards/commissions has guidelines about membership. For example, the composition of the Preservation Board:
shall consist of eight voting members appointed by the Mayor, each of whom shall be a resident of the City and shall have demonstrated interest and ability in the preservation and enhancement of Structures and neighborhoods. Of the eight members appointed by the Mayor, at least two shall be registered architects, one shall be a practicing art or architectural historian, one shall be a practicing landscape architect or planner with experience in urban or civic design, one shall be a licensed real estate broker, one shall be a registered engineer and one shall be a citizen member of the Planning Commission. In addition to the above, the Chairman of the Public Safety Committee of the Board of Aldermen of the City shall be a voting member of said Preservation Board and shall constitute the ninth (9th) voting member of said Preservation Board, and the only voting member not appointed by the Mayor of the City.
Of course finding out who currently serves on these boards and when their appointments expire is a major challenge. If only we had a way to make this information available to everyone. Some sort of central location where such information can be found. Printed and kept at the library?
Perhaps we can get the city’s website to advance beyond 1996 and actually provide the info we want to know.
The city’s website has those stupid building blocks with CIN on them — Community Information Network. Don’t worry about the community, that is covered elsewhere. Just cover the city government. Serving on such boards is part of civic duty but we need to have access to which boards exists, what they do and when vacancies need to be filled. I invite each city resident to email Robbyn Wahby and let her know you are interested in serving on one of the above. Ask for the qualifications and when a vacancy needs to be filled.
If you don’t live in the City of St. Louis I suggest you look into similar boards & commissions in your own community.
– Steve Patterson
Wow,
I googled ‘Downtown Saint Louis “Business District” board/commission/committee’ (3 seperate searches) and this thread was #3/#1/#1.
So how in the world is anyone suppose to know what these boards are doing?
Shhh . . . . it’s a secret! 😉
O yea… if the ‘Downtown Saint Louis “Business District†board’ is the same as downtownstl.org. Then DAMN, that is one killer commission. We need more of those!
The first step in creating change rests largely with communities and here they are defined, appointments made and policies created largely in a political context. Properly addressing problems requires efficient and effective governance and here we have a largely bureaucratic structure that makes change more difficult,… it is designed that way. Honesty, goodwill and sincerity are needed but what do we have here?
– –
As Les Sterman explained in a PD interview: “Illinois officials are really good about pulling together on big projects….something you don’t see in Missouri. I think the political environment, the way people act toward one another, is different. Honestly, one of the reasons I took this job is because I like working with elected officials in Illinois. They’ve been wonderful to me. They’ve been honest and straightforward in ways I don’t see everywhere.â€
– –
And on top of all this is a major split in governance between the County and the City. The County is then divided into over 90 small thinking little towns… every one using this power to appoint those they know will be supportive of the status quo. The title of this entry should be “How to make CHANGE more difficult”.
There is absolutely no reason that this information, as well as vacancies and info on each board is not on the city website. The city’s website is an absolute embarrassment for the city. It is useless, hard to find information and looks like a third grader designed it. Yet one more hurdle to making this city progressive is a web presence that over ten years old and looks it.
“…looks like a third grader designed it.” Either that, or the same group which designed the PD’s site. Oy! Oh, and “26. Demolition Contractors Board”. Criminy! Really?! WTF?!
Steve, what you’ve highlighted is something facing a lot of cities — though St. Louis does have A LOT of boards.
One city that has a good, straightforward web page on their boards/commissions is Des Moines, IA:
http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/boards/
But the best overall municipal web site I’ve come across is the City of Santa Fe. Follow the link, for example, in the left column of their home page to Weekly Meeting List; it is easy to read & provides citizens with information in one place:
http://www.santafenm.gov/
I actually serve on one of those, oddly enough. It’s frustrating, fun, engaging, confusing, challenging, and sometimes hilarious!
If you qualify for any, sign up….even if you have no idea what you’re doing. The best way to learn is to dive in and trial/error your way through.
Better: http://www.denvergov.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.denvergov.org/Boards_and_Commissions
Strange that the CSBA wouldn’t be included….it’s a special taxing district too…and far more directly answerable to the local population because of its merger with the business association.
I’d love to sit in on a meeting of the Commission for Decent Literature.
…
Interesting section of the city code describing it’s responsibilities:
http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/cco/code/data/t1532.htm