Poll: Will St. Louis Voters Repeal The Earnings Tax in April 2011?

Tuesday Missouri voters approved Proposition A by a wide margin.

Yes 1,294,705 [68.4%]
No 597,920 [31.6%]
Total Votes 1,892,625

As a result, Missouri cities no longer have the option of an earnings tax.  The two cities with an earnings tax, Kansas City & St. Louis, must hold a vote in the Spring to see if voters wish to keep the earnings tax.  If they vote to eliminate the earnings tax it would be phased out over a 10 year period.  If kept, another vote must take place 5 years later, in 2016.

Voters in both cities voted against Proposition A, although not as strongly in Kansas City

St. Louis:

YES 28,251 [31.84%]
NO 60,473 [68.16%]

Kansas City:

YES 37,264 [44.85%]
NO 45,826 [55.15%]

The poll question this week seeks to find out what you think will be the outcome of this vote in St. Louis.  The answers have two parts — will Rex Sinquefield fund the campaign to repeal the earnings tax and will we keep the tax or repeal it?  The poll is in the upper right sidebar.

– Steve Patterson

North 14th Street Finally Reopened To Vehicle Traffic

In March 1977 the North 14th Street Pedestrian Mall opened with high expectations.  However, the high expectations quickly turned to high vacancy as merchants closed up shop. Retailers have long known the importance of providing some on-street parking in front of their establishments but over 100 pedestrian malls had been built in North America by 1977 and St. Louis didn’t want to be left out of the trend.

Just fourteen years later, in 1991, the mall was nearly dead.  It had already been this way for a while.  It had, perhaps, one good year of life.

In July a celebration was held to mark the completion of the street but delayed streetlights meant the city wouldn’t permit vehicles.  Prior to the mall the sidewalks were narrow and broken.  After the mall there was far more sidewalk than pedestrians.  Today the street offers a balance between pedestrian & motorist. With construction time, North 14th was out of balance for 34 years, a very long time when the failed urban planning experiment prevented organic revitalization of the street.

– Steve Patterson

PR: City, Police Department, Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, and Downtown Community Improvement District Announce New Safety Measures on Washington Avenue

The following is a press release:
—
 The City of St. Louis, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, and the Downtown Community Improvement District today announced new measures to ensure everyone enjoying themselves on Washington Avenue is safe.
 
After an almost two-hour meeting this morning in the Mayor’s office, Lieutenant Colonel Antionette Filla announced the following changes:
 
•     Additional foot patrol officers will be added to Washington Avenue on Thursdays through Sundays from 11pm to 4am for visibility and enforcement.
•     Additional traffic officers will help control the flow of traffic on Thursdays through Sundays from 11pm to 4am.
•       The St. Louis Police Department officers will be conducting random safety checkpoints. These checkpoints will be at varied locations in the Washington Avenue entertainment district and police will be checking for drivers’ licenses, vehicle registrations, seatbelt violations, etc.
 
Maggie Campbell, president of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, announced the following changes:
 
•     Four Downtown CID Guides will be dedicated to Washington Avenue until 11pm.
•     The Downtown Partnership will add security cameras and monitor them.
•     A group of Washington Avenue stakeholders has formed an advisory group to make recommendations.
 
Jeff Rainford, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, announced the following:
 
•     There is no evidence that Sugar was responsible for the shooting Sunday night. In fact, calls for service at Sugar have dropped since restrictions were put in place last summer. Police say Sugar did have security in place Sunday night.
•     Sugar has voluntarily agreed to stop their under-21 nights in the interest of the neighborhood.  The Excise Commissioner will ask Sugar and 15 to restrict their customers to 21 and above late at night.
•     The City Counselor will draft legislation to create a curfew for people who are under 21 for Downtown.
•     The City Counselor will draft legislation to restrict underage people from being in liquor establishments late at night.
•     The City is considering legislation to require lighting and an attendant at parking lots and garages.
 
 
Jeff Rainford, Chief of Staff to Mayor Slay, Lieutenant Colonel Antionette Filla of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and Maggie Campbell, President of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis will be available for individual interviews.
 
####
 
 

St. Louis City & County Go Smoke-Free In Less Than Two Months

St. Louis City & County, with some exceptions, will go smoke-free in less than two months, on January 2nd, 2011.

For some of us it can’t happen so enough while others fear the day or think their business is grandfathered.  Numerous businesses have been opting to go smoke-free all year to attract customers that might have stayed away previously.

I hope to post more detail on the regulations and the allowed exemptions.  But, like so many things, enforcement may come down to citizen complaints. Some establishment owners are going to try to get away with allowing smoking.

– Steve Patterson

Bike Rack Uncovered

On October 14th I posted about a bike rack hidden by cafe furniture (Sidewalk Cafes vs. Bike Parking)

I didn’t get around to emailing the post to anyone with the city. But I did send a pic to the Citizens Service Bureau via Twitter (@STLcsb) and they got it cleared quickly.

The sign is in the way but that is easily tossed aside.

– Steve Patterson