Poll: What Issues Would You Like The Board of Aldermen To Address In 2011?
There is still some time left in the current session of the Board of Aldermen ends, the last meeting before the Spring break is Thursday February 10, 2011. Â A new session begins in April 2011.
My poll question this week asks: “What are three issues you’d like the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to address in 2011?”
The answers are numerous but you have have additional ideas, pick up to three. Â The poll is in the upper right of the blog.
– Steve Patterson
There are so many Steve it's hard to narrow it down……..but crime would be a major one in my opinion. Local control of the police is a necessity. If people are coming to st louis to steal bricks, why not hire people to tear down the old and abandoned buildings and have the city sell them…..keep profits at home.
The city needs to secure & stabilize old buildings so they can be renovated later, not tear them down. Tearing down buildings does not build neighborhoods, it destroys them.
They need to find some more intersections to put up 4-way stop signs! 😉
But seriously, I'd like to see them do redistricting in a color-blind manner. Create wards that follow natural neighborhood boundaries, not ones gerrymandered to fit some predetermined racial quota. We're too segregated already.
And, if they really want to leave a positive, lasting legacy, get a handle on city employee pensions. That's the 800 pound gorilla in the room. It's time to put up or shut up. The current liabilities are NOT going away, and they either need to be funded at sustainable levels or benefits need to be cut back to match fiscal reality. What's happening in East St. Louis (police layoffs) and Prichard, AL (pension runs out of money)* are what's going to happen here (and elsewhere) given the present (and past) inaction on the issue.
*http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12…
Prior court rulings means they can't be totally color blind. It was too easy in the past to draw lines such that it was hard to get minority representation. My point is we need to look beyond black & white and think about greater diversity.
I agree. Our government must reflect our citizenry.
agreed, but in st. louis racial diversity is the kissing cousin of economic diversity or the lack there of.
unfortunately it is not on the poll but:
in april ford griffin's ward there is a car repair business two blocks from vashon high school that has a butt and penis as their mascot. it is a poor addition to the already distressed neighborhood. After me and at least 3 of my other friends have contacted her about the matter there has still been no response.
also, there are not enough recycling bins on the north side, especially as it is compared to my old shaw neighborhood area
and there are not enough independent, culturally diverse businesses on the north side. i would love it if antonio french explored more social entrepreneurships in his ward
and LASTLY i would love to see some alderwomen and men actually respond to my attempted communication when it is NOT time for me to vote for them, but because they would like to show general community support and acknowledgement.
One of the bigger challenges will likely be the fire department budget. Given the reluctance of the FD union to consider either reductions in force or reductions in compensation, the BoA will be stuck between every other part of the city's budget being reduced and the “you never be too safe” arguments. This article does a great job of looking at what is happening elsewhere in the country: http://www.governing.com/topic…