STL City Charter Commission, May ’24 Draft Doc

Old black and white photo of St. Louis City Hall

Below is the St. Louis City Charter (Reform) Commission‘s latest hard on the eyes, semi-public document on proposed changes to Charter.

I am publishing it here because the Charter Commission may never post it to their online documents page or may not post until right before, during, or even after their next meeting, a Virtual meeting set for 4:30 pm Wednesday, May 29th.

The Charter Commission has failed to be transparent at the level needed for Charter reform. It posts meeting materials long after meetings, sits on Minutes until City Counselor edits, the Minutes often are at odds with what actually happened, there are no Minutes for the three Workgroups’ meetings, meetings have gone into Closed Session for sketchy reasons, and other issues.

I personally like a number of people involved with the Commission. They are well-meaning but it’s a rigged process, a hot mess. The spreadsheet may give you an idea of the agenda, which must go before voters to be adopted but the devil is in the details. In this case, the details will be written by City Counselor Sheena Hamilton, who works for Mayor Tishaura Jones.

The Commission is composed of voting members and nonvoting members. Voting: Briana Bobo, Anna Crosslin, David Dwight IV, Chris Grant, Scott Intagliata, Dr. Jazzmine Nolan-Echols, Travis Sheridan. Non-Voting: Director of Personnel Sonja Gray (Mayor Jones appointee), City Counselor Sheena Hamilton, former State Senator Jake Hummel (Missouri AFL-CIO President)Christine Ingrassia (Board President Megan Green’s Director of Operations), Casey Millburg (Mayor Jones’ Policy Director), 5th Ward Alder Joe Vollmer.

I am chopping up the spreadsheet and adding pape by page as images, instead of importing the word salad, hard on the eyes spreadsheet, because I am not paying to upgrade this site for spreadsheets and videos.

Note1: Many people confuse the Charter with the City Code: Ordinances, Laws. The Charter is the City’s constitution. The Code is City’s version of Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo).

Note2: St. Louis City has a Strong Mayor system of government. Many people are confused about this because of propaganda by past charter reform efforts. Could the position be made stronger? Sure. A Weak Mayor system is usually associated with City Managers and ribbon cutting mayors. St. Louis City has had many weak mayors but that’s not the same as a Weak Mayor system.

Seed Libraries in Missouri

A story in Springfield News-Leader (paywall) about the Springfield-Greene County Library’s Heirloom Seed Library caught my attention. Cardholders may “check out” up to four seed packets from the Heirloom Seed Library, available at six library branches, per visit, just like books. The goal is for patrons to plant seeds and later harvest seeds to replenish the library’s supply.

It’s a great idea, so I looked to see if there were similar programs in Missouri. Yes! Some require a library card, others do not. Some encourage seed saving and sharing with the library, others do not. Some require your participation in other activities, others do not.

Buchanan County: St. Joseph Public Library Seed Library

Cape, Perry and Scott Counties: Riverside Regional Library Seed Library

Jefferson County Public Library Seed Library

Kansas City Public Library’s Seed Library at Ruiz Branch. There’s also Kansas City Seed Library is run by SeedSavers-KC and located at the The Missouri Department of Conservation’s Anita B Gorman Discovery Center.

Monroe and Randolph Counties: Little Dixie Regional Libraries Seed Library

Phelps County: Rolla Public Library Seed Library

St. Francois County: Farmington Public Library Seed Library

St. Louis County: Maplewood Public Library is home to Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School’s Gro Mo Seed Library

Not an extensive search on my part. Bet there are more libraries, schools, nonprofits providing free seeds and encouraging a share of seed harvest.

Not finding any Seed Libraries in St. Louis City was a bit of a surprise and certainly a disappointment. Searched hard on that. Found Seed Swaps at libraries, but no ongoing seed check out program.

Will STL E&A, Tax Districts Go To AG Sunshine School?

Pleased to share that there has been a Transparency Win regarding St. Louis City’s Board of Estimate & Apportionment. On June 24th, E&A began publishing Exhibits with Agendas on City’s website.
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An interesting development in enforcement of Missouri’s Sunshine Law happened last week in a city of 6,344 in southwest Missouri. It could impact government entities in St. Louis City, including the powerful Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E&A: Mayor, Comptroller, Board of Alders President).

The City of Willard has ben slapped on the wrist by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and told they have to attend Sunshine School. At issue was the use of the generic Agenda topic “Unfinished Business” by Willard’s Board of Aldermen. (paywall) The AG’s Office says it should also include sub-topics detailing points of discussion.

That’s potentially huge because many St. Louis City special tax districts, agencies, and even the Board of E&A routinely use generic categories for Agendas.

As examples, Soulard Special Business District, a taxing district to fund private police and surveillance, and Soulard Community Improvement District, a taxing district to fund improvements with $1.8 Million dollars banked, both use skeleton agendas. They also have an atrocious record of posting late notices or wrong meeting location to the City’s online public meetings calendar.

The significance of E&A failing to provide specifics in their Agendas was highlighted recently when E&A approved more funding for the controversial ShotSpotter contract without public notice.

ShotSpotter is a surveillance product by SoundThinking. While cities have been turning down contract renewals and Chicago may soon dump the program, as promised by its mayor, St. Louis City’s E&A gave the contract a fourth amendment. And it was done, as is most E&A business, without the public notice.

For twenty years, it has been standard practice of E&A to post meeting notices and agendas to the City’s Public Meetings Calendar. The Agenda for the December 20, 2023 E&A Meeting, like most meetings, included:

“Request from the Comptroller’s Office for approval of contracts and leases for various
City departments as listed on Exhibit A.”

“Request from the Comptroller’s Office for approval of intradepartmental and
interdepartmental transfers from various City departments as listed on Exhibit B.”

“Request from the Comptroller’s Office for approval of transfers between projects for
Capital Improvement Funds listed on Exhibit C.”

But no Exhibits, the meat and potatoes of what they’re voting on, is available online for public inspection.

In the case of the December 20 Agenda, ShotSpotter was in Exhibit A, Item 17, hidden from the public. There was no opportunity for the public to contact E&A with concerns.

Item 17, Exhibit A, St. Louis Board of Estimate and Apportionment Agenda, December 20, 2023: ShotSpotter amendment

There was no debate on the ShotSpotter amendment. It was adopted on a 2-1 vote. Mayor Tishaura Jones and Comptroller Darlene Green voted yes; Board President Megan Green voted no.

No E&A Exhibits to Agendas or Meeting Minutes are posted online. How do we know the amendment happened and that the vote was? E&A meetings, usually very short, can be watched via Zoom or City’s YouTube channel.

Screenshot of Tweet by St. Louis Board of Alders President Megan Green regarding her vote against Shotspotter contract amendment

We can see from the YouTube video that Board President Green made a motion to separate ShotSpotter from the rest of the Agenda for the vote. She gave no reason why at the meeting. But, as the meeting ended, 7 minutes after starting, Green Tweeted about her vote against ShotSpotter. A graphic had been prepared in advance.

Why didn’t Green share the ShotSpotter Exhibit item with the public, Privacy Watch STL coalition, etc. before the meeting? That’s a good question.

The next meeting of E&A is 3 pm Wednesday, January 17th. Exhibits A, B, C missing. Again. The secret business is anyone’s guess.

People also Sunshine E&A Exhibits.

“Sunshine Gerry” Connolly usually makes a request as soon as the E&A Agenda is posted online. It can take a day to a month for the documents to show up in the City’s Sunshine Portal.

Screenshot of error message from St. Louis City Sunshine Portal, Public Records Archives

Public access to the Portal’s Public Records Archives is limited to when it is functioning, which is often not the case. It’s been down most of today while I’ve been trying to write this. You have to be persistent when filing a Sunshine request. Try in the morning. Try again in the afternoon. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Big question is why aren’t E&A Exhibits posted with the Agendas? Why the secrecy?

Maybe it’s time for the AG to look at how government entities in St. Louis City comply (or don’t) with Missouri’s Sunshine Law.

It’s definitely time for St. Louis City to have a strong municipal Sunshine Law in the Charter (via amendment by Charter Commission or otherwise) or via ordinance by Board of Alders.

Candidate Requirements Updated, Prez Caucus Date Unknown

Six question marks, one each yellow, green, orange, pink, dark blue, light blue

Missouri & St. Louis City Candidate Age & Residency Qualifications page has been updated with 2026 election cycle date for offices elected in 2022.

Date of the Missouri 2024 Presidential Caucuses, which replace statewide Presidential Primary, remain a mystery. Elimination of Presidential Primaries in Missouri was a part of the voter suppression bill passed by Republicans last year and signed into law by Governor Mike Parson.

But two Republican Missouri House members want to bring back March Presidential Primaries to the State. Neither House Bill 267 nor House Bill 347 has been assigned to a committee yet, let alone had a hearing.

Further Reading: Uncertainty abounds as Missouri prepares for 2024 presidential caucuses, Columbia Missourian, July 23, 2022