I am calling for a different way to do development. After 16 years of Mayor Francis G. Slay, we don’t have a citywide development plan. As a result, projects pretty much happen wherever a developer and an alderman think they should. And the public subsidies that support them – TIF, CID, tax abatement – end up mostly in the same places. More often than not, that’s downtown, the area just west of downtown and the Central West End.
Other neighborhoods, and even residents of affected neighborhoods, have little say in what gets built where.
There is a better, more-effective, fairer way to go about this. It’s called the Gravois-Jefferson Plan. As mayor, I would make it our citywide model.
Not everyone is going to agree with me. In fact, four of my opponents serve on the Board of Aldermen currently. They are going to hate this. In their combined service of several decades, you won’t find more than a dozen final votes against each other’s projects. They own where we are today just as much as Mayor Slay does.
Organizers describe the Gravois-Jefferson Plan as a “community-driven planning process.” It includes local elected officials, neighborhood organizations, and community members. The plan has a long-term focus, and every stakeholder has a seat at the table. The public participates in a variety of ways, including focus groups, roundtables, open houses and online. Residents of the area make up the steering committee. These people are not gatekeepers, but are responsible for ensuring that every raised voice is heard.
Here’s what I like about it. The process believes all voices have value, and people living in the same neighborhood may not share the same lived experience. Every element of the plan reflects that reality. The planning document itself is public so nothing is lost in the fine print, and the project is humble enough to listen and learn from other community development projects.
The project looks to serve the needs of underrepresented groups – like youth, people of color, and people living below the poverty line – first. After those voices are heard, the project will seek input on the needs of businesses, faith groups, government, and non-profits. People, before projects.
The effort acts to hold all stakeholders accountable to each other. The website also features a community map – an underutilized tool in neighborhood improvement projects. The map is an assessment of what an area is like before development. It highlights assets, like parks and libraries, and weaknesses, like vacant buildings.
It also outlines opportunities such as making areas more pedestrian-friendly, practicing community-based policing, or slowing down gentrification. The “Contact Us” page has a tab to foster online participation so people who face barriers to physical participation can still be involved.
Members of my team attended the first public meeting, and we will be represented at the second – which is coming up this Saturday, February 11 at 2 p.m. at the Five Star Senior Center, 2832 Arsenal St.
A group of people with a desire to create positive change should wield a tremendous amount of power in our city. It is up to elected officials to empower them. And, I intend to do just that when I am mayor. Through inclusivity and participation, our city will become a place we can all be proud to live. This is what progress and change look like.
Tishaura O. Jones, currently St. Louis treasurer, is a candidate for mayor in the March 7 Democratic primary election.
