The April 7 municipal elections are the first since Ferguson became a world-wide synonym for racism and violence, but this is St. Louis, where the unofficial motto should be “Fuit Semper Hoc Modo,” fractured Latin for “It’s Always Been This Way.” We like things just the way they are, and the April 7 ballots are proof.
In Ferguson itself, a record number of black City Council candidates are on the ballot. But not one candidate is in favor of disbanding the Ferguson Police Department. Despite institutional racism and a Justice Department report that stops just short of calling it a mob-style shakedown racket, the Ferguson P.D. is not a candidate for dissolution.
Some locals, like state Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, don’t want Ferguson policing turned over to the St. Louis County Police Department because they don’t trust the county either. But others still seem to think that every patch of turf in St. Louis County larger than four square blocks should have its own police force.
These elections will make our dysfunctional system of fractured postage stamp-sized municipalities worse, not better. The Village of Bellerive Acres (population 188) and the Village of Bel-Nor (a relative metropolis with 1,499 residents) both have measures on the ballot to change from villages to fourth-class cities. What’s the difference? Fourth-class cities can levy higher property taxes. That’s it.
Meanwhile, the Village of Wilbur Park (population 471) and the Village of Sycamore Hills (population 667) each have measures on the ballot asking if they can simply skip having elections if not enough candidates file for office. This begs the obvious question: If you’re admitting you can’t even get enough candidates to run for village offices, why not just vote to dissolve the place?
UMSL Professor Terry Jones wrote his groundbreaking study of St. Louis city and county, “Fragmented by Design,” almost 20 years ago. And what he wrote then holds true now: This mess was largely started and perpetuated by whites either fleeing to, or even creating, small towns in the county, using everything from zoning to police forces to keep blacks out.
And even though many of those tiny municipalities are now mostly black, the politicians of all races who run them usually want them kept just like they are.
We have convinced ourselves to love this Balkanized patchwork because small government is allegedly more responsive government. If we could, each of us would become a republic of one, each with our own city charter and police car, handing out tickets to anyone driving past our houses.
None of this would exist in a sane world. In that world, where people thought with their heads and not their guts, there would be one government for a city that would include St. Louis County and city. It would be the tenth-largest city in the country, slightly behind Dallas, with a population of 1.2 million. Ferguson, Fenton, Wildwood and Webster Groves, along with all 92 county munis, would cease to exist as separate cities.
Since a 60 percent vote would be required in each town to dissolve, it’s a safe bet it will never happen. But even as “Hell, no!” resounds from Pacific to Pasadena Hills, consider what us possible.
Nashville merged with Davidson County, Tennessee in 1963; Indianapolis merged with surrounding Marion County, Indiana in 1970; and Kansas City merged with Wyandotte County, Kansas in 1995. The results have largely been more efficient government and lower payrolls with fewer people. KCK was able to slash 20 percent of its workforce due to duplication of services, and the mayor of Nashville says the unified government is wildly popular and helped Nashville to avoid population loss.
Getting rid of some of the county’s police forces would be a back-door way to move things along. And two separate state Senate bills, one from Chappelle-Nadal, the other from state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, would require every police officer and police department in the state to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the same agency that accredits the city and county police. That would probably result in the dissolution of a few dozen of the 60-plus police departments in the county.
Until that happens, all of us have a hearts and minds problem. Our hearts may tell us we love our micro-munis, but our heads are pointing out our patchwork of fiefdoms wastes our money, and our time. Too bad this election doesn’t do a thing for the problem.
Charles Jaco is a journalist, novelist and author who has worked for NBC News, CNN, Fox 2, KMOX and KTRS.
