This March, our city has the opportunity to elect a new president of the Board of Aldermen with the vision, drive, and ability to bring real change to St. Louis. As a city, we have many strengths, but we just as many challenges: poverty, unemployment, crime, over-incarceration, development deals that don’t benefit the community.
The current president, Lewis Reed, has been at City Hall since 1999. In those 20 years, Reed has not made our city better. He is best known for his coziness with his campaign donors and often switches his position on issues – important issues like the minimum wage, the airport, and stadium deals – in coordination with checks written to bolster his campaign coffers. He is simply not reliable, and we can’t trust him to fight for what truly matters.
After 20 years in City Hall, Reed has been there long enough. What we have right now – the St. Louis of 2019 – is the result of two decades of Lewis Reed. We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect to get different results.
So we need a big change. And there are two candidates advocating for change in this election: Alderwoman Megan Green and me.
I believe Green has good intentions, and she certainly knows how to be bold. I share many of her principles, and believe her views are heartfelt and sincere.
Yes, our city needs boldness – without it, we can’t face the big challenges that lay before us. But we also need a leader who is effective – a leader who can build consensus, collaborate with other members of the Board of Aldermen, and strategically build a progressive majority able to accomplish real, tangible results.
Green has many strengths, but she’s simply not that kind of leader. She knows how to get attention, but has little to show for it. And her record, which is still growing, is not one of getting things done. In her years at City Hall, she has not passed one significant piece of legislation.
And, although I usually agree with her, some of her legislative stances are downright puzzling. Despite her sincere questions about development deals, she has a record of overwhelming support for tax incentives and development handouts. In fact, 60 percent of the legislation she has sponsored was pro-developer. She even voted against an ordinance that would regulate air pollution.
I am running for president because I know we need to change things in St. Louis, and I have a record that demonstrates I know how to get things done for our city. I don’t just propose a good idea, I do the hard work of passing legislation.
Representing our city in state government, I sponsored legislation, which became law, that empowered neighborhood organizations to combat problem properties.
I sponsored legislation, which became law, to improve opportunities for women-owned and minority-owned businesses to bid for jobs. I sponsored legislation, which became law, to improve law enforcement training. I sponsored legislation, which became law, to expand the educational offerings at Harris-Stowe State University. I worked with the teacher’s union to sponsor legislation, which became law, that ensured all students have the right to high-quality teachers. I sponsored legislation, which became law, that raised awareness of sex trafficking.
I also led the effort to “Ban the Box” in public employment, which resulted in both the city and state governments increasing job opportunities for people with a criminal record. And I secured federal funding to address the unacceptable living conditions at Clinton-Peabody Housing Complex.
These, and many other initiatives, made a real difference in the lives of everyday people in the city.
On homelessness, I sponsored legislation to create a Homeless Bill of Rights, cosponsored a resolution to encourage adopting the Continuum of Care, and voted to create a tax credit for contributions to homeless shelters. On women’s rights, I secured funding for postpartum healthcare resources and Annie Malone Children and Family Services Center as part of the state budget process. I sponsored legislation requiring insurance coverage for fertility treatments and mammograms, cosponsored legislation to require hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape survivors, and sponsored legislation to protect domestic violence survivors.
On economic justice issues, I’ve cosponsored a resolution supporting the right to organize, cosponsored legislation regulating mortgage brokers, and cosponsored legislation to support St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones’s financial empowerment Initiatives.
My legislative record reveals one of the big differences between Green and myself: bills I sponsor actually become law and end up making a real difference in the lives of everyday people.
I know what it takes to get big things done. I know how to craft legislation, collaborate with other legislators, and move legislation from an idea to a law. I’m the only candidate in this race who has a record of real results on important issues facing our city. It’s a fresh, new kind of leadership that our city sorely needs.
We need change. We need a change agent who knows how to get things done and has a track record to prove it. I’m running for president of the Board of Aldermen because our city – my city – needs that new change agent.
Jamilah Nasheed is running for president of the Board of Aldermen in the March 5 Democratic primary. The American will offer the three most competitive candidates equal space to present their views before the election.
