Over the past year, the people have experienced several victories. We passed the historical Civilian Oversight Board, raised the minimum wage and made it illegal for landlords to discriminate against Section 8 tenants. Some good strides, but not nearly enough.
At the same time, we’ve mortgaged city buildings to give a potential windfall to a developer with a record of blighting North City, and just last week doled out another corporate handout in the form of a bright, shiny, new football stadium — without a vote of the people.
All the while, we have some of the highest poverty rates, racial income disparity and crime rates in the country. This speaks volumes about our priorities.
For months, I’ve been a vocal opponent of using taxpayer money to subsidize an NFL stadium, especially without a vote of the people. Academic research is uniform in concluding that sports stadiums are rarely good investments for cities. Even President Obama proposed eliminating taxpayer-funded stadiums in his latest budget, stating these bonds were designed to be used for city and state public infrastructure projects, not for private investments. Even Comptroller Darlene Green made a rare appearance at the Board of Aldermen to state that the bill was “fiscally irresponsible.”
Further, four polls over the last year show increasing opposition among St. Louis city voters to spending taxpayer money on a new stadium (ranging from 63 to 79 percent).
Last week, unfortunately, the will of the people was not heard. At the 11th hour, a substitute bill with over 400 changes was introduced, without an opportunity to thoroughly review it.
Despite the fact that barely any aldermen read the new bill, the proposal passed with a 17-10 vote. Those of us who spoke in opposition to the proposal were shut down. Academic research, polling and basic budgeting were all considered “not germane” to a discussion about the use of public tax dollars. Public transparency was sacrificed to obtain its quick passage.
If we do not make decisions based upon the will of our constituents, academic research, or expert testimony from our comptroller, then – we must ask – how are we making decisions?
Every dime we spend to subsidize a non-public good, which few in the city can afford to access, is a dime we do not have for other needs. Needs must be prioritized over wants.
The argument that building a new stadium will bring jobs to the city falls flat. Yes, construction jobs are created during the project, but they are not sustainable. What we need is long-term sustainable economic development that rebuilds our city. Once completed, the stadium will have only created 50 full-time jobs.
Aldermen also argue that “transformative” minority inclusion negates the pitfalls of the bill. Our sad history is that these promises of inclusion have often been broken. This level of inclusion should be the norm for all city-funded projects and not used as a smokescreen to get a bad bill passed.
We need a new kind of leadership at City Hall – leadership that values people over special interests; leadership that is not okay passing a 35-year spending bill that they didn’t read; leadership that is more concerned about the people they represent than the donors to their reelection campaigns; leadership that allocates government money to put people to work on infrastructure projects that rebuild our city, rather than subsidizing billionaires who could afford to build their own stadiums; leadership that understands that we are not elected to make decisions for the people, but rather at the will of the people.
St. Louis needs a people’s agenda. An agenda that promotes open, honest, and transparent policymaking. An agenda that puts just as must effort into solving St. Louis’ tough issues as it does keeping a football team. An agenda that ensures that our government is working for the people.
That’s why we need you. We need you to come to City Hall, attend committee and board meetings or watch them on the city YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/SAINTLOUISTV), and voice your opinions to your elected officials. Lobbyists are on the floor of the Board of Aldermen every week. The people need to be there too.
Our government should and can do better.
Megan Ellyia Green is 15th Ward alderwoman.
