We agree with the many civic leaders who praised the regional spirit evident in the passage of Proposition P on the April 2 ballot in St. Louis and St. Louis County. Voters in the city and county showed their belief in the future of the urban core, one of its central symbols and attractions in the Gateway Arch, and the region’s trails and parks, thanks to new dedicated sales tax revenues, as well as additional public and private funds.
Two things need to be said, however, that not everyone is saying – not publicly – and that no one is saying loudly and clearly enough.
Only parts of the region came together around this initiative. Sadly, St. Charles County leaders declined to put the measure on the ballot, refusing to even give their voters the opportunity to contribute to improving the Arch, Old Courthouse, parks and trails. St. Charles County would be mostly farm land without the infrastructure of St. Louis County and city, yet St. Charles County’s leaders are willing to act as freeloaders while the rest of the region pays to support the world-class cultural and recreational attractions that contribute greatly to our quality of life. They should be ashamed – and they should stop, now, speaking in empty platitudes about participation in regional cooperation.
Nevertheless, we also need to be hearing much more from civic leaders about their firm commitment to minority inclusion in the contracts issued and workforce hired to complete these public-private projects. Proposition P alone will generate up to $31 million annually for the next 20 years. African Americans were critical to the passage of this ballot initiative, and black contractors and workers simply must be included proportionately for these improvements to boost our social contract for inclusion the way they will improve our physical assets.
We have some guarantees going in. In its cooperation agreement with the City of St. Louis, the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation committed to meeting the goals set forth by the Mayor’s Executive Order calling for 25 percent minority business enterprise inclusion and 5 percent women business enterprise inclusion. We are assured – and fully expect – for the same commitments to be made in the agreements for the remaining projects on the Arch grounds and elsewhere in the city.
To be clear about whom the public will hold responsible: Walter Metcalfe, who chairs the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, Susan Trautman, executive director of Great Rivers Greenway, Mayor Francis G. Slay and County Executive Charlie A. Dooley. Mayor Slay, who presented himself as a minority inclusion advocate on the campaign trail, has a chance to show strong leadership on this issue as these projects get underway. As for County Executive Dooley, he is an African American with a bully pulpit to pressure for minority inclusion on developments in the county, yet has been reluctant to do so. We expect him to show leadership now.
The Mayor’s Executive Order applies to contracts. We also have expectations for inclusion in the workforce that will execute these projects as well as the staffs that will expand with this new funding. “We are working with the National Park Service to ensure the local labor force is fully represented in the process,” Metcalfe told us. That is not an adequate guarantee, if we are all to benefit from this new investment in the region. All partners in this public-private initiative need to ensure that the local labor force is fully represented demographically. The city’s workforce inclusion goal of 25 percent minority workers would be a good place to start.
We will be watching, as the revenue rolls in and these projects get underway, to see that everyone in the region participates in its success.
