After several St. Louis residents spoke during a Zoom meeting for public comment regarding the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022, Comptroller Darlene Green said she intended to recommend substantial reductions when it comes to police positions that have gone vacant for several years.
Green also said she intends to recommend a $1.5 million increase to the Affordable Housing Trust — noting that the city is under a mandate to allocate at least $5 million to the trust in the budget but that could increase “especially during this recovery period,” a nod by Green to the over $500 million in federal money coming to the city beginning next month as part of Congress’ American Recovery Act.
“This is our time, this is the place, so I don’t want us to miss the moment to make clear this is how we are going to do it,” Green said.
She said she will also recommend increasing 911 funding and increasing health and human services funding.
“I think what is critical is to make clear that these kinds of adjustments can be made in this budget prior to it going to the Board of Aldermen so that the administration in the executive branch can be clear as to what we are delivering in this year’s budget, what our expectations are in this year’s budget and how we are intending to serve our public with additional services to help move the city forward,” Green said “So, we understand the call from the community to look at what we intend to do and how we intend to repurpose what we are calling public service.”
Green’s comments came at the end of a two-hour public comment meeting held by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment in regard to the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2022, which begins July 1.
Alicia Hernández, who is on the steering committee of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR), asked the board to remove funding for the police department’s vacant positions, as well as overtime, SWAT team, the Real Time Crime Center and the ShotSpotter gunshot detection program.
These requests were repeatedly reiterated throughout the public comment meeting.
Hernández said that since 2017, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has had 100 to 150 vacant positions that account for a total of $10 million in salary and benefits.
“This is money that could be put into human services and resources that address the root cause of crime — as just mentioned, such as the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, mental health services, human service, and additional resources and programs to ensure that our families have what they need to live to their fullest potential,” Hernández said.
Inez Bordeaux, manager of Community Collaborations at ArchCity Defenders and lead organizer with the Close the Workhouse campaign, spoke after Hernández. She echoed Hernández’s comments and request.
“We do have a violent crime problem in St. Louis,” she said. “But the solutions to those problems are not to continue to pour tens of millions of dollars into the police department. The solutions to those problems are not to continue to surveil Black and Brown communities. The solutions to those problems are money, resources, people who actually care about the people living in our most underserved and neglected neighborhoods.”
A few people spoke about their personal experiences with violent crime, including Khalea Edwards, who said as a victim of violent crime she is demanding the board give no money to the police department and instead invest that money into communities to address the root causes of crime.
“I have watched SLMPD officers beat my family members outside our home in South city, they would follow and harass me and my siblings and other children in our community — waiting at bus stops just to harass us — that has been my reality my entire life… I’m tired of this being it,” Edwards said.
In their reasoning, several commenters noted that the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is responsible for the highest number of killings per capita than any other of the 100 largest police departments in the nation.
Earlier this week, the board met to review the proposed fiscal year 2022 budget that would zero out funding for the Medium Security Institution — more commonly known as the Workhouse — allowing Mayor Tishaura Jones to fulfill her promise of closing the jail within the first 100 days of her administration.
The Board of Estimate and Apportionment will hold one more meeting before the proposed budget goes to the Board of Alderman for approval. Once that happens, it goes back to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment for final passage.
Aldermen and alderwomen cannot make any additions to the budget, but they can propose amendments to the budget.
