Mayor Tishaura O. Jones: ‘This is something I was called to do.’

Elections both, nationally and locally, have dramatically shifted since President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, which was rife with misinformation, stereotyping, name-calling and just outright lies. St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura O. Jones feels she’s been similarly misunderstood and maligned, especially by some news outlets and her major (and well-funded) opponent, 8^th Ward Ald. Cara Spencer. The American had the opportunity to meet with Jones at her campaign office on Southwest Avenue Tuesday. IN our one-on-one discussion, we addressed some of the rumors, misconceptions, alleged “failures” and her plans to get reelected and continue her “progressive agenda.”  

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St. Louis American: Some say you’ve had a somewhat spectacular 1st term; $300 million in street safety infrastructure; 150 million dedicated to economic empowerment; homicides down by 40%; youth-involved shootings down by 50%; millions in home-buying, housing development and beautification programs…yet some of your opponents in this race claim you haven’t done enough. How do you respond?

Mayor Tishaura O. Jones: Well, these things take time. A lot of things wrong with St. Louis are things I inherited from previous administrations. You can’t change 70 years of neglect in four years. That’s impossible and if anybody claims they an do better, they’re trying to fool you.

StL American: At least one of your opponent’s claims she can do better.

Jones: Yes, but she has no plans on how she can do better.

StL American: In a recent PBS mayor’s race forum, you were asked about the seemingly endless loop of studying issues and implementing change. The insinuation was that more needs to be done to move things into action. Spencer called it “a huge problem that plays out in the delivery of city services.” What’s your take on that issue?

Jones: People who fail to plan, plan to fail. We have to have plans and studies on how we’re going to move this city forward. We just can’t throw money around and we’ve done that (planning) in a myriad of ways. Our transportation/mobility study is addressing how to make sure people are safe no matter how they choose to get around this city. Our strategic land use plan (SLUP) is going to be key as we try to update our zoning. When you update zoning, you’re able to show developers and people who want to build in St. Louis what can be built in certain places. Our economic justice action plan gives us a clear way forward in investing in places that haven’t seen investment in decades and to empower, develop and transform communities; increasing populations, increasing our tax base so the burden doesn’t fall on everyone who lives south of (Hwy) 40.

StL American: In a recent commentary we published, you wrote that ‘approximately $30 million has been dedicated to help North St. Louis businesses and non-profits with stabilization, expansion, building renovation and other improvements.’ No other mayor in the history of St. Louis has ever made such an investment. Why do you think that news is not heralded as much by the mainstream press or your opponents?

Jones: I’ve also heard people say, ‘we shouldn’t invest in North St. Louis at all ‘or ‘why should we invest in vacant lots in North St. Louis?’ Well, we invest in vacant lots in the central corridor, and no one seems to have a problem with that. I think it’s an imperative-a moral imperative-for us to invest in North St. Louis to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to thrive and achieve whatever they want, no matter where they live in this city. So, we’re trying to make sure your zip code doesn’t determine your opportunity or your access to services.

StL American: Sounds like you’re saying North St. Louis doesn’t receive the same priorities as other areas in the city.

Jones: Well, that’s what equity is all about. There’s a difference between it and equality. Equity pays attention to those who haven’t been at the table, who haven’t received investments and the decision not to invest in North St. Louis by previous administrations was intentional. So our decision to invest there is going to be intentional as well because our city can’t succeed or grow if over half of it is left behind

StL American: Also, in that commentary titled: “The truth about the North City Corridor grant plan,” you cite two major challenges: One was managing expectations, and the other was dealing with “the misconceptions surrounding the approval process.” Does your administration take responsibility for those challenges?

Jones: We take responsibility for the fact that we did not do a good job of making sure people knew what the expectations were coming in. There were people who applied for grants to cover their entire businesses, and this program was never meant to do that. It was meant to contribute to their capital stack as they were either building, rehabbing or expanding their business. 

StL American: Still, there are business owners or potential business owners who say ‘the mayor did not follow through on her promise. How do you address that?

Jones: Well, again, that’s about managing expectations. Ask the other business owners who did receive grants, and they will say that the mayor did follow through on her promise. We had over $500 million in requests for $30 million in funds, so absolutely there are going to be winners and losers. And, remember, these are federal funds, so we have to dot every I and cross every T to make sure we’re spending it in the way that it was intended not only by the federal government but by the ordinance passed by the board of aldermen.

StL American: So, what percentage of that $30 million has been allocated and what percentage remains?

Jones: Two thirds. There were some businesses that didn’t qualify after the initial vetting so that money was rescinded and will be delivered to other businesses in the program.

StL American: Moving on, I know you and our Police Chief Tracy have been trying to beat back efforts for state control of our police force. Arguing that our homicide and gun-related statistics are down, is good news but what do you say to those who insist accountability for police misconduct might be better served from a state-controlled perspective?

Jones: If they think that the state will hold police accountable in a better way that we have in St. Louis, then I have a bridge to sell them. This chief has done a great job of holding officers accountable for misconduct as we saw recently with the news that broke about a person committing suicide in Forest Park and police officers were there and didn’t assist. Although the news just broke, we quietly took care of that problem in 2023.

Also, if a state-controlled police department was the model for safety in our country then more police departments would be controlled by the state or Kansas City (which is under state control) would be the safest place on earth.   

StL American: Your opponent, Republican candidate Andrew Jones called for more police action against speeders and people who run red lights. Spencer stressed the need to enforce the law against people who “use vehicles as weapons” and those killing citizens” with cars on “a regular basis.” Is this just political hyperbole or are these valid strategies?

Jones: Well, we’re already holding drivers accountable in a myriad of ways; I think these are just political soundbites. Could our streets be safer? Absolutely and we’re taking steps to do that through our repaving the major thoroughfares that go north and south in our city; we’re doing traffic-calming in conjunction with that. Also, our police department are doing pop-ups in different parts of the city where they do hold drivers accountable for traffic violations.   

StL American: You’ve been continuously dogged by the city’s reaction to the January 5^th snowstorm and its aftermath. It’s not just criticism about how long it took to remove the snow and ice, at least one of your opponents (Spencer) insinuated that you were indirectly responsible for a weather and traffic-related death of a North side resident. What’s your response to the snowstorm and that particular incident?

Jones: Well, I think my opponent is playing politics with the snowstorm and that poor woman’s life. If she could do better, she should have come to us with suggestions. She did not. (As an alderwoman) she has the power now to come to work with us and address the things she’s complained about…she has not.

Secondly, I would say we don’t control the weather. We’ve used the same playbook to remove snow as previous administrations and then, again, it’s about resetting expectations. The city has never, ever plowed residential streets because our plows are too big and could bury cars in the snow or damage them. Now, going forward, any good leader would try to take stock and do better the next time. And as you saw, the next two snows we’ve had, there were no problems. We’re also looking at other cities that receive more snow than St. Louis to see what kinds of things we can employ or buy to make sure we’re more prepared for the next time.

StL American: In one of your most recent missives, you wrote: “My opponent is not campaigning to be a mayor for the people. She spends her time raising money from special interests: big developers and wealthy folks who know how to “play the game.” What do you specifically mean by “the game?”

Jones: It’s the game where wealthy developers and millionaires put money into candidates and expect something in return. If you look at my campaign disclosure forms, you’ll see I’m funded by people and by unions which are the salt of the earth. I don’t have any millionaire developers in my pocket nor are they asking me for something in return. But when you five or six-figure check for somebody, you’re expecting something in return, which we’ve seen on the national level. Our mayor’s office is not for sale!  

StL American: So, are you saying there are strings attached to the more than $111,000 developer Bob Clark donated Spencer’s campaign?

Jones: Absolutely, there are strings tied to that. We’re about to upgrade our airport. That’s a $3 billion dollar project and Bob Clark is a developer. Do the math.

StL American: As far as politics are concerned, some would say we are in a completely different era regarding misinformation, lying, stereotyping or labeling since Trump’s reelection campaign and subsequent victory. Do you see any correlations between the presidential campaign and your campaign?

Jones: Yes, I do. I think there’s also something about incumbents that’s in the air. People hate incumbents all of a sudden. That was one of the key criticisms of Vice President (Kamala) Harris. We also can’t ignore the influence that race has in this race. I mean when you look at my supporters who came out to canvas with me on Saturday, they look like America, they look like St. Louis. When you look at the people who show up for Cara Spencer, it’s all white.

StL American: Wait, I’ve seen a few Black people endorsing her…

Jones: Yes, but if you look at the latest pictures of people canvassing for her that she posted, they’re all white people. We cannot ignore the influence that those things have on this race and how quickly some people are to just dismiss anything a Black, smart woman says, thinking she’s too uppity and all that, right. We’re dealing with decades of all the old stereotypes. So, in 2025, when people don’t look for the information themselves but take whatever people throw at them, they just assume it’s the truth.

StL American: Yeah, I’ve noticed that you’ve received the type of scrutiny that none of your predecessors received in office. Like when (former) Mayor Franscis Slay traveled overseas, the media treated it as standard city hall business. But your trips are scrutinized by the media.

Jones: Right. Or I have to prove my receipts to make sure it’s city hall-related even though I paid for my trips myself. That’s a choice that I made. I pay for myself, or the sponsoring organizations sometimes pay for them. That’s money I could have gone to my child but no, that is an investment I’ve made in the city because I think it’s important.

People dismiss the money I have brought back as well. A lot of money that we have received on the federal level is a result of my direct advocacy with these department heads and cabinet secretaries; relationships I have built over the years. HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge is a sorority sister of mine so when I called her and said we just had a historic, massive flood in 2022, she was able to look in her budget and find some disaster relief funds for us. So, $25 million in disaster relief funds came to us because of that relationship.       

StL American: How do you respond to Spencer’s claim that you were on some kind of junket with lobbyists during our first major snowstorm?

Jones: No, no…I went to D.C. for the US Conference of Mayors, and I also brought money back from that trip…we got a $10,000 grant for our office of new Americans so, no,I was not traveling with lobbyists.

StL American: Last question: Is this campaign exhausting or frustrating for you.

Jones: Absolutely! But I try not to let it get to me because I volunteered for this work. This is something I feel like I was called to do and because it’s a calling, it doesn’t always feel like work.

Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.