On Sunday afternoon and again Monday evening, incumbent Mayor Francis G. Slay finally faced the public alongside former state Sen. Maida Coleman and the other two mayoral challengers on the April 7 ballot.
In his remarks, Slay repeatedly suggested that the city’s problems were created by other leaders in the region.
On the homeless problem, Slay said, “We do need more of our regional partners to come to the table because half the people we serve come from outside the city of St. Louis. The rest of the region isn’t providing so they need to do more.”
He said the Metro service cuts that went into effect on Monday were required “because the County failed to pass its sales tax increase.”
He also claimed (dubiously) that the city is largely free of the segregation that plagues the region as a whole and that “we need this region to come to the table and talk about racial disparities.”
The rhetorical strategy was reminiscent of Slay’s response to the initial, unequal division of federal stimulus monies between St. Charles County, St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis – which was announced not long after the Feb. 20 meeting of mayors with President Obama in The White House that Slay skipped to remain in St. Louis for a campaign event and Mardi Gras party.
On his campaign website, Slay declared “that it is MoDOT’s job” to make sure priorities in the stimulus legislation are heeded and that more distressed areas like the city get a fair share.
A member of the business community with investments throughout the region that require cooperation from MoDOT called the American, after this furor died down. He also needs the support of Slay and thinks the mayor will win reelection on Tuesday, so would not agree to be quoted by name.
But he expressed dire concern that Slay has been consumed with campaign fundraising and the election, while his regional counterparts did their homework on the stimulus legislation and actively fought to get their projects funded.
Steve Ehlmann, county executive for St. Charles County, told the American he worked hard to make sure his county got a large slice of stimulus funds for its incomplete 364/Page Extension project.
He said, “We started working as soon as we heard about” the $150 billion stimulus package, announced in late January. Ehlmann said he led a team of four executives on his staff who made securing stimulus money a top priority.
“We spent a lot of time and worked really hard,” Ehlmann said. “We also kept working to position our projects so when the money did become available, we could step up and take a swing.”
On Monday Slay’s spokesman Ed Rhode was asked when the City began working to secure stimulus funds and who was working on the effort. The Mayor’s Office had not responded by our deadline Wednesday.
Wish lists and Easter eggs
A suburban Republican, Ehlmann said he learned about stimulus funds largely from the media when they were first announced.
However, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, a Democrat, maintained close contacts with the Obama transition team after Obama’s election victory – and began positioning the County to benefit from the new president before he was sworn into office.
“From his interaction with the Obama transition team and Obama himself, Charlie came to the conclusion that there would be a federal capital investment program,” Gary Earls, chief operating officer for St. Louis County, told the American.
“So Charlie asked me to start making a list of projects.”
Just before Christmas, St. Louis County published and submitted to The White House and the Missouri Congressional delegation a list of some 100 projects worth $1.5 billion that “created immediate job opportunities and would provide a long-term effect,” Earls said.
This list was reported in the local media. In January 2009, the City of St. Louis published its own list of development projects that could benefit from the stimulus package, based upon a template developed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Earls said he led a team of 35 people in County government dedicated to creating and revising this list and matching items on it to funding opportunities, after the stimulus package was announced.
Rhode was asked for interview opportunities with the City team working on securing stimulus funds and did not provide any.
Earls said the County also incorporated suggestions from other entities, including the City of Chesterfield and other municipal governments, school districts and various economic development projects, such as bioresearch initiatives.
The County’s initial project list – what Earls called the County’s “Christmas list” – had to be revised substantially, as what Dooley initially thought would be funds for capital investment were instead defined largely as funds available for various services.
“We ended up with a list of 160 projects worth $2.5 billion in potential investment, and not all in St. Louis County – a couple are in the city,” Earls said. The County provided that list to the White House and the Missouri Congressional delegation, he said, around March 1.
The City’s published project list reads “revised January 15.” Rhode was asked to provide a current project list and an account of efforts to push it and did not respond.
Now, Earls said, St. Louis County has moved onto “Phase 3” of its efforts to secure stimulus funds.
“We quit worrying about the list and just look at the money and find projects on our list or some other project that matches up with the money,” Earls said.
“What started as a Christmas list has turned into an Easter egg hunt!”
In the process, Earls said, “a whole bunch of us in County government have been trained in how much federal money is available to us, because a lot of this stimulus money is coming out of existing programs.”
Squabbling
So though Slay repeatedly claimed that other leaders in the region need to “come to the table” or “do more” in various areas, the City did not provide evidence of keeping up with St. Louis County or St. Charles County in working to benefit from a one-time federal stimulus package of $15 billion.
Slay’s most public gesture regarding the stimulus funds, other than skipping the meeting with Obama and 80 other mayors, was to object when other regional government bodies were more successful in competing for funding – and put the blame on MoDOT.
Christopher Leinberger is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, also professor in and director of the graduate real estate program at the University of Michigan. An expert in urban issues, he is fascinated by the political fragmentation of St. Louis and the opportunities it provides for cooperation – or competition.
Leinberger visited St. Louis in fall 2008, and talking with Slay for the first time was taken aback by an outburst the mayor made about County Executive Dooley.
“In talking with the mayor, I sensed there was an antagonism between the City and the County, and if they can’t work together then St. Louis as a region probably will not be able to grow,” he said.
Leinberger offered a baseball metaphor for this baseball-crazed region.
“Infielders and outfielders have different skill sets, but baseball teams need both,” Leinberger said.
“For the infielders to get upset with the outfielders is not very productive, if St. Louis hopes to compete against Chicago or San Francisco or Munich. You need to stop squabbling and realize you are on the same team, you just play different positions.”
