St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones endorsed Jamilah Nasheed in the heated race for Board of Aldermen president at a rally for Nasheed on Saturday, January 5. Nasheed will try to unseat long-standing incumbent Lewis Reed in the March 5 municipal Democratic primary.
Jones said it was a tough decision choosing between Nasheed, a state senator since 2013, and the other major contender seeking Reed’s position, 15th Ward Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green. Both were ardent supporters during Jones’ campaign for mayor in 2017.
“The easier thing for me to do would have been to sit out of this election because both Megan and Jamilah are my friends; they are like sisters,” Jones said. “Both of them would do a much better job than Lewis Reed.”
Reed also ran for mayor in 2017.
However, Jones told the crowd that Nasheed’s legislative experience was the deciding factor. In a press statement, Jones further explained that adding Nasheed to the board, where Green already serves, would bring it closer to a progressive majority.
“By my math, putting Nasheed on the Board with Green would be a vote closer to 15,” Jones said.
In her rally speech, Nasheed spoke out against the privatization of St. Louis Lambert International Airport, as well as putting a St. Louis city-county merger on a ballot for the entire state to vote on.
She talked about growing up in the projects where she had to fight. Her mother committed suicide and her father survived the Vietnam War only to be gunned down in a drive-by shooting, she said.
“I know all too well about gun violence and poverty,” Nasheed said. “I’m not new to this. I’m true to this. I was that kid who wasn’t supposed to make it, according to statistics. I was that girl breaking laws, and now I’m that girl making laws and making change.”
Nasheed now lives in the Gaslight Square neighborhood.
Nasheed said some called her ill-prepared for this position, despite her sitting on legislative committees that oversee 19 state departments and a $28 billion budget. She touted that she “brought home” $28 million of that budget for St. Louis.
The president of the Board of Aldermen also serves on the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, the city’s chief fiscal body, along with the mayor and comptroller.
Nasheed said she is running because she wants to address the city’s long-existing inequities.
She said she wants to advocate for “young boys and girls north of Delmar who are up and down the street every day and all they see is vacant, abandoned buildings with a sense of hopelessness. Our city is not working for everyone.”
However, Nasheed said, “It’s working for the individuals who want to open a soccer stadium without a community benefits agreement. It’s working for the individuals who want to privatize the airport and tell you that you shouldn’t have a say. Lewis doesn’t work for us in this room. We’re going to retire Lewis on March 5.”
Nasheed said that “powers that be” would much rather have Reed on the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and at the helm of the Board of Aldermen than her.
“We need someone who is going to be bold and effective,” Jones said. “She isn’t in this for herself. No matter what part of the city you come from, no matter your background, no matter how you grew up, she is here for all of us.”
