After an almost hour-long debate Wednesday about a coin toss, the city’s aldermen confirmed the numbers of the 14 new wards and perfected the map, meaning just one more vote is needed before it heads to St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones’ desk.
“Because I can tell you as a Black woman who had her vote taken away from her—and two thirds of her community— illegally, that I’m not cavalier about any of this process.” said Alderwoman Sharon Tyus, Ward 1.
The St. Louis Board of Aldermen sought to designate numbers to each new ward, which were identified by letters during the drafting process, by flipping a coin to determine the order in which the numbers would be assigned. If the coin landed on heads, they would number the wards numerically from N to A, and if it were tails, they would number them numerically from A to N.
The ward reduction ordinance passed in 2012 stated the first election in the newly drawn wards would be held in 2023 for all wards and the aldermanic president. It stated odd-numbered wards would start with two-year terms to stay in line with the election schedule (of odd and even number wards alternating elections) set by the city’s charter in 1915. The Board president and even-numbered wards will run in the initial election for a full four-year term.
The board’s assistant clerk Sharita Rogers flipped the coin over Zoom with Alderman Joe Vollmer, Ward 10, with her as an in-person witness. Several people said it was to have landed on heads, but the camera’s quality was lacking, making it difficult to discern what side of the coin was facing up.
That’s when the meeting came to a halt, and the debate began. Several alderpeople said while they saw the coin was on heads, they supported a second toss for transparency’s sake.
Alderwoman Sharon Tyus, Ward 1, spoke at length during the discussion. Her focus was on making the process as fair as possible, alluding to her struggles 20 years ago with redistricting.
“So, it is not ridiculous,” she said. “It’s not ridiculous to me, and I challenge each and every one of you all, that if you had your vote taken away in 2001, would you be so cavalier in saying, ‘Oh, I trust this process.’ Because I can tell you as a Black woman who had her vote taken away from her—and two-thirds of her community— illegally, that I’m not cavalier about any of this process.”
She said she did not believe the current map was a good map or a fair map for North St. Louis, but she was prepared to vote in favor of it because the committee did the best job they could do with what they were handed.
While Alderman Joe Vaccaro, Ward 23, made a motion to start the coin toss over with a best out of three approach, it was not supported, and the board went with the first flip’s outcome of heads.
Later on, in Wednesday’s meeting, the map was perfected following some discussion. Alderwoman Annie Rice, Ward 8, asked several questions, including how the committee factored in Latinx representation and other more specific boundary clarifications.
Vollmer and Reed answered most of her concerns by pointing back to the opinion issued by Louis City Counselor Sheena Hamilton earlier this week on the legality of the ward boundaries. She wrote the map would likely survive a legal challenge, including one under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Rice also raised concerns about the process and map outlined in a letter to the board, in which almost 30 organizations—including the NAACP, ACLU of Missouri and Action St. Louis—submitted Nov. 30.
The map went through several drafts in the last six weeks and keeps 85% of the city’s neighborhoods in one ward. Only two wards represent the other 15% of neighborhoods. Each ward has approximately 21,500 residents, seven of them are minority preference wards, and seven are white preference wards.
Vollmer is chair of the committee which drew the map and noted during the discussion three of the white majority wards cross north over the Delmar divide.
The map needs one more vote by the Board of Aldermen before it can become law. That vote will be taken at 10 a.m. Friday. Once passed, it goes to the mayor’s desk for her signature.
By law, the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen must pass a map by Dec. 31. The map will go into effect after the April election in 2023.
New ward number assignments
A – 14
B — 13
C – 12
D – 11
E – 10
F – 9
G—8
H– 7
I– 6
J– 5
K– 4
L– 3
M– 2
N– 1
