The city of St. Louis suffered a setback when two members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment failed to act on the mayor’s motion to support the extension of the city’s lease with BJC for an underutilized piece of land on top of a parking garage.
By renewing the lease, the city would be guaranteed $3.8M dollars annually to maintain Forest Park, another $1M that BJC has promised for additional improvements including a new park for residents of Forest Park Southeast, and another $1.6M to add green space and park land in nearby neighborhoods. In addition, the lease payments would have freed up $1.2-million in general revenue to improve other city parks and $400,000 for recreational programs for children.
It is ironic that on the same day the New York Times ran a positive article on the future of the bio-tech industry in St. Louis, two members of the Board of Estimate turned its back on BJC, a cornerstone of that industry – and the city’s largest employer with 16,000 jobs.
What is so appalling is that neither Jim Shrewsbury nor Darlene Green offered an alternative. They offered no alternative to financing the maintenance of Forest Park. They offered no plan to take care of BJC’s expansion needs. Shrewsbury did not oppose the plan because of any important principle. He said he opposed it “because he did not know of anyone who was for it.” That is politics, not leadership.
Now, we have to worry about the fallout – our crown jewel falling into disrepair and our number one employer growing outside the city.
Stephen M. Gregali
Alderman, 14th Ward