A half can be better than a whole—especially when it comes to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
Alderman Phyllis Young’s bill that would reduce the number of city aldermen from 28 to 14 won the overwhelming support of the Legislation Committee with a 7-1 vote. Alderman Terry Kennedy was the lone dissenter.
It would seem highly unlikely that aldermen would vote for a bill that could lead to one losing his or her respective office. But should Young’s proposal receive enough votes, it would be put before voters in November.
Even with the races for president, senator, governor, and House on the November ballot, a vote to reduce aldermen in St. Louis would be the most important in the city.
It would take 60 percent of voters approving the ballot measure for it to become law. That’s a tough assignment but a reachable goal.
The city’s charter was adopted in 1914, and it established ward elections for each of its 28 wards. In 1910, the city’s population was more than 680,000. By 1950, more than 856,000 people called the city home. This was the high-water mark, according to the annual count by the Census Bureau. Then, St. Louis’ population fell to its lowest mark in a century in 2010, with just 319,000 people residing in the city. (Just more than 350,000 lived in the city in 2000.)
While there are less than half as many people living in the city now as there were in 1914, the city still has 28 aldermen. It’s time for a change.
The city can’t be satisfied with just eliminating aldermen. There must be a plan to redistrict in a way that aldermen represent larger swaths of the city. Some wards should encompass parts of north, central, and south St. Louis if possible.
There is probably a greater chance of the bill passing in November than the city trying to end “north side versus south side” battles. But moving to reduce the number of aldermen is a step in the right direction.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
