St. Louis and Kansas City are less than 300 miles part, yet Missouri’s two largest cities sometimes seem like distant galaxies.
They share similar problems with crime, underachieving public schools, and disrespect from rural legislators.
As most people in St. Louis and K.C. know—yet few understand throughout the state and nation—these are the lone cities in America that do not control their respective police departments. They are run by the state of Missouri.
Now, St. Louis has a chance to end more than 150 years of this absurdity thanks to a ballot initiative to be voted on Nov. 6.
Missourians will be asked, “Shall Missouri law be amended to: allow any city not within a county (the City of St. Louis) the option of transferring certain obligations and control of the city’s police force from the board of police commissioners currently appointed by the governor to the city and establishing a municipal police force?”
According to the Secretary of State’s office official ballot title, the state contends that it will save up to $500,000 annually. But the city estimates “annual potential savings of $3.5 million.” That’s more than just interesting; that’s a potential difference of $3 million. The ballot measure includes this caveat: “Consolidation decisions with an unknown outcome may result in the savings being more or less than estimated.”
Kansas City Mayor Sly James sent a letter of support for the initiative to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay last week. This kind of thing is rare between the mayors of two cities that should work together on virtually every issue of importance to the state.
The Kansas City Star applauded James’ support of St. Louis and local control of that city’s police force in a Monday editorial. “In my opinion, local control offers opportunities for financial stability and political accountability that are not readily available under the current system,” James wrote in his letter, according to the Saturday edition of the Star.
If Missouri voters side with St. Louis, then K.C. will be out in the cold alone. James’ office says Kansas City might seek the Missouri General Assembly’s authorization next spring for a similar measure. The need to collect enough signatures to get an initiative on a future statewide ballot would be skipped.
“We will address this issue in our own fashion,” wrote James. “I have no doubt that your experiences in this historic transformation will be both informative and invaluable as Kansas City considers its options.”
The fact that he wrote the letter to Slay is a historic transformation in itself and should be a harbinger of better relations between the two metro areas and not an aberration.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
