This story has been updated to include three more town halls scheduled for April.
Better Together, the nonprofit that released a 160-page report on consolidating St. Louis City and County into one new “metro city” with one mayor, prosecutor, police force, and 33-member council, announced Friday it will host four town halls in the month of March. The group hopes to further the conversation and answer questions from St. Louisans about its proposed Metro St. Louis.
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On January 28, Better Together released its recommendations, which were put together over a period of 18 months by a diverse five-member task force. Some of the recommendations include phasing out the city’s earnings tax and creating new municipal districts. Mayors in the county will remain, but will have reduced power. The group needs 160,199 signatures to get the issue on the 2020 ballot, where the entire state of Missouri will vote on whether to consolidate St. Louis City and County.
“We know the community has a lot of questions about the Task Force’s recommendations and we wanted to answer all of them,” said Better Together Executive Director Nancy Rice. “We look forward to a robust conversation over the next two years.”
One of the most frequent questions about Better Together’s plan, said the group’s Director of Community-Based Studies Dave Leipholtz, is whether it’s acting as a bailout for the city. No debt would be transferred under the plan.
You can register for the town halls at Better Together’s website. There is a 150-person limit for each event. The schedule is below:
1. March 6: Greater St. Mark Family Church, 9950 Glen Owen, 6 p.m.
2. March 14: Carpenter’s Hall, 1401 Hampton, 6 p.m.
3. March 20: The Lodge at Des Peres, 1050 Des Peres Road, 6 p.m.
4. March 27: Genesis Banquet Center, 2651 Telegraph, 6 p.m.
5. April 3: LIUNA Event Center, 4532 S. Lindbergh, 6 p.m.
6. April 16: Thomas Dunn Learning Center, 3113 Gasconade, 6 p.m.
7. April 25: Clayton Center, 50 Gay, 6 p.m.
