Mayor Tishaura Jones backs $150M in ARPA funds for North city

In her first State of the City address, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones Tuesday proposed spending $150 million in federal assistance funds in North St. Louis to “begin bridging the racial wealth gap that splits our city in two."

“It's time to put St. Louis on the road to economic justice,” she added nearly one year after her historic election as the first Black woman mayor of the Gateway City.

The announcement comes about eight months after Jones vetoed a proposal, backed by the Board of Aldermen, to use $33 million in American Rescue Plan funds specifically to try to address years of disinvestment in North city.

Under Jones’ proposal, the $150 million also would come from American Rescue Plan funds and would be used in part to address the vacancy scourge in North St. Louis.

In a statement, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, noted the apparent shift in direction.

“After more than 240 days, I’m glad to hear that the mayor has finally joined myself and other city leaders in her willingness to target ARPA funds in North St. Louis,” he said.

“From the beginning, this has been a clear priority of the Board of Aldermen,” he said. “There have now been two board bills that have been sent to her desk both with unanimous favorable votes, the first had the funding for North St. Louis removed by a line-item veto. After tonight’s remarks, my hope is that history doesn’t repeat itself.” 

On Aug. 16, Jones enacted a spending plan for the first $135 million of the roughly $500  million in federal money the city will receive through the COVID-inspired American Rescue Plan Act. At the same time she vetoed about $33 million in North city economic development allocations, arguing they violated U.S. Treasury guidelines on how the money could be spent.

On Wednesday, mayoral spokesman Nick Dunne called the $150 million a “commitment” on the part of the mayor – subject to the regular discussions with the Board of Aldermen – and said the office would work with the Treasury Department to stay within guidelines. The $150 million amounts to 60% of the $249 million in ARPA funds expected this year.

Meanwhile, the vetoed $33 million is now included in a separate board bill, calling for $37 million in spending, that the mayor is expected to sign.

Beyond the ARPA spending plan, Jones proposed a 3% pay raise for city employees across the board on top of the regular annual step increase, as well as $1 million for paid family leave for city employees, “to keep our benefits competitive and show our working families how much we value their dedication.”

This year, Jones has been meeting with frontline city workers across departments to help determine  what St. Louis needs to retain its workforce and improve city services, which includes a focus on competitive pay. She also proposed retention incentives, funded through ARPA, for city employees.

She also touted some successes over the past year including an influx of jobs at companies such as Proctor and Gamble, the distribution of hundreds of free bus passes to youth and the $500 Direct Cash Assistance Program that “has helped thousands of St. Louis families put food on the table and pay the bills.”

Jones began the 35 minute speech, delivered at Harris Stowe-State University, with a look back at her roots in North St. Louis, including at her grandparents' former three-story home in Wells-Goodfellow affectionately known by the family as  “The Big House” and her parents’ home in Walnut Park.

Noting the challenges the city has faced that have caused some neighborhoods to “fade like my grandparents’ old photos,” Jones spoke of the unprecedented potential afforded the city by the ARPA funding and the proposed settlement with the NFL, which she said she was not allowed to discuss in detail.

“We cannot rewrite the past,” she said, “but we can have the hard conversations about how we align our priorities. We can be a city where everyone can succeed across racial lines. We can change the course so that our city, our communities and our neighborhoods grow and thrive again, north and south of Delmar.”