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St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and business group Greater St. Louis Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a compromise on how to spend funds from the settlement of the 2017 Rams litigation.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and business group Greater St. Louis Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a compromise on how to spend funds from the settlement of the 2017 Rams litigation.
The two sides for months had been pursuing their own plans for how to spend the roughly $277 million. Greater St. Louis, for example, wanted an emphasis on infrastructure spending for the city’s struggling downtown and certain neighborhoods in north and southeast St. Louis. The mayor unveiled a plan to create six funds, for water and street infrastructure, subsidized childcare, worker training, housing and neighborhood development.
But once the bills went to a committee at the Board of Aldermen, they began to change in way that suggests a compromise between the leaders of both strategies.
On Tuesday, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said that a new bill would incorporate a $74 million fund focused on downtown, including $30 million for what they termed “mobility infrastructure” and $11 million for acquisition of the vacant Railway Exchange Building, plus another $40 million fund focused on North City, for infrastructure, redevelopment of vacant property, preserving housing and supporting small businesses.
Other elements of the compromise plan include: $40 million for water infrastructure, $40 million for citywide infrastructure, and funds solely to benefit city workers: $30 million for a pilot program supporting city workers through cost-sharing of child care, $10 million for a pilot program supporting children of city workers with financial assistance for postsecondary education, and $10 million to support new and exiting workforce training and education opportunities.
The compromise legislation is to be introduced Wednesday morning, the mayor’s office said.
Jones, in a statement, thanked Greater St. Louis, the alderwoman who carried her initial plan, Alisha Sonnier, and the alderwoman who carried Greater St. Louis’ initial plan, Pam Boyd.
“The changes being introduced to this bill are a reflection of governing at its best,” Jones said.
Greater St. Louis’ interim chief, Dustin Allison, said in the statement that “this new framework makes long-overdue investments in disinvested neighborhoods in North and Southeast St. Louis to help strengthen and stabilize those communities and attract new residents. And it invests in the revitalization of Downtown, the front door and economic engine of St. Louis. This agreement is a major step toward getting St. Louis growing again.”
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