ST. LOUIS — Aldermanic President Lewis Reed’s pandemic aid package on Wednesday night easily cleared an aldermanic panel, which refused to add $5 million for direct payments to some low-income residents requested by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.
The Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee voted 9-0 to send Reed’s $153 million measure to the full Board of Aldermen, which is expected to debate it Friday.
The measure includes most of the rest of Jones’ own $81.4 million plan for spending the next round of federal aid.
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But it adds $5 million for police overtime pay, $20 million for renovating dilapidated and abandoned buildings, $33 million to spur development along four major north ºüÀêÊÓƵ streets and various other items.
“This is just a phenomenal opportunity for the city at large to have a transitional moment,†Reed said. He said the measure will aid parts of the city “that have been long left behind.â€
Jones’ spokesman, Nick Dunne, criticized the panel for its 6-3 vote against adding the one-time direct payments of up to $500 for low-income people.
“Even a single $500 check can make a major difference for thousands of ºüÀêÊÓƵ families, to pay their bills and put food on the table,†Dunne said. “Mayor Jones’ administration will continue to advocate for an equitable recovery, driven by data and community feedback, that helps all ºüÀêÊÓƵans thrive.â€
Alderman Shane Cohn, 25th Ward, who voted “present†on the overall bill, made the unsuccessful effort to add Jones’ direct payment.
“I know there are so many people who need this,†said Alderman Sarah Martin, 11th Ward, who supported Cohn’s move.
But Tom Shepard, Reed’s chief of staff, complained that mayoral aides at a hearing held by the committee didn’t offer specifics on “where the money would go.â€
Before the meeting Jones in a letter to Reed gave more details.
She said the money would be available to about 10,000 residents in households that earn less than 80% of the city's median income.
Applicants would have to show proof of economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as job loss, an increase in child care expenses or funeral expenses due to a coronavirus-related death.
The extra information didn’t sway the panel.
One opponent, Jack Coatar, 7th Ward, noted that Reed’s measure, as requested by the mayor, provides $12.4 million to help individuals pay rent and utility bills and millions more in other assistance.
Coatar said he’d rather that money be spent on such targeted aid instead of “cash giveaways.â€
Meanwhile, the committee, with Reed’s support, voted unanimously to remove a provision that would have barred any aid money from going to agencies with employees or board members on a stimulus advisory panel that advised Jones on the issue.
That amendment, sponsored by Bret Narayan, 24th Ward, was introduced after the mayor’s office pointed out before the session that it would have barred any money going to organizations such as the United Way of Greater ºüÀêÊÓƵ and the Bi-State Development Agency.
The committee instead added wording requiring a competitive process to select grant recipients.
The committee also added two more wards, the 7th and the 10th, to the areas in which “intentional encampments†for homeless people would be barred.
Reed’s bill unveiled Tuesday had included 10 other wards declared off limits for such sites, as requested by their aldermen. The off-limits wards already listed in Reed’s bill are 2, 3, 4, 5, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22 and 27.
Reed’s bill includes the $2 million Jones requested for the encampments, which would be set aside for people who won’t go to indoor shelters. There’s also more than $20 million in other services for the homeless sought by Jones.
Reed’s development package was lauded by committee chairman Jeffrey Boyd, 22nd Ward, who pushed for the street corridor plan.
“We need to move at warp speed on rebuilding our neighborhoods,†Boyd said.
The money would provide grants to small businesses and nonprofits and cover a percentage of total costs of projects on Martin Luther King Drive, West Florissant and Natural Bridge avenues and North Grand Boulevard.
However, Martin said the Reed bill contains “some random development ideas with no data.â€
“This is ... kind of just throwing stuff at the wall in a lot of ways,†Martin said.
The panel voted 10-0 to include the police overtime money in the measure. The amount essentially would replace $4 million deleted at the mayor’s request from police allocations in the city’s 2021-22 budget that took effect last week.
If the full board endorses Reed’s bill Friday, it will be at odds with the city Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which backed Jones’ plan last week. A Reed aide said he hopes the aldermanic version can be brought before the estimate board next week.
The city is set to get $498 million in federal money over two years under a plan passed by Congress earlier this year, with about $249 million already received.
City Budget Director Paul Payne said Wednesday that under an earlier estimate the city was expected to get $517 million but that the amount changed.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the income level of people who could qualify for a proposed direct assistance payment of $500.