ST. LOUIS — Joe Vollmer, the new acting president of the Board of Aldermen, urged his remaining colleagues Friday to help him restore public trust in an institution “mortally wounded†by federal corruption charges against three former members.
“I appear here today in a role I have never sought or imagined that I would hold,†Vollmer said at the start of the board’s weekly meeting.
“We are in a perilous time. Who we are, what we do and how we do it are all ... cast into doubt in the minds of our citizens.â€
Vollmer said “if there ever was a time to look past ourselves and see the bigger picture, this is it.â€
Vollmer on Tuesday succeeded Reed, who resigned five days after the federal bribery charges were made public. Also charged were Jeffrey Boyd, who quit the board June 3, and John Collins-Muhammad, who resigned last month.
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The three are accused of accepting bribes from a businessman in exchange for helping approve tax abatement legislation and other actions. All have pleaded not guilty.
Later in the meeting, held by videoconference because of renewed coronavirus concerns, the board voted to send an unrelated development measure Boyd had sponsored back to the committee he formerly chaired for further discussions.
Alderman Jack Coatar, the acting chairman of the Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee, said Neal Richardson, who heads the city’s main development agency, had asked that the measure be returned to the panel.
Coatar, from the 7th Ward, said the resolution, authorizing a property tax break for a warehouse expansion on Bircher Boulevard, would aid a significant project.
The committee, Coatar said, would hear further information on the negotiations with the company involved and the significance of the expansion, which would add 95 jobs.
Meanwhile, Alderman Bill Stephens, 12th Ward, introduced a resolution calling for a moratorium on any tax abatement and tax-increment financing legislation for the current session, which ends next April, or until “better parameters†for considering such measures are adopted.
The board voted to assign the measure to the panel headed by Coatar, who called the moratorium idea “extremely short-sighted†because it would hold up important legislation.
Budget harmony
The board on Friday also received from its Ways and Means Committee the bill containing the proposed $1.2 billion city budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
In an unusual sign of political harmony, the committee had recommended only one minor change in the version submitted in April by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.
The estimate board, the city’s top fiscal body, on Thursday agreed to the change — adding a video production specialist to the agency that runs the city cable television operation and puts city government meetings online.
The aldermanic panel and Reed last year clashed over the budget with the three-person estimate board, where Reed was outvoted by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Comptroller Darlene Green.
Also Friday:
• Aldermen voted to call for a study on adopting a system that would allow traffic signals to be changed to provide green lights to make way for fast-moving police, fire trucks and ambulances to get to their destinations “as quickly and safely as possible.â€
Such an “emergency vehicle traffic signal preemption system†is being implemented this year in St. Charles County, said resolution sponsor Joe Vaccaro, 23rd Ward.
Officials there say 210 signals and 120 emergency vehicles are involved so far, with many more to be added later this year.
• Jones’ administration unveiled details of their planned Division of Civilian Oversight which would investigate complaints about police and city jails made to city oversight boards. The plan is in a new bill sponsored by Alderman Shameem Clark Hubbard, 26th Ward.
• The board passed legislation to set up a City Youth Council that would advise the city on policy concerning children and teens. Under the measure, sponsored by Alderman Megan Green, 15th Ward, there would be six members between the ages of 12 and 18 and three adult members.
Posted at 5:49 p.m. Friday, June 10.