Discover the tough decisions facing the St. Louis Charter Commission, as they navigate the daunting task of municipal government reform.
Peter Downs
Self-styled advocates of “good governance” are urging them to embrace “heavy reform” and recommend eliminating the job of comptroller and abolishing the three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E&A) that sets fiscal policy for St. Louis.
They and the citizens of St. Louis should, however, keep in mind the long history of slogans like “good governance” and “good government” being used as code for white rule.
The strategy goes back nearly 160 years to St. Louis’ own Frank Blair, Jr., who attacked voting rights for black people and the involvement of black people in Reconstruction-era governments as corrupt.
It continues today with racist billionaires and their hip-pocket politicians attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in hiring as corrupt because they seek to find the best person for a job instead of just the best white person.
These same types say “efficiency” is more important in setting public policy than equity and inclusion. They say that requiring a mayor to get agreement from one of two other people to fiscal policy creates a bottleneck that makes government inefficient, but efficiency is not the standard for a good policy setting process in a democracy. Representation, which is another word for equity and inclusion, is.
In this century, the comptroller has used the Board of E&A to bring more equity and inclusiveness to city policies. She has represented groups who otherwise would not have a presence in city policies. In this century, the comptroller’s position on the Board of E&A is about equity and inclusion, and the city has benefitted from it.
Don’t be fooled by nice sounding slogans. Charter reform done is an opportunity to make city government more equitable and inclusive, more representative of the variety of groups in the city, if done right. But it risks making city government less representative if done wrong.
Note: Peter Downs is author of “St. Louis Civil War Sites and the Fight for Freedom.”
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