StL County Muni Fragmentation, Dysfunction, Consolidation

quincunx · PostJun 02, 2016#6262016-06-02T15:33+00:00

Stl American - Needed: a mega-muni in North County

What North County needs is a mega-muni that is majority-black and can put in place best practices for police, courts, economic development and other essential government services that, at present, do our people more harm than good. Unequivocally, municipal consolidation is the way forward for North County, for St. Louis County and for this troubled, divided region as a whole.

http://www.stlamerican.com/news/editori ... 2a2a6.html

PostJun 14, 2016#6272016-06-14T13:24+00:00

Stl Today - Final report: St. Louis is not better apart

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 9e7b4.html

Better Together Releases Extensive Summary Report, “The Will to Change”

http://www.bettertogetherstl.com/wtc-press
http://www.bettertogetherstl.com/will-to-change

gary kreie · PostJun 17, 2016#6282016-06-17T00:16+00:00

quincunx wrote:Stl American - Needed: a mega-muni in North County

What North County needs is a mega-muni that is majority-black and can put in place best practices for police, courts, economic development and other essential government services that, at present, do our people more harm than good. Unequivocally, municipal consolidation is the way forward for North County, for St. Louis County and for this troubled, divided region as a whole.
http://www.stlamerican.com/news/editori ... 2a2a6.html

If enough villages merge into a town bigger than the population of St Louis City, do we change the name of the metro area to Cool Valley?

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ajwillikers · PostJun 17, 2016#6292016-06-17T13:41+00:00

A borough plan by another name still smells sweet. The obvious answer is the "Greater Champ-Land Area."

quincunx · PostJun 26, 2016#6302016-06-26T16:31+00:00

Glad to see the PD Ed Board making the same arguments I've been making

StlToday - Editorial: Glendale bond issue is the price of fragmented government

It’s too expensive for Glendale’s 5,921 residents and will saddle them with higher property and sales taxes. Less expensive alternatives would be for Glendale to buy emergency services from neighboring Kirkwood or from St. Louis County. The municipality is already part of the Kirkwood School District, so expanding the partnership to include emergency services shouldn’t be too difficult.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/co ... e4408.html

PostJun 27, 2016#6312016-06-27T12:08+00:00

Videos on Nashville's consolidation

Alex Ihnen · PostJun 27, 2016#6322016-06-27T13:56+00:00

quincunx · PostJun 28, 2016#6332016-06-28T00:28+00:00

Louisville

KTRS

KMOX - Nothing Impossible

http://download.podcast.play.it/media/d ... eId=651429

PostJul 01, 2016#6342016-07-01T13:12+00:00

Fox2 - St. Louis area police department has no insurance, no registration and no apologies

KINLOCH, MO (KTVI) - Sandwiched between Ferguson and Lambert St. Louis International Airport is a police department that says it doesn’t have to play by the same rules it enforces. It’s in Kinloch, MO.

We found Kinloch police cars in such disrepair that a muffler looks like it could come off. We found tires with missing lug nuts and wheel studs. According to the Department of Revenue, the police cars aren’t even Kinloch’s.

http://fox2now.com/2016/06/29/st-louis- ... apologies/

Fox2 - FOX 2 reporter placed in handcuffs for attempting to cover city meeting

http://fox2now.com/2016/06/30/fox-2-rep ... y-meeting/

Ebsy · PostJul 02, 2016#6352016-07-02T04:02+00:00

Isn't Kinloch disincorporating?

quincunx · PostJul 02, 2016#6362016-07-02T17:05+00:00

APS221 · PostJul 03, 2016#6372016-07-03T05:36+00:00

Kinloch is due for a St. Louis County Police takeover. The last time was in 2002. Before that, St. Louis County Police took over in 1996.

quincunx · PostJul 06, 2016#6382016-07-06T03:18+00:00

KSDK - Valley Park alderman arrested for shooting firework

VALLEY PARK, MO. - An alderman in St. Louis County was arrested on Sunday for shooting off fireworks.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/crime/valley-p ... /264680434

PostJul 07, 2016#6392016-07-07T15:35+00:00

Great to see media digging into towns that used to enjoy obscurity.

Fox2 - Paycheck problems for Velda City police officers

Police officers in Velda City are still waiting for their most recent pay check.

The officers were supposed to get paid on July 1. Nearly a week later, they’re still waiting.

http://fox2now.com/2016/07/06/paycheck- ... -officers/

PostJul 07, 2016#6402016-07-07T15:39+00:00

The sales tax chase and traffic tickets/court fines and fees are two sides of same coin- seeking money from non-residents.

STL AMerican - Better Together report shows the costs and perils of fragmentation

Pine Lawn and Des Peres – two cities only 13 miles apart in St. Louis County – couldn’t be more different. But they have one thing in common.

http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_n ... c0cdd.html

PostJul 08, 2016#6412016-07-08T18:58+00:00

StlToday - Editorial: Kinloch residents should vote to dissolve the municipality

There’s no way to say this diplomatically: The city of Kinloch is a disaster zone, and that’s sad, considering its proud history as the oldest African-American community west of the Mississippi River. It was a once-thriving north St. Louis County municipality next to Ferguson, but today its streets are lined with rubble, decay and weed-choked lots.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/co ... 6caa2.html

STLrainbow · PostJul 11, 2016#6422016-07-11T21:18+00:00

Not sure of the best thread for this, but here's a pretty good article relating to Houston population growth -- I think probably similar to most mega-cities that have grown in good part due to annexation:

Aggressive annexation generates growing pains
http://www.chron.com/local/history/majo ... 338701.php

(btw, I came across this as I was looking for a recent article that I believe was asserting that most of the population growth in Texas cities has been due to annexation, but I'm not sure of the details... if this rings a bell, please share!)

PostJul 11, 2016#6432016-07-11T21:29+00:00

^ related to the "mega-city" option, after seeing recent County politics in play, I'm increasingly convinced that's not the right option for us. I'd rather work for Saint Louis City to be like a small-in-land-size but smart-in-urban-planning Minneapolis than a large expanse that has questionable commitment to the urban core. I think there is a good chance we'd be a better region if STL City re-entered the County but was not part of a mega-merger.

quincunx · PostJul 12, 2016#6442016-07-12T00:43+00:00

Is this it?

Transport Politic - Reorienting our discussion of city growth

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2016 ... ty-growth/

STLrainbow · PostJul 12, 2016#6452016-07-12T03:03+00:00

^ I didn't realize it was so comprehensive and not Texas-centric, but I'm pretty sure that's it. Great piece. Thanks!

quincunx · PostJul 12, 2016#6462016-07-12T21:36+00:00

StlToday - Stenger, Slay not BFFs, but does it matter?

Schoemehl said the fractured governmental system makes it harder for the city and county to work together.

“This issue highlights the importance of St. Louis city and county actually being one entity,” Schoemehl said of the current MetroLink flap. “Then the north-south issue isn’t as divisive. The way we are approaching this has to do with personalities. You don’t have a formula for long-term success.”

Schoemehl added: “We have a few decades to get it right, or we will be an economic backwater. This is clearly a 19th-century government structure, and this shows it.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... 7a2ab.html

PostJul 15, 2016#6472016-07-15T16:54+00:00

Getting one or a few fragments to shape up seems futile when there are so many more.

StlToday - Jennings to pay $4.7M settlement to those jailed over court debts

However, Harvey added that “there are 90 cities surrounding Jennings and Ferguson. Until all of them change their practices either voluntarily or as the result of legislation or litigation ... this is still going to be a region that overpolices for revenue and criminalizes black life.”

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr ... 9dc0a.html

hebeters2 · PostJul 27, 2016#6482016-07-27T23:03+00:00

The Ferguson Report, Part 2: African-Americans, Cash Cow for the City of Ferguson
http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/07/26/classi ... -cow-city/

quincunx · PostAug 04, 2016#6492016-08-04T14:42+00:00

STlToday - Rock Hill officials back plan that could lead to joint fire command

Officials here took on Tuesday night the first step toward developing a joint fire command with four adjacent municipalities on the same night they authorized City Administrator Jennifer Yackley to contract with a firm to design a new fire station, police station and city hall.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metr ... cc838.html

PostAug 10, 2016#6502016-08-10T04:10+00:00

HuffPo - Groundbreaking Lawsuit Targets ‘Extortionist’ Cities Near Ferguson That Lock Poor People In Cages

Civil rights lawyers sued 13 St. Louis-area cities in federal court on Tuesday, alleging they violated the constitutional rights of poor people by locking them in squalid jail cells in connection with minor traffic infractions ― a practice that contributed to the tension that boiled over in Ferguson two years ago after a police officer shot an 18-year-old to death.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/law ... dc11f0f0c9

StL County Muni Fragmentation, Dysfunction, Consolidation

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