I never would of thought that a snowstorm more than 2 weeks in the past will have the potential to be very consequential but this may in fact put the nail in the coffin for some candidates who are seeking re-election. Let’s hope if & when the next big snowstorm comes the city will be far better prepared.
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The best part is that the incumbent mayor has signed emergency contracts with contractors to do things that have never happened before (plowing side streets) and has already ordered new equipment designed to plow narrow streets for next year, but she gets 0 credit for that. But when Mayor Spencer uses that equipment next year to plow side streets, she will be praised.
Man there are some brutal new potholes out there from all of this. How long does it typically take for MODOT/County/City to address after heavy plowing?
yeah potholes have been awful last week. Unfortunately, I think they are down the pecking order.
I lost a tire and also ended up with a bent wheel. I emailed St. Louis County (Hanley Road), and they patched the pothole quickly. But, I'm still out several hundred dollars, and much more if I end up having to replace the wheel.
Costs of car centric policy. Think about that next time you vote.
The city isn’t doing any more urbanism than it did under Slay or Krewson. Also streets downtown still had tons of ice on them when even most of the STL suburbs are clear now.
Urbanism would be shovels hitting the ground and a massive revival of Washington Avenue and Downtown West. Being downtown for the Louligan AGM at Schlafly Tap House and seeing a bunch of downtown streets like the ones in front of Energizer Park being still icy messes doesn’t compute with urbanism. What I’m seeing in action isn’t urbanism. It’s simply the continuation of the same old neoliberal song and dance.
We need actual progressive policies here and not just the same old.
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The idea that Slay is the same as Jones is just laughable.
Then what is the statistical change that has been created?
Where’s the building downtown? Where is the redevelopment on Washington Avenue? The problem I see is that most of what is cited here is all feeling oriented. I don’t have a dog in the mayoral fight. Yet, I don’t see the progress outside Energizer Park’s construction which was all Kindle cash and Ballpark Village.
I think it’s worth comparing STL to places like Nashville and Columbus that are also in red states not to mention Minneapolis and KC. The only city that I see us really passing is KC.
Someone please build a statistical case for Jones. If you don’t, you risk a loss. I see the work video folks like Not Just Bikes and organizations like Strong Towns do. Those sort of sources and groups can be helpful. Maybe the Mayor should reach out to them. We need a massive reinvestment and without that noting of note truly changes.
I never would of thought that a snowstorm more than 2 weeks in the past will have the potential to be very consequential but this may in fact put the nail in the coffin for some candidates who are seeking re-election. Let’s hope if & when the next big snowstorm comes the city will be far better prepared.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The best part is that the incumbent mayor has signed emergency contracts with contractors to do things that have never happened before (plowing side streets) and has already ordered new equipment designed to plow narrow streets for next year, but she gets 0 credit for that. But when Mayor Spencer uses that equipment next year to plow side streets, she will be praised.
City is as screwed as the country.
[Sarcasm]
At this point I'm thinking Auggie is a double agent, here to foment chaos in an effort to get people to hate Jones. Job well done, Cara. A bold strategy, indeed. [/sarcasm]
I never would of thought that a snowstorm more than 2 weeks in the past will have the potential to be very consequential but this may in fact put the nail in the coffin for some candidates who are seeking re-election. Let’s hope if & when the next big snowstorm comes the city will be far better prepared.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The best part is that the incumbent mayor has signed emergency contracts with contractors to do things that have never happened before (plowing side streets) and has already ordered new equipment designed to plow narrow streets for next year, but she gets 0 credit for that. But when Mayor Spencer uses that equipment next year to plow side streets, she will be praised.
City is as screwed as the country.
[Sarcasm]
At this point I'm thinking Auggie is a double agent, here to foment chaos in an effort to get people to hate Jones. Job well done, Cara. A bold strategy, indeed. [/sarcasm]
I honestly have nothing against jones. It really doesn’t matter who wins I don’t think they are much different from each other. This could happen to any mayor & it has. I’m just saying some things you may not think would be a big issue suddenly become that. Jones nor Spencer have no control over the weather but sometimes things happen beyond their control.
Or, and hear me out...Did you replace the head of streets with an individual who botched a 10 day advance warning for the biggest winter weather event in 10 years and no one in authority made an appearance until day 11 of the aftermath?
And when they did they said some not quite right stuff and then threw their staff under the bus instantaneously? Asking for confirmation since that's what I watched in real time.
The last big snowstorm to hit St.Louis was in 2019 when the city received nearly 8” of snow & I remember that storm quite well as it was all snow & I went down to the arch grounds to take pics of it. What made this storm bad was the 2-3” of sleet so basically a solid sheet of ice then covered with 5” of snow. Either way I’m over talking it about there’s no snow in the forecast for the foreseeable future & the 2 week long range forecast will be in the mid to upper 40s so all that’s been done will be a distant memory. Before then we gotta get past these 4 days of very cold weather stay warm.
The city isn’t doing any more urbanism than it did under Slay or Krewson. Also streets downtown still had tons of ice on them when even most of the STL suburbs are clear now.
Urbanism would be shovels hitting the ground and a massive revival of Washington Avenue and Downtown West. Being downtown for the Louligan AGM at Schlafly Tap House and seeing a bunch of downtown streets like the ones in front of Energizer Park being still icy messes doesn’t compute with urbanism. What I’m seeing in action isn’t urbanism. It’s simply the continuation of the same old neoliberal song and dance.
We need actual progressive policies here and not just the same old.
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The idea that Slay is the same as Jones is just laughable.
Then what is the statistical change that has been created?
Where’s the building downtown? Where is the redevelopment on Washington Avenue? The problem I see is that most of what is cited here is all feeling oriented. I don’t have a dog in the mayoral fight. Yet, I don’t see the progress outside Energizer Park’s construction which was all Kindle cash and Ballpark Village.
I think it’s worth comparing STL to places like Nashville and Columbus that are also in red states not to mention Minneapolis and KC. The only city that I see us really passing is KC.
Someone please build a statistical case for Jones. If you don’t, you risk a loss. I see the work video folks like Not Just Bikes and organizations like Strong Towns do. Those sort of sources and groups can be helpful. Maybe the Mayor should reach out to them. We need a massive reinvestment and without that noting of note truly changes.
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From what i can find, total US murder is down about 19% 2020-2024. St. Louis' is down 43% in that same time frame. If you wanna say 2020 is an outlier and compare 2019, then it's a 23% drop. Regardless, murders are in fact going down, the lowest since the early 2010s.
SLMPD's clearance rate has jumped from 55% in 2019 to 68% in 2024.
In particular, this jump came after the hiring of Robert Tracy as Police Chief, which is turning out to be looking like one of the single best moves by a mayor in an extremely long time.
Overall Crime is down 8.3% since the start of her term. I didn't compare to previous years because the SLMPD website only has data back to 2021. Regardless, she came in and lowed crime, ans has been able to keep it declining overall throughout her term.
Any way you slice it, she has lowed crime during her term. Something neither Krewson or Slay managed to do.
GDP data is a very easy W for Jones. Under Slay, the city's real GDP dropped 11.3%. Under Krewson it grew 1.2%, and under Jones it has grown 4.3% 2020 to 2023, 2.8% 2021-2023 if you wanna remove the covid rebound. And that's not even including 2024 as FRED is updated a year behind. We won't know STL's 2024 data until December.
We also know STL jobs reports have looked really good as of recent, and it'd be ignorant to think that that has nothing to do with the incumbent mayor of the metro's largest city.
Those are your two largest and clearest stats that you can find to determine the job of a mayor.
In non-statistical points:
-The city's financial situation has remained steady at worst and improving at best.
-The city has begun major infrastructure improvements to implement road diets, expand dedicated bike lanes, and improve the pedestrian experience. Some $300 million has been approtioned for the next phase of these improvements.
-The North-South MetroLink was all but dead when she came into office. Krewson had killed it in favor of a watered down BRT. The fact it has gotten as far as it has in the development process is almost entirely her doing.
-Jones has implemented, or tried to implement forward thinking policies to help low income individuals in the city. Things like the Universal Basic Income program or down payment to purchase a house.
-Actual significant movement has been made on RWX and Mellinium with the change of ownership for both. For Mellinium, this was the first movement since it closed in 2014.
-Jones supported tax incentives for the AT&T building and lobbied the state legislature to also pass tax incentives. It also appears that some movement is possibly going to be made on it, but we don't totally know if it's going to work out.
-Jones supported and helped create the incentive package that brought Lufthansa to Lambert.
-Downtown has had numerous wins in the last year, year in a half to go with the numerous losses. Can't all be put on her but it's not like downtown has had 0 wins under her watch.
-The city is building a new and improved 911 call center, along with largely resolved the 911 hold issues.
-Eminent domain of NorthSide properties.
-Incentive pilot program to expand retail downtown, I believe it started with 3 new businesses.
-Her general handling of the police-gay bar crash was pretty bad.
-She did take too long to be out on Kim Gardner, even if she did finally make the right call.
-I don't think the spending plan for the Rams money is the best it could be.
-Downtown has still seen more losses during her term than wins. Again, can't be all on her but also can't be overlooked.
-One of Bob Clark's companies made a vocal exit from the city after Jones didn't agree to the terms he wanted to stay. So it left for the county. Don't really get what the point of that was, but I don't agree with it.
Man there are some brutal new potholes out there from all of this. How long does it typically take for MODOT/County/City to address after heavy plowing?
They'll hurry to fix those just before next winter.
I emailed Miss Williams (per her comments on the meeting viewed on youtube) asking to at least get salt on the 2300 block of Hickory. Did you know if there was a request for TGS? I had to delay some in home service as the vendor did not want to risk the ice.
I emailed Miss Williams (per her comments on the meeting viewed on youtube) asking to at least get salt on the 2300 block of Hickory. Did you know if there was a request for TGS? I had to delay some in home service as the vendor did not want to risk the ice.
Not that I know of... we're a fairly level side-street, but the street over has a decent hill on it, so that could be it.
My TGS street also got salted by Streets Dept. this morning; I think it's just them finally getting down here.
Secondhand, I heard there was something on a neighborhood Facebook page about individuals on the same block getting together to contribute to hiring a private company, but I'm not sure if any blocks were done that way.
Wanted to report in today we got our first salt truck on the 2300 block of Hickory! That and warming temps, crossing my fingers the sheet of ice will go away.
I have lived in St. Louis City since the summer of 1996. During that time, we’ve experienced snowstorms of varying sizes, small, medium, and large. However, since 1996, the city has only attempted to plow or treat side streets once, and that was in 2014.
In 2014, as Twitter emerged as a public platform and millennials started buying homes and becoming more civically engaged, a social media firestorm erupted over the city’s longstanding policy of not plowing side streets. Under public pressure, the Slay administration finally agreed to plow them, despite acknowledging the potential for damage to parked cars. As predicted, the plowing damaged some vehicles, sparking a second wave of outrage over the lack of notice and preparation for plowing side streets.
The question of whether the city should plow side streets is a legitimate one and deserves thoughtful debate. Personally, I believe the city should plow them, but doing so requires a plan and probably a multiyear effort including ordinance changes, the development of protocols and procedures, public education, and proper preparation.
One year after the 2014 storm, a mayoral candidate, who now seems to focus largely on grievance-based campaigning—became an alderperson. This position offers the ability to propose, debate, and pass ordinances, including policies on snow removal. However, since 2015, no one has demonstrated the foresight or critical thinking to address this issue with long-term planning. It’s as if no one considered the inevitability of large future snowstorms.
The current administration, to its credit, showed some foresight by ordering three smaller plows, possibly intending to pilot side street plowing. However, during this year’s storm, the city much like in 2014, reacted to public pressure. The decision to plow & salt side streets was made, but salting is largely ineffective when temperatures drop below 20°F. Lost in the firestorm is that on major routes, the city plow crews performed well on the Monday and Tuesday following the storm, but it failed to manage expectations or communicate effectively with residents regarding side streets.
There are also internal issues that need attention. Some civil service employees may have allowed politics to interfere with their responsibilities to taxpayers, and these matters should be addressed by the Civil Service Commission. However, one step that doesn’t require commission involvement is holding leadership accountable. The Director of Streets, for example, should be replaced because like always when these things happen someone has to be held accountable for real or perceived shortcomings.
Looking ahead, the city should change its snow removal policy and implement clear protocols, such as designating which side of the street residents should park on during significant snow events to allow plows adequate space. A public education campaign should be launched, equipment acquired, and account for any staffing increases needed. While this work doesn’t need to be completed before the next storm, city residents will likely be more understanding if a plan is in place, communicated effectively, and progress is visible.
Of course, there will always be critics on social media, but the city’s focus should remain on creating and implementing a transparent snow removal strategy.
Eastbound Clayton Rd. at Skinker/Hwy 40, today (Jan. 21st). One eastbound lane remains completely impassable, resulting in frequent backups. I just don't understand how this hasn't been cleared by now- this is not a secondary or residential street either. Anyway, don't shoot the messenger- just sharing what I've observed on a daily basis for the last 2 1/2 weeks and counting...
irony here is we spend so much time complaining that city streets are too wide and need to be made smaller to slow down cars and mother nature does the job for free for us and now they're not wide enough
