urbanSTL

Herleth was always supposed to leave as Colonel Benjamin Jonsson started July 7th, as originally announced in May.

Nancy Hawes was let go as Chief of Staff to Mayor Spencer due to a breakdown in communication and decision-making processes. According to the text messages from city hall insiders and reporters, she did not attempt to reach out or indicate a willingness to talk to anyone at city hall and other offices and even staff declined to provide her contact information when requested by other city hall offices. A key incident cited was her making a decision to end the Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises program without informing the Mayor. This unilateral action was described as the “last straw,” leading to her removal.

It was noted that Nancy failed to communicate with anyone, including the Mayor, about the decisions. The Mayor’s choice to remove her was characterized as the right decision, even beyond their personal friendships, since leaders cannot be finding out about significant policy actions from the press while trying to run a city.

How tf do people that unprofessional end up in a role like that?

The result of picking friends and people who's "turn" it is instead of actually qualified people. Sounds like the replacement is a massive upgrade all around.

Speaking of comms, the mayors director of communication, Beverly Isom is totally disengaged from the job. Media and city hall people have no idea why the Mayor brought her on for one of the most important roles in room 200. Look for a change their when a better option is found

Should this thread be renamed? The 2025 mayoral race was over months ago.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... trump.html

Spencer has restarted the minority contracting program, saying it now fits the Trump Administration's new standards.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... eturn.html

North City Grants program is also being restarted.

From my sources standing around, Mayor went off on a Post Dispatch reporter about the headline that says she “reversed” the MWB decision. The headline now just says “restarts”. At some point she ranted to the reporter about the Mayor of Downtown constantly getting things done

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Sep 05, 2025

From my sources standing around, Mayor went off on a Post Dispatch reporter about the headline that says she “reversed” the MWB decision. The headline now just says “restarts”. At some point she ranted to the reporter about the Mayor of Downtown constantly getting things done

Your response to the reporter’s text is certainly on brand for you lol.

I got texts from some alders before that confirming the same thing

DB's shoulders must hurt from constantly patting himself on the back.

At least someone is putting their heart into downtown…not many people doing that

framer wrote: ↑

Sep 06, 2025

DB's shoulders must hurt from constantly patting himself on the back.

Well, if people would like you would do more maybe I couldn’t have to do it all

Understanding it’s still early, has Cara racked up any wins yet? Or are the wheels in motion for her to pick up some wins over the next few months? It just doesn’t feel like much, if anything, has changed.

matguy70 wrote: ↑

Sep 24, 2025

She won. She took office. Tornado hits. She has been seriously one busy gal. If Drump moves in... she then has that to deal with.

OK so the tornado is a massive L for Cara. Sorry. I know it wasn’t her job to push the button but it happened on her watch.

JaneJacobsGhost wrote: ↑

Sep 25, 2025

matguy70 wrote: ↑

Sep 24, 2025

She won. She took office. Tornado hits. She has been seriously one busy gal. If Drump moves in... she then has that to deal with.

OK so the tornado is a massive L for Cara. Sorry. I know it wasn’t her job to push the button but it happened on her watch.

Cara’s approval rating on the tornado and the City’s response is a bit of a mystery, but my perception is that voters disagree with you generally on this.

Checking in again to see if Cara has posted any wins since taking office?

She did fire the community development admin director

The problem with the way this thread has been handled in the past is that users are not encouraged to participate authentically. Any insinuation of support for Cara is met with a beat down (often personal) by yourself, Denis, and Auggie.

All that to say, don’t take silence as a lack of perceived wins. Just that most are done engaging.

(there haven't been any wins)

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Nov 11, 2025

The problem with the way this thread has been handled in the past is that users are not encouraged to participate authentically. Any insinuation of support for Cara is met with a beat down (often personal) by yourself, Denis, and Auggie.

All that to say, don’t take silence as a lack of perceived wins. Just that most are done engaging.

Instead of engaging with the prompt, you made an unsubstantiated, unsolicited personal attack on three people who actually support their positions with arguments based on facts and data. Never once has a Spencer supporter laid out a cohesive, reasoned argument for why she was a better pick. In fact, most of them magically disappeared after the election season ended. Hmmm.

Here is what I think she has done generally done well:

-I have noticed pot holes are filled faster by 2-3 weeks.

-She wants ribbon cutting ceremonies for anything that can be perceived as positive, which I think is cringe, BUT it could be good for perception of the city if we show off the good news (because we know bad news will be shown off).

-They proposed a pretty smart budget with the PD by making the police pay for city services, meaning the city will get back most of the budget increase.

-The tornado response has been as good as I expected and she seemed to be on top of using Rams money to pay for aid.

-Her admin is pushing zoning reform and she signed the ADU ordinance.

Thanks Auggie!