975
Super MemberSuper Member
975

PostNov 11, 2025#1801

Auggie wrote:
Nov 11, 2025
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.
I think that’s a pretty fair summary of her wins in the first 6 months and I don’t think it looks underwhelming at all relative to Tish’s first 6 months. I’ve always said the difference between the two will be pretty minor.

9,526
Life MemberLife Member
9,526

PostNov 11, 2025#1802

The budget was set before she was sworn in

The zoning update started in 2024 and the ACU in 2023 or maybe even 2022.  Zoning update paused after the tornado and got going this week

Best thing she’s done is gone on a military hiring spree

2,260
Life MemberLife Member
2,260

PostNov 11, 2025#1803

dbInSouthCity wrote:
Nov 11, 2025
The budget was set before she was sworn in

The zoning update started in 2024 and the ACU in 2023 or maybe even 2022. Zoning update paused after the tornado and got going this week

Best thing she’s done is done on a military hiring spree
Just tryna be as fair as I can.

6,117
Life MemberLife Member
6,117

PostNov 12, 2025#1804

The differences might be minor, but they're bigger than I expected and they're stacking up to be a bit frustrating. Ending alley recycling and canceling the Green Line are infuriating to me. I would not have guessed she'd go in against Green Line before the campaign statements late in the game, and I'd never have guessed she'd cancel alley recycling at all. So no, she's not disastrous, necessarily, but I'm not happy about it. On the other hand, I voted against her, so all of this is to be expected.

34
New MemberNew Member
34

PostNov 12, 2025#1805

The Green line is one the upsets me.  It would have been blocks from my home.   On the other hand, I have been doing a LOT more walking since this summer, so I am more open to walking to public transportation.  Just would have liked light rail close.

1,607
Totally AddictedTotally Addicted
1,607

PostNov 13, 2025#1806

We use the CWE and Cortex stations regularly, though not daily.  Would say multiple times a month. 

Both are about 15-20 minutes from our door.  but man is it nice to have that ability.  
Not sure what the official stats say but I imagine the Green line would have given access to people who really need it if we look with 0.5 - 0.75 miles in any direction from any planned station.  I voted for Spencer, and this issue really grinds my gears.   

740
Senior MemberSenior Member
740

PostNov 16, 2025#1807

I voted for Spencer and still support her. Which seems to make me a minority among UrbanSTL posters while being in the majority of STL voters.

I was disappointed in the decision on the Green Line. But I don't think Jones would have gotten anywhere with it if she were reelected.

There's movement in downtown projects like the Millennium that would have to be counted as wins.

2,260
Life MemberLife Member
2,260

PostNov 16, 2025#1808

Sounds like reaching to me.

2,672
Life MemberLife Member
2,672

PostNov 16, 2025#1809

Millennium was moving prior to her term. As was the demise of the Green Line.

From the day the tax was passed Krewson and Jones were optimizing cost. Krewson pushing changes to accommodate the NGA wasted a year. Jones cutting Downtown and stops in South city lowered cost but also lowered the routes functionality and effectiveness. If you lined up the iterations (2008, 2012, 2018, 2019-2024) of Northside Southside MetroLink chronologically, it looks like a dying tree. Each stage becoming less impressive.

I had coffee with a few transit professionals in October. Even if Dems win Congress in 2026 and the next administration is as pro-transit as Biden it will take five years to work down the growing backlog of competitive projects. Even in that scenario most projects being studied today won’t be funded until 2032 unless competitive enough to jump others. The rider to cost of Green Line final iteration was weak and relied heavily on real estate development opportunity. I honestly don’t think the Green Line would’ve had a shovel in the ground until 2033-2035.

I don’t even want BRT on Jefferson. I want to return to the 2017 plan, pass a Downtown TID, and build a one or two mile downtown base.

547
Senior MemberSenior Member
547

PostNov 16, 2025#1810

addxb2 wrote:
Nov 16, 2025
Millennium was moving prior to her term. As was the demise of the Green Line.

From the day the tax was passed Krewson and Jones were optimizing cost. Krewson pushing changes to accommodate the NGA wasted a year. Jones cutting Downtown and stops in South city lowered cost but also lowered the routes functionality and effectiveness. If you lined up the iterations (2008, 2012, 2018, 2019-2024) of Northside Southside MetroLink chronologically, it looks like a dying tree. Each stage becoming less impressive.

I had coffee with a few transit professionals in October. Even if Dems win Congress in 2026 and the next administration is as pro-transit as Biden it will take five years to work down the growing backlog of competitive projects. Even in that scenario most projects being studied today won’t be funded until 2032 unless competitive enough to jump others. The rider to cost of Green Line final iteration was weak and relied heavily on real estate development opportunity. I honestly don’t think the Green Line would’ve had a shovel in the ground until 2033-2035.

I don’t even want BRT on Jefferson. I want to return to the 2017 plan, pass a Downtown TID, and build a one or two mile downtown base.
What would a 1-2 mile downtown base look like to you ?  I do like the idea of developing off the existing downtown infrastructure to make it more transit heavy and hopefully be one of a few factors that drive dense infill.  

2,672
Life MemberLife Member
2,672

PostNov 16, 2025#1811

Not sure I really care about which street but I would assume something close to 2017 vision. The closest the region had to a consolidated vision.

If Krewson had been advised well they would’ve started phase 1 (downtown chunk) engineering in 2017 and been awarded funding prior to COVID. We’d probably be talking about north and/or south extension while riding it right now.

740
Senior MemberSenior Member
740

PostNov 16, 2025#1812

Auggie wrote:
Nov 16, 2025
Sounds like reaching to me.
Fair enough. But headlines like this stating "ex mayor" instead of "current mayor" is one of the wins in not having a second Tishaura Jones administration.

I don't expect many on here to agree with me on that or that Virvus Jones being far far away from decision making is another win. Everyone's mileage may vary.

https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/11/04/ ... ral-court/

12K
Life MemberLife Member
12K

PostNov 16, 2025#1813

Seriously. Just getting Virvus out of the loop was a major win.

2,260
Life MemberLife Member
2,260

PostNov 16, 2025#1814

Signs of the times when our best argument is "well at least our white-suburban media's slop articles are trashing the ex-mayor instead of the current mayor."

Rings especially hallow when the current mayor was purchased by an outside billionaire of an out of state company so they could secure millions in government contracts.

2,672
Life MemberLife Member
2,672

PostNov 17, 2025#1815

Didn’t his ex-girlfriend just admit in court to selling her proximity with the Jones administration to a developer(s)?

Any evidence to support that Spencer (or any Mayor) has independent influence over procurement at the airport? Seems easily verifiable given the scale and risk for audit. Media would love that story.

9,526
Life MemberLife Member
9,526

PostNov 17, 2025#1816

^ the airport rebuild selection committee is controlled by the president of the board of public service, mayoral appointee, the current bps director (reappointed by Spencer few months ago) picked 3 of the 5 members of the selection committee. Clayco is part of the selected team

Media has requested that all 5 scoring sheets be released and so far the city has refused

740
Senior MemberSenior Member
740

PostNov 17, 2025#1817

framer wrote:
Nov 16, 2025
Seriously. Just getting Virvus out of the loop was a major win.
Yep.

And judging from Tishaura and her dad's social media posts following the election they didn't learn a thing from her massive defeat.

2,620
Life MemberLife Member
2,620

PostNov 17, 2025#1818

I don't see the harm in continuing the design process of the green line so that we have a shovel ready project in the gun when a more friendly administration takes over. Now it sounds like we would basically be starting over from scratch.

2,672
Life MemberLife Member
2,672

PostNov 17, 2025#1819

dbInSouthCity wrote:^ the airport rebuild selection committee is controlled by the president of the board of public service, mayoral appointee, the current bps director (reappointed by Spencer few months ago) picked 3 of the 5 members of the selection committee. Clayco is part of the selected team

Media has requested that all 5 scoring sheets be released and so far the city has refused
She continued the confirmation of the BPS director determined competent (I disagree) by Slay, Krewson, and Jones. Bradley has picked dozens (maybe hundreds) of selection committees since 2009, are there any previous concerns with procurement rigging?

Clayco is a qualified construction manager. Probably just behind McCarthy in terms of regional presence. They were always going to be on this project team. They were also a leader of airport privatization which Cara risked a recall election fighting to stop.

I see your point that there could be a pathway to greasing palms but I haven’t seen that in Cara’s character previously. I have yet to see anything that would suggest Cara would be willing to throw it all away to help Bob Clark. Looking back, Bob Clark’s donation to her campaign looks more like a **** you to Jones than a celebration of Spencer.

The results of the RFP will eventually be delivered. There are only administrative or legal processes to delay, not reject procurement transparency. If they’re released and there are signs of collusion, I will be just as disappointed as I was with Jones shortcomings.

2,260
Life MemberLife Member
2,260

PostNov 17, 2025#1820

addxb2 wrote:
Nov 17, 2025
dbInSouthCity wrote:^ the airport rebuild selection committee is controlled by the president of the board of public service, mayoral appointee, the current bps director (reappointed by Spencer few months ago) picked 3 of the 5 members of the selection committee. Clayco is part of the selected team

Media has requested that all 5 scoring sheets be released and so far the city has refused
She continued the confirmation of the BPS director determined competent (I disagree) by Slay, Krewson, and Jones. Bradley has picked dozens (maybe hundreds) of selection committees since 2009, are there any previous concerns with procurement rigging?

Clayco is a qualified construction manager. Probably just behind McCarthy in terms of regional presence. They were always going to be on this project team. They were also a leader of airport privatization which Cara risked a recall election fighting to stop.

I see your point that there could be a pathway to greasing palms but I haven’t seen that in Cara’s character previously. The results of the RFP will eventually be delivered. There are only administrative or legal processes to delay, not reject procurement transparency.
Her character completely changed in the 2025 election. Entirely different person from the era around airport privatization and the 2021 mayoral election.

2021 Spencer would be appalled.

9,526
Life MemberLife Member
9,526

PostNov 17, 2025#1821

addxb2 wrote:
Nov 17, 2025
dbInSouthCity wrote:^ the airport rebuild selection committee is controlled by the president of the board of public service, mayoral appointee, the current bps director (reappointed by Spencer few months ago) picked 3 of the 5 members of the selection committee. Clayco is part of the selected team

Media has requested that all 5 scoring sheets be released and so far the city has refused
She continued the confirmation of the BPS director determined competent (I disagree) by Slay, Krewson, and Jones. Bradley has picked dozens (maybe hundreds) of selection committees since 2009, are there any previous concerns with procurement rigging?

Clayco is a qualified construction manager. Probably just behind McCarthy in terms of regional presence. They were always going to be on this project team. They were also a leader of airport privatization which Cara risked a recall election fighting to stop.

I see your point that there could be a pathway to greasing palms but I haven’t seen that in Cara’s character previously. The results of the RFP will eventually be delivered. There are only administrative or legal processes to delay, not reject procurement transparency.
I just simply want to see the scoring sheets, that’s all.

2,260
Life MemberLife Member
2,260

PostNov 17, 2025#1822


9,526
Life MemberLife Member
9,526

PostNov 17, 2025#1823

Very good hire, Gregg has a lot of city experience, was a Greitens protégé and spend time leading the regional agency at East West Gateway that coordinates regional emergency response for STL metro.  

It is surprising (and maybe even concerning) that he would take a relatively low level merit position at the city.

2,037
Life MemberLife Member
2,037

PostNov 17, 2025#1824

It says in the article that his salary will be 140k...

9,526
Life MemberLife Member
9,526

PostNov 17, 2025#1825

Ebsy wrote:
Nov 17, 2025
It says in the article that his salary will be 140k...
maybe some back scratching going on 
Screenshot 2025-11-17 150910.jpg (120.52KiB)

Read more posts (53 remaining)