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St. Louis Board of Aldermen

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St. Louis Board of Aldermen
City of St. Louis
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
None
Leadership
President
Megan Green
since November 18, 2022
Vice-President
Shane Cohn
since April 18, 2023
Floor Leader
Shameem Clark-Hubbard
since April 18, 2023
Assistant Floor Leader
Rasheen Aldridge
since April 18, 2023
Structure
Seats14 ward-based alderpersons and 1 city-wide president (officially non-partisan)
Political groups
  Democratic (14)
AuthorityCharter of the City of St. Louis
Salary$72,000/year (alderpersons)
$80,000/year (President)
Elections
Nonpartisan blanket primary using approval voting
Last election
April 4, 2023
Next election
April 1, 2025
RedistrictingLegislative control
Meeting place
St. Louis City Hall
Website
stlouis-mo.gov/BoardofAldermen

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is the lawmaking body of St. Louis, an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. The Board consists of 14 alderpersons, one elected by each of the city's 14 wards. The President of the Board is a separate position elected by all city voters with the same voting power as an alderperson, and serves as the body's presiding officer.

Alderpersons may introduce legislation known as board bills, which are subject to approval by the mayor if passed by the Board. The Board is responsible for setting the city budget and conducting oversight of city departments and agencies.

The Board meets in the north wing of City Hall, located in the Downtown West neighborhood. Regular elections to the Board of Aldermen are held in the spring of odd-numbered years. Beginning with the 2023 elections, the Board of Aldermen was reduced from 28 members to 14.

Composition

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The Board of Aldermen consists of one representative from each of the city's 14 wards. The President of the Board is elected as a separate office by a general citywide ballot. After the 2023 ward reductions, all alderpersons are elected to four-year terms during the spring election of odd-numbered years, as is the mayor.[1]

Proposition R (2012)

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Proposition R (2012) was a charter amendment passed in November 2012 to reduce the number of city of St. Louis alderpersons from 28 to 14. It was slated to take place 10 years in the future (effective January 1, 2022) and was passed by city voters on November 6, 2012, with 61 percent voting in favor (60 percent was needed for passage).[2]

Proposition D (2020)

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Proposition D, a ballot measure to make municipal elections in St. Louis officially non-partisan, was passed by city voters on November 3, 2020 with 68 percent voting in favor.[3] Proposition D also changed St. Louis municipal elections to use approval voting, which allows voters to vote for as many candidates in a race as they would like, with each of their choices carrying an equal weight, meaning they do not rank the candidates.[4]

Proposition R (2022)

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Proposition R (2022) called for an independent commission to draw boundaries between the wards of St. Louis and ensured that that the board was not able to change the election method without a public vote.[5] Prop R also strengthened ethics by creating new stipulations for conflicts of interest and required alderpersons to recuse themselves when such conflicts arise. Finally, it changed the "Board of Aldermen" to the gender-neutral "Board of Alderpersons."[6]

Powers

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By custom and tradition, an alderperson has a great deal of influence over decisions impacting the ward they represent on matters ranging from zoning changes, to street resurfacing, to tax abatement to business licensing, etc.

By city charter, alderpersons are legislators. Alderpersons introduce laws and legislation known as board bills that can become city ordinances which can impact the quality of lives of city residents.

Committees

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Since April 2023, the Board of Aldermen has had seven standing committees.[7]

Committee Chair
Budget & Public Employees Cara Spencer (8th)
Health & Human Development Pam Boyd (13th)
Housing, Urban Development, & Zoning Shameem Clark-Hubbard (10th)
Legislation & Rules Joe Vollmer (5th)
Public Infrastructure & Utilities Anne Schweitzer (1st)
Public Safety Bret Narayan (4th)
Transportation & Commerce Shane Cohn (3rd)

Qualifications

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To become an alderperson, one must be a registered voter, twenty-five years of age, have been a United States citizen for at least five years, a resident of the city for three years, and for one year a resident of the ward from which elected. The President must be at least thirty years of age and a city resident for at least five years.[8][9]

Membership

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While the office of alderperson is officially nonpartisan, all incumbents are either Democrats or independents. The last Republican to hold a Board seat lost re-election in 2011.[10] The current composition of the Board was sworn in on April 18, 2023.

Ward / Position Map Member Took office Corridor Major neighborhood(s) served Current term expires
President
Megan Green 2022 At-large 2027
Ward 1
Anne Schweitzer 2021 South Carondelet, Patch, Bevo Mill 2025
Ward 2
Tom Oldenburg 2017 South St. Louis Hills, Princeton Heights, Boulevard Heights 2027
Ward 3
Shane Cohn 2009 South Dutchtown 2025
Ward 4
Bret Narayan 2019 South Dogtown, Lindenwood Park 2027
Ward 5
Joe Vollmer 2003 South The Hill, North Hampton, Southwest Garden 2025
Ward 6
Daniela Velázquez 2023 South Tower Grove South, Shaw, Compton Heights 2027
Ward 7
Alisha Sonnier 2023 Central/South Tower Grove East, Benton Park West 2025
Ward 8
Cara Spencer 2015 Central/South Downtown, Soulard, Lafayette Square 2027
Ward 9
Michael Browning 2023 Central Central West End, Forest Park Southeast 2025
Ward 10
Shameem Clark-Hubbard 2019 Central/North Skinker-DeBaliviere, West End 2027
Ward 11
Laura Keys 2022 Central/North JeffVanderLou, O'Fallon, Midtown 2025
Ward 12
Sharon Tyus 2013[a] North The Ville, Penrose 2027
Ward 13
Pamela Boyd 2017 North Wells Goodfellow, North Riverfront 2025
Ward 14
Rasheen Aldridge 2023 Central/North Downtown, St. Louis Place, Hyde Park 2027

List of presidents

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The president presides at all the meeting, preserves decorum and determines all questions of order. The president appoints standing and special committees and serves as an equal member of all committees. The president assigns bills to appropriate committees and refers bills, when ready, to the Engrossment Committee. The president directs action from the broad elevated podium in the front and center of the semi-circulate position.

Party President Tenure Ref
Republican Louis P. Aloe 1917 1924 [11]
Republican Walter J. G. Neun 1924 1935
Democratic William L. Mason 1935 1941
Republican Michael J. Hart 1941 1943
Republican Aloys P. Kaufmann 1943 1943
Republican Edgar S. Nicolai 1943 1945
Republican Albert L. Schweitzer 1945 1947
Republican Charles Albanese 1947 1955
Democratic Donald Gunn 1955 1959
Democratic A. J. Cervantes 1959 1963
Democratic Donald Gunn 1963 1968
Democratic James Noonan 1968 1969
Republican Joseph Badaracco 1969 1975
Republican Paul Simon 1975 1980
Democratic Eugene Bradley (interim) 1980 1980
Democratic Thomas Zych 1980 1987
Democratic Thomas A. Villa 1987 1995
Democratic Francis G. Slay 1995 2001
Democratic James F. Shrewsbury 2001 2007
Democratic Lewis E. Reed 2007 2022
Democratic Joseph Vollmer (interim) 2022 2022
Democratic Megan Green 2022 (incumbent)

Party composition

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Party composition
Year[12] Democratic Republican Independent
1945 8 20 0
1947 8 20 0
1949 13 15 0
1951 17 11 0
1953 21 7 0
1955 24 4 0
1957 24 4 0
1959 24 4 0
1961 24 4 0
1963 24 4 0
1965 26 2 0
1967 22 6 0
1969 24 4 0
1971 24 4 0
1973 25 3 0
1975 26 2 0
1977 27 1 0
1979 26 2 0
1981 26 2 0
1983 27 1 0
2009 27 1 0
2011 27 0 1
2013 27 0 1
2015[13] 28 0 0
2017 28 0 0
2019 28 0 0
2021 28 0 0
2023 14 0 0

Notes

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  1. ^ Tyus was previously an alderwoman from 1991 to 2003.

References

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  1. ^ "Laws and Lawmaking". stlouis-mo.gov.
  2. ^ "Propositions pass to cut St. Louis aldermen, return local police control". St. Louis Business Journal. November 7, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  3. ^ "St. Louis, Missouri, Proposition D, Approval Voting Initiative (November 2020)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  4. ^ "St. Louis, Missouri, Proposition D, Approval Voting Initiative (November 2020)". Ballotpedia.
  5. ^ "Pro & Con: How Prop R would affect St. Louis' Board of Aldermen". STLPR. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  6. ^ "St. Louis, Missouri, Proposition R, Redistricting Commission, Public Vote to Change Voting Methods, and Conflicts of Interest Requirements Initiative (April 2022)". Ballotpedia.
  7. ^ "Rules of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen 2023-24 Session" (PDF).
  8. ^ "About the Board of Aldermen". stlouis-mo.gov.
  9. ^ "St. Louis City Board of Aldermen Rules". Archived from the original on 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  10. ^ McDermott, Kevin (April 9, 2015). "St. Louis Board of Aldermen will have all Democrats, two new faces". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  11. ^ Stein, Lana (2002). St. Louis Politics: The Triumph of Tradition. St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Historical Society Press. p. 255.
  12. ^ Lana Stein--"St. Louis Politics" page 174
  13. ^ "St. Louis Board of Aldermen will have all Democrats, two new faces". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 9, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
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