ST. LOUIS 鈥 Alderman John Collins-Muhammad says he鈥檚 spent more than a year unsuccessfully trying to get security into the parks in his ward to stem violent crime, speeding cars and garbage dumping.
Now, he鈥檚 issued an ultimatum: serious movement toward full-time patrols in O鈥橣allon Park by Friday, or he鈥檒l shut it down.
Police and city officials say an alderman doesn鈥檛 have the authority to do that, but Collins-Muhammad doesn鈥檛 care.
鈥淲hen people ask me, is O鈥橣allon safe? I have to be honest. No. It鈥檚 not a park I would take my son to,鈥 he said.
It鈥檚 a battle he鈥檚 inherited from his predecessor, former 21st Ward Alderman Antonio French. French in his neighborhood parks and argued that the city allocated too many resources to Forest Park and parks in south city.
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鈥淔our years later, I鈥檓 fighting the same fight,鈥 Collins-Muhammad said.
Last month, the alderman initially voted against the city鈥檚 2019 budget in the Board of Aldermen鈥檚 Ways and Means Committee, in an attempt to leverage his vote for funding for park rangers in O鈥橣allon and Fairground parks.
鈥淲e keep seeing homicides. We keep seeing car incidents. We keep seeing gang activity, illegal drug sales. We keep seeing these in north city parks,鈥 he said at the time.
With a July 1 deadline looming, Collins-Muhammad eventually voted the spending plan through, explaining that he understood it needed to pass on time to ensure money for other priorities.
But he hasn鈥檛 seen much motivation to address the issue since. So he took to Facebook on Tuesday vowing to shutter O鈥橣allon Park, despite some pushback from its frequent visitors.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want people outside north 最新杏吧原创 to think this action is against the average every day parkgoer. It鈥檚 more so against the city government, which refuses to invest in us,鈥 he explained.
But under the , the decision to close a city park rests with the parks division or police department. Either entity can opt to close a park if public safety is at risk, according to Greg Hayes, who directs the city鈥檚 Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.
Collins-Muhammad asked police to close O鈥橣allon Park for an evening in May, citing 鈥渃omplete chaos鈥 that included littering and loud music.
A spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson said she was committed to working with aldermen to maintain the city鈥檚 parks, 鈥渒eeping them clean and safe for all who visit them.鈥
Collins-Muhammad said he had been in touch with both the mayor鈥檚 office and 最新杏吧原创 Police Chief John Hayden this week.
鈥楾he problem is, I鈥檓 tired of meetings. We鈥檝e done this seven or eight times,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think we have to as a city and as a government; we have to safeguard these two amenities of our community.鈥
