ST. LOUIS 鈥 A local activist group said Monday it plans to circulate a petition to put ward reduction back on the city ballot, hoping to reverse a charter amendment they say dilutes Black political power.
About 25 people, many with the International People鈥檚 Democratic Uhuru Movement, staged a demonstration on the steps of City Hall, saying they oppose both the ward reduction supported by 61% of voters in 2012 and the redistricting plan approved last week by the Board of Aldermen.
The plan, which passed 28-0, divides the city into 14 wards, instead of the current 28, in time for the city election in 2023. Seven of the 14 new wards are white majority and seven are Black majority, reflecting the roughly equal numbers of white and Black city residents in the 2020 census.
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鈥淚 speak for the Black community in that we are against the ward reduction,鈥 said Herdosia 鈥淜alambayi鈥 Bentum of the Uhuru movement, who ran unsuccessfully for 3rd Ward alderman in March. 鈥淲e are demanding that the mayor listen to the people. This is not the people鈥檚 voice. This is not the people鈥檚 vote. They like to say the people have spoken. The people did not speak.鈥
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has not acted on the plan yet. She can veto the plan, sign it or allow it to become law without her signature. She hasn鈥檛 said what she will do, but has said she鈥檚 satisfied with the amount of public input in drawing the boundaries.
Backers of the charter amendment on ward reduction said at the time that the change could promote a more holistic approach to city issues and reduce parochialism in the sometimes unwieldy chamber, which has the same number of aldermen today as it did in 1950, when the city had 555,000 more residents.
Bentum, though, said voters didn鈥檛 understand the ramifications. Larger wards will make it harder for 鈥渞egular鈥 people to win seats and harder for aldermen to respond to constituents, she said.
鈥淵ou know how hard it is to get in touch with my aldermen now?鈥 Bentum said.
Alderman Jesse Todd, the only alderman who did not vote for the redistricting plan, joined the protest and also condemned ward reduction. Todd, whose 18th Ward includes parts of several north 最新杏吧原创 neighborhoods as well as parts of the Central West End and Midtown, abstained from voting last week rather than voting 鈥渘o鈥 because, he said, he had a 鈥渃onflict of interest.鈥
鈥淢y interest is with the people,鈥 Todd said on the steps of City Hall. 鈥淢y interest is with keeping 28 wards.鈥
Todd later clarified that he abstained from voting because he felt the vote last week was about the map, not the issue of ward reduction.
鈥淕et it back on the ballot, keep 28 wards,鈥 he told the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my only concern.鈥
Aldermanic President Lewis Reed joined 27 aldermen in voting for the plan.
They鈥檝e bought up vacant buildings and lots, refurbished some of them, while fielding two candidates for the next Board of Aldermen race. Reparations is at the top of their political platform.聽
