ST. LOUIS—Incumbent Mayor Jones and challenger alderwoman Cara Spencer answered nearly twenty questions across more than fifteen pressing topics while frequently exchanging verbal jabs. At times, Spencer criticized Jones alleging transparency issues and appointee problems. Mayor Jones rebuked Spencer, often calling the alderwoman’s remarks, “patently false.”

SLMPD state versus local control

Spencer vows to work with Governor Kehoe as it’s widely he’ll sign House Bill 495 into law. The bill creates a board which will include the St. Louis mayor and five other members nominated by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. One member will not have voting rights. Spencer believes local control would be better.

Mayor Jones believes if the bill is signed and the state takes control, it stands to erase progress made over the last four years. She spoke to frequent trips to Jefferson City trying to fight the bill.

One reason for the bill introduced was the expectation it would help build up the police force. Jones commented, during her mayorship, she’s signed two pay raises for police, hired a police chief outside of the area and regularly uses data to improve safety.

Downtown safety

As downtown safety is commonly discussed locally and by those traveling in, both candidates were asked how they’d improve the safety perception. Jones said people should look at the crime trackers part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s website and its com-stat reports. Crime is down by double digit percentages, according to Jones, and she advocates for people to give downtown another chance.

Spencer says numbers tell a story but the perception of the people is they do not feel safe. While homicides are down, Spencer said vehicular manslaughter incidents are up. Vehicles driving around with expired tags are examples of “lawlessness,” stated Spencer. If she’s elected, she said there will be a crackdown on visible transgressions of law.

Enforcing traffic laws

$300 million in infrastructure improvements are underway said Jones. Crews are working to repave major thoroughfares and work to calm traffic. She said they’re also bringing back red light cameras. Policing isn’t the only answer per the mayor and the temp tag problem is for the state to solve.

Spencer agreed infrastructure is important but believes more needs to be done than “just throwing money at the problem.” The repaving of Kingshighway was premature in Spencer’s opinion since it was recently paved. “Things need to be done in a way that lasts,” said Spencer and she disagrees with Jones on the thought of enforcing temp tag violations being the state’s responsibility. Spencer said enforcement is needed for the temp tag and expired plates issue.

911 response time has automated system

Spencer criticized the current automated system and stated it’s critical to talk to a person when in a crisis. She thinks contracting with municipalities to handle 911 call traffic overflow to ensure every call is handed by a human is more important than focusing “only on reducing response time” like the current mayor.

Jones said the automated system led to increased response times. She also mentioned she found funding to improve the response time and 911 had been an issue for decades. The mayor said the 911 system saw the most improvement under her mayorship and a new 911 center is being built.

January snowstorm handling

Jones apologized for how the snowstorm in January was handled but assures voters that changes and adjustments were made for future storms. Then she asked that people make sure not to park on roads if they’re on snow routes. Also, she was able to have four smaller trucks added for snow removal. However, they await those trucks to be delivered. Once they have them, she said the new trucks could get into areas the larger vehicles cannot and would prioritize streets leading to schools first.

Spencer acknowledged the unusual amount of snowfall but said city government needs to be ready to pivot because climate change is causing irregular storms. She added for 21 days she couldn’t drive her vehicle out of her home in the city. What she wants to see is other departments with CDL licenses help clear snow and ice by adding blades and salt dispensers to them. Spencer stated new leadership is needed in the streets department.

Trash removal

The candidates trash talking elevated while discussing the tracking of refuse department vehicles and overflowing dumpsters. Spencer wants to install monitors on trash trucks to avoid missing alleyways by being able to track where they go. It’s a commonplace to have monitors in refuse vehicles in other cities per Spencer.

Jones said the refuse department is down more than a dozen drivers and cannot contract others to support because how the city’s dumpsters are designed. She noted Spencer posted pictures of private dumpsters overflowing and called it misleading. Then Jones added the trash trucks already have GPS tracking.

Spencer fired back challenging Jones to make the tracking information public.

City manager

Jones doesn’t support adding a city manager because she said the city currently has three elected people handling finances and a personnel director, who is appointed by the mayor.

Spencer wants a city manager even if elected because she feels department heads should not be only appointed by the mayor. She said a city manager “professionalizes this process,” and is needed to hold department heads accountable.

Spencer was asked about resigning from the St. Louis Development Corporation

Spencer said the organization is led by a mayor appointee and the SLDC grant process was not transparentto board members.

Mayor Jones was asked about her 64 trips in the past four years

Jones said she made a promise to put St. Louis “back on the map,” which involved taking trips to other cities. With those trips, she brought ideas back to St Louis and secured funds from Capitol Hill. Jones said the travels were paid for out of her own pocket, but the time spent away was worth the investment as it brought back hundreds of millions of dollars for city projects.

Justice Center and workhouse

The mayor was asked about why it took a while to fire Clemons-Abdullah given all the issues with the City Justice Center. Jones said she had to do progressive discipline while building a case to remove Clemons-Abdullah. When they finally delivered the letter, Clemons-Abdullah went on leave, which prolonged that process.

Spencer and Jones argued over the jail locks as the former claimed they didn’t work at the workhouse, and the mayor rebuked the comment stating they used $19 million to upgrade locks. Spencer also said to close the workhouse without a plan was a failure and claimed jail deaths spiked during Jones’ mayorship.

Improve the city economy

Spencer said taxes are down in almost every category and the city is in “real trouble.” She declared it’s time to “get serious about public safety” and get serious about welcoming investment by working collaboratively with the business community.

Jones pointed to recent successes totaling $2 billion invested, including the recent Millennium Hotel announcement and a new apartment tower. Jones targeted Spencer saying the alderwoman will leave people alone and answer to big business. She added that sections of north and south St. Louis had been left to fail for years before her mayorship.

Spencer said she’d take the success on Cherokee Street and use it as a model to approach the rest of the city.

Businesses leaving such as Fleishmann Hilliard and state buildings

Spencer declared success in getting eminent domain issued on the Railroad Exchange building with the Board of Aldermen leading to its sale. She said she helped threaten the Millennium Hotel owners with the same action and that led to a buyer. Spencer said the city needs to be creative, and she’s worked with the Anders consulting firm to encourage business expansion.

Jones mentioned multiple businesses that planted roots in downtown recently. She then said Spencer and the Board of Aldermen gave away earnings tax revenue to Anders for the consultation.

Spencer responded the bill that spent the earnings taxes went to Mayor Jones’ desk and was unopposed.

Population decline

To fight population decline, Jones has an economic justice plan to empower, develop and transform St. Louis. She said the city can increase its tax base by building more houses in uninvested areas like north St. Louis.

“Zip code shouldn’t determine opportunity,” said Jones.

She said they’ve increased the number of workforce availability by 4,000. The city has declined in population but at a smaller scale than before, according to Jones.

Spencer disagreed and said the city is losing population faster than the mayor says. She also said most of the population loss coming is coming from north St. Louis. Spencer said population loss boils down to unreliable city services and public safety concerns that lead to a breakdown in trust of city government.

Increase affordable housing

Jones wants to expand programs that assist homebuyers. The city is already building new homes and is on track of achieving their “moonshot goal” to build 10,000 homes by 2030, per Jones.

Spencer aims for a fully staffed housing commission. She said consistently the number one vacancy has been in the affordable housing commission, with less than half of capacity. Spencer said the city needs to invest in a home ownership model.

Metrolink green line

Spencer has always advocated for Metrolink but believes this expansion, a $1 billion project, would score poorly with the federal government. It needs to be rethought with more public input, according to Spencer.

Jones stated there was “tons of community engagement,” and tax dollars have been allocated and saved for years for the project. Jones said 60% of the funding comes from fully funded grant agreements.

Rams money unallocated and unspent for over three years

The public made it known they want streets and water infrastructure, childcare and abandoned buildings addressed with the Rams settlement money.

Jones said, despite her initial plan falling through, she intends to remain committed on using the money the same way. She still supports her original bill and the compromised bill that each address infrastructure at the forefront.

Spencer said the city needs to get ARPA dollars out the door and that there are federal investigators looking into a pile of the ARPA funds. She agrees the city needs to invest in infrastructure, especially because of water main breaks. She took a shot at Jones stating despite a lot of federal funding handed out for infrastructure, the city received very little.

Jones stated the reason city received so little is because the state chose to give them little.

Homelessness and the woman who froze to death last month near City Hall

Spencer called the death a tragedy and believes more beds are needed. During inclement weather, the city should focus to provide shelter and emergency space, per Spencer. She also supports warming buses.

Jones said they have 24-hour shelters which is why they stopped doing the warming bus. In her mayorship, they’ve increased beds and shelters, and Jones said she has a real plan to address homelessness in the region.

Earnings tax, if it goes away how to make up lost revenue

Jones said she signed an order for a commission to look into what to do and how to diversify revenue.

Spencer said she’d fight to keep the earning tax as a revenue source because it’s a big chunk of the city’s budget. She then credited the mayor for the citizen-led commission and would continue that if elected.

Closing statements

Jones said people who have not led think they can change anything. She added she’d never step away from what’s right or good, even if it would lose political points.

Spencer said she has a vision of a thriving downtown and a bustling riverfront. Right now, she’s disappointed by city department corruption and how the city has handled ARPA funds. She doesn’t feel safer and thinks the city needs to go back to basics to right city services. She asked voters to join a broad coalition of citizens all over that are looking for change.

Voters will choose who’s to lead St. Louis on April 8.