The Pros and Cons of Shrinking the Board of Aldermen, a.k.a. Prop R

By Nicholas Phillips on Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 11:23 am

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The St. Louis Board of Aldermen

Here we go, St. Louisans: Time to decide whether we should shrink the Board of Aldermen from 28 members down to 14 members by 2021.

Even aldermanic proponents such as Phyllis Young of the Seventh Ward and Scott Ogilvie of the Twenty-Fourth Ward concede that it wouldn't save taxpayers a lot of cash.

Rather, these advocates believe it will free up the board members from coordinating basic city services such as trash collection, so that they can spend more time working on broader policy issues affecting the city as a whole.

On the opposing side, Aldermen Tom Villa (of the Eleventh Ward) and Sam Moore (of the Fourth Ward) say that residents need a boots-on-the-ground liaison who can make sure large bureaucracy of City Hall responds to their needs. Moore has also argued that shrinking the board will enfeeble the African-American presence in City Hall.

Read Alderman Ogilvie's argument for voting "yes."

Read Alderman Moore's argument for voting "no."