Minority Politics in St. Louis

Government

About St.Louis:

The structure of the government of St. Louis is different than any other city in the United States.  Since 1876, St.Louis has not been part of any county.  It has been the only independent city in the state of  Missouri which manages it's own offices as a county.  Although St.Louis operates on it's own as both a city and county, it is still subject to state restrictions on county governments.

City Functions:

There are two elected boards that operate the government of the city of St.Louis:

1.)  Board of Alderman

2.) Board of Estimate and Apportionment

Organizational chart of elected officials

The Board of Alderman:

The Board of Alderman is the legislative body of the city.  All ordinances and resolutions are approved by the board.  The Board of Alderman is made up of twenty eight aldermen that are each elected separately from twenty eight wards.  Each ward has approximately 12,000 residents that the alderman must tend to.  The aldermen are divided in half on election years, every two years fourteen must be reelected to stay on the board.  Each term an alderman serves is four years of hard and dedicated work.

 

The President of the Board of Alderman:

The president casts the 29th vote on the board of alderman.  Vice President James F. Shrewsbury is currently holding the office as a result of the April 2001 mayoral election.  The Board President election will not be held until August 2002 and the regular general election will not be until April 2003.  The elected official to be president will hold a four year term and will also serve as a member of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.

 

 

The Board of Estimate and Appointment:

The Board of Estimate  and Appointment or the E and A is St.Louis's main fiscal body.  This board sets the cities budget ceiling and controls the budget.  There are three elected officials that make up the E and A.  The first official is the mayor who is now Francis G Slay.  The second is the President of the Board of Alderman.  Finally Darlene Green holds the third position as the Comptroller. 

The Comptroller

As the comptroller of St Louis, Darlene Green supervises the fiscal affairs of the city.  Green is responsible for all accounting, payroll and auditing functions.  Her office also acts as the cost center for payments on principal and interest on tax increment revenue bonds.  The comptroller is elected city wide to a four year term, the next is in April 2005.

The Mayor

The Mayor of St. Louis is Francis G Slay.  He was sworn in as the forty-fifth mayor on April 17, 2001.  Slay is the third generation in his family to be a St.Louis politician.  His dream is "making  a difference in the city of my birth."  As mayor, he is the cities chief executive officer.  Slay has the power to appoint major department and bureau heads and members of city boards and commissions.  The mayor has power to veto ordinances but does not have a vote on the Board of Alderman.  Every four years a new mayor is elected.  The next mayoral primary will be in March 2005.

 

The racial and ethnic characteristics of the elected officials of St. Louis: 

The elected officials of St. Louis differ in their racial and ethnic characteristics.  Both the mayor of the city  and the vice president of the Board of Alderman are of caucasion decent.  The Board of Alderman is made up of 45 percent African Americans and 55 percent Caucasions.  Each individual on the board is voted on by the population of the ward that he/she represents.  With such a diverse makeup it is good to see that race does not play into political issues of the city of St. Louis

                                   

                     

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This site was created for Dr. Rodd Freitag's Pols 350 Group and Minority Politics course at the University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire.