The City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen are back in session, and we have identified two Board Bills we have concerns with. Please take the time to learn about these bills and express your thoughts with your elected officials listed below along with Mayor Krewson (krewsonl@stlouis-mo.gov) and President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed (reedl@stlouis-mo.gov).

Board Bill 97

Allows for the owners of an establishment that sells alcohol to transfer that liquor license to a new owner without requiring the new owner to go through the neighborhood consent process. This subverts the ability of a neighborhood to ensure the owners of an establishment selling alcohol will meet the standards set forth by the community. For example:  under the proposed bill, someone may sell their well-run establishment that received neighborhood consent to someone who has a poor track record of running bars/restaurants that the neighborhood would normally not consent to. More info on Board Bill 97 may be found here.

Sponsor

Joseph Vaccaro vaccaroj@stlouis-mo.gov

Safety Committee Members

Board Bill 98

Provides extra protections for people who are experiencing homelessness. This is a well-meaning bill that unfortunately suffers from many practical issues. For example:  under the proposed bill, the police will be restricted in their ability to address people using drugs if those people claim they are homeless. This will drastically inhibit the ability of police officers to engage people for public drug/alcohol use. Also, under the proposed ordinance the City of St. Louis will not be allowed to close any encampments of people sleeping in tents or other makeshift shelters anywhere in the city unless they have first identified housing and services for everyone in the encampment. This further places the burden of offering services to people who are homeless on the City of St. Louis despite homelessness being a regional issue, not simply a city one. Furthermore, this ordinance proposes to fine people between $1,500 and $15,000 for any violation of the ordinance. This could lead to a police officer facing fines for addressing drug use/dealing in an area with a large population of homeless people if a court rules the drug use and dealing is either directly or indirectly associated with homelessness. More info on Board Bill 98 may be found here.

Sponsor

Megan Green greenm@stlouis-mo.gov

Legislative Committee Members