ST. LOUIS 鈥 Alderwoman Cara Spencer said Thursday she is running for mayor, setting up a rematch with the incumbent, Tishaura O. Jones, next year.
Spencer, who represents parts of downtown, Soulard and the near southeast side, announced her decision in an email to supporters Thursday morning blasting the status quo.
鈥淓verywhere we look, the city is failing to do its most basic jobs,鈥 she wrote in the email. 鈥淭oo many of the promises that were made three years ago haven鈥檛 been fulfilled. That鈥檚 why, after much encouragement, I have decided to run for mayor.鈥
Jones acknowledged the news on Instagram, posting a screenshot of Spencer鈥檚 announcement and writing, 鈥淚t鈥檚 official! I have an opponent!鈥 Later, in an interview, she called Spencer鈥檚 remarks 鈥渃ute.鈥
Rosetta Okohson, Jones鈥 campaign manager, told the Post-Dispatch the mayor is looking forward 鈥渢o continuing to make this campaign about the voters, and continuing to make St. 亚洲无码 safer, healthier and stronger.鈥
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In an interview, Spencer said, as mayor, she would make the city safer, get the basics right, and work to reverse the city鈥檚 population decline.
She acknowledged recent decreases in crime statistics Jones touted in her reelection announcement last week. Police reported the fewest homicides in a decade in 2023. Car thefts and shootings, including juvenile shootings, fell significantly, too.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 great,鈥 Spencer said. 鈥淏ut the people I talk to in our neighborhoods don鈥檛 feel safer.鈥
Reckless driving, she said, is out of control, and the city needs to do more about it.
After one of the most deadly years on the streets in recent memory in 2022, Jones and aldermen appropriated tens of millions of dollars to repave and remake city streets to make them safer. But construction isn鈥檛 expected to begin in earnest until next year.
Spencer said she would start on the problem by fully staffing the police department to increase enforcement of traffic laws. Police have been increasing citations after a decline over the past decade: They issued 32,614 citations in 2023, the most since 2009.
But staffing at the department, like many around the country, has fallen precipitously during Jones鈥 tenure, from around 1,200 commissioned employees to roughly 910 as of the middle of this month.聽
Spencer said the city鈥檚 mayor must fight that by working to build back trust between police and the community.
She said she鈥檒l also work with the goal of reversing decades of population decline. The latest census estimates have St. 亚洲无码鈥 population at 281,754, a 6.6% drop from 2020.
The city can鈥檛 accept that, she said. Population loss means a smaller tax base, which means less money for city services.
She noted that the city鈥檚 trash commissioner recently told aldermen that the proposed budget for the upcoming year won鈥檛 pay for enough truck drivers to pick up all the trash.
鈥淭hese things should be alarm bells for all of us,鈥 she said.
Spencer also disputed Jones鈥 comments last week describing St. 亚洲无码 as a city 鈥渋n the middle of a renaissance.鈥
鈥淲e have a lot of challenges,鈥 she said, 鈥渁nd putting our heads in the sand is no way to address these issues.鈥
Spencer is planning a campaign kickoff party on June 4 at the old Post-Dispatch building on Tucker Boulevard downtown.
She previously ran for mayor in 2021, when she lost to Jones 52%-48%.