聽ST. LOUIS 鈥 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones on Monday used her line-item veto power to block $33 million in disputed funds while approving the rest of a $168 million pandemic aid bill passed last week by aldermen.
鈥淚 refuse to put St. 亚洲无码 on the hook鈥 for paying tens of millions of dollars back to the federal government, Jones said in announcing her move at a news conference Monday morning. 鈥淲e cannot afford to get this wrong.鈥
The $33 million, aimed at jump-starting business development along four major streets in north St. 亚洲无码, was added by the bill鈥檚 sponsor, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed.
The veto was the latest volley in a monthlong battle between Jones and Reed over the issue.
Jones, in questioning the allocation鈥檚 legality, relied on opinions from interim City Counselor Matt Moak and an accounting firm retained by the city.
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She says federal rules for spending the money, passed by Congress earlier this year, don鈥檛 allow it to be used on general economic development and that Reed鈥檚 northside corridor plan isn鈥檛 explicitly tied to problems related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Reed said in a statement that he was 鈥渆xtremely disappointed鈥 by the veto and that the Board of Aldermen would 鈥渆xplore all our options to keep these dollars going to north St. 亚洲无码.鈥
Reed insists the allocation would adhere to federal regulations, citing an opinion he obtained from a former assistant city counselor now in private practice.
Mary Goodman, Reed鈥檚 legislative director, said overriding Jones鈥 veto is among the options under consideration. That would require support from 20 of the 29 members of the board, which isn鈥檛 scheduled to meet again until Sept. 17.
Jones at her news conference, in front of Ranken Technical College in north St. 亚洲无码, also lauded many of the other items in the aid bill.
She said a major priority of hers is the $5 million allocated for direct cash payments of $500 for about 10,000 families negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
She called the overall bill 鈥渁 road map to recovery as we navigate the crises facing our city.鈥
Reed in his statement questioned why Jones didn鈥檛 also veto $20 million allocated in the aid bill for a citywide fund to renovate dilapidated homes that Moak, the interim counselor, also had questioned in his July 9 memorandum.
That, Reed contended, shows that the veto of the $33 million wasn鈥檛 based on Moak鈥檚 reasoning. Instead, Reed alleged, Jones was engaging in 鈥減olitical retaliation鈥 against some northside aldermen who got the board to remove their wards as possible sites for homeless encampments.
Jones鈥 administration has been considering establishing such camps for people who won鈥檛 go to traditional shelters and there is $2 million in the aid bill for that purpose. There鈥檚 also larger amounts for other homeless assistance.
A spokesman for Jones, Nick Dunne, called Reed鈥檚 allegation 鈥渞idiculous.鈥
Dunne said the mayor didn鈥檛 veto the $20 million because the city could meet federal regulations by having aldermen later this year pass a bill shifting that money to the city鈥檚 Affordable Housing Commission from the city鈥檚 main development agency.
The $33 million corridor proposal can鈥檛 be fixed that easily, Dunne asserted. But Reed aide Tom Shepard said the board also could revise the $33 million allocation with a new bill if needed.
At her news conference, Jones said she would put forward an economic development plan that follows federal rules 鈥渁nd even more importantly, that goes farther in transforming our city.鈥
鈥淲e need to think beyond just four corridors,鈥 she said, referring to the spending she vetoed. 鈥淩ight now we鈥檙e standing on Page Boulevard, which would not have qualified for federal dollars (under the bill.) We need to lift every disinvested neighborhood, not just a few streets.鈥
Among others speaking in support of the bill were Neal Richardson, who heads the city鈥檚 top development agency, St. 亚洲无码 Development Corp.; Alderman Tina Pihl, 17th Ward; and the Rev. Darryl Gray, a civil rights activist.
The measure includes most of the $81.4 million in pandemic spending requested by Jones but also significant other outlays added by aldermen.
Allocations include about $15 million to help residents cover rent, mortgage payments and utility bills, $5 million to expand neighborhood violence prevention efforts, $1 million for mobile COVID vaccination clinics, $500,000 for vaccination education and marketing and $1.25 million for gift card incentives for the shots.
There鈥檚 also money to expand senior services, aid early childhood education facilities, expand Wi-Fi, add new youth programs and job training and set up a northside center to provide entrepreneurs and small businesses with legal and technical support.
The bill signed by Jones also includes $5 million for police overtime pay, essentially restoring $4 million in police allocations cut from the regular city budget earlier this year at Jones鈥 request.
Jones, in announcing her veto of the Reed business corridor plan, cited a city charter provision allowing mayors to cut spending items from bills containing 鈥渟everal items of appropriation.鈥
That鈥檚 done only rarely at City Hall because disputes over spending bills usually are worked out before they win approval of both the Board of Aldermen and the city鈥檚 top fiscal body, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.
In this case, the estimate board 鈥 made up of Jones, Reed and Comptroller Darlene Green 鈥 voted to support the aldermanic measure on Aug. 6 after Jones and Green tried unsuccessfully for several weeks to get Reed to revise his $33 million northside corridor measure.
After that vote, Jones said while she would sign the bill, she would have to work with Green to ensure that the federal guidelines were followed. On Monday, she said she was doing that with her veto.
Jones said her action Monday was the first line-item veto by a St. 亚洲无码 mayor in about 20 years.
The city is set to get $498 million in federal money over two years under the plan passed by Congress, with about $249 million already received. The bill signed Monday includes the first installment of the $249 million.