ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis Board of Aldermen bill that leaders say would fund job creation and healthy living in north St. Louis took a major step toward passing Tuesday.
The Board of Estimate and Apportionment advanced a plan for $37 million worth of American Rescue Plan Act funds that would go to North Side corridors. The plan would allocate the funds for small businesses, nonprofits and neighborhood economic development.
The federal revitalization would span across North Grand Boulevard, Dr. Martin Luther King Drive and other struggling north side areas.
Just off of I-70 in North St. Louis, sits Tantrum Styling Studios on Goodfellow Boulevard.
"I was looking for an area where everyone can get to me comfortable...I wanted to be in a range where they could get off the highway or get back on, either way," Owner Amber Page said.
Page opened here a little over a year ago to sell women's clothing and offer pampering services.
Right next door, customers come in to get pampered.
"Everyday women come in here insecure but my job is to make them feel pretty," said stylist Jabrielle Williams.
Both business women are glad to see the city of St. Louis focusing on the north side.
"Just because we are so underrated and overlooked," Williams said.
The bill also includes $2 million to improve Americans with Disabilities Act compliance throughout the city.
The measure was previously line-item vetoed due to compliance issues with US Treasury guidelines.
The Board of Aldermen, however, gave the COVID-relief plan the green light, sending it to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.
The three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment, made up of Jones, Comptroller Darlene Green and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, put the brakes on the bill again last week before unanimously approving it Tuesday.
Green last week said she couldn't move forward on the multi-million dollar bill until after all grant applications from businesses are completed.
The bill now moves back to the Board of Aldermen, where it needs to clear two more votes before becoming law.
"Today, the Board of (Estimate and Apportionment) decided to do the right thing and advance these dollars to stop any more delays in getting funds to those that need it," Reed said in a statement.
Businesses can already see it being put to good use.
"We need cameras for the high speed chases, the gunshots...More cameras in the back, more lights," Page said.
She also wants to use her business to give away free supplies to those in need.
In a statement, Jones said the remaining $249 million in ARPA funds is heading to St. Louis this summer. She said some of her priorities for the money include addressing vacant buildings, early childhood education funding and direct cash assistance or a guaranteed basic income pilot program.
All three members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment provided statements on Tuesday's vote:
Tishaura Jones:
"As the first mayor in decades to be born, raised and still living in north St. Louis, I know how important it is we get these investments right to reverse decades of disinvestment in our neighborhoods. We want to make sure the money that goes to North City stays in North City.
"I was proud to work with Comptroller Green and Alderwoman Sharon Tyus to develop some simple recommendations to streamline this bill, and I was glad to see it move out of the board on a unanimous vote."
Lewis Reed:
"It’s been more than 220 days since the Board of Aldermen approved this funding to only have the mayor needlessly stop these same critical funds and delay a better quality of life for north St. Louis residents.
"Today, the Board of (Estimate and Apportionment) decided to do the right thing and advance these dollars to stop any more delays in getting funds to those that need it.
"Our residents deserve the safety, stability and access to opportunities these funds will provide."
Darlene Green
"It is my hope that (Board of Aldermen) President Reed will allow for a process that gets applications for the federal funds to north St. Louis (and) to the public, early ... by June 1, 2022, without being hindered by multiple aldermanic approval processes."