ST. LOUIS — On Wednesday night, the St. Louis Charter Commission met for the very first time. The commission was approved by voters in April and will meet monthly.
The inaugural meeting of the St. Louis Charter Commission was mostly about meeting times and other procedures. However, the meeting regarded the group of nine voting members and seven others helping the city grow over the next year.
“The charter really is the basis of the city. It's like the constitution of the City of St. Louis. This sets the parameters of how the city operates itself,” Commissioner Anna E. Crosslin said.
The document is over 100 years old and details procedures for steamboats and other outdated measures, but there have been amendments over the years.
“It's almost like trying to navigate the Earth with an old map without knowing all the obstacles that are in the way. We have to have a more updated updated playbook. We have seen our peer cities update their charters and be more consistent with this and they've been able to surpass us,” Travis Sheridan, vice chair of the commission, said.
Crosslin said the population loss in the city is a big concern.
“Fifty-eight African-American families per month are leaving the City of St. Louis. That's a big number,” Crosslin said.
Both commissioners said the city's internal structure is something they want to take a very close look at.
“We have the ‘county’ of the City of St Louis layer of administration on top of the city administration creating all kinds of challenges because we have one layer that reports to the governor and another layer then that reports to the mayor in the board of estimate and apportionment,” Crosslin said.
The public will be able to comment during this process and will also vote on the final changes.
“We have to make sure that essentially our constitution is built not just for the last 100 years, but really for the next 200 years,” Sheridan said.
The commission plans to meet on the first Wednesday of every month at 4:30 p.m. It will also schedule at least two public hearings. The public is welcome to come.