ST. LOUIS, Missouri — The two most powerful Democrats in St. Louis County government are feuding over funding.
County Executive Sam Page wants the council to raise taxes to pay for a new $562 million dollar county government building. But first, Council Chair Shalonda Webb (D-4th District) wants him to release his hold on federal pandemic funds to pay for projects in her part of north county.
The two leaders took their pet projects to the press as they painted a pair of grim pictures: one spoke of deferred maintenance leaving government buildings in disrepair, while the other described hopeless communities forsaken, impoverished, hungry and pleading for help.
Page presented the council with a series of options during a tour of the county government building in Clayton last week. He suggested the price tag to pay for deferred maintenance and bring the old building into compliance with local codes would likely cost taxpayers $175 million, but he cautioned against "throwing good money after bad."
"This would not be a building that is best suited for the workforce of the future," he said.
Page said another option would be for the council to approve a ballot question to seek support from voters to raise taxes by roughly $69 per year in order to fund new construction on a modern facility.
"Unfortunately, county council has not yet brought this up for a vote," Page said last week. "Without the vote, without bond counsel, we can't move forward to put this question before the voters in 2024."
Webb balked at the idea of raising taxes during a period of inflation, especially when the county hasn't delivered on several of the promises it made to provide community groups with federal pandemic relief funds.
"I'm painting the real picture," Webb told reporters during one of four stops on a Tuesday morning tour through her district.
"Our population has been shrinking for years," she said. "The people in the communities are running out of hope."
The despair and demand dwarf the dollars available to fix it all, but the county's share of federal pandemic relief funds provided critical lifelines to social service programs like JADASA, a non-profit where crisis counselors provide battered women shelter and safe haven from their abusers.
The charity won a $25,000 allotment from the county council, but Page's office has yet to sign the contract. Webb alleges Page's delay is putting women in danger.
"Anytime that women and any victim of domestic violence cannot get the service they need because an organization doesn't have the funds to assist them, it puts them in danger," she said Tuesday morning.
Other upgrades are also awaiting Page's signature, such as $11 million to help demolish derelict properties, $5 million to incentivize developers to build grocery capacity in food deserts, and $250,000 to promote Rustic Roots Sanctuary, a nonprofit that farms and delivers free food to seniors who struggle with mobility.
"I'm looking for him to have some decency," Webb said. "The county executive has been holding these contracts hostage for six months."
When asked for an explanation for the delay on signing contracts, Page's office provided none on the record. Instead, a spokesman said the two separate projects are unrelated.
"The County Executive has never connected Project Cornerstone to ARPA funding for community groups," spokesman Doug Moore said in an email.
The week prior, however, Page did suggest his pet project should come first, and he appeared to link the two together.
"We've got to have a building to provide services. We've got to have a place for the public to interact with us. We've got a place for our employees to work," Page said. "When we take care of those big fundamental questions, we can move on to other questions like how can we provide other new programs, other new services, things that aren't historically the role of county government."
In past budget battles, Page's administration has suggested he needs more staff to help thoroughly vet the contracts and provide adequate oversight of each line item expense to ensure the payments are not later revoked by the federal government.
"I'm sorry, I just can't buy that," Webb said. "I'm sorry, I can't buy that. Because you have the capacity to take $90,000 and put a logo together."
Webb, who faces a primary challenge in August, described Page's political maneuvers as ruthless, cold-hearted, and calculating tactics. She feels he's exploiting despair in the community to pressure her into taking a tough vote in an election year to raise taxes on a new government building.
"Sometimes people like to slow walk things until there are benefits to them," she said. "All he needs to do is sign the contract."
"The longer you wait, the worse things get," Webb said. "It starts by making good on promises like what's behind me that we haven't done? It starts by taking care of your vulnerable. It starts by delivering on your promises."