It’s clear that the impasse between Mayor Tishaura Jones and aldermanic President Lewis Reed can’t be solved through negotiations. The two have taken their fight to the court of public opinion, but neither is advancing the urgent cause of getting millions of dollars in federal pandemic aid to the St. Louisans who need it. Jones is even toying with the idea of declaring a public health emergency so she can invoke executive authority to spend funds without aldermanic approval.
That’s a potentially expensive and time-wasting solution to a problem that could be quickly and easily fixed if Jones could, just for a moment, bury her ego and approve the $168 million spending package that aldermen approved by a 27-1 vote. Her route to victory lies in what happens next.
The package contains her cherished provision, $5 million for her to dole out in $500 payments to 10,000 low-income St. Louisans. But Jones objects to a $33 million outlay advanced by aldermanic President Lewis Reed to boost commerce in north St. Louis. Reed and Jones are arch rivals, and she seems determined not to grant him any semblance of a political victory.
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Originally Appeared Here