Better together? A plan for a united St. Louis is revealed

[Sherman A1]

The nonprofit group Better Together on Monday unveiled its much anticipated plan to ask voters to merge St. Louis city and county, a move that its organizers said was necessary to help the region compete nationally and internationally.

A combined St. Louis would be safer, more prosperous and more fair than the sum of its parts, the group said in a report issued on Monday. And it would save the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The group said it will undertake a $25 million campaign to put a St. Louis city-county merger vote on a statewide ballot in November 2020.

For the first time, the public can read the group’s recommendations and blueprint for creating a new “metropolitan city” to be superimposed over existing local governments.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/better-together-a-plan-for-a-united-st-louis-is/article_cf8f6b80-9ac1-595e-8cff-3d5e35f5f60b.html

While the area is in serious need of reform and streamlined government, I find that this plan has two issues to which I object, the first being the statewide involvement in local affairs and the contribution of Rex Sinquefield who seems to believe he knows what is best for everyone and is willing to put lots of his money into making sure his views triumph.

[Kurt V.]

1. i was listening to st. louis public radio last week on this topic.

i came away mostly positive but need more details. Thanks for posting

[Sherman A1]

3. You are welcome

As mentioned in my OP, some change is needed and should be done in a manner to address the findings of the report. That said I have genuine concerns as to the approach suggested. Just don't think the folks in St. Joe or Hannibal really need to have a say in the local affairs of St. Louis and County. I also have concerns with some of the particulars regarding policing being consolidated but fire departments and schools are being left alone.

[Kurt V.]

5. i heard the pro side on the way home today but missed the rebuttal (as i was home by then). agree

that outsiders as myself should not have a say in this. side note: don marsh is a treasure

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Yes, thank you for posting. I do find it very disconcerting that the rest of the state ...

has to vote on this too. Very unfair. What do I care what occurs in Springfield MO or Joplin MO? And they are the same too about us. If anything, they all have a phobia against the larger cities KC and STL, which I'm very aware of being that I've lived all over the state. This gets very old as a lot of misconceptions and mistruths end up taking the stage and not facts. I still don't understand per the link this freeholder stuff, I'll do some more digging into and see what's this is about.

[Sherman A1]

4. Certainly, Happy to do so.

I agree that folks in St. Joe, Springfield or Hannibal really don't need to have a say in how the St. Louis Metro area governs itself.