ST. LOUIS 鈥 In January 2020, Alderman John Collins-Muhammad met with a local businessman who wanted a property tax break for a gas station he planned to build off an Interstate 70 ramp in north St. Louis.
The alderman told the businessman where to submit his application at the St. Louis Development Corp., the city鈥檚 economic development arm.
Even more crucial, Collins-Muhammad offered to provide an aldermanic letter of support for the tax abatement, required by SLDC.
鈥淲hat I owe you for this?鈥 the businessman was recorded asking Collins-Muhammad about his letter and support during a meeting later that month.
鈥淭wenty-five,鈥 the aldermen replied, returning later that afternoon to collect $2,500 in cash.
The transaction was one of many bribes that a federal indictment unsealed June 2 accuses three members of the Board of Aldermen of taking from the businessman, referred to in the indictment only as 鈥淛ohn Doe.鈥 Collins-Muhammad, who represented the 21st Ward, resigned from the board on May 12, apologizing for 鈥渕istakes鈥 he鈥檇 made; Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, 22nd Ward, and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed quit after the indictments became public.
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The charges outlined in the 66-page indictment have shaken the city鈥檚 political order, forcing out two of the board鈥檚 longest-serving members. But they鈥檝e also shined a light on a practice often referred to as 鈥渁ldermanic courtesy鈥 and the direct involvement of city alderman in many of the bureaucratic functions of city government.
Federal prosecutors zeroed in on lucrative tax abatements and the sale of property owned by the Land Reutilization Authority, the city鈥檚 land bank. But aldermanic influence can also affect which streets get repaired, where speed bumps are installed and whether the planning department even takes up a rezoning request.
And less than two weeks ago, the city launched for north St. Louis businesses and nonprofits using federal COVID-19 relief money. Many of the eligible areas are on commercial corridors in the wards Boyd and Collins-Muhammad used to represent. And required for grant applicants under a provision pushed by Reed: support from the ward鈥檚 aldermen, 鈥渧ia letter on the Alderman鈥檚 letterhead.鈥
鈥淲e know that aldermanic courtesy is something that鈥檚 been at the board for a long time,鈥 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said when asked Wednesday why she thought the problem ran deeper than just the aldermen indicted this month.
Now, there are new calls to reexamine aldermanic involvement in city functions.
鈥淔or far too long, the political culture of city politics has concentrated power in the hands of the members of the Board of Aldermen 鈥 from approving the sale of city-owned LRA properties, controlling capital improvements through the disbursement of ward funding and issuing tax abatements all the way down to putting in stop signs and speed humps,鈥 Alderman Cara Spencer, 20th Ward, wrote in a Monday letter calling for Reed鈥檚 resignation. 鈥淭hese 鈥榓ldermanic courtesies鈥 must end.鈥
In an interview, Spencer said city functions 鈥渘eed to be professionalized in a way that doesn鈥檛 involve elected politicians.鈥
鈥淭he idea that we just kind of look the other way when aldermen want to shepherd these things through,鈥 Spencer said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 ripe for corruption.鈥
鈥極utside of the norm鈥
Requests for tax abatements or other incentives aren鈥檛 unique to St. Louis. Locales throughout the country use them to encourage development by offsetting a portion of the tax increases new construction brings.
But the involvement of aldermen so early in the process via support letters is a quirk of St. Louis, a tradition developed over decades that has dispersed power to 28 aldermen who have immense 鈥 and often unseen 鈥 influence over the functions of city government in their ward. Though the Board of Aldermen must ultimately pass legislation authorizing incentives, the support of the alderman where a project is located is required even before the professional staff at SLDC will process the incentive application and make a recommendation.
Sometimes, SLDC staff would be reviewing an application and then have it shut down after aldermen intervened and withheld their support, said Jonathan Ferry, a former SLDC employee who analyzed incentive requests until his departure last year.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say it鈥檚 the norm, but it鈥檚 not uncommon,鈥 Ferry said. 鈥淭here were projects where personal differences were the reason they didn鈥檛 get done.鈥
Because tradition generally requires the bill sponsor to be from the ward where the project is located, a support letter to SLDC served as evidence a bill would be introduced, said Linda Martinez, who served as deputy mayor for development under former Mayor Lyda Krewson.
鈥淭he aldermen absolutely need to be involved in evaluating proposed projects in order to represent the interests of their constituents,鈥 Martinez said. 鈥淏ut when should that occur and what analysis and input would assist the aldermen and the public to make their decisions? Should that be handled at a board of aldermen public hearing rather than a 鈥榞o/no-go鈥 letter?鈥
Ferry said SLDC could look at other ways to introduce incentive legislation. Perhaps SLDC could submit its recommendations for introduction by members of the board鈥檚 Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee, which would both put the matters in the hands of aldermen more familiar with development and remove the stealthy veto power aldermen ultimately wield over projects in their ward.
Who knows how many applications never even make it to SLDC staff because of an applicant鈥檚 prior conversation with an alderman, Ferry said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 worth taking a step back and asking, is that even required at all?鈥 Ferry said of aldermanic support letters. 鈥淥bviously someone still has to introduce a board bill, but are there other ways to do it?鈥
A 2016 report on the city鈥檚 use of incentives noted that 鈥淪t. Louis鈥檚 significant reliance on Alderman involvement in the process is outside of the norm.鈥
鈥淚n many similar cities, tax abatement criteria for eligible projects are specifically defined, and City Council involvement is limited to end review and approval of projects,鈥 commissioned by SLDC said.
Both Collins-Muhammad and Boyd were closely involved with SLDC鈥檚 review of tax abatements the businessman was seeking for properties he owned in north St. Louis. The indictment details numerous communications Collins-Muhammad and Boyd had with an SLDC incentives project manager, identified in the indictment only as 鈥淶.W.鈥 Zach Wilson, who handles tax abatement requests for SLDC, referred questions to SLDC鈥檚 public relations firm.
Working to move the abatement through SLDC for the proposed gas station, Collins-Muhammad in December sent Wilson an email: 鈥淟et鈥檚 do what we need to do to get this done.鈥 Reed offered to call Wilson directly. Boyd actually filled out the tax abatement application before giving it to the businessman to send in to Wilson.
The indictment also details Boyd鈥檚 involvement in arranging a sale of LRA property for the businessman. The businessman at first offered $9,000 with Boyd鈥檚 support letter, but LRA staff countered with $33,500 in October 2020.
Boyd told the businessman to counter with $16,000. After one November 2020 conversation with former LRA Director Laura Costello, identified in the indictment only as 鈥淟.C.,鈥 Boyd says 鈥渟he鈥檚 gonna try to make the $16,000 work.鈥
The next month, he is recorded telling the businessman that he spoke with LRA officials and 鈥渃onvinced them that, um, I need them to support what you put down.鈥
Costello, who had led LRA since 2006, was fired in April. She declined to comment.
LRA property sales are supposed to be negotiated by its staff and approved by a three-member board. But in reality, aldermen are often involved in the process behind the scenes.
Spencer said she was 鈥渟hocked鈥 to be asked whether she supported particular LRA property sales in her southside ward after she was elected in 2015. Half of the LRA properties in her ward have been sold since she took office, in part, she believes, because she removed herself from the process.
鈥淒o I get involved on what the price is? Absolutely not, that鈥檚 not appropriate,鈥 Spencer said. 鈥淓verybody in my view has a blanket support from me.鈥
Last week, SLDC announced they were suspending LRA sales from July through October, which Jones said Wednesday was part of its efforts to 鈥渁ssess and standardize its practices and processes.鈥 The pause, though, had been in the works for months. , director of real estate development at Rise Community Development, said SLDC staff told him back in the winter that it was planning to pause sales.
Regardless, a clearer process could prevent future abuses, said Alderman Annie Rice, 8th Ward.
鈥淣o one has ever been able to give me a straight answer on, this is how the process works, or what is the aldermanic involvement supposed to be,鈥 Rice said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much more difficult to corrupt a process that is thorough and public than it is something ambiguous.鈥
鈥楻oom for improvement鈥
There have been efforts in recent years to begin standardizing SLDC鈥檚 processes. Ferry helped develop an incentive evaluation scorecard when he was there, and the agency developed a map defining how much abatement rehabbers could expect on projects based on the neighborhood鈥檚 health.
That helped reduce some of the influence aldermen had, but applications for incentives still came in from aldermen sometimes, Ferry said. Using a public, online application portal to accept tax abatement requests could promote public engagement, he said. And even though aldermen might still refuse to introduce legislation, at least the public would know who applied.
鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely still room for improvement in the system, especially in the area of just transparency and making sure that projects come in through one set channel or one set pipeline, instead of them coming in a myriad of different ways,鈥 Ferry said.
But Joe Roddy, who was the longest-tenured aldermen before opting not to run for reelection last year and often dealt with development and incentives in his Central West End ward, said aldermanic involvement can engage neighborhood leaders early in the process and 鈥渢ry and build consensus.鈥 He admits he sometimes blocked incentive requests from developers he clashed with, and he predicted other aldermen would be hesitant to give up that influence.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how you鈥檙e going to turn that off,鈥 Roddy said. 鈥淎re neighborhoods really gonna be happy with a situation where bureaucrats from SLDC or aldermen from other parts of town are going to decide what projects are appropriate for them? I think there鈥檚 going to be a lot of pushback for that.鈥
Tina Pihl, a progressive who succeeded Roddy as the 17th Ward representative, has also used aldermanic courtesy to secure developer contributions to one of her pet causes, affordable housing. Even a developer not seeking incentives still needed her support before it applied to the city鈥檚 planning department for a rezoning. It agreed to contribute $250,000 to affordable housing at her request.
鈥淚鈥檇 say it鈥檚 a good thing when we make the right decisions,鈥 Pihl said, when asked about the use of aldermanic privilege to negotiate of a $1.8 million contribution from the developer of City Foundry in exchange for her introduction of incentives legislation.
Asked whether those kinds of deals should be left to professional planning and economic development staff, Pihl said she had unique experience because of her degree in in urban studies and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
鈥淚鈥檓 an alderperson, and I am professional staff,鈥 Pihl said. 鈥淚鈥檝e got 20 years of experience in this.鈥
, an associate professor of urban planning and development at St. Louis University, said such contributions might produce a public good, but they鈥檙e still reliant on the whims of aldermen rather than a comprehensive city plan.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the problem, it鈥檚 a one-off negotiation,鈥 Coffin said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no standardization.鈥
Rice this month introduced legislation to form a city charter commission, and Spencer has said she will hold hearings on the bill. Rice, who said she planned the move even before the indictments, acknowledged that aldermanic courtesy is more of a tradition, not something enshrined in law. But she鈥檚 certain the discussion on the charter will be influenced by the indictments, and she said there should continue to be a role for aldermen in many local measures.
鈥淲e are close to our constituents, we are close to our neighborhoods,鈥 Rice said. 鈥淭here can be beneficial ways pressure can be put on people, but yes it can also be an opportunity for corruption if it鈥檚 done wrong.鈥
The charter commission would be an opportunity to take a comprehensive approach to reform of the city鈥檚 鈥渁rchaic鈥 governance structure, Spencer said.
鈥淭his could change the trajectory of our community if we seize this moment appropriately,鈥 Spencer said.
But she also said SLDC could make some immediate administrative changes to limit aldermanic involvement.
For months now, SLDC has been working on a plan to standardize how it evaluates incentive requests, something the mayor noted Wednesday.
Neal Richardson, SLDC director, referred questions to his agency鈥檚 newly-hired PR firm, Kansas City-based Candid Marketing. Sara Freetly with Candid did not respond to specific questions about whether SLDC would continue to require aldermanic support letters. In a statement, she said that since Richardson took over 鈥渙perational reform has been a priority.鈥
SLDC has hired consultants to review its incentive process, she noted, and would share information as 鈥渒ey milestones are met.鈥
鈥淭he public and media can stay informed of our progress,鈥 Freetly wrote, 鈥渂y following our board meetings.鈥
Originally posted at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 12.