ST. LOUIS 鈥 Aldermanic President Megan Green announced Friday that she had hired longtime Alderman Christine Ingrassia as her office鈥檚 director of operations.
Ingrassia, who had opted not to run for reelection next month when the city鈥檚 28 wards will be reduced by half, submitted a resignation letter Friday morning saying she would vacate her seat as 6th Ward alderman.
Ingrassia was first elected in 2013 to represent parts of south St. Louis neighborhoods including Tower Grove East, Fox Park and Lafayette Square. In her new role, which pays $85,000, Ingrassia will work with the clerk鈥檚 office to prepare the board鈥檚 weekly agenda and track legislation. She will also represent Green on selection committees that oversee the award of city contracts.
鈥淚 appreciate the opportunity to continue serving the City of St. Louis and the Board of Aldermen in a new capacity,鈥 Ingrassia said in a statement. 鈥淭ransitioning the Board to a 14-person body is an exciting challenge and I鈥檓 confident we can bring the new Board online and improve legislative operations in the process.鈥
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Green鈥檚 office said Ingrassia will start Monday.
鈥淲e are incredibly fortunate to have Alderwoman Ingrassia in this role,鈥 Green said in a statement. 鈥淭he institutional knowledge she possesses and her longstanding commitment to city residents are tremendous assets 鈥 particularly as we transition the Board and manage an ambitious legislative agenda.鈥
Ingrassia is the fourth hire for Green since she was elected in November to fill an office held for 15 years by Lewis Reed, who resigned after being charged with bribery last year. Other Green hires include Jay Nelson, a former aide to St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, and Cristina Garmendia, who had a prior stint in City Hall leading efforts to measure racial equity in the city.
Ingrassia鈥檚 hire fills out Green鈥檚 staff for now, though her office has requested two additional positions for next year. It also still needs to finish filling six new jobs that report to the whole board.
Hiring former aldermen to work at the board isn鈥檛 completely uncommon. Francis Slay, when he was aldermanic president, hired longtime Alderman Geraldine Osborn as a top aide. The board hired former Alderman Terry Kennedy as its clerk.
A Green ally and an early member of the more progressive wing of the board, Ingrassia has passed high-profile legislation over the years, including a bill making it easier for low-income renters to use housing vouchers and, more recently, the bill outlawing cat declawing in the city. One bill she co-sponsored with Green added women who have received abortions to the city鈥檚 anti-discrimination ordinance and drew a lawsuit from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She has also helped handle big-ticket development legislation including bills for Union Station鈥檚 subsidies and the Major League Soccer stadium.
She has had some run-ins with Missouri campaign finance laws, leading to fines of over $20,000 for using campaign cash for some personal expenses and bookkeeping errors. Ingrassia has said the violations were 鈥渋nadvertent mistakes鈥 but that she took responsibility for them. And in 2017, a property owner and developer with interests in her ward, Barry Addelstein, sued her for not paying back some $3,000 he lent her.
Updated at 5:16 p.m.