ST. LOUIS — Aldermen this week chose new leaders for the committees that take the first looks at proposed legislation and mostly installed members backed by Aldermanic President Megan Green, the board’s progressive Democratic leader, in the recent elections.
Alderman Cara Spencer, who represents neighborhoods from downtown to the northern tip of Carondelet, will lead the budget and public employees committee. Alderman Shameem Clark Hubbard, who represents the West End and surrounding neighborhoods, will chair the panel overseeing real estate development.
Alderman Anne Schweitzer, of far south city, is over the committee on public infrastructure and utilities. Alderman Bret Narayan, of Dogtown, is over the public safety committee. And Alderman Shane Cohn, of Dutchtown, is over the transportation committee.
Aldermen Joe Vollmer, of the Hill, and Pam Boyd, of the northwest side, were the only committee chairs not endorsed by Green in the April elections. Vollmer will helm the committee charged with enforcing board rules and making election policy; Boyd is in charge of the health committee.
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Conspicuously absent from the list was Alderman Sharon Tyus, who represents the Ville, Penrose and Kingsway neighborhoods. As one of the longest-tenured members of the board, she generally had her pick of committees under old rules that had aldermen choose chairmanships in order of their seniority.
But the board, led by progressive Democrats emboldened by recent election results, voted last week to have the board’s leadership make assignments instead. And Tyus appeared to be at least one reason why.
As chair of the old Streets, Traffic and Refuse Committee. Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ administration accused Tyus of holding up a bill with money for street and sidewalk repair. Tyus denied it, and called for the mayor’s director of operations to resign.
Tyus also threatened to use her position to force the administration to give her the names and addresses of everyone who received one-time $500 payments from the city last year. Tyus said the payments, which were supposed to help struggling residents cover basic necessities, skipped over her northside ward — even as exasperated mayoral aides insisted they sent 403 payments there.
She had also been a thorn in Green’s side. Shortly after Green took office as board president last year, Tyus proposed a package of rules that would have stripped her of much of her power. She also helped block Green’s push effort to send more ward infrastructure money to the North Side, saying it broke a longstanding promise to voters to distribute the dollars equally.
In a press conference Friday, Cohn, a Green ally, said Tyus didn’t get a committee chairmanship because she didn’t submit her name for consideration, and no one else on the board nominated her.
Tyus said in an interview later that it wouldn’t have mattered either way. “They’re going to do what they’re going to do,” she said.
Robert Cohen has been a staff photographer at the Post-Dispatch for 23 years. His work following unrest in Ferguson after the killing of Michael Brown was part of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography awarded to the photo staff. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer in 2010 for work documenting the plight of homeless families living in suburban motels during the recession. Most recently in 2021 he was a finalist for 'Photographer of the Year' in the Pictures of the Year International competition.
