ST. LOUIS — Alderman Heather Navarro is resigning to take a job as director of a new regional organization working to respond to climate change.
Navarro is leaving the post she’s held since mid-2017 to avoid a potential conflict of interest with her new position with the .
That could occur, she said, because the collaborative is closely associated with Washington University, and she will be a university employee.
The university, she pointed out, is a major institution in the 28th Ward she represents at City Hall and often is involved in development and other issues in the ward.
“As the alderperson, I have a duty to my constituents to advocate on their behalf,†said Navarro, whose last day in office will be Jan. 24.
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Navarro said her decision to leave has nothing to do with the recently passed ward redistricting bill, which cuts the number of wards to 14 from 28 as required by a city charter amendment approved by voters in 2012.
“If this opportunity had not come along, I would still be preparing to run†for reelection next year, she said.
As with many other aldermen, the redistricting plan created a potential reelection fight for Navarro against a fellow incumbent. The plan put both Navarro and Alderman Shameem Clark Hubbard, of the current 26th Ward, in a newly reconfigured 10th Ward.
Navarro has held the 28th Ward post since July 2017, when she was chosen in a special election to succeed Lyda Krewson, who became mayor a few months earlier. Navarro was reelected to a four-year term in 2019.
Gary Stoff, a director with the city Election Board, said the board’s attorney is researching whether and how a special election would be held to pick someone to fill the last year in Navarro’s term. Navarro said the city counselor’s office also is looking into the issue.
Under the 2012 charter amendment, the recently drawn boundaries for the new 14 wards went into effect this year, but aldermen to represent them won’t be elected until April 2023.
That means 28 ward aldermen will continue to serve this year but only 14 wards legally exist.
Meanwhile, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed has said the board will operate this year with the 28 continuing to represent their old areas.
Navarro, a former executive director of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, has been active on environmental issues on the board.
She sponsored a successful bill to require new construction in the city to be compatible with hosting rooftop solar energy arrays. She also passed measures requiring some new construction and major building rehabs to include outlets that accommodate electric-car charging stations.
Last year, Navarro was campaign manager for Alderman Cara Spencer’s unsuccessful mayoral bid.
Originally posted at 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10.