Tackling problems that slow women’s success in workforce
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St. Louis American See page B1
The
CAC Audited SEPTEMBER 23 – 29, 2021
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Prop R coalition turns in over 38,000 petition signatures
Vol. 93 No. 26 COMPLIMENTARY
State Rep. Collins: ‘Use of Homer G. Phillips ‘slap in the face’ By Dana Rieck and Alvin A. Reid The St. Louis American
Photo by Bill Greenblatt / St. Louis American
Activist and former candidate for Missouri Secretary of State, Yinka Faleti, speaks Monday, Sept. 20, outside the St. Louis Board of Elections office prior to Reform St. Louis turning in over 38,000 petition signatures in support of a proposition that would reform the Board of Aldermen and the ward redistricting process.
Effort to reform ward reduction, redistricting process By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American As the end of the year nears, the St. Louis Board of Alderman will be faced with a monumental task: redrawing ward districts based on 2020 census data to cut the number of wards in half, from 28 to 14. In response to this, Reform St. Louis on Monday turned in over 38,000 petition signatures in support of a proposition that would shift that responsibility to an independent citizen redistricting commission. The signatures were submitted just a few days after a ward-by-ward analysis of 2020 census data
was released to the Board of Aldermen by the city Planning and Urban Design Agency. Activists now expect the proposition to be voted on by city residents in February during a special election. “Independent commissions — not bipartisan commissions but independent commissions — are the gold standard for ensuring a transparent, citizen-driven redistricting process,” said Benjamin Singer, executive director of Show Me Integrity, the organization spearheading Reform St. Louis. Singer later clarified, saying a bipartisan See PROP R, A7
n “Independent commissions — not bipartisan commissions but independent — commissions are the gold standard for ensuring a transparent, citizen-driven redistricting process.” – Benjamin Singer, executive director of Show Me Integrity
City’s first Black female city counselor to start Monday
Jones appoints historic number of Black women to cabinet By Dana Rieck The St. Louis American Attorney Sheena Hamilton will make history Monday when she steps into her new role as city counselor, becoming the first Black woman ever to do so in St. Louis. Hamilton was most recently a partner at Dowd Bennett, where she served as a client manager for multiple Fortune 100 companies and government or quasi-government offices. Her extensive experience includes clerking for Judge
Catherine D. Perry of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, served as an adjunct professor for Saint Louis University School of Law and served on several law-related boards. “I will say that it is not something that I had planned and probably not something that I would have seen in my future, but it is a really important time in the city of St.
Sheena Hamilton
Louis, which makes this job really unique at this sort of inflection point and it makes the opportunity to serve really attractive,” she told The St. Louis American. Hamilton succeeds interim city counselor Matt Moak, who was appointed by Jones when she became mayor in April. He will stay on and serve in the city counselor’s office. The city counselor
State Rep. Kimberley-Ann Collins says its “crazy” that a three-bed urgent care center on the city’s northside could even be considered a hospital and vows to keep fighting use of the name Homer G. Phillips on the facility. “Homer G. Phillips Hospital has always been a strong name in The Ville neighborhood, and it just kind of came out of the blue that they were going to utilize the name in the 5th ward for a three-bedroom clinic,” she said. “We have tried to fight it in different ways, and there’s still a current fight going on now. We don’t want to give up. It’s a prestigious name. It was a medical institute that trained thousands of Black doctors and nurses. I mean, it had its own nursing school. It hired State Rep. Black people.” Kimberly-Ann She is irate that Collins developer Paul McKee would “take [Homer G. Phillips’] name and not get community input, and not even tell the community who live in The Ville.” Collins said she, Michael Burns, president of Northside Community Housing, and others fighting his use of the name have attempted to contact McKee to no avail. The St. Louis American has also attempted to contact McKee and has not received a reply. The 3-bed facility would be adjacent to a planned Ponce Health Sciences Hospital, whose president is Dr. David Lenihan, who See COLLINS, A7
Bill Pollard hails Wash U’s investment in St. Louis, endowment growth Portfolio grows unprecedented 65%
By Sophie Hurwitz The St. Louis American
serves as the chief attorney for St. Louis and oversees two deputy city counselors, 38 attorneys and 20 support staff. Hamilton’s appointment by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones follows a couple of key selections for her cabinet: Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis as the city’s health director and Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah as the city’s corrections director. Hlatshwayo Davis is the second Black woman to fill the role of health director, the first being
When Bill Pollard was a student at Washington University in St. Louis, it was no longer just a locally-known “streetcar university” attracting students from the St. Louis area, but was still on its way to becoming the internationally renowned institution it is Bill Pollard today. During his time as a student, in his career as a lawyer afterwards, and finally during his tenure on the Wash. U. board of trustees, Pollard has witnessed the university’s impressive institutional and financial growth. “When you talk about the evolution
See COUNSELOR, A6
See POLLARD, A6