OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

St. Louis Board of Aldermen Regular Meeting – May 1, 2026

Board of Aldermen — Friday, May 1, 2026
BodySt Louis, Missouri
SessionBoard of Aldermen
DateFriday, May 1, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 53:25

Transcript — Verbatim
0:14

The board will now come to order.

0:15

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

0:17

Alder Woman's Alder Woman Swife, sir.

0:22

Alderman Odenberg.

0:26

Acting President Cone.

0:29

Present.

0:31

Alderman De Ryan.

0:33

Alderman Devoting.

0:35

Present.

0:36

Alder Woman Velasquez.

0:39

Alder Woman Sonier.

0:42

Alder Woman Cox and Twee.

0:45

Alderman Browning.

0:50

Alder Woman Clark Hubbard.

0:53

Here.

0:54

Alder Woman Keys.

0:56

Here.

0:56

Alder Woman Tyus.

0:59

Present.

1:00

Alder Woman Boyd.

1:03

Here.

1:04

Alderman Aldridge.

1:08

President Green.

1:11

Alder Woman's wife, sir.

1:13

Alder Woman Velasquez.

1:16

Alder Woman Sonier.

1:22

Alder Woman Cox and Twee.

1:25

President Green.

1:27

We have 11 present.

1:28

We have a quorum.

1:30

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

1:31

With that, we're going to dispense with line item three.

1:35

Announcements and any special order of the day.

1:42

We're going to dispense with line item number four.

1:45

Introduction of honored guests.

1:52

Good morning.

1:54

And thank you.

1:58

My um special and honored guests are my neighbors, Wilma Ahart, and family, who moved it back into their house just yesterday.

2:12

Their home was severely damaged in the tornado, and they had been living in an apartment by their insurance company.

2:22

And so they their house is gorgeous, and I am so happy to have them back home and next door to me.

2:31

So it's a great thing to have good neighbors.

2:33

Now, my other thing that I wanted to mention, you may see some of our clerk and secretarial staff who have on cowboy hats this morning.

3:05

So I went online and started buying adult and child-size cowboy hats, only to find out that they were horribly expensive.

3:16

And so it was suggested that I buy the little plastic hats, but that was a no for me because I never want to give a gift that I would not want myself.

3:27

So $700 later, I ended up having about nine hats left over that had been sitting boxed in my garage.

3:38

And I decided that you know I could give these to the clerk and secretarial staff.

3:44

Now the plan was that we would all wear them today.

3:52

So I want to issue a very public apology to the clerk and secretarial staff.

4:00

Forgive my faux pas that I forgot to wear my hat, but you look gorgeous, and I look forward to having a photo and and somebody can teach me how to do the boots on the ground.

4:14

Thank you.

4:28

Thank you, Mr.

4:28

Vice President, members of the board.

4:30

Today, as my honor guest, I have some great folks up in the gallery.

4:34

So I have Miss Jessica, who uh has been working with her uh young folks at SLU and the policy pods uh that have come up with uh some great ideas.

4:43

We met probably a few weeks ago on legislation, and I look forward with this policy pod uh hopefully come uh next year in front of the full board of aldermen so that we can have a more in-depth conversation on what potentially future legislation is uh could look like.

5:00

They're working on some uh legislation that I would say is very interesting to try to figure out how do we make our streets much safer, and I know they have an idea.

5:06

I recommend them sending it all to the alders.

5:08

I have to give them their flowers.

5:10

Uh when they presented the legislation uh to me and my LA Matt, and also I want to give a thank you to Christian Bishop that helped with that process.

5:19

It literally was in bill format.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████91%
Public Engagement███7%
Active Transportation█2%
Summary of Proceedings

St. Louis Board of Aldermen Regular Meeting – May 1, 2026

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen convened on Friday, May 1, 2026, with Acting President Cone presiding in the absence of President Green, who is on maternity leave. A quorum of 11 members was present. The board addressed routine approvals, suspended rules for several bills, adopted resolutions, and debated a controversial resolution supporting May Day labor actions. The meeting concluded with announcements about upcoming budget hearings and adjournment to Friday, May 8, 2026.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The board unanimously approved meeting minutes from Monday, April 20, 2026, and Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
  • Courtesy Resolutions Consent Calendar: The board adopted a package of courtesy resolutions en bloc, including Resolution 12 (honoring late journalist Ray Hartmann), Resolution 8 (recognizing SLU policy pods), Resolution 7 (honoring former journalist Tim), and Resolution 9 (celebrating a new coffee shop, Bellas Cafe). The package passed with 14 aye votes.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made. The meeting included only remarks by aldermen and honored guests.

Discussion Items

  • Introductions of Honored Guests: Acting President Cone welcomed neighbors whose tornado-damaged home was restored; Alderwoman from the 11th introduced Jessica Trout and SLU policy pods working on street safety legislation; Alderwoman from the 14th welcomed Dr. Joyce Roberts.
  • Board Bill Suspensions: The board suspended rules to introduce Board Bills 1 (budget bill with amendments from the mayor and president), 15 (pay bill for the Board of Election Commission), and 16 (pay bill for the Medical Examiner’s office). The motion passed 14-0. A later suspension for Board Bill 17 (street closing) also passed.
  • Appointments to Boards: Mayor Spencer’s appointments to the Clean Energy Development Board (Stephen Westbrooks and Emily Andrews) were initially moved for approval but, at the request of Alderwoman from the 12th, were instead sent to the Legislation Committee (passed 14-0). An appointment to the Developmental Disabilities Resource Commission was sent to the Health and Human Development Committee.
  • First Reading of Board Bills: The clerk read several bills, including multiple speed hump ordinances (Board Bills 3–7, 11, 13), employee compensation bills (Board Bills 8, 9, 12), a street renaming bill (Board Bill 14), and the budget bill (Board Bill 1). Bills were referred to the Public Infrastructure and Utilities Committee or the Budget Committee as appropriate.
  • Resolution 10 – ALS Awareness Month: Alderwoman from the 6th introduced Resolution 10 recognizing May 2026 as ALS Awareness Month. It was adopted unanimously (13 aye).
  • Resolution 11 – Support for May Day Labor Actions: Alderwoman from the 4th introduced Resolution 11 supporting various labor actions on May 1, including no work, no school, and no shopping. Debate centered on whether the resolution encouraged truancy. Alderwoman from the 12th expressed support for most actions but objected to children missing school. Alderman from the 2nd called the resolution a “stunt” and advocated for education as a priority. Alderwoman from the 14th and 6th added as co-sponsors, citing historical labor rights (e.g., eight-hour workday). Alderwoman from the 7th clarified the resolution was about awareness and empowerment, not mandatory absenteeism. The resolution passed 12-1.
  • Closed Session: The board voted 14-0 to enter closed session under Missouri statute §610.021.3 for legal matters. No details were reported.
  • Courtesy Resolutions and Adoptions: After returning to open session, the board adopted Resolution 12 (honoring Ray Hartmann) with a moment of silence, then the entire courtesy resolution consent calendar.

Key Outcomes

  • Vote on Resolution 11: Passed with 12 aye and 1 no vote. The resolution supports labor actions but does not mandate school absenteeism, as clarified by the sponsor.
  • Appointment Referrals: All mayoral appointments were referred to appropriate committees rather than approved directly.
  • Board Bill Introductions: Board Bills 1, 15, 16, and 17 were successfully introduced via rule suspension.
  • Budget Committee Announcements: Alderman from the 14th announced that the police department declined to present its budget before the committee; Director Paul Payne will present the proposed police budget on the first day of hearings. Budget committee meetings are scheduled for May 4–7, 2026.
  • Adjournment: The board adjourned at an unspecified time until Friday, May 8, 2026, at 9:10 a.m. in the chambers.

Meeting Transcript

The board will now come to order. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Alder Woman's Alder Woman Swife, sir. Alderman Odenberg. Acting President Cone. Present. Alderman De Ryan. Alderman Devoting. Present. Alder Woman Velasquez. Alder Woman Sonier. Alder Woman Cox and Twee. Alderman Browning. Alder Woman Clark Hubbard. Here. Alder Woman Keys. Here. Alder Woman Tyus. Present. Alder Woman Boyd. Here. Alderman Aldridge. President Green. Alder Woman's wife, sir. Alder Woman Velasquez. Alder Woman Sonier. Alder Woman Cox and Twee. President Green. We have 11 present. We have a quorum. Thank you, Madam Clerk. With that, we're going to dispense with line item three. Announcements and any special order of the day. We're going to dispense with line item number four. Introduction of honored guests. Good morning. And thank you. My um special and honored guests are my neighbors, Wilma Ahart, and family, who moved it back into their house just yesterday. Their home was severely damaged in the tornado, and they had been living in an apartment by their insurance company. And so they their house is gorgeous, and I am so happy to have them back home and next door to me. So it's a great thing to have good neighbors. Now, my other thing that I wanted to mention, you may see some of our clerk and secretarial staff who have on cowboy hats this morning. So I went online and started buying adult and child-size cowboy hats, only to find out that they were horribly expensive. And so it was suggested that I buy the little plastic hats, but that was a no for me because I never want to give a gift that I would not want myself. So $700 later, I ended up having about nine hats left over that had been sitting boxed in my garage. And I decided that you know I could give these to the clerk and secretarial staff. Now the plan was that we would all wear them today. So I want to issue a very public apology to the clerk and secretarial staff. Forgive my faux pas that I forgot to wear my hat, but you look gorgeous, and I look forward to having a photo and and somebody can teach me how to do the boots on the ground. Thank you.

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