A historic flood is already on the books for 2016 in the St. Louis region. What else will the year have in store for St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger, who took office just a year ago?
Stenger believes that the county will be reimbursed by the federal government for costs incurred by the flood. The county is also offering a fund for businesses to get short-term, interest-free loan to use as a bridge until their insurance proceeds come in. He recommends that businesses that need that kind of assistance should call 314-615-7692 for more information.
“St. Louis on the Air” host Don Marsh also asked Stenger other questions (including some of yours) about his first year and what he’s looking forward to in 2016.
Here are five things he said that we think you should read:
1. The “Ferguson Effect” had an impact on the 13 new minimum standards for police departments in St. Louis County.
Stenger said one of the things he was most proud of in the past year was passing a law that requires that all police departments in St. Louis County meet 13 minimum standards of conduct. At least three cities within St. Louis County have taken that law to court.
“It has been taken to the courts and that’s a real shame. They certainly didn’t wait to see how this would play out,” Stenger said. “Some of our larger municipalities, surprisingly, were the ones who filed the challenge in court. But the law is moving forward in its execution.”
Stenger said that the law was partially inspired by the events in Ferguson.
“The goal of the law is to allow equal access for all St. Louis Countians to quality law enforcement, regardless of where they live or where they travel,” Stenger said. “This is not about a particular municipality. It is about St. Louis County as a whole. It is about having some uniformity in police standards that truly allows for equal access for all of our citizens. One of the things I’ve talked about a lot and thought about a lot is that if we are going to have a real sense of community, our community has to be inclusive of everyone. There are those among us who don’t have equal access to something that is very basic, quality law enforcement. As a general matter, it is not fair.”
Stenger said he had a great deal of respect for municipal autonomy but that what was enacted in the law was nothing intrusive. “The standards themselves are very fair,” Stenger said.
2. West Lake Landfill is on his mind.
@STLonAir @StengerSTLCo what he thinks about radioactive weapons waste being found off site at West Lake Landfill
— Beth Strohmeyer (@BethStrohSTL) January 5, 2016
“I have to tell you that from most of the agencies, I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed because for so long it was ignored. The citizens of the county, including myself, have been jumping up and down and screaming for attention to West Lake. It was largely ignored. I think now, we are getting some of the attention we deserve.”
“We’ve done a great deal at the County level. If the county could solve this issue, we would. We just don’t have the billions of dollars it would take to remediate that site. We’re doing what we can. We are doing things along the lines of health studies, we’re monitoring the site on a daily basis, we’re doing everything we can possibly do and I’m doing everything I can do to bring attention to what I think is one of our most important health issues in St. Louis County.”
3. “Triage” is being worked on St. Louis County’s finances right now.
The independent audit of St. Louis County’s finances that Stenger called for when he took the position of County Executive in 2015 was recently released and revealed some startling figures.
“Approximately 80,000 exceptions were noted,” Stenger said. “Exceptions in non-accounting terms are things that just don’t look right. We are looking at it, we are triaging it. For instance, the $10.9 million in duplicate payments, we are looking at that.”
While the misused funds appear vast, Stenger is optimistic for the future.
“When my office began, we started with a projection from the year before that we would have approximately $16 million in deficit for 2016,” Stenger said. “I’m proud to say through getting things under control and taking a real look at the finances of the county, we were able to bring revenue-minus-expenses down to zero. That’s exactly where you want to be.”
4. Stenger is working in “the spirit” of the Ferguson Commission recommendations.
@STLonAir @StengerSTLCo Will he publicly commit to supporting Ferguson Commission Report priorities?
— Susan Clark (@noliroots) January 5, 2016
“With respect to the Ferguson Commission’s recommendations, we are doing everything we can at the county level to implement some of those recommendations that we can. For instance, the minimum standards law for law enforcement. That was endorsed by the Ferguson Commission. We have done a lot of things that are consistent with the principles of the Ferguson Commission. We just submitted an RFP for a disparity study about the way St. Louis County awards contracts to businesses owned by minorities, women and the disabled. That’s the first time in the history of St. Louis County government that such a study has been done. We are working very hard on the spirit of the recommendations that were in the Ferguson commission and even some of the recommendations themselves.”
5. You already know this one: A city-county merger will not be in the works any time soon.
Marsh asked Stenger if the city could ever be incorporated into St. Louis County as a municipality.
“That remains to be seen. Since I’ve begun talking about that issue, I’ve said the same thing: It is a matter of analysis. I represent one million people in the county and I’m sworn to do what’s in the best interest of St. Louis Countians. An analysis needs to be made. I don’t know if we have all the data to make that analysis.”
"St. Louis on the Air" discusses issues and concerns facing the St. Louis area. The show is produced by Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt and hosted by veteran journalist Don Marsh. Follow us on Twitter and join the conversation at @STLonAir.