Mayor Tishaura O. Jones Outlines Priorities for Incentive Reform, American Rescue Plan Community Survey Results

This afternoon, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones joined St. Louis on the Air host Sarah Fenske to outline her vision for development incentive reform following the federal indictments of three legislative leaders, as well as discuss the results of the city’s community American Rescue Plan Act survey. In her first one-on-one interview since the federal indictments, Mayor Jones emphasized that development work must be transparent and support the needs of neighborhoods.

“Equitable development must be driven by the community, not by politics,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “As we work together to begin the difficult process of restoring trust and integrity in City government following these shocking federal corruption charges, any incentive reform must improve transparency, remove conflicts of interest, and include community input.”

From the more than 5,000 responses to the community survey on spending ARPA funds, St. Louis residents and business owners made their priorities clear for spending the city’s remaining $249 million in funding. Top categories include neighborhood transformation and improving infrastructure to make changes St. Louisans can see and feel, tracking with what Mayor Jones and administration officials had heard from more than 200 community members during town halls and roundtable discussions. The full breakdown of ARPA survey data can be found online.

Youth and family support also ranked high on the list, including job training, improving recreation centers, and further community violence intervention programs. St. Louis residents also expressed an interest in protecting reproductive health and continued support for early childhood education. Mayor Jones looks forward to working with the Board of Aldermen to allocate these remaining funds in line with the priorities of St. Louis families.