STL County Watchdog

PROJECT CORNERSTONE - 2 They Haven't Sought Bids for Work and They Are Getting Ready to Spend $200 Million Backstory:  In January 2016, the City of Clayton adopted the 2015 International Code that required 12 buildings in Clayton to upgrade fire suppression.  Four of the 12 are residential buildings, and the financially unencumbered St. Louis County Government Center @ 41 South Central Avenue is one of the eight commercial buildings.  Take a look: Here is STL County response to the change, and its intention to comply (including the possibility of "mothballing" some of the floors, etc., as you will see), and some other communications between STL County and City of Clayton: As set forth on a prior blog post ( here's a link ), local media have been reporting figures from $35-50 million to retrofit the building with sprinklers and to perform asbestos abatement.  It has also been reported up to $200 million for all needed repairs to the building.  However, no one has...

  PROJECT CORNERSTONE:   Necessary?   Or Waste of STL County, MO, Taxpayer Dollars? Administration Spends Millions yet sought no Asbestos Abatement/Sprinkler Retrofitting Bids Cindy Winkler We hear often about the $40-41 million budget deficit at St. Louis County.   Recently, a letter was shared with me that shows the county is discontinuing health insurance for retirees.   Take a look:   Yet, even amid cutting benefits relied upon by retirees under 65, the current administration has appropriated/encumbered about $16 million for *consulting services* related to updating and “reimagining” the county’s office space .   Note:   No construction has been done with the $16 million; it’s all professional services. The genesis of this spending is the requirement that all high-rise buildings in City of Clayton be retrofitted with fire sprinklers or suppression systems by 2028.   The local media have been reporting the costs to retrof...

  ~IT’S NOT SEXY, BUT SOMEBODY SHOULD BE REPORTING ON IT~ St. Louis County Council and the Sam Page Administration Once Again Bypass Lawmaking Norms           ~Cindy Winkler               I have heard  this subject is not exciting enough to write about, and that it is not what people want to read. Clearly, I disagree wholeheartedly.                 St. Louis County Council and the Sam Page Administration have begun routinely passing large appropriations via Order instead of Ordinance.  They are disavowing the Charter .  They are NOT allowed to do this.             Why should we care?   The space of time needed for a bill to become an ordinance is three weeks or so from introduction to passage.   This gives citizens and representatives time to vet the bill thoroughly, or it should. ...