Invest and pay city workers

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The city is often viewed as an employer of last resort. The pay for city positions isn’t competitive. We have a consistent level of understaffing and a high turnover rate. Take the money and invest it either in a broad market fund or a dividend fund and use the growth or dividends to pay city workers. Until we have enough dispatchers, paramedics, trash truck drivers, and water workers our city will always be in disrepair. You can fund projects but without anyone to do them or maintain them those projects will be in disrepair in a decade or less. If the trash gets picked up and the phone answered people will return to the city on their own. Until then people will continue to become frustrated with the services and leave.

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Profile of Kathryn Schwab

Posted by:Kathryn Schwab

3 years ago

Before we start shelling out money to the city staff, we need to weed out those employees who for some reason either don't know how to do their jobs correctly or don't care to do their jobs correctly. I just got off the phone with the Collector of Revenue's department. This was the fifth time in three weeks I called about the same problem which has been going on for over two years. A simple change of address for my Real Estate billing. My Personal Property mailing address had been changed fine over two years ago, but for some reason, not only couldn't I get someone to understand my Real Estate address billing ALSO needed to be changed, but each year I would have to call because they hadn't mailed another billing to the correct address. In addition, while on the phone today, one of the women I talked to, since I was switched from department to department and at one point hung up on, her phone kept cutting out because her phone cord had a short in it. I'm all for giving city employees a raise, but for Christ's sake, weed out the current city employees who are wasting taxpayer's money because they're not even worth paying $5.00 an hour! And somebody at City Hall take the initiative to get the damn equipment working properly! This goes for the Water Department as well. My bill for Water/Trash hasn't been correct since they started charging for trash pickup and I refuse to pay for two units when only one unit has been occupied for over 20 years. No one seems to understand this even though I submitted letters from the utility companies confirming there hasn't been any services for the second unit because there has not been an occupant. Get what and who's not working and broken in City Hall fixed before throwing any more money for employees and equipment!

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Profile of Richard Minton

Posted by:Richard Minton

3 years ago

@Kathryn Schwab finding quality employees is a lot like fishing. If you want to find a big fish you use big bait. You’re not catching a marlin with a grub worm. The idea of not paying city workers until you already have quality workers is backwards. You’ll never find and retain a quality staff with the wages the city currently pays. By increasing the pay and having the ability to replace poor workers you have now made those poor workers expendable. They can now be removed and replaced. Currently a bad worker is better than no worker at all, which is the city’s current problem. In order to fix entire departments that seem broken, you’re going to have to stomach paying some poor workers in the short term until they are replaced.

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Profile of Kathryn Schwab

Posted by:Kathryn Schwab

3 years ago

@Richard Minton Well I disagree as a former, now retired, business owner. Bad employees burden good employees, affect morale, cost money and time and interfere, sometimes even sabotage efficiency and accuracy. Absolutely poor judgement and ridiculous to reward employees who burden others and cost the city more in the long run, just to maintain a body on a job. I would rather pay a good employee overtime than pay one additional cent just to keep the number of employees up. Or in the interim of finding a replacement, you cut the pay of those who are under performing. The city needs to be cost conscious and this is one area which needs to be addressed.

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Profile of Christopher Lehmuth

Posted by:Christopher Lehmuth

3 years ago

https://stlouis.citizenlab.co/en/ideas/municipal-endowment-fund

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Profile of Christopher Lehmuth

Posted by:Christopher Lehmuth

3 years ago

Create a municipal endowment fund that *cannot be touched* for a set period of time and has strict rules/laws around how the money can and can not be spent. Invested and saved properly (for a period of time) this could create a fund that could potentially achieve the following: Eliminate all debt for the city of Saint Louis, perpetually self-fund education, safety, healthcare, parks, and social services for the entire city. And especially fund competitive pay for all city workers, this is a great idea. This could open the door to eliminate the need for an earnings tax as well and reduce the tax burden for all citizens. Also, discretionary spending could be tied to returns only after basic services have been fully funded. Existing tax revenues could feed into this municipal fund to accelerate returns for all of Saint Louis. Large gains could be redirected into investment in areas previously underserved or in requirement of economic expansion. Including ideas like this, and all other ideas listed on this site. Of course this would call for careful planning, and a cool tempered approach to this historic windfall. However, if it is done, Saint Louis (and all citizens included) will be on a fast track to prosperity.

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Profile of Joanne Davis

Posted by:Joanne Davis

3 years ago

City leaders need to ask themselves these questions, in this order: 1. What kind of city do the stakeholders want St. Louis to be? 2. What things need to be done in order to make St. Louis that kind of place? 3. Of those things, which fall within the purview of City government? 4. What kind of workforce does the City need to have in order to do the things in its charge? 5. What kind of pay, benefits, training, and time off policies do we need to have in place in order to attract, recruit, and retain that kind of workforce? It's not just the pay that is subpar; the time off policies are antiquated. I will post my own comment on that, but suffice to say that earning three hours of vacation time per pay period for the first five years is ridiculous; something out of the 1950's.

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Profile of Jackson Hambrick

Posted by:Jackson Hambrick

3 years ago

I agree and think this is the best approach. A better functioning city government with more workers and better paid is the way to go. Having something new like trees and bike paths would be nice but investing it and having it cover city expenses long-term and higher paid workers is the best approach.

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Profile of Elaine Laura

Posted by:Elaine Laura

3 years ago

Wholeheartedly agree with the suggestions offered. Would like to add one tidbit of enticement to recruit employees by offering, a free stabilized LRA Water Metered Home, and a $40,000, one time grant to improve the interior. We need folks to not only work in StL, but to LIVE in StL. But of course, new employees must live in home ten years to help keep the community afloat.