Robert Dowgwillo

Member since September 7, 2023

Retired aerospace engineer. Began my presence in the St. Louis when I bought a derelict duplex in 1981. Active in St. Roch Parish and with the Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council.

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Robert Dowgwillo10 months ago I see in the latest reporting several $1M payments for unspecific services. How does the city arrive at these large but conveniently rounded amounts? Are these the result of a careful analysis of the extent of the services, and their cost-effectiveness? Doesn't look like it. Rather, it appears to be just doling out junks of cash to provide the appearance of doing something. What are the formal expectations? Will these entities be monitored and audited to compare results against the expectations? The city has demonstrated time and again its inability to properly oversee its large expenditures, to the detriment of the taxpayers. Will this be any different?

Robert Dowgwillo10 months ago I implore the city to face reality when it comes to the disposition of properties damaged by the tornado. Properties that are beyond economic repair need to be torn down. This is not the time to have taxpayers make up for years of neglect of repairs or of paperwork. I recently read that the city still has not completed an evaluation of all the properties affected by the storm. True? If so, why not?! How can decisions be made properly without the necessary information?

Robert Dowgwillo1 year ago The objections to data centers appear to me to be drawn from a wide range of experiences, assembled into a chinese menu that is supposed to be applicable to every situation. I suspect many or none may apply to Saint Louis. For certain, water is NOT an issue here. We are at the confluence of the two largest rivers in the country. We are not pulling water out of the ground. We have a water treatment facility sized for nearly 3x our population. Noise can be mitigated. If we are willing to build miles of concrete sound walls along the interstates, we can mitigate the noise from a data center. Footprint is a non-issue. Take a look at the vacant property map for the city sometime. Electric power IS the one thing that needs real attention. But, of course, this is true for ANY new development in the city. I have heard no concern about the power consumption expected of the new NGA campus in north city. What about the huge new facility Boeing is building at the airport? Why is this data center different?It was interesting to learn that we already have 6(?) small-ish data centers in the city. Who knew? They are not going away, any more than the internet was just a fad. So, we owe it to ourselves to integrate them smartly and derive the economic benefits before others do. We don't want to be like the ferry companies that opposed a bridge across the river, only to see the railroads go to Chicago.

Robert Dowgwillo

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Why these Million dollar handouts?

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