Dean Emeritus Charles Schmitz of the University of Missouri St. Louis spoke to 200 guests at the Downtown Rotary Club on Thursday, March 3, about the need for ending the "big mistake of 1876" which divided St. Louis City and County. Dean Schmitz and Bill Frisella, owner of Metro Electric, are co-chairs of a group called St. Louis World Class City which is promoting the idea of the city re-entering the county as a way to stimulate economic growth and bring greater recognition to the St. Louis area. Former Ambassador Bert Walker is also part of this group and introduced Schmitz, saying: "We have tried to do this before, but this time we have a grass-roots effort that is going to be successful." The group has set a target of 2014, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the city as a goal for achieving reunification.
Dean Schmitz said, "I love St. Louis, but I am worried about all the unfair negatives that are out there." He gave an example of the recent ranking of St. Louis as number one in crime. "Are we really the worst city in the nation for crime? I don㦙 think so. If you look at our region, we rank 103rd in crime. It all depends on how you count and report those statistics. Some cities, such as Chicago, refuse to report crime statistics for these ranking purposes." Schmitz suggested a relatively simple step of reporting jointly from city and county, which would take St. Louis off the crime capital headlines.
Indianapolis, which used its state legislature to consolidate its region in 1970, now promotes their city as the 14th largest city in the U.S. Indianapolis has been very successful in attracting businesses and big events such as the Superbowl. Louisville, Jacksonville (FL) and other regions have similarly combined and achieved greater visibility and competitiveness. Schmitz asked why St. Louis could not do something similar. "After all" he said, "we are all St. Louisans. When you travel and someone asks where you are from, don㦙 you say 飡 am from St. Louis? We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot." Dean Schmitz explained that the World Class City group is not promoting "the grand merger" of all governments in the region, but we must address our position and competitiveness for functioning in a global economy. "We create the future we want. Do we want the entire region defined by 66 square miles of the city, or by 590 square miles? When you drive from Collinsville to Wentzville, do you know where the city boundary ends and the county begins? We need to redefine ourselves. Perception is reality. We need to change the perceptions about St. Louis as a world class city." |
