On Sept. 11, Webster Groves Mayor Laura Arnold and Kirkwood Mayor Liz Gibbons spoke at the League's monthly Webster-Kirkwood unit meeting. Besides being part of only 26 percent of U.S. mayors who are women, the two mayors share many concerns and challenges in their two communities.
Both said sharing resources with other municipalities is a necessity because of tight budgets and difficulty finding personnel in St. Louis. The personnel pool for many positions has shrunk and other cities can lure key employees with signing bonuses or additional pay. Consequently, many cities in St. Louis County are looking to merge, consolidate or contract shared resources for fire protection, parks and recreation, EMS, etc. “There is not a future for every city to do everything for themselves,” Arnold explained.
Gibbons pointed to a proposed common building and inspection service for the entire County as a sign of consolidation and cooperation. “A contractor who routinely works in University City may not know all the building codes in Kirkwood, which puts that contractor, and the property owner, at a disadvantage.”
Affordable housing is an issue of interest to both mayors, and to the two dozen League members present. The “missing middle” is the term for those who earn too much for housing assistance and cannot afford to live in their cities. It's an issue that impacts school enrollment, tax bases and community identity.
“Authorities say a family earning the median $97,000 annual salary should be able to afford a $275,000 home, and currently there are six listings in Webster Groves for that price and two are lots,” Arnold said.
Both communities have attempted to address infill housing through local ordinances. Kirkwood recently admitted the first two Additional Housing Unit (ADU) permits and Webster’s strategic plan calls for allowing ADU’s in the next 18 months. “But cities like ours are limited in what we can do to legislate for affordable housing and it is up to voters to study each state and national candidate’s position to see what impact a government might have,” summarized Arnold.
The mayors concluded with a summary of their commitment to public service and the barriers to attracting women to run for office. Webster Groves will vote this spring to consider raising the mayor’s salary. The current cap of $750 a year, and Kirkwood’s mayoral salary of $300/month limit public service to those with other income sources.
