St. Louis Alderwoman Pam Boyd’s 13th Ward avoided the catastrophic tornado damage seen elsewhere in the city. Some of her residents had tree, gutter and roof damage, but the homes remained livable.
Boyd saw the devastation in the wards south and east of hers as she worked alongside her impacted colleagues. And despite complaints from many about the city’s response in the initial aftermath and ongoing questions about debris removal, Boyd said she would give Mayor Cara Spencer’s administration a 10 out of 10 for its response.
“You know what? It was a disaster,” she said during a recent appearance on Politically Speaking. “Who can plan for a disaster? So now we can go to the drawing board and look and see what the missteps were.”
Body said the city should do more to provide temporary housing for residents who were displaced.
The 13th Ward stretches along the city’s northwest side from Page to Interstate 270. While it did not see the devastation of wards to the south and east, some residents lost roofs, shingles and trees.
Although the city will not be able to afford to rebuild every home that was destroyed by the tornado, Boyd said it needs to take the lead in finding temporary housing for those who were displaced. She would offer loans to people to rehab buildings stabilized under Proposition NS that would be forgiven if they live there for 10 years.
Critical of ward reduction
Also on the podcast, Boyd said ward reduction isn’t working.
She said she used to find stress relief in riding the streets of her ward, talking to people about what they needed from the city.
That was easier in the smaller 27th Ward, which covered the northwest corner of the city. But in 2022, the city cut the number of wards in half. She said her new 13th Ward is too big for her to drive on a regular basis.
“I think that hurts me more than anything, because I'm more of a personable person,” Boyd said. “I’d rather sit down with you and talk to you. I don't want to text, I don't want to email. I really want to have a conversation.”
Ward reduction passed before Boyd was elected to the Board of Aldermen. But she said the campaign in support “sold the people a bill of goods.” The city is spending more money by boosting salaries of board members and giving them each a legislative assistant, she said, and the new wards are not compact.
“I don't like failing my community,” she said. “I'm here to serve my community, and I just think it was set up for me not to be able to serve them as I feel I need to.”
In her fourth term, she wants to focus on changing the city’s nuisance ordinances to better address the differences between residential nuisance properties and nuisance businesses like gas stations. She also wants to tackle illegal dumping.
