It’s been more than 150 days since an EF-3 tornado ripped through St. Louis, and Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard still sees devastation in her 10th Ward.
In some of the eight neighborhoods north and east of Forest Park, residents have been able to repair their roofs and move back in, but other houses remain damaged.
“I can go in another neighborhood and see a constituent whose house still looks like May 16, and they don't know which way to turn,” Clark Hubbard said in a recent appearance on Politically Speaking.
Some residents, she said, are living in tents, cars or tornado-damaged properties because they have nowhere to go.
“I heard this morning that we are projected to have a bad winter,” she said. “I am beyond scared for those constituents that are out here.”
The city has been setting up various programs to distribute money to residents, but Clark Hubbard said the machinery of government moves slowly even in times of tragedy. She shares the frustration of her constituents who need funds to move on or rebuild.
“If we can't do direct payments, maybe do some kind of endowments, or low- to no-interest loans, with an incentive to stay,” she said.
Clark Hubbard said she agreed with Mayor Cara Spencer’s plans for "compassionate demolition” – helping people take down buildings that cannot be repaired while allowing them to hang onto the property.
And though she doesn’t like to talk about it, Clark Hubbard is personally familiar with the struggle post-tornado. Her home in the West End neighborhood was one of hundreds of properties either damaged or destroyed in the storm.
“I don't even have time to really process myself, other than to try to just get it done so I can be available and accessible for somebody else,” she said wearily.
Here’s what else Clark Hubbard discussed on the podcast:
- A 2022 effort to strengthen civilian oversight of the police and corrections departments is not working the way she intended. But she hopes the city does not give up on the changes. “Hopefully, when you have the right people in position that want to do the right thing, that stuff will get done,” she said.
- As chair of the Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee, Clark Hubbard will be a key player in the city’s zoning plan update. The review, she said, will be as much about keeping bad zoning practices out as welcoming good ones.
- Clark Hubbard said she welcomes an audit of an ARPA-funded grant program for north side businesses. Some of her family ended up eligible for grants after she introduced legislation changing the guidelines, but she said none of those companies got money. “Whatever it is, I want it to come out so that it will justify, clear and honor the work, the service and the support,” she said.
