Proposed MO bill would fund security district in Downtown STL
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A proposed bill in Missouri would provide state to security in downtown St. Louis.
The bill, which ed the House of Representatives this week, would create an entertainment district and provide funding for security.
David Casteel, the Jefferson County Republican who introduced the bill, said the goal of the legislation was to bolster security near the region’s top attractions.
“We want the people coming to our city to feel safe and sound, not uncomfortable,” Casteel said. " Ultimately, the district would be marketed to employers who haven’t yet entered the St. Louis marketplace.”
The bill would appropriate $2.5 million per year for private security for the district, though it would require that businesses to meet a sales quota in order to issue the funds. It would also prohibit new consumer taxes in the area’s existing tax districts.
Some downtown groups, while ive of the bill’s intent, have voiced concerns about creating another organization centered on security downtown. Currently, there are several entities involved in public safety, including the National Parks Service, the Federal Reserve, the private security employed by the Dome and Convention Center, existing taxing districts and SLMPD.
Les Sterman, part of the Citizens for a Greater Downtown St. Louis neighborhood group, said he felt that an additional organization could bring dysfunction.
“While I generally the intent of the bill, we already have three autonomous organizations that provide private security downtown and several other organizations that advocate for downtown. These organizations generally don’t work together. The lack of an overall security plan is one of the biggest impediments to making downtown safer. Personally, I don’t think creating a new organization to add to the alphabet soup of downtown organizations is the right approach,” Sterman wrote in a statement to First Alert 4.
Casteel said the intent of the district would be to help consolidate efforts to improve public safety.
“We’re not trying to work in opposition to each other. I think most of the political subdivisions already want to work with each other, so we want to get them to collaborate,” he said.
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