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Well welcome to the inaugural edition of Donnybrook Last Call you know for a long time we've had many topics that we weren't able to tackle because of time limitations now here on the Nine PBS app and elsewhere you'll be able to hear our last call so in this addition we're going to talk about story that came out this week Alvin Reid and that is that uh there seems to be two major uh trains of thought when it comes to spending the Rams money in the city of St Louis.

As you know 2021 we won uh what $780 million 35% went to the lawyers.

The county got $169 million the uh Regional Sports Authority got some money and the city got I don't know $250 or so million dollar.

It's now up to $270 million so Cara Spencer and Alderman along with her colleague Pam Boyd have joined forces with the Greater St Louis Inc which is kind of like a business group and they've decided that they want $232 million to go to North St Louis Southeast St Louis and downtown St Louis.

They're a little short on the specifics but they seem to be ignoring the plan of Megan Green who's the president of the board of Alderman and she wants an endowment and that for generations to come St Louis will be able to live off the interest of that $270 million endowment.

What do you think?

Well it should not all go into an endowment and it you know should not all go north.

It should not all go to downtown.

Now it took forever to get to this point, so I know I'm asking for the impossible when I said like let's you know let's make a deal here but some should go to an endowment I think everybody should have a rainy day fund okay and so so some should go to an endowment.

What's interesting here is I think our parties are lining up for the Mayoral race.

I think Pam Boyd has declared now she's with the Cara where Greater St Louis Inc is I would I mean pure conjecture but I think they're kind of choosing sides here a little bit so it remains to be seen but yes some should go to an endowment and and I would say 51% should go to endowment let's do what we do with the the rest.

I I don't think we there'd be enough money coming out of the endowment to really do anything you know I used to favor some big project and you know and then they they waited and waited and waited with the pandemic money and then came up with the sldc with such goofy things I mean 12,000 for this and 20,000 for that and 1.3 million for the Hubbards and I I I I just thought you know you know a museum and a outfit called uh Urban pyramid which was for the well-being of the area you I think they got 20,000 and we the post dispatch couldn't even find them Austin hug so I like the idea of just doing something with this money now and just be done with it and I think I think we all do and I wouldn't have a problem with a portion of it ending up and as you said Alvin in in endowment but I think Megan Green somebody that I don't usually have an occasion to compliment I have actually been very impressed with the way that she has negotiated her way on this homeless legislation within the the aldermanic the board the and and how that has been negotiated so maybe they maybe there is a possibility of meeting in the middle.

Oh I don't know about that.

You know pretty soon before we got on this uh show tonight uh president green sent a pretty snippy letter to Jason Hall the CEO of Greater St Louis Inc kind of well a pretty condescending tone in this letter never mind and kind of like this giant like brushback and basically she was saying hey we were just going on our uh summer recess uh we were continuing to do this work of talking to the people about what they want you have jumped the gun this is totally premature and if corporate interests want this money they had better pony up like make this some sort of public private partnership.

It sounds like they are on very different pages here.

I I think you're right but I think everyone's forgetting that the city asked the residents and others through a portal to determine what they wanted and people voted most often for water mains people forget that last January when it froze we had 50 water main breaks at one time and just last month it was reported by the natural resource defense Council that when it comes to lead pipes we ranked number seven in the nation with the number of lead pipes uh in the United States so right there you have it fix the water mains which is what the people wanted fix the lead pipes so that kids don't grow up with brain problems and why would you then give the money to nebulous activities like infrastructure housing which you don't even have specifics on this.

well I I will say in regards to this uh survey that the city did at the time that they did this survey I was still at the Riverfront Times and we did spend some time mocking it because there was not a full gamut of choices here they were trying to they were asking you certain questions to move you in certain ways and to steer you towards certain choices and for that now to be held up as like oh well the people have spoken I just don't think that's but it was put together by the government officials themselves who are ignoring that and uh employee pay raises was a big issue came in number three and right now we know that the city has a $42 million surplus because it can't get enough people to hire them so if you put more money in the employees pockets maybe you'll get more workers.

Employees if you met like police and First Responders I would say yes put some money there and then that escrow or you know that that account the interest on that maybe that keeps the those raises in place for a number of years I something like that I could go for but every city employee getting a little taste of this cash oh no.

I don't think it's I I I've never thought that in terms of of of people applying I I just don't think it's I don't think we have the people anymore I just don't I don't even think it's a matter of pay I think.

Well we're not going to have if we don't pay them.

It is amazing that this money we had would seemed like such a tremendous windfall for the city it it's just going to be petered away on we the city can't afford to do everything it needs it does need to pay all its people more I mean like you know there's a shortage of guys to pick up garbage you know let alone the cops yeah.

But but to Megan Green's point it's not like the downtown business interests are asking for that much money uh as as we mentioned on this show Pittsburgh is going to spend $700 million on its downtown and this group is asking for $100 million.

Pittsburgh got $700 million to spend I mean I I'm not mad at.

We got $207.

That's that's a decent chunk of change and I understand it's not going to solve everything but I would be very disappointed if we were just going to spend that on giving everybody like a 2% raise over time like this is a chance to do something cool and I would like to see something come out of this and I don't I don't want to see it take 20 years to come out in dribs and drabs.

I do want to know more about this plan I am not ready yet to write a check.

Polish the art okay.

Uh another topic on our first ever edition of Donnybrook Last Call we'll go to you Wendy um Schnucks where we're going going to be at the Richmond Heights location December 20th from 4 to 6 ring bells for the Salvation Army.

Schnucks had self checkout at 20 items or less and then they moved it to 10 then they got some push back now it's back up to 15.

As a grocery Shopper what do you think?

I just I mean the fact that this is what I love I think this is what people love about St Louis that this is what we're talking about I mean that that is a big deal to people.

I just think that's sweet.

Um I I don't know that I'm going to wake up in the morning with more of a spring in my step because hey I've got 15 you know they negotiated their way back to 15 but if it if it does make you happy via cono dios.

Now that is spoken like somebody who lives in the county and gets to shop at Dierbergs.

In the city our schnucks is all we have and we feel very passionately about the yes and how nice to see them meet the people where they're at.

Yeah.

I I I go to the very Schnucks that we'll be at you know the one on Richmond Heights and I like going to the register and I know a lot of the people wait on me and I think it puts pressure on them when you have this limit and they're supposed to count how many items are uh on there I mean I wish they'd take that whole thing away frankly.

If I found myself and and this is one you know I mean I've told the kids that if I'm talking to paintings like Richard Nixon they have permission to you know like take care of Mom, if I ever get to a point where I'm counting somebody's Odor Eaters or beer cans then that's another sign that maybe it's time for me to.

Well Wendy when when they used to have that line for like 12 items or less right don't tell me that you were there with your five items and you weren't counting that person.

I don't I don't have the mental bandwidth.

You know what we're going to have to talk about this again next week.

Another last Last Call.

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