Déjà Vu all over again: Charter reform fails in St. Louis

Editor's note: There is a lively ongoing debate in this country over the forms of organization and the distribution of powers within local government, especially when it comes to the critical question of mayoral leadership. The following essay is an account of a failed attempt to change St. Louis's city charter. Because the National Civic League's Community Services program played a role in facilitating the discussion leading up to the proposal of charter amendments, we would like to emphasize that as with most essays and reports published in this journal, the analysis and conclusions herein represent the perspectives of the authors, or in some cases the participants they interviewed, and not necessarily those of National Civic League staff. We hope this essay will stimulate further discussion and debate on these critical issues of concern.