Mayor Spencer defends pause on new minority- and women-owned contracts
ST. LOUIS - Nearly one week after halting new city construction contracts tied to minority- and women-owned business goals, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer publicly defended the move on Thursday, citing threats to federal disaster funds.
On Aug. 1, Spencer wrote a public letter to residents, workers and businesses, explaining the pause was a precaution as the city works to update its contracting policies in response to shifting federal requirements.
Spencer, both in the letter and in a Thursday news conference, noted the changes are necessary to preserve access to critical federal disaster aid, including recovery funds tied to the May 16 tornado that struck St. Louis.
In her public letter, Spencer noted that federal grant rules now require cities and contractors to certify they do not operate programs for advancing or promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, also known as DEI. Eliminating such programs has been a key priority of Donald Trump in his second presidential term.
When asked whether the move signaled St. Louis wouldn't stand up to federal pressure, Spencer offered the following remarks:
"St. Louis is a city that is unusual in where we stand right now. We have a a badly damaged community, one that was ravaged by a massive tornado, and we have more on the line than most. And what I'm fighting for is to protect the community that needs the federal funding most."
"I want to see us have the tools that we need, the reliability on the federal side of stable FEMA, and I'm fighting for those things. But I'm also fighting to make sure that we have the community development block grant funds and that we have the tools we need to recover from the tornado. While many cities are fighting and planning on filing lawsuits for remedies to things that they may lose as a result of that [non-compliance with federal policies], we don't have that luxury because the things we could miss out on are not things that we could remedy through a future lawsuit. They are the failure to get an extension on the FEMA awards. They are congressional allocations of the community development block grant money."
"This is not a position I want to be in. I do want to fight for the right of our city to stand behind supporting minority contractors and having goals that we hold ourselves accountable for. I said that over and over again, and I believe in the program because I want to see the outcomes that they are designed to develop for our community. As a leader I will continue to fight for that the best way that I can while protecting those most badly damaged by the massive tornado that struck our city here on May 16."
Otis Williams, interim president and executive director of the St. Louis Development Corporation, shared some additional context on the decision and what it could mean for the St. Louis community.
Williams noted that an ongoing construction at the airport will continue as planned, as the project was already underway and a construction team was finalized before the pause took effect.
A meeting with the St. Louis Board of Aldermen is scheduled for Friday to discuss the implications of the federal guidance and the city's response. Williams said it's critical to keep elected officials and contractors informed as the city navigates changing requirements.
"We met very early on [before the decisions] with a number of people to include the city council's office, the president's [of St. Louis Board of Aldermen's] office, the mayor's office and the contractor community," said Williams. "As it stands, what we have done, is that all the current contracts that are in place and working, that they are not harmed, in the sense all the compliance issues and monitoring will continue."
Spencer also reiterated that her administration is working quickly to develop legislation that would revise the city's construction contract framework to meet federal guidelines while striving to uphold the city's equity goals.
