Feb. 25, 2019
St. Charles County, Missouri – St. Charles County Councilmen Joe Brazil, District 2, and John White, District 7, will introduce a resolution at tonight’s Council meeting opposing the initiative of putting forth a statewide vote to unify the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County into a new form of government. The councilmen say St. Louis City and St. Louis County residents should determine the outcome, not voters statewide.
“Councilman White and I feel a statewide vote on this issue would disenfranchise local voters by submitting a purely local matter to a state-wide referendum,” Councilman Brazil says. “When matters pertain solely to the interests of citizens of a specific local government entity, the will of those citizens should not be suppressed by the will of many who do not necessarily share those common interests.”
The resolution states that a process currently exists under the Missouri Constitution which allows the voters of St. Louis City and St. Louis County to independently approve and effectuate a substantial portion of the changes necessary to complete the merger proposal and recommends that any process to unify the City and County first be achieved by local petition, proposal and popular vote by local voters. If approved, the resolution will be certified and sent to Missouri state legislators and representatives.