The Legislation and Rules Committee of the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen voted Sept. 30 to advance two related ordinances that would repeal language establishing several obsolete boards and commissions from the Revised Code of the City of Saint Louis.

Policy Director Christina Garmendia told the committee the work began in 2023 as an effort to identify and remove defunct or redundant bodies from the municipal code. "This is not flashy work, but it is a great part of our responsibility here at the board to maintain the city code," Garmendia said.

The measures before the committee were Board Bill 65, sponsored by Chair Velasquez, and Board Bill 64, introduced by Alderwoman Shamim Clark Hubbard. Committee members said the bills are intended to reduce confusion for residents and for people seeking to serve on active boards by removing entries that no longer have an operational role.

Committee members said the city currently lists about 165 boards and commissions in code; staff identified at least 11 that appear to be defunct or superseded. The ordinance associated with Board Bill 65 would repeal multiple obsolete bodies, including the Bond Oversight Commission (established 2014, now inactive), a Model City Agencies board created under the Demonstration Cities Act of 1966 that stopped operating in 1974, the City Athletic Commission (last renewed in 1950), and the Gateway Mall Advisory Board (formed in 2009 for a specific master plan, which has concluded). The committees presentation also noted that some functions formerly performed by named commissions have been absorbed by entities such as the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (noted in committee discussion as having assumed functions in 2020) and that some local boards were superseded by regional organizations such as the Missouri Convention and Visitors Commission (referred to in committee remarks as "Explore St. Louis").

Alderwoman Shamim Clark Hubbard said she consulted with Billy Bridal, director of public relations and government affairs for the St. Louis Zoo, and that the zoos leadership was aware of and agreeable to removing the Zoological Board of Control language from the code; Board Bill 64 specifically targets repeal of sections relating to the Zoological Board of Control.

Committee members asked few questions during the presentations and expressed thanks to staff and students who compiled historical ordinances and records. The committee passed the measures out of committee with a favorable recommendation.

Votes at a glance

- Board Bill 65 (chair-sponsored): Committee recorded five "aye" votes and the motion passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation. Recorded affirmative votes included Alderman Narayan, Alderman Keyes, Alderman Sonnier, Vice Chair Devotee and Chair Velasquez.
- Board Bill 64 (Alderwoman Shamim Clark Hubbard, Zoological Board of Control repeal): Passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation; the transcript records that the bill passed but does not include an explicit roll-call tally in the recorded excerpt.

Why it matters

Committee members and staff said the work aims to make the municipal code more accurate and easier for residents to navigate when seeking appointments or researching city boards. Staff noted the cleanup required researching older ordinances, some of which were difficult to locate in historic records.

Next steps

Both bills were forwarded to the full Board of Aldermen with a "do pass" recommendation. No subsequent hearings, full-board dates or additional implementation steps were specified during the Sept. 30 committee meeting.