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St. Louis Committee advances ordinance to repeal obsolete city boards
Summary
The Legislation & Rules Committee voted to advance Board Bill 65, an ordinance that removes obsolete or inactive boards and commissions from the St. Louis municipal code; sponsors said the cleanup covers roughly 165 boards with at least 11 clearly defunct bodies.
The Legislation and Rules Committee on Sept. 30 advanced Board Bill 65, a city ordinance aimed at removing obsolete boards and commissions from the Revised Code of the City of Saint Louis.
Policy director Christina Garmendia told the committee the effort began in 2023 as a review to identify boards and commissions that are inactive or redundant and to correct inconsistencies in the municipal code. "It's been a actually a long journey, for these 2 bills," she said, and credited staff and archival searches for locating ancient ordinances.
Sponsor remarks emphasized scale and intent. The vice chair said the city code currently lists "approximately 165 boards and commissions" and that staff verified at least 11 of those are defunct. The sponsor described the approach as a "gentle cleaning" to remove clearly unnecessary bodies and to improve transparency and civic engagement by maintaining an accurate list of active boards.
Examples named in committee discussion included the Bond Oversight Commission (established 2014; described as inactive), Bridal City Agencies (created under the 1966 Demonstration Cities Act; operations ceased 1974), City Athletic Commission (last renewed 1950), and the Convention and Tourism Bureau (functions superseded by the Missouri Convention and Visitors Commission/Explore St. Louis). The sponsor also said functions of the Commission on Crime and Law Enforcement were absorbed by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council in 2020 and that the Metropolitan Corrections Commission became obsolete after dissolution of joint city‑county correction facilities. Other items cited included the Municipal Bridge Commission, Youth Commission (est. 1956), and the Gateway Mall Advisory Board (formed 2009 and said to have fulfilled its purpose).
Committee members had no substantive questions and thanked staff for the review. A motion to move Board Bill 65 out of committee with a do‑pass recommendation was made and the clerk recorded five "aye" votes; the committee advanced the bill out of Legislation & Rules.
The committee did not vote on final adoption; advancement out of committee sends the ordinance to the next stage in the legislative process.
