St. Louis County Council concerned about public safety at the metro

CLAYTON – At Tuesday’s County Council meeting, Council Members adopted and moved to perfect Bill No. 204 for final passage at next week’s meeting.

During the meeting, Council Members expressed their concern for the public safety and security issues at the Metro.

Councilwoman Wasinger said that this is a critical ordinance for the community.

Members agreed that something needs to be changed, and this bill will be the first step in doing that.

The plan is to withhold $5 million, $2.5 from bi-state and $2.5 from police, until the metro system and the police can show and communicate progress on fixing the safety issues.

Wednesday afternoon John Nations, Bi-State Development President and Chief Executive Officer issued a statement welcoming the Council’s concerns and support. He noted that he has previously spoken on the policing matters of the MetroLink and said the security situation needs improvement.

“The action by the County Council, if finally adopted,” said Nations. “Would not impact the delivery of Metro Transit services since the proposal would fully fund transit operations in St. Louis County for the fiscal year, which began on July 1st, 2018.”

Nations explained that it is now three months into the new fiscal year and that the County Council measure would withhold funding for the current security situation until the end of this year.

“We need to emphasize,” said Nations. “That if the County Council does not approve funding for transit operations soon, delivery of transit services in St. Louis County will definitely be impacted.”

Nations said that Metro Transit services are welcoming to the County Council in terms of keeping the security issue on its agenda and expecting accountability for how County Transportation funds are spent.

“We look forward to working closely with [County Council] members to finally resolve these important security issues,” said Nations.

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