A new City Manager, a new City Council, a new Administration: A New Direction for UCity.

Welcome!  For the last year or so, I have served as your 1st Ward representative on a new council, with a new mayor, and our new City Manager.  I am very proud of the work we have done over the last year and very proud of the accomplishments thus far and hopeful of all of the changes that are taking place at City Hall.  As you may know, I was appointed by the City Council to fill the seat vacated by Terry Crow when he became Mayor of University City last year and am running to in a special election to fill the last year of the term.

I’d like to share a few of the accomplishments that I am most proud of:

  • Access and Transparency: Last year at my request and with the unanimous support of the City Council and Mayor, the city began live-streaming video of our City Council meetings and study session on both YouTube and Facebook.
  • Bringing Back our UCity Ambulances: The City Council and Mayor unanimously voted to accept a $1.9 million dollar federal grant that is allowing us to restore our fire department staffing levels and purchase new ambulances to restore our UCFD based ambulance service, restore 2 EMT/Paramedics per ambulance and restore our mutual aid with neighboring communities.  I look forward to closing the infamous outsourcing chapter, strengthening our public safety, and moving on.
  • Bringing our Relationship with Washington University into Balance: Last year, we began the process of addressing the imbalance of our relationship with Washington University.  As the university has continued to buy up more and more properties, the burden on our city’s resources and our taxpayers has grown to a point that is not sustainable as most recently evidenced by Mardis Gras weekend where our entire on-duty uniformed police force was taken out of each of our neighborhoods to disperse nearly 1000 WU students from our neighborhoods in the first ward.  I am happy to say that I believe our council is speaking with one voice, for the first time that I can remember on this subject and I expect for the first time, the university will come to the table.
  • Making our Streets and Sidewalks a Priority Again:  In June, we passed the first budget of the new council, restoring a balanced budget while dramatically increasing budget for streets and sidewalks to well over $1 million this fiscal year.  Additionally, we are again performing regular sidewalk slab replacements, a practice that had previously only planned to coincide with street resurfacing.
  • Establishing a Culture of Service: With the full support of the council, City Manager Gregory Rose is working to not just reorganize our city government, but instill a culture of service within the organization to promote the very best delivery of service.
  • A Clear Vision for the Future: Together, the City Manager, Council and Mayor worked together to set the priorities we plan for our city in a multi-year plan.  You can find more on our collective vision and and direction here.

It has been my honor and privilege to serve our community and I look forward to continuing that service in the coming years.  I ask for your support and your vote on April 2nd.

Sincerely,

Jeff Hales
Councilmember Ward – 1