Mayor Cara Spencer on downtown’s direction

St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer joins Erik and Jacob to take stock of downtown's momentum — and confront the city's toughest structural questions.Six months after calling on the business community to plant a flag downtown, Mayor Spencer returns to the Arch City Report to assess what's changed. With the Rams settlement bill moving through the Board of Aldermen — potentially allocating $55 million for downtown redevelopment, the riverfront, and North City — Spencer breaks down exactly how those dollars would be deployed and what private matching investment could follow.But the conversation quickly turns to the harder questions: a state-appointed police board demanding a 22% pay raise with 24-hour notice, the strain on city services from a declining tax base, and whether St. Louis can realistically meet all of its pressing needs without a bigger structural fix. Is it finally time for a serious conversation about city-county merger?Topics covered:Downtown development progress — Millennium site, Ballpark Village Phase 3, AT&T Tower, and Mansion HouseHow the $55M in Rams settlement funds would be allocated across downtown, the riverfront, and North CityThe city's role as facilitator vs. doer in redevelopmentThe breakdown with the state police board and the battle over officer pay and benefitsThe case for regionalizing government functions — and whether opposition to merger is softeningArch City Report is sponsored by Maryville University and Cass Commercial Bank.