St. Louis Mayor Ralph Echtinaw

  If you subscribe to my online newspaper, the St. Louis Sentinel, you saw a Brian Buysse article about loud vehicles last month. Brian has been to three city council meetings with the same issue. Many motorcycles are too loud. Search for Brian’s name on the Sentinel site to find a 2023 article about him. I sympathize with Brian. He's a great guy. But there's only so much the city can do. I have a similar situation with loose dogs. As an avid walker I have been barked at in a threatening manner by unchained and unfenced dogs at least twice a year for the last five years. It's scary and unsettling. I know one couple who stopped walking in my neighborhood because of the dogs. How many more like them are out there? I now carry a golf club or a baseball bat on walks to protect myself. I haven't had to use it and hope I never will, as I'm sure the dog would get a few licks in, too. My problem is not with dogs but with owners who are careless enough or thoughtless enough

  We’re back, baby! City council and the St. Louis school board had their first joint meeting last month after a four year layoff that began during the Covid pandemic. School board members Don Kelley, Kelly Bebow, Billy Bosquez, Carrie Salladay and Superintendent Jennifer McKittrick met with city council plus City Manager Kurt Tiles, Public Services Director Keith Risdon, Finance Director Bobbie Marr, Clerk Jamie Long and DDA Director Phil Hansen on Aug. 20. The meetings are more than just a show of solidarity in the community. They allow council members and school board members to discuss issues that affect the city and the schools. We look forward to continuing the tradition next year. Upton moving away Council Member Liz Upton announced Aug. 20 that she and husband Adam have listed their house and will move to Kentucky when it sells. Upton was elected to city council in 2021. Her term expires in December 2026, so we will have to appoint someone to complete the term. If you would lik

  If history is any guide to the Aug. 6 primary election this month, less than half of the city’s 2,900 registered voters will cast ballots. Perhaps I can convince a few more of you to turn out. Perhaps the most important nomination up for grabs this year is the Republican nomination for county sheriff. With Current Sheriff Mike Morris retiring, three Republicans are on the ballot to replace him. Gratiot Democrats have not nominated a sheriff candidate, so our new sheriff will be elected Aug. 6. November will be a formality for whoever it is. Get out and vote if you want to have a say in whether Brett Baublitz, Tom Clark, or Joe Vozar get the nomination. There are more choices for candidates vying to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Hill Harper and Elissa Slotkin are looking for the Democrat nomination. Justin Amash, Sherry O’Donnell, Sandy Pensler and Mike Rogers seek the Republican nomination. Republicans Marty Gibson, Aaron VanHorn Sr. and John Wilson are the only candidates f

“Stronger Together” is the title of a 2016 presidential campaign book by Hillary Clinton. I didn’t support her candidacy, but that title applies to St. Louis and Alma, who have partnered in several ways over the last 16 years. Perhaps the most important collaboration is the Gratiot Area Water Authority that provides both cities with drinking water from six wells in Alma and Arcada Township since 2013. GAWA was formed following two serendipitous situations in St. Louis and Alma. St. Louis needed to stop drawing water from local wells that were at risk of contamination on account of the Velsicol site. And Alma had more capacity than it needed following the closure of the Total oil refinery in 1999. The two cities spend $1.8 million/year on water that they sell to residents (following a markup designed to fund infrastructure maintenance). St. Louis along is expected to spend $834,000 on water in the 2024/25 fiscal year. Solid waste authority Back in 2008, the two cities partnered to creat

  If you pay utility bills at city hall you’ve probably encountered one or more of the city’s three student interns. All have done outstanding work and are off to university in the fall. The city’s co-op students work primarily in customer service, waiting on the counter, posting payments, issuing receipts, answering phones, sorting mail, processing utility bills and more. During the school year they average 10-16 hours/week each. But they take on other projects, too. Ava Frost “has done a great job with auditing and updating cemetery records and producing some PSA and promotional videos,” said Finance Director Bobbie Marr, and is headed to Davenport University to study business management and accounting. Curtis Brashaw, the SLHS valedictorian this year, also worked on cemetery records and video production. He’s off to Notre Dame University this fall. Payton Kuhn, a 2023 SLHS grad, is in her second year of working for the city. “She is a detail-oriented and organized individual and has

Last year the city was unpleasantly surprised when two veteran police officers resigned within a month of each other to take higher paying police jobs elsewhere. That was quite a blow to the six-member patrol unit, and many overtime hours ensued as remaining officers filled in the blanks so residents could have 24/7 police coverage. Chief Ramereiz and Sgt. Forshee filled in for daytime road patrol to make it work. Everyone was getting burned out. That was enough to convince administrators and city council to negotiate a new police contract a year before the current deal expires. The idea is to raise wages enough that the city has a fighting chance to retain officers instead of watching them move on after a cup of coffee in St. Louis. It didn’t take long to reach an agreement (only two meetings) as both parties knew that officers were underpaid relative to police pay elsewhere. Officers got a 13 percent increase in the contract’s first year and 2 percent increases in years two and three

  After sitting on the Board of Review for the first time last month, I have advice for anyone who wants to protest their property assessment next year. Do your homework. Don't just sit down and say “I think my taxes are too high.” Your first step should be to get hold of the official assessment card for your house to see what the city believes you have. If the card says you have a finished basement, and you don't. You should bring that to the assessor's attention. If the card says you have an outbuilding that was removed, bring that to the assessor's attention. These items add value to your property, and when you remove them your property’s taxable value may be adjusted downward at a March Board of Review meeting. No need to wait for next March though. The assessor can make changes to your card any time of the year if you prove that information on the card is wrong or out of date. You can also request to be added to the assessor’s “field review.” Then an assessor will