St. Louis mayor’s veto of firefighter pension bill will stand, alderman says

ST. LOUIS — Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ veto of a controversial plan to return oversight of all firefighter pensions to a board made up mostly of firefighters will stand, the plan’s sponsor said.

“It’s frustrating,” Alderman Tom Oldenburg, of the St. Louis Hills neighborhood, said late Thursday. “People have said they want to stand up for firefighters and the dangerous jobs they have. But we can’t get the votes.”

Oldenburg and firefighters have argued that eliminating a city-controlled board that oversees retirement for new and younger firefighters would save money and boost worker morale. And they convinced a majority of the board, which voted 17-7 to pass the bill for the second year in a row in early December.

But Jones, like her predecessor, vetoed it. She said the plan would undermine reforms enacted a decade ago to rein in pension costs that threatened to overwhelm the city budget.

Indeed, firefighters on the city-controlled fire pension board regularly pushed to restore benefits and perks lost to the reforms.

Oldenburg said Thursday he had tried to gather the votes for an override, but was still one shy of the 20 required. He said he would not chance an attempt at Friday’s board meeting, the last one before the spring elections.

The issue could return next session, though.

“It’s still a pressing issue,” Oldenburg said.

A spokesman for the mayor, Nick Desideri, applauded the result. “We’re glad the Board recognizes the need to leave in place this necessary reform that protects taxpayers and our city’s budget.”