North St. Louis grant program back under fire, city official calls for ‘do-over’

ST. LOUIS – A program meant to pump millions of federal COVID relief dollars into north St. Louis is back under fire, with at least one city official calling for a total do-over.

The city said the goal of the North City Commercial Corridor Grant Program, which consists of $37 million from the American Rescue Plan, is to help small businesses and nonprofits in north St. Louis.

The administration of the money is overseen by the St. Louis Development Corporation. It came under scrutiny recently when a list of approved applicants appeared to include multiple vacant properties.

The city said that was a tentative list, an error they said they caught before any grant money was awarded. Still, on Wednesday, St. Louis' Comptroller Darlene Green released a report calling on the SLDC to start over with the program.

"The public has lost trust in SLDC’s Northside ARPA-funded grant process,” Green said. “And the taxpayers are not being protected. The best way to fix this is to immediately course correct and improve the vetting and selection processes to avoid potential risks of loss of federal dollars, potential court challenges and to restore public trust."

SLDC’s President and CEO Neil Richardson responded, saying in part, “The report is riddled with errors, false allegations, and misconceptions about SLDC’s administration of the program and appears to be based solely upon media reports, anecdotal discussion, and the Comptroller's flawed understanding of the program.”

The mayor’s office tells FOX 2 people should have faith in the program, adding that many of the recommended changes to the program Green proposed are already in-place.

But multiple other city officials, including Alderwoman Pam Boyd and Alderwoman Cara Spencer, are siding with Green. Spencer, who is also running for mayor, told FOX 2 the city has squandered a years of time and now appears to be scrambling to spend millions of dollars in federal funds that must be obligated by the end of the year.

“The faith in the program, at least on my end, is completely gone,” Spencer said. “We’re two and a half years in. These funds were set-aside specifically to help businesses get through the pandemic. And here we are; the program is still knee-deep in problems and knee-deep in lack of oversight."

The mayor’s office points to a newly published transparency portal, where people can track how the money for the program is being spent. You can access that portal here.