Dreams of a Better Tomorrow
By: Ron Unterreiner, PEOPLE of Construction

I had a dream last night. 

I dreamed that our city of St. Louis won the lottery, and the net bottom-line prize deposited into our city/county coffers was $790M, pending the deductions of minor expenses such as legal and professional fees, of course.

I rolled over and my dream tossed and turned with me. I almost woke up, but I hung in there; I wanted to see where this story ends. My dream featured Tishaura Jones sitting at a huge table, a good foot taller at her end than all the others gathered around her. Sam Page was sitting to her right, Jim Bennett to her left. They were all smiling, looking down at the colorful cross-section of people gathered around the table. There were a hundred people seated at the table, and several more standing in all corners of the room. I caught a glimpse of Vince Schoemehl standing in the far-right corner of the room, chatting with Freeman Bosley Jr.

There were democrats, republicans, independents, reporters, senators, house members, city councilmembers, county councilmembers, religious leaders, people experiencing homelessness, and other St. Louis dignitaries I couldn’t quite make out. The crowd was swelling with women and people of color from all cultures, races, and religions. The proceedings continued in English, accented by the soothing sound of myriad dialects from across this wonderfully nuanced world we live in. A few were wearing masks, but my dream seemed to eradicate the coronavirus in the room, because we were not following proper social distancing protocols.

Tishaura slammed the gavel down and called the meeting to order. Sam seconded. Jim nodded in approval. Tishaura announced she had held a meeting the day prior and had reached unanimous agreement as to the distribution of this financial windfall for our city. Not only was an agreement reached and approved by the city and county councilmembers, as well as Rex Sinquefield, but Jim Bennett had already drawn up the appropriate legal papers which were to be signed by everybody in attendance here today, pending a positive vote on a motion to approve.

Tishaura then read from the agreement, much to the approval of the cheering crowd. There were 17 points which clearly explained how the lottery winnings would be distributed. The crowd enthusiastically jumped to its feet with the culmination of each point – applauding, ringing cowbells, blowing whistles, and hugging each other while taking obligatory selfies.

After the 17 points were read, there was zero disagreement in the crowd. Tim Fitch made a motion to approve the distribution of the funds as proposed, and Lewis Reed seconded the motion. Discussion went on for three hours with councilmembers from the city and county praising Tishaura, Sam, and Jim for their foresight, wisdom, and ability to compromise for the overall good of the residents of both the city and county. Jim Bennett was so moved that he vowed to distribute 10% of his firm’s hard-earned and well-deserved legal fees to various nonprofits around the city in an extra effort to help even the playing field of the metro area’s non-football fans. Shameem Clark Hubbard praised the generosity of the Dowd Bennett law firm, while amens were heard round the room, down the hallways, and into the streets.

Dreams only go so far, however, so I failed to capture the finite details of the 17 distribution points. But I did hear over and over again that the common man would benefit greatly, as this was their team and the Rams were their life before that man – he who would not be named here – stomped on all of the city’s and county’s dreams.

In addition to Dowd Bennett’s generous donation, I heard mention from several others wishing to contribute to nonprofits around our city that work so hard to positively affect change for our community. Places such as Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club (now merged into the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis). Places such as Building Futures, which introduces at-risk kids to the concepts of design-build and vividly creates a path that leads children and families to enriched lives. Places such as Tabernacle Church of St. Louis and its “Hub” development. Places such as Better Family Life and its Youth, Family, and Clinical Services. Places such as The EDGE and PEOPLE of Construction and the various organizations and Community Development Financial Institutions in our city who continually search for equality and equity in diverse business practices.

I didn’t catch all the details, as slippery as dreams can be, but I did hear talk about a beautification program – city- and county-wide – to clean up the debris left behind from years of ruin with the intent of lifting our people’s spirits who still proudly call these streets their homes. “There will be money for new development,” Tishaura proclaimed, with Sam nodding his head in approval, “and there will be compensation available for active participation by all residents with the desire to play a part. We will designate future trash-dumping places with sufficient dumpsters as necessary to maintain all areas well into the future.”

There would be a generous amount of dollars allocated to a new “police community center” where our residents could socially engage with law enforcement members, get to know each other, work to understand our differences, and share creative input as to how to solve the mammoth crime problems infecting our city. What a beautiful center this will be, with design input from Martin Mathews, who already has the interior space and terms of engagement designed in his head. I saw Martin in my dream, standing at the community center’s door greeting people with warm handshakes and smiles as they walked through on opening day.

All 17 points made business sense – financial sense, too – and were met with unanimous approval with nary a dissenting voice.

The last point read, however, was what really set the crowd wild:

17. No one individual person, or individual company, shall unjustly enrich themselves as a result of these winnings. All funds will be distributed in a way that benefits all residents in as equal a manner as possible. The greater metropolitan area, including our neighbors in Illinois, were financially harmed by the actions that led to us purchasing this lottery ticket, and the good residents of our entire greater metropolitan area will be compensated for that harm. We will use these funds not to throw into the neverending black hole of city/county politics and petty bickering but rather to lift the hearts and enrich the lives of all of our residents.

Tishaura called the motion to a vote. All those in favor say AYE!

And then I woke up.