The Show-Me Institute, the group advocating for the elimination of the 1% St. Louis City earning tax has moved from Clayton to…yeah, St. Louis City. There’s a lot that can be said about their efforts, the tax and their move, but I think this is most telling, from the RFT online:
“One proponent of the move was financier Rex Sinquefield, the founder of the Show-Me Institute who lives in the city nearby the new office. “Rex wanted to drop by the office more often, and this gives him the chance,” says (Show-Me Institute spokesperson Jennifer) Roland.”Has anyone asked Rex why he opened the wonderful Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis in St. Louis City? Or why he chooses to live in St. Louis City? Or why the majority of the Show-Me Institute’s 10 employees live in St. Louis City? And why the 1% earnings tax did not prove overwhelmingly dissuasive in any of those circumstances?
Beyond my curiosity on those topics, I want to know why Rex chooses to live, work and invest in St. Louis City. Whatever the reason, I’m sure that if someone who disagrees so passionately with at least one part of the city’s funding mechanism still chooses to be here, then others can surely be persuaded to invest as well. For decades St. Louis companies have followed their CEO’s west. Owners and management enjoy living close to work. Perhaps Mr. Sinquefield can help us understand how to reverse that trend.
