On tap at City Hall? Bottles for the water champs
When the nation’s mayors last year anointed St. Louis tap water the best in the land, the title came with more than just refreshing prestige: There was also a $15,000 purse. 
After some time soaking up the honor, Mayor Francis Slay will announce this afternoon a fitting project to pour the cash into: 5,000 water bottles for city employees.
The bottles, of course, are empty, but reusable. The hope is that city workers will line-up at City Hall water fountains, and leave the bottled water at home –a notion that fits nicely into Slay’s push for “greener” government.
At the 4 p.m. conference, Slay will be joined be a representative of a group leading a national campaign to “take back the tap.”
In June 2007, St. Louis bested tap water from more than 90 others cities at a contest sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors to be named “Best Tasting City Water in America.”
The specimens were evaluated on taste, clarity and aroma.
I believe there is only one (1) water fountain in the entire building. That would be a very long line of city employees, Mr. Mayor.
But, maybe the water bottles will make the 5,000 city employees forget that, per the Mayor’s meddling, they still have no pay plan and no pay raise.
Hey righton, try going into City Hall sometime, every office I have been into has a faucet and/or drinking fountain. I appreciate the fact the Mayor is trying to save money and give employees the benefit.
I would like my wife to get a raise but the one “negotiated” by the personal guy would bankrupt the government. We’d rather her have a job with a small raise than a huge raise for one year and then unemployment.
Sometimes a nice thing is just a nice thing, get over yourself MR. RightOn.
Unbelievable.
city employees ARE getting a 2.5% raise this year…..so quit your whining!!
Yeah, there is nothing better for the city to spend money on…nothing. How do these people stay in office? It’s pathetic…
I was at the fountain the other day in City Hall, and brown water came out. And they expect people to drink this stuff? Why doesn’t facilities management first focus on upgrading the plumbing in the old building?
Further, there are a number of private water clubs supported by the employees themselves through their take-home pay. Free bottle from the Mayor or not, they all swear that they will keep subscribing. You should see the number of bottled water companies that do business here (i.e. Clearbrook, etc.)!
Wow, there are a LOT of misinformed people on this blog.
From what I understand the brown water thing was two years ago and fixed. My wife told me that the water department tested all of the water in the city buildings and the bad one or two faucets were fixed.
Water contracts are unaffected. Just the stuff the city pays for and just for the single serving stuff that departments use internally.
As fo a waste of money…this money was only allowed to be used to promote clean water. I am glad to see our officials spending money on the employees…It is refreshing to see government think of their employees first.
Unbelievable! Why are some people filled with so much hatred that they can never give credit to a good idea?
The water may taste “best,” but there is no way I am drinking what comes from these City Hall taps. I will be buying bottled water!
Insider, 2.5%? Not according to my paycheck…
Don’t be spiking those bottles on duty!
This iniative is going on all over the country in city governments.
It’s good for the ‘image’ you know!
City res, I saw the brown water with my own eyes, too, and that was up on the fourth floor. This was just recently when the hot water went down for emergency repairs.
Maybe those couple of faucets that you are referencing were in the Mayor’s Office only?