At the White House last week, President Barack Obama had a word of warning for the nation’s mayors, agog with the thought of all that economic stimulus money:

“We have asked for the unprecedented trust of the American people,” Mr. Obama said, “and with that comes unprecedented obligations to spend that money wisely — free from politics and free from personal agendas.”

Well, yes. At all levels of government, from billion-dollar insider contracts in Washington to small-time boodling at local city halls and fire districts, taxpayer money has a way of finding its way into the pockets of friends and cronies. Consider the shameful actions taken by last week a majority of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen’s Public Safety Committee.

Last year, city voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase. The ballot language said the money was “solely for the purpose of providing revenues for the operation of public safety departments of the city including hiring more police officers, police and firefighter compensation, prosecuting more criminals, nuisance crimes and problem properties, and funding police and fire pensions.”

But before they put the measure on the ballot, the aldermen inserted some fine print that created what can only be considered a “crime-fighting slush fund” — $950,000 of the $18 million raised by the tax would be set aside for “crime prevention” initiatives.

The committee members decided that programs for at-risk kids fit this the description. A bit of a stretch, but not a breach of public trust. That came later.

As the Post-Dispatch’s Jake Wagman reported, among the crime-busting grants were:

• $120,000 to a non-profit called UJAMAA Community Development Corp. The company has no track record, but it is run by a former Democratic Missouri state legislator who served with Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe. The company’s registered agent shares an address with Mr. Troupe.

• $60,000 to a program for teenage girls run by former state Rep. Amber Boykins, who had the endorsement of Alderwoman Bennice Jones King, who is Ms. Boykins’ cousin.

• $100,000 to a group called St. Louis CAN for athletic programs and young adult education. The organization is run by the 27th Ward’s Democratic committeewoman. The 27th Ward is represented by Alderman Greg Carter, who sits on the Public Safety Committee. In a letter of support, state Rep. Chris Carter (the alderman’s nephew) noted that “this program is patterned after the Mid-Nite Basketball program.”

This might have been a tactical mistake. “Midnite Basketball” is a legendary City Hall boondoggle from the 1990s — one in which a former city recreation manager and a former supervisor were convicted of stealing tens of thousands of dollars.
Alderman Fred Wessels, D-13th Ward, voted against the public safety committee’s grants, calling them “the worst example of government waste that I’ve seen in 24 years in office.”

After Mr. Wagman reported the details, the committee did a rapid about face, cancelling the funding. Committee Chairman Terry Kennedy, D-18th Ward, said he wanted to develop “consensus” from the board on how to proceed. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Strip the Public Safety Committee of authority for spending public safety tax money. The City Charter gives the Board of Estimate and Apportionment the right to spend tax dollars, not an aldermanic committee.

• Funding should go only to organizations with sound track records for reducing crime and improving public safety, groups — in Mr. Obama’s words — “free from politics and free from personal agendas.” Being cronies or kinfolk to an alderman shouldn’t be enough.