Its lot full, St. Louis struggles to tow derelict cars. Residents are boiling.

[TowForce]

ST. LOUIS — One of the first things Helen Money sees when she wakes up in the morning is the black car across the street.

A violation notice is attached to a Toyota SUV in the 1400 block of Belt Avenue on Thursday, May 25, 2023. The violation cites no license plates, that it is inoperable and that it is continuously parked in the spot, and will be towed if not moved. 

Robert Cohen

 

She’s told the city about the old Cutlass Supreme, an eyesore with flat tires and the passenger door caving in. City workers even came to her corner of Walnut Park East to put a tow sticker on it once. But it’s been months. The sticker’s been peeled off.

“I’m constantly calling the city,” said Money, 63. “And they constantly do nothing.”

 

“I ride around and take pictures of them with no plates, with steering wheels busted, with the windows out,” said Alderwoman Pam Boyd, of the northwest side. “But it takes forever to get the cars towed.”

 

Meanwhile, the clunkers have been piling up across the city. There were more than 700 on the streets as of Tuesday morning, taking up valuable parking space, reducing curb appeal and trying the patience of residents already dealing with trash pickup that comes days late and a 911 dispatch system that puts callers on hold.

 

“I’m to the point where I just want to sell the house and go,” said Money, whose roots in her neighborhood go back 50 years.

 

Nick Dunne, a spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, said the administration is working on it. Streets Department leaders are pushing for higher wages and better benefits for tow truck drivers to improve recruitment and retention and seeing more interest from job seekers in recent months. They are also looking for more space to store cars and working to clear out the existing lot through regular auctions and negotiations with police, who park cars that are part of criminal investigations there.

 

“It’s starting to look promising that we will get this work done,” Streets Director Betherny Williams told aldermen at a recent budget hearing.

 

The city’s Auto Towing and Storage Division is effectively a heavy-duty street cleaner, charged with evicting more than 10,000 vehicles from the roads each year. Its drivers handle cars deemed abandoned, derelict, hazardous or inoperable, and vehicles that are stolen, in accidents or involved in crimes. It sells about one-third of its quarry at auction, bringing in millions of dollars every year.

 

As of Tuesday morning, there were more than 700 on the streets

 

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[yoBdaBenO]

Seems to be an ongoing problem that just gets worse. At those wages no wonder they can't get anyone to work. Most of our drivers are averaging over $20 an hour these days. I didn't even know they have government employees and equipment. I thought they used contract services/companies like most of the country.