Under review Housing 📍 St. Louis, Missouri

Set a response deadline for habitability complaints

Addressed to St. Louis Board of Aldermen · Signature threshold 2,000 · Created June 8, 2026

Example initiative. This petition is a template written by the JFK Debate editorial team to show how the process works. It has not been filed with St. Louis Board of Aldermen and no signatures have been collected. Copy the structure for your own community.

When heat, water or mold complaints go unanswered for weeks, the practical result is that the code exists on paper only. A published deadline — for example, an inspection within seven days of a complaint about heat or water — makes the standard enforceable and measurable.

This example petition asks for that deadline, for a public dashboard of complaints and outcomes by ward, and for an annual report on repeat-offender properties.

If you adapt this, check your state’s landlord-tenant statute first: some states preempt parts of local habitability enforcement, and your ask should be written to fit what your city is allowed to do.

The ask

Inspect habitability complaints involving heat, water or sewage within 7 days
Publish a public dashboard of complaints, inspections and outcomes by ward
Report annually on properties with repeat violations
Fund enough inspector positions to meet the deadline

Sign this petition

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