Springfield City Council committees have a lot of work ahead of them. With several complex issues already assigned for discussion, at the council meeting on Monday, Oct. 12, four additional topics were sent to the committees to review and craft recommendations prior to council taking up legislation.
There are four council committees, each of which have four council members serve on them. While city staff are working on a comprehensive list of the topics currently in each committee, among the largest issues currently still in committees include tenants' right to counsel, the future of public transit, aSpringfield Police Department policy reviewand economic development incentive policies. Now, several other topics will be added to committees' to-do
list, particularly the Community Involvement Committee.
Committees typically meet only once a month and do not include a structured public comment process beyond comment cards available at meetings. Meetings also take place during the day and are livestreamed and recorded. Each committee has its own set of responsibilities, which are used to determine which topics will be reviewed by which committee.
Homelessness plan among referrals
Councilman Derek Lee filed a referral for the city to create an action plan to address homelessness. According to his referral request form, the work to affect homelessness is currently spread across city departments and different community organizations without a coordinated plan that ties together funding, services and enforcement.
Specifically, Lee's referral directs the Community Involvement Committee to develop a plan that addresses a communication strategy, sets criteria for restoration-focused support that moves people toward more stability and housing versus "support that sustains homelessness without that movement," evaluates which type of support the city funding should go to, assesses how first responders are impacted, reviews how many people served in Springfield came from elsewhere and creates an inventory of current homelessness-related efforts.
The plan also calls for the committee to consider recommendations about whether city codes need to be updated to allow more effective enforcement, review other tools that give law enforcement "clear authority over unlawful conduct, with priority on individuals who repeatedly refuse services and break the law," and look at how enforcement and outreach are coordinated "so that an offer of services is accompanied by enforcement." The plan would also set measurable goals and require an annual report to council on progress.
Councilwoman Monica Horton objected, arguing that local policy should not mirror federal shifts in homelessness services. She said policy should not be crafted to deny services for those who may not be from Springfield and to note that the city has not "substantially" invested to support homelessness prevention. She said beyond allocations from the American Rescue Plan Act funds, the city has allocated less than $2 million from recreational marijuana sales tax funds, all of which has not gone to homelessness services.
"Historically, the default public funding has been exclusively federal, with an average of $1.2 million annually stretching those dollars to do it all — building maybe five affordable rental housing units a year, funding for several social service agencies, BUILD business loans and home repairs," she said. "The normal HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] appropriations haven't kept up with pre- nor post-pandemic demand amid federal policy shifts and a deepening housing shortage."
Horton also noted that in October 2024 council received a presentation from the Community Partnership of the Ozarks presenting the needs for homeless services, particularly in ways to prevent evictions. No council action followed this presentation. The councilwoman also noted that Stephen Kleinsmith, former Nixa Public Schools superintendent, had reached out to council twice in the past three months to convene stakeholders to address homelessness. A vote to refer the matter to the committee passed unanimously.
Annexation, legislative priorities, collective bargaining also referred
Mayor Jeff Schrag also requested a referral for the Community Involvement Committee to review the city's approach to annexation, particularly for areas where consent to annex exists. While the referral form does not identify a specific deadline, it notes the recommendation should be presented to council as part of the Economic Vitality priority implementation. The referral asks the committee to create a strategy that helps the city identify and evaluate areas with consent to annex, what should be considered for implementation and what steps the council should take next.
Councilwoman Callie Carroll also proposed a referral to the Community Involvement Committee, which she chairs, to review this year's legislative priorities and make recommendations for the 2027 legislative priorities. The council adopts its legislative priorities for the year prior to the start of the new legislative session. The 2026 legislative priorities include supporting state legislation that would retain local control, invest in mental health services and fund transportation projects identified by the Ozarks Transportation Organization.
The committee process has been used with considerably more frequency since Schrag took office in April 2025. At council's previous meeting, Schrag was the one to propose that a request for the city to review its use of automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, go to the Plans and Policies Committee rather than to a vote of council, prompting an explosive response from the crowd. In a conversation with local news media the following day, the mayor said the committee process was a way to respect city staff's finite time and ensure the council sticks to its greater priorities.
"I believe the committee process is the best way to move those things forward when they're initiated by council members," Schrag said then.
Rob Ybanez, organizer with Springfield Tenants Unite and tenant in the West Central neighborhood, expressed his "disgust" with the council's action regarding ALPR cameras and noted the waning trust in city government. He noted that the proposed tenants' right to counsel has been stuck in the Community Involvement Committeefor more than a year and a half without any meaningful progress, with only two of the committee's meetings including the matter on the agenda.
The committee process has been repeatedly criticized, by the public and some council members , for stalling meaningful legislative progress and being weaponized to "kill" council bills. The committee process has also resulted in productive outcomes like the rental inspection program, and campaign limits for municipal elections. More recently the topic of extended marijuana dispensary hours was resolved swiftly in committeebut has not yet been presented to the full council for a final vote.
On Monday night, Schrag also referred a resolution to the Plans and Policies Committee. The resolution, sponsored by Councilman Craig Hosmer, would establish a goal for the city to negotiate collective bargaining agreements for three years without annual wage reopeners. Currently, agreements are negotiated for three-year terms but allow for annual wage reopeners, which Hosmer said take up both the city's and unions' resources and time each year. The resolution also included a provision that negotiations may allow either party to seek advisory arbitration if an agreement cannot be reached on wage terms.
Devin Keeney, president of the Southern Missouri Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 152, expressed support for the three-year wage measure, noting the change would put Springfield in line with other cities like Lee's Summit and St. Charles. He also noted an arbitrator can help offer fair and unbiased guidance to resolve disagreement.
Schrag, in proposing a referral to committee, said the issue was complex and needed more thorough review. Unlike the referral regarding ALPR cameras, Schrag shared his plan to refer the issue with other council members several days earlier and made his motion after the public hearing was held.
While he has said he is a proponent of the committee process, Schrag hasn't always applied the practice consistently. He substituted a council bill limiting campaign contributions after it had spent months being reviewed and crafted in committee. According to previous News-Leader reporting, he said it was never too late to find the right solution if the process has not resulted in a strong enough fix. Last year, he also proposed recently passed business property tax requirements be suspended while they undergo committee review, though the suspension was later taken out in a compromise referral.
Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at mmieze@news-leader.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Matters for Springfield council committees to review continue to grow
