Cara Spencer leads with passion.

As a lifelong St. Louisan, she believes that city government must provide basic city services, reliable public safety, and a path for growth.

Meet Cara

Before entering public office, Cara traveled to countless cities, witnessing their growth in ways that were magnificent, creative, and deeply connected to the human experience.

She knows that when cities prosper, they can inspire and assist their citizens’ growth beyond their present limitations. St. Louisans are known for their extraordinary generosity and consistently give far beyond the national average. Cara recognizes that combining this generosity with shared goals and a commitment to prosperity, along with our city’s unique inherent assets, will create a powerful force capable of reversing even the most challenging trends.

Mom to son Cy, age 13, Cara grew up in St. Louis and is the first in her family to earn a college degree—a B.S. in Mathematics from Truman State University. She was elected alderman in 2015 and immediately got to work reining in payday lenders, fighting the privatization of Lambert International Airport, and passing the first meaningful gun regulation the city has seen in decades. Cara helped turn around the Cherokee Street business district. She knows what it takes to put our city on the path to shared prosperity.

When she’s not working, she can be found cycling, hiking a Missouri trail, or harvesting tomatoes in her backyard.

“During her time as Alderman in the South Side, whenever I called her about an issue, she got it done. Marquette Park got new swings, and she had summertime hot dogs and lemonade at the Park. You can tell she cares about this City and our neighborhoods.”

Norenne Tripplet

Cara Spencer is fighting for you.

Understanding that the city must meet the needs of its people, Cara has focused on putting that goal into practice.

  • Getting Guns Off the Streets

    Understanding that decreasing crime statistics doesn’t necessarily make people safe, Cara found a loophole in state law and passed an ordinance to curb the display of firearms in the city. As a result, police are allowed to confiscate guns being carried without open-carry permits, including all guns of minors. The result is a 15% decline in juvenile shooting victims and a way to keep weapons out of the hands of juveniles.

  • Preserving City Assets

    As a guardian of the city’s assets, Cara was a leader in the opposition to privatizing Lambert Airport. She fought the proposal to turn over the city’s most valuable asset to companies putting profits above the public interest. Today, the airport is increasing its value by undertaking a new consolidated terminal and entering into a long-term lease with Boeing for unused property.

  • Building Trust in Government

    Recognizing that lack of transparency in government leads to distrust, Cara headed the effort for stricter local campaign finance laws. She continues to advocate for public access to information about the use of city funds and champions the right for public access to government records as required by state law, including the legal opinions that guide the decisions of elected officials.

  • Focusing on the Basics

    As a neighborhood activist and mother, Cara has focused on the basics of what local government must provide for a city to thrive. As head of the aldermanic Budget Committee, she has advocated for hiring and paying police officers and other city employees a competitive wage, picking up the trash, filling potholes, answering 911 calls quickly and efficiently, removing abandoned cars, and stopping out-of-control driving.

  • Promoting Neighborhoods

    As an alderman, Cara successfully addressed issues that improved the lives of city residents. She created an innovative program called “mow to own” to mitigate the number of unkempt vacant lots. She also advocated for long overdue rules for short-term rentals to address the negative impact they had on neighborhoods.

  • Supporting Local Businesses

    Cara believes city funds should be spent in the city as much as possible. As a member of the board of the St. Louis Development Corporation, Cara called out the lack of vetting of awardees of American Rescue Plan Act grants. She also criticized the granting of no-bid contracts to firms outside of St. Louis who vetted the awardees of the ARPA funds.

  • Putting Rams Dollars to Good Use

    As a pragmatist who understands budgetary reality, Cara recognizes that the city’s continued population loss, coupled with the decrease in earnings taxes, will lead to a budgetary crisis. Because this issue must be addressed now, Cara supports using Rams settlement dollars to stop the decline in the census and address the needs of downtown, keeping businesses where they are and redeveloping vacant buildings.