ST. LOUIS – Bellefontaine Neighbors is facing a crisis, but Mayor Dinah Tatman isn’t giving up.

With the city’s budget repeatedly blocked by the board of aldermen, the mayor has had to consider alternative ways to push the city forward without a clear financial plan. 

Four alderpersons voted no to the budget because they stated things needed to be added and removed from the budget Thursday night. But in an exclusive interview, the mayor shared that she is still looking for ways to support city staff and services.

“I’ve slowed down because I’m trying to compromise, but I’m not stopping,” Tatman said.

The mayor faces a unique challenge. She claims that one of her strongest opponents on the board is a former colleague, with whom she made a pledge before the last election. The promise? To support each other, no matter who won the mayoral race.

Tatman, who won the race, says her former ally has now become one of her biggest obstacles in advancing the city’s agenda.

“We said that no matter who wins, we’re still going to support each other. And people have been asking me, ‘What happened?’ I said, ‘I won,’” Tatman said.

“We did agree before the race,” Alderwoman Alease Dailes (Ward 4) said.

Tatman says she’s tried to reach out, urging the board to set aside politics, but the promise to collaborate has faded. And with the budget impasse holding up two years of overdue employee raises, many residents are growing frustrated.

For now, the mayor says she’ll keep searching for solutions. But with the city’s financial deadline looming, only time will tell if Tatman’s determination will be enough to overcome a promise that was broken and a budget that remains stalled.