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In 1953 Raymond R. Tucker became the forty-second Mayor of St. Louis.
In 1953 Mr. Tucker won the Democratic nomination for Mayor in the primary campaign against Mark D. Eagleton, and was elected in April. During his first term the Earnings Tax was made a permanent part of the City's financial system. The $1,500,00 Plaza Bond Issue was passed in September, 1953. The '110,000,000 Bond Issue', providing for 23 types of City improvements, was passed in May of 1955. The City's water supply underwent fluoridation in September, 1955. He supported the adoption of the plan for the Metropolitan Sewer District in 1954.
Mayor Tucker ran for re-election successfully in 1957. He backed the proposed City Charter that was defeated August 6, 1957. The increase in the Earnings Tax from one-half to one per cent became effective August 1, 1959. He opposed the Metropolitan District Plan of 1959, and the Borrough Plan of 1962; City-County relations proposals. The American Municipal Association (now renamed, National League of Cities) made him president in 1959, and he headed the United States Conference of Mayors from December, 1963 to April 20, 1965. The City Charter was amended in August, 1960, to raise the City salary limit from $10,000 to $25,000. In 1956 the Mayor had appointed a committee of building industry people to draw up a new Building Code, which he signed into law March 31, 1961. On April 4, 1961, he won over Ben H. Lindenbusch for his third term. The Public Accommodations Ordinance came in 1961 and Fair Employment legislation in 1963. Much time was devoted to the River-Front Memorial, Downtown Stadium and urban renewal programs. On March 9, 1965, he lost to A.J. Cervantes, in the Democratic Primary, in his bid for a fourth term.
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