Mayor Kaufmann, Aloys P.

About

Alois Kaufman was the 36th mayor of St. Louis, serving two terms from 1943 to 1949. As president of the board of aldermen in 1943, he succeeded to the mayor´s office after the death of Mayor Becker. He was a Republican mayor in a city that was among the most heavily Democratic in the country. In 1945 he was re-elected to a full four-year term by a two to one majority.

During his first year in office he helped outline the Post-War Public Improvements Program. This $43,000,000 bond issue included funds to expand Lambert Field Municipal Airport from 350 to 1400 acres. The Rat Control Section of the Health Department was established in 1946. The present system of inspection and grading restaurants was set up in 1946. A Division of Refuse Collection was added to the Department of Streets in 1947. The first St. Louis earnings tax ordinance was passed in 1946, but was declared unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court. The first effective earnings tax became law in 1948, after an enabling act was passed by the Missouri Legislature. A new City building code took effect in 1945 and was revised in 1948.

Mayor Kauffman was born in St. Louis and graduated from the Benton College of Law with an LL.B. degree in 1928 and LL.M. in 1929. In 1943 he married Miss Margaret Uding. A son was born during his term as mayor.

From 1928 until his election in 1943, he practiced law. From 1936 to 1943 he was a member of the Republican party City Central Committee. In 1949 Mr. Kaufmann returned to law practice and, in 1954, became president of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis.