Since Michael Brown was shot & killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th, the entire country has learned a dirty little secret: some of our municipalities make big money ticketing & arresting our residents, often minorities. Just as corporations that operate for-profit prisons seek more prisoners, some of the 90 unsustainable municipalities within St. Louis County need to stop people driving through their tiny municipal borders to keep the municipal coffers full:
Unfortunately, for many of the poorest citizens of the region, the municipal courts and police departments inflict a kind of low level harassment involving traffic stops, court appearances, high fines, and the threat of jail for failure to pay without a meaningful inquiry into whether an individual has the means to pay. (ArchCity Defenders: Municipal Courts White Paper)
I recommend reading all 37 pages of the ArchCity Defenders: Municipal Courts White Paper, it’s an eye-opener! They looked at 60 courts and found “approximately thirty of those courts did engage in at least one of these [illegal and harmful] practices.” The report focuses on the three “chronic offenders”: Bel-Ridge, Florissant, and…Ferguson.
A personal friend has two citations from Vinita Park, population 1880, but the fine amounts aren’t on the citations he was issued. Neither of his citations were for speeding.
The fine amount doesn’t appear on the citation, note is it online. Nobody at the company in Georgia knows the fine amounts either. You’ve got to show up in court or call to get the amount to pay.
Logging online and entering your citation number doesn’t bring up the fine amount either, you must know it to enter and pay it. Late fees, of an unknown amount, are added. A bench warrant is issued if you miss the court date. My friend finally reached a person by phone at Vinita Park City Hall that could tell him the amounts. Earlier calls went unanswered.
Yesterday I posted about the Flordell Hills, pop 822, city website which doesn’t list the elected officials, but has a detailed court section accepting online payments. Their new police force begins October 1st.
More affluent municipalities, such as Chesterfield, don’t need to use such tactics to survive financially. Their residents & visitors would never tolerate the injustices.
The poor in the region live in or drive through these predatory municipalities daily. Ferguson is taking steps toward change.
Flordel Hills is one of the many tiny municipalities in St. Louis County, it originated as a residential subdivision:
Before Flordell Hills was built in 1939, the area consisted of St. Ann Dairy Farms with corn fields, orchards, chicken houses, barns and buildings for cattle scattered throughout. A creek running under our area going out over Jennings Station Road, ran parallel to West Florissant and College where there was a foot bridge.
Norm Schuermann and Co. initiated construction of our homes in 1939, starting at Greenhaven. They came in three sizes selling for approximately $3,000 to $3,350. Some say the basements were dug out by mule teams and others remember tractors with metal wheels being used. We now have 360 homes and a population of approximately 950. Mr. Schuermann also agreed to enclose the ditch at Greendale Park (now Greenhaven) if we secured enough insurance policies from our residents for his insurance business. We got the policies and park too. The Improvement Association used the rocks from the ditch construction and formed the entrance columns on Greendale Drive. (Flordell Hills history)
It was incorporated in 1945, prompting the incorporation of Jennings the following year:
By 1946, north St. Louis City and County were booming with plenty of blue-collar jobs and convenient bus transportation. The decision to incorporate the communities of Jennings, Jenwood, and Woodland occurred after the nearby smaller communities of Country Club Hills and Flordell Hills incorporated in 1943 and 1945, respectively. Both cities snapped up portions of commercial property on West Florissant Avenue. (Jennings history)
How tiny is Flordell Hills? Less than half the size of the I-70/I-170 interchange I posted about last week!
Two weeks from today Flordel Hills will have its own police force.
Flordell Hills police car
I wanted to know more about Flordell Hills so I started at the municipal website, flordell.com
Nowhere does the website list the names of the mayor or other elected officials. The municipal court tab, however, is very detailed. Click image to view live website.
About the Program On March xx, 2011, the Board of Alderman of the City of Flordell Hills, Missouri passed Ordinance No. xx-xxxx amending the Flordell Municipal Code of Ordinance by adding a new section establishing the infraction of “violation of traffic safety on roadways” and the automatic traffic enforcement regulations in the City of Flordell Hills.
The Ordinance authorizes the use of automated speed enforcement to improve public safety by controlling speeds in enforced zones, improving traffic flows and reducing speed-related accidents.
The Ordinance can be reviewed by clicking on this link (click here) to the City of Flordell Hills Code.
Automated speed enforcement automatically detects, photographs, and identifies vehicles exceeding the speed limit and then issues violation notices to the registered owners of those vehicles via mail.
Speeding is a major cause of all vehicle crashes and speed enforcement is a constant priority for ensuring the public safety. Fewer vehicle crashes reduce the need for other public resources such as first responders and hospital emergency room resources. Automated traffic enforcement systems are being used in safety-minded communities across the globe. Automated enforcement systems are recommended by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, The International Association of Chiefs of Police, The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, The Federal Highway Administration and The American Automobile Association.
City of Flordell Hills police officers already use electronic speed-enforcement methods, such as radar, to monitor drivers and issue tickets to speeders. This has proven to be effective in reducing vehicle accidents and improving public safety and public officer safety.
Better safety is our primary traffic-control goal. Our objective is to improve the long-term behavior of drivers in the Flordell Hills community, which in turn improves the safety of our citizens and visitors to our community.
Please obey speed limits and drive safely.
Really? The “click here” link isn’t a link at all. March xx, 2011? Ordinance No. xx-xxxx? At least I know they have a Board of Aldermen rather than a city council. I bet it has x number of members representing x wards…
I took the #74 MetroBus to visit Flordell Hills, the main intersection is W. Florissant & Jennings Station Rd, click image for mapThe Flordell Hills city hall is the building on the left. The cannon isn’t militarization, it’s a WWII memorial.
More on the memorial:
The cannon at Memorial Park is a WWI Howitzer than came from France with the approval of President Roosevelt. The cannon was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1946, to the men of Flordell Hills who lost their lives in WW2. Sixteen to twenty men volunteered to move the cannon from the boxcar on the tracks to Memorial Park. In the process it got away from them and nearly hit a building, but they managed to get the cannon in its present locations without further mishap. A band and parade were on hand for the dedication. In 1949 the cannon was supported by jacks encased in cement to keep the weight off the tires. (Flordell Hills parks)
To my knowledge, the only one of the four I’ve met in person. I met Smythe through her work at Trailnet. As an independent candidate, Smythe submitted at least 106 signatures from valid 15th ward voters to be on the ballot.
Green also gathered & submitted signatures to be on the ballot.
Joshua D. Simpson
Website: unknown
Facebook Page: unknown
Twitter: unknown
I was unable to find online information on this candidate or how the GOP nominated him. I did find the St. Louis Republican Central Committee website and Facebook page, no mention of Simpson on either.
Democratic Committeeman Tod A. Martin & nominated McDaniel, the Committeewoman, for the ballot.
So there are the four individuals seeking to become the next alderman representing the 15th ward. If you’re a registered voter in the 15th ward I urge you to look into all four and consider attending the upcoming candidate forum on Monday September 29, 2014. 7pm @ Carpenter Library, lower level, 3309 S. Grand
The special election is in three weeks, Tuesday October 7, 2014.
Busy weekend, the post I’d planned for today will appear later this week. Today I thought I’d share a recent pic from Citygarden.
Citygarden on September 8, 2014 @ 8pm
The bright light on the right is the new Saint Louis University School of Law. I tend to take photos of Citygarden this direction, the other direction the Peabody sign on the Gateway One building is too bright. When Citygarden first opened in 2009 the Peabody name wasn’t on the building, the park was much more pleasant at night. Now the signage is overpowering.
For a future post I’ll try to get a decent nighttime shot to illiterate my point, to contrast with older photos from before the sign went up on the building.
Please vote in the poll, located in the right sidebar
There have been recent reports on the use of cash vs plastic, along with more data breaches at major retailers, and movement away from the magnetic credit card readers. This week I want to see at what point readers use cash or plastic for purchases.
Provided answers include options for those who use plastic almost exclusively, those who use plastic almost exclusively, four monetary tiers, and an unsure. The poll is in the right sidebar, the answers are presented in random order.
On Wednesday the 24th I’ll post about the reports on cash vs plastic, magnetic readers and the technology that may replace them.
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historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri – mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors.
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