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20th Ward Candidate Debate Thursday March 26th

March 24, 2015 Board of Aldermen, Featured, Politics/Policy 13 Comments
St. Louis City Hall
St. Louis City Hall

One thing is certain, no matter which of the three candidates in the 20th Ward General Election wins the race on April 7th: the 20th Ward will have new representation at the Board of Aldermen.   Ald. Craig Schmid, first elected in 1995, had his ward # changed on him once, and frequently faced primary & general challengers. He always came out on top — until the recent primary.  Thank you Craig for your service & loyalty, but I’m glad you lost the election. It has been time to move on but you kept running anyway.

Voters in the 20th Ward should plan to attend Thursday night’s debate among to hear the three candidates, via Facebook:

Please join your South City neighbors for a 20th Ward Aldermanic Debate. A non-partisan question and answer forum will be moderated by The League of Women Voters. Attendees may ask questions submitted in writing the day of the forum.

All candidates have been invited to participate:
Cara Spencer (Dem)
Stephen Jehle (Ind)
Vicky Ingram (Grn)

The debate begins promptly at 6:45 and will end by 8:15, please feel free to arrive early at 6 for Cherokee Neighborhoods Happy Hour and to be seated. Guests are also welcome to stay for after hours.

This event is hosted by The Chippewa Broadway Business District in partnership with The South City Business Collaborative (Dt2, Carondelet, CSBA, CBBA)

Please share this event with your friends and neighbors, and don’t forget to VOTE on April 7th.

Thursday’s debate will be held at 2720 Cherokee.

— Steve Patterson

 

 

Currently there are "13 comments" on this Article:

  1. guest says:

    From what I hear, this is no contest. Spencer will win this race in a walk. What, perhaps, would be more interesting is whether there is any difference between these candidates and their positions? The 20th ward has a lot of concerns. Would there be any difference in how the candidates attack the problems? And for purposes of discussion, how about you? How would you deal with increasing abandonment of buildings and growing vacancy? What do you do about a high percentage of your households having low income? They say a healthy percentage of black/white population is about 30% black/70% white. The 20th ward is way beyond that with a black % of maybe over 50%. Is the 20th ward headed to 90+ % black? The most interesting thing about the 20th ward is not Cherokee street; it’s the neighborhood fabric adjoining it. Yet it seems all you really ever hear about are the concerns of Cherokee businesses. If anything, it seems over the years there’s been tension between the neighborhoods and Cherokee businesses. How do you bring those interests together? Instead the relatively good story on Cherokee’s rebound, what will be most interesting is to hear how the candidates plan to stabilize the neighborhoods of the 20th ward. The area needs more investment and engaged residents. How would the candidates work for that goal?

     
    • KevinB says:

      Good questions. Go to the debate and ask them (more succinctly though…).

       
      • guest says:

        Since we pretty much know Spencer is the odds on winner, she’s the one that most important to hear.

         
        • Thankfully Slencer isn’t taking her victory for granted. The 20th ward and city would be better off if voters didn’t blow off the general election.

          I understand — it’s hard to remain engaged that long. We really need to go nonpartisan so we can officially just have one election rather than two a month apart.

           
          • guest says:

            Voting is really such a tiny, miniscule thing when it comes to revitalizing a neighborhood. What’s needed is day in and day out work and commitment from area residents. Voting for any aldermanic candidate is not the answer. People need to work for the change they want, and that’s way more than voting.

             
    • dick says:

      Do you actually have any info on increasing abandonment, or are you just making that up? Growing vacancy, says who?

       
      • guest says:

        All you have to do is look at the growth in the LRA inventory in the 20th Ward. That’s all public record. According to Jehle, LRA owns 165 properties in the 20th ward, the most of any southside ward: http://www.electjehle.com/

         
        • guest says:

          Jehle’s figure might be a bit high. Here are the official lists from LRA. Regardless, frequent the area and you can see the increase in abandoned buildings with your own eyes. There is a lot of vacancy. Denying that is putting your head in the sand. LRA Vacant Lots: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/sldc/real-estate/upload/03-02-15-Vacant-Lot-List.pdf LRA Vacant Buildings: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/sldc/real-estate/upload/03-02-15-Building-List.pdf

           
          • dick says:

            So, you have no data, got it

             
          • guest says:

            Are you blind?

             
          • guest says:

            What a ridiculous debate. Here’s some data for you. I picked three buildings randomly off the LRA list for the 20th ward to see when they went into the LRA inventory: 4033 California (2007), 3843 Missouri (2011), and 3644 Oregon (2003). Get it? All of these were abandoned and became LRA in the last 5-12 years. And that’s based on a totally random selection. Keep picking more off the list and I guarantee you most of these have become LRA since the late 90s/2000s (and continuing to this day).

            The south side does not have a legacy of abandonment – north city does. That’s why a map of LRA property is so heavily skewed to north city. LRA inventory growth in south city is a more recent concern, as evidenced by the dates of the LRA acquisition of these three randomly selected 20th ward properties. Want more data? Do your own research. What are you trying to defend, anyway? If you don’t think there’s a problem with property abandonment and vacancy in the 20th ward, you’re not paying attention.

             
          • dick says:

            You dont seem to understand the word growth, I’m well aware that abandoned properties are a problem. I live in a newly restored building in the ward. Where is your evidence of GROWTH of abandoment? We all know LRA has property in the 20th, simple guest

             
          • guest says:

            Growth as in the number of LRA properties in 1990, 2000, 2010, today. That number has grown. If you want exact figures, you’ll need to do the research. If you follow things on a regular basis, you can see it and know it. Glad you are a resident, paying property taxes, and living in a renovated building. You are one of the good people!

             

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