Former Alderwoman Still Using Board of Alderman ‘Official Business’ Placard

A personal friend of mine, last week on Monday August 24th, spotted former 25th Alderwoman Dorothy Kirner park at a parking meter and place an “official business” placard upon the dashboard of her Ford Escort before going inside without feeding said parking meter.

Kirner defeated me in the March 2005 Democratic primary election for Board of Alderman for the 25th Ward.  She did not seek re-election in the 2009 race.  Shane Cohn was sworn into office as the new Alderman for the 25th Ward in April 2009.

Above you can see the placard placed on the dash.

These placards are issue to elected officials for, well, official business.  I’m not sure what official business a former Alderperson is conducting for the Board of Aldermen.  Could it be she expects to continue receiving the perks of the office she no longer holds?

– Steve Patterson

Spending Money on the Way Out the Door

Four years ago, in March 2005, I lost my bid to become Alderman for the 25th Ward.  My opponent was Dorothy Kirner, the incumbent.  Kirner had won the office through a special election in 2004 when the previous Alderman, her husband Dan Kirner, died while in office.

I ran on the premise that I’d do something. I didn’t win.  Kirner was elected to a full term.  She did something  — she hoarded $625K in capital improvement money rather than, you know, make needed capital improvements in the ward.

Alderman Dorothy Kirner incurred the anger of a neighborhood group when she approved a repaving package for her ward that includes $21,600 to repave two blocks in front of her house.

The allocation is part of $409,600 in capital spending she signed off on recently to repave parts of 12 streets in her 25th Ward.

Chris Wintrode of the West Dutchtown Neighborhood Association said there’s more pressing needs and that she didn’t obtain comment from the residents, some of whom have other concerns.

“The issue’s not that Alderwoman Kirner has no authority to spend money in the account. It’s that she’s secretly spending taxpayer money less than a month before she leaves office resurfacing the road in front of her house,” Wintrode said.

The repaving money came from a $624,469 reserve built up from 25th Ward capital money not spent for several years. Kirner is free to allocate it as long as it is spent on public property or a public right-of-way.  (source: Suburban Journal on 4/7/09)

So Kirner hoarded $625K over her four years in office and then spent 2/3 of it in her final month.  Why wait until you are a lame duck?

I should note that some money was spent in her four years.  Streets were repaved.  Beautiful brick alleys were covered in asphalt.  Sidewalk repairs were made.  Dumpsters were replaced.  But six hundred twenty-five grand was not spent.  Amazing!

The Dutchtown West Neighborhood Association has listed all 28 wards in both numerical order and in money unspent (link).  As of December 2008, the 25th’s $624,469 placed it second to the 1st ward with $745,617 in unspent money.  On the other end of the scale the 18th & 24th wards have fully exhausted their allotments.  The city’s fiscal year ends on June 30th.

The city’s 1st ward is located on the Northside and includes the intersection of Kingshighway & Natural Bridge.

The total unspent funds was nearly $5.5 million!  Are these wards so perfect we have no projects worth doing?  Aldermen too afraid of Eliot Davis questioning the use of the money allocated for capital improvements?

The city could certainly benefit from $5+ million in capital improvements.  I can think of many things likely needed in these wards with stockpiles of money.  Bike racks, street trees and ADA curb ramps come to mind.  Street furnishings like trash receptacles and benches are also good projects, in the right spots.  Parks always need improving as well.

Will She Or Won’t She?

Yesterday I updated my St Louis Municipal Elections Spring 2009 page with all the candidates that have filed for office as of the last date published by the St Louis Board of Election Commissioners, 11/25/08. I’ve added a few additional names to the list for those that I’ve read are running but did not file as of the date of the last list.

In 2009 we will elect Mayor, Comptroller and Aldermen for the 14 odd-numbered wards for a total of 16 races. Based on filed and announced candidates, only four of those are contested at this point. The remaining 12 face no opposition.Talk about apathy of voters all you want but it is the apathy of citizens to seek office that gets me. Anytime I talk about term limits someone always says to just elect someone else. Sure that sounds good, but when your ballot only has a single candidate for a race that is rather hard to do.

No candidate, even if I like them, should be elected to office due to the lack of an opponent. People tell me they’ve thought about running but the incumbents bank account intimidates them – keeping them out of the race. Term limits are an effective way to open races up periodically. I think we need term limits for all city offices set at three 4-year terms. This will give a person plenty of time to accomplish their agenda, retains institutional memory but open up races so that voters will have a choice of candidates. I had previously said the limit should be 8 years but 12 may be a better compromise.

A 3-term limit in effect today would prevent seven incumbents from running for the same office in 2009: Darlene Green, Greg Carter, April Ford Griffin, Joe Roddy, Phyllis Young, Matt Villa and Fred Wessels. For Young & Wessels, 2009 marks 24 years in office – they are both going for their 7th terms! Some of you reading this site were not event born when they were first elected to office. When was the last time they had an opponent? Asked another way, when was the last time voters in their wards had an option to elect someone else?

In the 23rd Ward we have a 4-way race so far. If Francis Slay had not stepped up the political ladder he’d be the only person in that race. If the incumbent, Kathleen Hanrahan, was running again we most likely would not see any of the current four that are running in the race.

In the 25th, my previous ward, everyone is wondering if Dorothy Kirner will run for a second full term. Kirner defeated me 55.9%-44.1% in 2005 after she won a 2004 special election to fill a vacancy when her husband, Ald Daniel Kirner, passed away. Filing remains open until January 2, 2009. Angie Singler, whom I’ve endorsed, was the second person to file for any race when the filing opened on 11/24/08. As such her name will be first on the ballot in the 25th Ward race. Shane Cohn, who I also know, has declared himself a candidate. If Kirner signals to others before filing closes that she is not going to run again I think we will see more candidates in this race – others may just be sitting on the sidelines patiently waiting their turn.

The next few months are going to be interesting.