Big & Small Changes at City Hall

As you probably already know: Jim Shrewsbury is out as President of the Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed will be the next to hold that city-wide office.  Besides the obvious, we’ll see new staff in the President’s office.  I want to wish Mr. Shrewsbury and his out-going staff best wishes.  To Reed and his incoming staff, I want to wish you the best as well — the city has many issues facing it and we all need to get on or near the same page to move forward.  And yes, you’ll hear from me often about what I think it takes to move forward.

Kacie Starr Triplett worked her way to the top of a 3-way race to replace Lewis Reed as 6th ward alderman.  Some said he was too young, others said she was not next in line.   On the campaign trail, she proved how tenacious she can be.  Although I endorsed 3rd place Christian Saller I am content that voters selected Triplett over Cacchione.

Craig Schmid will be returned to the Board of Aldermen for another four years after defeating challenger Galen Gondolfi in one of the most heated races this season.  Schmid needs to take this election as a wake-up call and to be a bit more open minded about alternate approaches to problems in the ward.  Schmid was a Shrewsbury supporter so we will see how he does with committee assignments under Reed’s leadership.

Republican Fred Heitert easily defeated ex-cop Matthew Browning in the 12th ward but now faces a challenger in the general election.  Will this seat go Democrat for the first time in a generation?

In the 4th Ward incumbent OL Shelton was sent packing in big numbers, receiving less than 30% of the vote.  Shelton was just elected in the summer of 2005 after the previous alderman was recalled.  We’ll see if newly elected alderman Sam Moore will have any better luck bringing the factions together in this ward.

Two other northside aldermen, Boyd (22nd) and Williamson (26th) soundly defeated their repeat rivals.  In the 24th former alderman Tom Bauer was again defeated by voters although he managed more than 40% of the vote.  Bill Waterhouse, the winner, was also a Shrewsbury supporter.
I stopped by the Reed HQ just as License Collector Mike McMillan was about to announce Reed had won the race.  Most certainly, the mood was very upbeat.  I didn’t make it to the Shrewsbury event and by the time I was ready to head there I had already heard the news he had lost so I figured the crowd would quickly disappait.
Now begins that period where we will see if Reed’s actions match his words.  The first test will be to see if he is less vindictive than he claimed Shrewsbury to be.  That is, how will aldermen such as Wessels, Villa, Young, Ortmann, Jones-King and others who backed Shrewsbury be treated?  What about those that sat on the fence, such as Dorothy Kirner?

An Open Letter to 20th Ward Residents [Updated]

The 20th Ward is diverse in so many respects, including race. Besides punishing Ald. Craig Schmid, the last redistricting was intended to create a black south side ward yet no black person has filed for the seat. Some say this is a sign blacks are content with representation from Schmid, a claim I can neither substantiate or refute.

What is without question, the aldermanic contest between incumbent Ald. Craig Schmid and Cherokee St. resident Galen Gondolfi has illustrated a major rift among the ward’s residents. Schmid has failed over the years to bring into the fold the more progressive residents. If Gondolfi wins, I think he will have issues bringing in the more conservative based of Schmid. In other words, I see the rift continuing regardless of who wins the race today.

Schmid represents the the “broken window” theory whereby you address all the small issues such as trash and broken windows which will then lead to less crime. This is a very valid approach to addressing problems but it falls short on the revitalization side. Conversely, it is a challenge to revitalze an area without employing some of the broken window strategy.

Many have tried to dismiss Gondolfi as only caring about his own personal interest of selling one of his buildings to Steve Smith, helping him get a liquor license along the way. I believe Gondolfi is approaching this from a broader perspective — what do we do with the many corner storefront properties throughout the 20th ward (and city) that are vacant or underutilized. Furthermore, what is the long-term future for commercial corridors such as Cherokee Street.

Regardless of who wins the election today, the issue of revitalizing the city’s commercial districts is a critical issue all over the city. Numerous wards have similar bans on new liquor licenses, the 20th is not alone in this issue. The conflict between long-term residents and newbies will only increase as we attract new people to our neighborhoods. Collectively we must find a way to work together.

My personal belief is we need to think less about boundaries — ward or neighborhood — and focus on commercial districts serving adjacent residents. We need to embrace diversity in terms of old & new buildings, large houses next to small flats, the staid next to the eclectic. You know, a real city. This will require all of us to look at the city through the eyes of others for whom we may not always agree. Our divisive perspectives are not serving ourselves or our city.

Again, regardless of who wins the race in the 20th (or the other races for that matter), we have considerable work to do. We need leadership to build concensus around the future of the city.

UPDATE 3/6/07 – 8:45pm

The five precints are in and Schmid has won another four years in office with 376 votes (55.46%)  to Gondolfi’s 301 votes (44.40%).  Given the ward’s 5,403 registered voters this is clearly not a mandate for either candidate.  Schmid’s challenge now will be to bridge the divide in the ward.

My Endorsement for President of the Board of Aldermen

Regular readers know that I love incumbents to be challenged — nothing worse than someone getting elected for a four-year term simply due to the lack of a challenger. I’m also fond of giving the new guy a chance, especially if the incumbent has been in that office a while. So where am I on the race for President of the Board of Aldermen? I’m not a huge booster of incumbent Jim Shrewsbury but I am opposed to Lewis Reed. Let me explain.

I’m going to go right for big issue — race! I personally don’t vote on race and would hope that nobody does. Sadly, the reality is that white & black voters alike do too often vote on race. And candidates on both sides can sometimes use that to their advantage. From PubDef this morning:

Reed is trying to become the first African-American ever elected President of the Board of Aldermen and the first black to unseat a white incumbent in a citywide election in 25 years.

Funny, I thought Reed was trying to become a better President of the Board of Aldermen? I’ve seen similiar statements elsewhere which makes the campaign about race, not city-wide issues. From the St. Louis American on January 3rd:

If Reed beats Shrewsbury on March 6, he and Green would form an African-American majority on E & A. This would be the second time in the city’s history that blacks formed a majority on the city’s chief fiscal board. From 1993 to 1997, Bosley was mayor and Virvus Jones was the city’s first black comptroller.

I may be an exception, but I really don’t care what the race is of my elected officials as long as they are representing the interests of the city. However, I have commented that our elected officials are not fully representative as we do not have any asian or latino representation as well as many of the other ethnicities that make up our population. Everything is black vs. white.

For a number of years now we’ve had a white majority on E&A with Slay & Shrewsbury but that has seemed to make little difference in the final outcome of votes. All three have shown a willingness to vote with or against the others as it should be. Shrewsbury has twice ran for Comptroller against black candidates and lost.
At some point our city must address the issue of race. A city-wide election between a white candidate and a black candidate is not the time to do that. Mayor Slay needs to pick a non-election year and hold some on-going forums to hash out issues and concerns over race. During the election cycle a white candidate simply cannot say the black candidate is taking the black vote for granted and the black candidate can’t help sounding as though the only reason they are running is to shift racial power at city hall.

Both Jim Shrewsbury and Lewis Reed have supporters on their sides that gives me reason to doubt both. Shrewsbury has some of the white good-ole-boy network in his corner while Reed has both black & white political insiders in his corner. Jennifer ‘Drive-Thru’ Florida’s early backing of Reed turned me off right away. Ald. Phyllis ‘Raze Bohemien Hill’ Young supporting Shrewsbury is equally offensive. There are some people, elected & non-elected, backing each candidate that I like and respect so this does little to help in a decision.

Both candidates are political creatures.  Shrewsbury has been in the game longer than Reed giving him some more experience, quite possibly a bad thing.  Shrewsbury as the incumbent came into the race with a huge advantage — only needing to prove why he should remain.  Reed’s task became having to prove why we should dump Shrewsbury and select him, no easy thing to do.  As a result, his campaign has gone to the negative side while Shrewsbury has had the comfort of taking the high road in most cases.

St. Louis Oracle, on his site, had an interesting post about role reversal in this contest, concluding with:

So, in this classic match up, the slick black dude is the proponent of Big Business, tax cuts for the rich, and “trickle-down” economics, while the little nerdy white guy is the true representative of ordinary people. Go figure.

Oracle has also endorsed Shrewsbury, here is a quote from his endorsement:

Shrewsbury is a principled, matter-of-fact, no-nonsense guy who doesn’t “showboat” to the media. Reed has criticized Shrewsbury’s lack of “vision,” without really saying what that means. The contrast is reminiscent of that between Former Mayor Vince Schoemehl and Former County Executive Gene McNary. In describing their joint efforts for the region in the 1980s, Schoemehl explained that McNary “sold the steak,” while Schoemehl “sold the sizzle.” Notably, sizzle-selling Schoemehl’s ward organization backs Reed. But the “vision” thing doesn’t resonate with me. If “vision” means new proposals and new ideas, let’s see them! Reed offers hardly any specifics. The appeal seems to be an attempt to tap into the “style over substance” trend that is infecting society. I don’t buy it.

My reality is that I don’t have high expectations for the issues that matter to me, such as a new zoning code, to be any different regardless of who wins.  However, I think I have a better chance of getting Jim Shrewsbury to listen and be responsive.  He may not look it, but in many respects he is quite progressive minded.  Reed simply has not impressed me to this point and I have no incentive to elect a black man to the position just for the sake of doing so.  Tomorrow vote to re-elect Jim Shrewsbury.

Reads on Highways, Pedicabs, High Rises, Parking and Christian Clubs

Like many of you, I read so many things each week of interest. I wish I had the time to share & comment on each with you. Because so many are relevant to St. Louis, I may look at doing a weekly post with links of interest sans my comments. Here are a few articles along with quotes from each:
Mega Highway in Phoenix

A plan to widen part of Interstate 10 in metropolitan Phoenix from 14 lanes to 24 is the USA’s latest giant superhighway proposal designed to ease the kind of gridlock that some planners say could stunt economic growth.

For a 2-mile stretch between U.S. 60 in Tempe and State Route 143, the interstate would have six-general purpose lanes, two carpool lanes and four lanes for local traffic in each direction. Work on the first phase, which planners expect to cost about $550 million, could begin by 2011.

NYC Limits Pedicabs

Chad Marlow, who represents the New York City Pedicab Owners Association, said the association agrees with much of the legislation, but plans to file a lawsuit challenging some elements of it. He said it believes that the Council was within its rights to impose a cap as the city does with taxis, but that the restriction on electric motors and the provision giving the police the power to ban pedicabs from Midtown run afoul of the law.

Building Up In Seattle:

Developers should be able to build taller than current zoning allows if they pay for public amenities such as affordable housing, the Seattle Planning Commission said Tuesday.

Mayor Greg Nickels favors such a plan and is working on so-called incentive zoning proposals for the South Lake Union, Interbay and South Downtown areas. Nickels intends to roll out his proposals in the next year. They would be similar to new downtown building rules Nickels and the City Council approved last year.

Less Parking for Brooklyn Whole Foods:

Whole Foods’ corporate machine beat back a neighborhood green dream team this week, denying a petition from a civic group to shrink its parking lots and put an earth-friendly solar roof on its super-store, now under construction on Third Avenue at Third Street.

The Park Slope Neighbors petition asked the grocer to cut 100 of its planned 420 parking spaces, a move that the group believed would discourage driving and reduce traffic.

And for some local flavor…

Christian Club Locating in Failed Mall:

The Exodus, an all ages nightclub promoting Christian values and family entertainment, will likely open to area residents this fall.

Aldermen approved the final development plans for the community center Wednesday, which will be located within the Mall at Wentzville Crossings that owners Cory and Darian Atkinson purchased last March.

The $2.5 million, 100,000 square-foot nightclub is one of two phases of a non-alcoholic, smoke-free environment that will include a bowling alley, rock-climbing wall, video arcade and possible cinema.

Have a great weekend!

Pre-Election Recap: French & Patterson on KDHX Monday 7pm

St. Louis’ municipal primary is Tuesday so on Monday evening Antonio French of PubDef and myself will be guests on KDHX’s Collateral Damage program hosted by DJ Wilson & Fred Hessel.  Tune into 88.1FM at 7pm on Monday 3/5/07 for discussion of the candidates.