Sunday Poll: Should Future School Board Members Be Appointed Or Elected?

January 21, 2018 Education, Featured, Sunday Poll Comments Off

For more than a decade we’ve elected members to the local school board, but it has been 3 appointed members of a special administrative board working to win back accreditation for the St. Louis Public Schools.

The city’s elected school board has not been in control of the district since 2007, when the state stripped the St. Louis Public Schools of its accreditation, declared it a transitional school district and replaced the elected board with the three-member appointed Special Administrative Board.

The move was not intended to be permanent. When the district regained its accreditation last January, that signaled to state and district leaders that it was time to think about a transition away from the Special Administrative Board. (Post-Dispatch)

This is the topic of today’s poll:

This poll will close at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Will Our Homicide Rate Be Less Than In 2017?

January 14, 2018 Crime, Featured, Sunday Poll Comments Off

St. Louis had a record year in 2017, just not the type of record cities like: homicides.The St. Louis Police had complied statistics as of December 19, 2017.

Number of homicides:

2013: 120
2014: 159
2015: 188
2016: 188
2017: 199

Before the year was out a new chief was named and the total surpassed 200:

The homicide number for 2017 for the city of St. Louis is now standing at 203, the highest it’s ever been in more than 20 years.

The last time St. Louis had more than 200 homicides was back in 1995 when the number was 204.

The number is setting off alarms at City Hall and police headquarters, the President of the St. Louis Board of Alderman says the city is losing a population of youth to the violence. (KMOV)

So today’s poll is about homicides this year, 2018. Do you think a new chief with a new strategy will lower the rate, or will it be business as usual in tough neighborhoods?

This poll will close at 8pm, results and my thoughts on Wednesday.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Agree or Disagree With AG’s Decision on Marijuana Legalization?

January 7, 2018 Featured, Sunday Poll Comments Off

On Thursday last week U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions ended a 2013 rule allowing federal prosecutors to ignore violations of federal marijuana laws, as long as state laws permit the activity.

The Department of Justice today issued a memo on federal marijuana enforcement policy announcing a return to the rule of law and the rescission of previous guidance documents. Since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in 1970, Congress has generally prohibited the cultivation, distribution, and possession of marijuana.

In the memorandum, Attorney General Jeff Sessions directs all U.S. Attorneys to enforce the laws enacted by Congress and to follow well-established principles when pursuing prosecutions related to marijuana activities. This return to the rule of law is also a return of trust and local control to federal prosecutors who know where and how to deploy Justice Department resources most effectively to reduce violent crime, stem the tide of the drug crisis, and dismantle criminal gangs.

“It is the mission of the Department of Justice to enforce the laws of the United States, and the previous issuance of guidance undermines the rule of law and the ability of our local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to carry out this mission,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “Therefore, today’s memo on federal marijuana enforcement simply directs all U.S. Attorneys to use previously established prosecutorial principles that provide them all the necessary tools to disrupt criminal organizations, tackle the growing drug crisis, and thwart violent crime across our country.” (Department of Justice)

You can read the memo here. This return to enforcing existing controlled substance laws is the subject of today’s non-scientific poll.

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should Parking Stay Within The Treasurer’s Office?

December 31, 2017 Downtown, Featured, Politics/Policy, Sunday Poll Comments Off

When St. Louis voted itself out of St. Louis County in 1876 it became an “independent city” with city & county elected offices. In the years since this has produced conflicts as “county” office holders are elected independently and don’t answer to the mayor or aldermen. Sometimes lawsuits are filed.

A lawsuit that’s been moving steadily through the courts since January questions whether the Parking Commission of St. Louis should even exist under Missouri’s constitution. In August, a member of that commission — Jeffrey Boyd, who heads the board’s streets, traffic and refuse committee — became a plaintiff suing the state and the city. Another plaintiff in the suit is James J. Wilson, the former city counselor under Mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl Jr. (Post-Dispatch)

The court case ix 1722-CC00338 – JAMES WILSON ET AL V CITY OF ST LOUIS ET AL (E-CASE). It can be found on Missouri Case.net. This bags the question about who should be in charge of parking and the revenues it generates?

Here is the last non-scientific poll of 2017;

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson

A Review of Posts From 2017

December 29, 2017 Featured, Site Info Comments Off

This is the next to last post for 2017. Including a new poll on Sunday, I will have posted 190 times this year. Today I’ve listed a quarter of these — from each month — as my favorite posts for 2017. The reasons why I selected each vary, but I think they represent why I continue writing this blog — now in its 14th year.