Urban Review STL

steve January 6th, 2009

Besides our average Alderman having been in office for 12 years, we have too many.  There has been talk about cutting the current number of 28 in half for years.  Such a proposal was rejected by St. Louis voters in November 2004.  It is time to revisit the issue.

To evaluate where St. Louis stood I turned to my friend Rob Ryan.  Ryan is a recent SLU alumni, an employee at RegionWise and a consult along with Mark Baum at Baum & Ryan.

Here is what we know based on what he gathered.  St. Louis is #1 or #2 in having representatives representing the fewest number of residents or percent of the population, respectively.

Ryan’s notes on each of the above cities:

St. Louis: The Board of Aldermen is made up of 28 members (one elected from each of the city’s wards) plus a board president who is elected city-wide

Cleveland: The number of council members has decreased over the years. In 1885 there were 50 council members, by the 1960s there were 33, in 1981 Cleveland voters approved reducing council to 21 members, and today there is debate about further reductions (some suggest as few as seven members

Pittsburgh: City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts

Milwaukee:  The mayor oversees a Common Council of elected members, each representing one of 15 districts in the city

Baltimore: The Baltimore City Council is now made up of 14 single member districts and one elected at-large council president

Denver: elected from 11 districts with two at-large council-members

Chicago: one elected from each ward

Kansas City: one member for each district, plus one at large member per district

Memphis: six elected at large from throughout the city and seven elected from geographic districts

New Orleans: The city council consists of five council members who are elected by district and two at-large council members

Cincinnati: members are elected at large

Detroit: city government is run by a mayor and nine-member city council and clerk elected on an at-large nonpartisan ballot

All info on government structure was taken from wikipedia, 2000 pops from factfinder.census.gov

A couple of my unsolicited observations; Out of my non-scientific sample, St. Louis has the lowest population per representative Cleveland is 2nd, but they have been reducing the number of districts for the past several decades St. Louis drops to #2 when you rank by percent of total population per representative, behind Chicago. This really confirms the argument that St. Louis is a lot like Chicago in its collection of semi-independent machine-style fiefdoms. Neither city have any meaningful number of at-large representative positions and both have a bunch of aldermen representing less than 5% of the city’s population

Clearly our current number of representatives is not in line with many other cites.  We had 28 wards when our city had half a million more people than we had as of the 2000 census.  What is the magic number?  Looking at the above I’d say cutting out half isn’t enough.  Our current system is broken and does need fixing.  I don’t expect the current Aldermen to eliminate their own jobs.  We must do it for them.

The question is how do we get it done?  I’m not overly concerned about collecting signatures.  The big question is do we have some reps from districts and some at large?  How do we want to restructure our city charter for the 21st Century?

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steve January 5th, 2009

This year we elect half the Board of Aldermen, from odd numbered wards (1,3,5…). In 2011 we elect the other half (2,4,6…).  If you live in an even numbered ward and think you can do a better job than the incumbent then start making plans now.

Here are some steps you need to take now so that two years from now you are in a good position:

• Make contact with leaders of all the neighborhoods within your ward.  Be known to them.  Participate in online neighborhood groups.
• Start a ward or neighborhood blog to discuss issues and network.  Improve the level of dialog.
• Follow the legislation of the incumbent closely.  Review past legislation.  Monitor their campaign finance reports.
• Volunteer with a campaign in an odd numbered ward between today and March 3, 2009.  This will give you valuable experience if you yourself decide to run in 2011/2013/2015.
• Decide what political party most closely aligns with your views.  Determine if you should run from that party or as an independent. If from a party join that party’s ward committee.
• Be cautious about who trust with your intentions.

Even if you don’t end up running you will have been a more active and engaged citizen for two years.  Along the way you will make new friends that could become a campain treasurer, a donor, volunteer, etc…

Don’t sit out this political season just because your ward isn’t electing an alderman.

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steve January 4th, 2009

Early last month I announced I was giving away my two tickets to St. Louis’ 2009 Inaugural Ball at City Hall to be held Tuesday January 20, 2009.  The entry deadline was 5pm Friday 1/2/09.

I ended up with 30 entries.  As the entries came in I entered them into a spreadsheet in the order received.  In the next column I entered a number from a website that generates random numbers.  I then sorted by the random number (descending).  I then entered in a new column numbers from 1 to 30 .    With the entries randomized and each assigned a number between 1-30 I emailed Alderwoman Kacie Starr Triplett, one of the organizers, and asked her to select the winning number in that range.  She picked “6″ for the 6th Ward.

The lucky winner is Kim Hughes. Congratulations!  I’ve contacted Kim to let her know.   Ald Triplett has the winner’s information and will ensure she receives the tickets.

As I said before, I have class that evening, I can’t tie a tie and my typical bedtime is now before 9pm.  So I figured someone else should enjoy the ball.  One request — send pictures.

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steve January 3rd, 2009

On the 1st I finally got motivated to install a special iPhone plug-in for this blog.  I had uploaded it to my server a couple of months ago but I never activated it.   But after Antonio French activated the same plug-in on PubDef.net I suddenly became more motivated, activating mine within an hour of him doing so.  It was easy and I encountered no problems so I wish I had done it months ago.

The main view above shows the most recent post on top with the number of comments shown in the red circle.  Clicking the arrow next to each post will show you an excerpt.  Clicking on the post will show you the full post (including pictures).

Selecting menu will give you many choices:

As you can see, numerous pages can be viewed on the iPhone.  Links and the full archives can easily be found.  Recent photos from my Flickr account can also be viewed.  A quick email link to me is at the bottom.

Within a post you can read comments or even add a comment.  This new layout detects those who are using an iPhone or iPod touch and displays automatically.  Those wishing to view the regular site have that option by scrolling down to the bottom and selecting ‘regular view’.

The iPhone has certainly transformed my life.  I’m better connected than before but I now spend less time in front of my desktop computer.  The iPod Touch gives you the same layout when accessing the site via a wi-fi network.

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steve January 2nd, 2009

I spent the last 45 minutes of the filing period at the St. Louis Board of Elections offices on Tucker at Olive.  It was interesting.  The big news as indicated by my prior post is that Maida Coleman didn’t file as a Democrat as was expected.  Instead she announced she would be collecting signatures to be placed on the April general ballot.

Coleman felt the surprise entry of another Coleman in the Democratic primary was an effort to keep her from mounting a serious challenge to Francis Slay.  The room was packed with reporters. As Maida Coleman entered the room she came straight to me and gave me a hug and peck on the cheek.  She was my State Senator for many years.

Maida Coleman, in April as an independent, will face three candidates for Mayor — the winner of the 3-way Democratic primary, the winner of the 2-way Green primary and a Libertarian.  A 4-way general election in the City of St. Louis!

Twelve of the 14 Aldermanic seats up this year are contested either in the March primary or April general.  Only Roddy (17th Ward) and Carter (27th Ward) escaped any opponent.  The Green party, besides having two candidates running for Mayor, have candidates in 5 of the 14 Aldermanic seats.  A Republican is challenging Matt Villa in the 11th Ward.

As announced, Antonio French, a friend & fellow blogger, filed for Alderman in the 21st Ward.  Jay Swoboda, however, didn’t file in the 9th.  The 23rd ward, where the incumbent is not running, has 7 Democrats who are. My old ward, the 25th, where I ran four years ago, has a 4-way race.  Angie Singler announced back in October when it was thought the incumbent Dorothy Kirner would seek another term.  Singler filed on the day filing opened.  Today three additional candidates filed.

The March primary and April general will both be interesting!  The Board of Elections has an updated list here and I’ve updated my page here.

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steve January 2nd, 2009

Another Coleman has filed. Maida Coleman will file as Independent in February.

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steve January 2nd, 2009

As expected, Elston McCowen has announced his intentions to run for Mayor from the Green Party. This will ensure that we all have a reason to return to the polls in April 2009 for the general election.  For more information see mccowan4mayor.com.   Term limited State Senator Maida Coleman is also expected to file today for the city’s top job.

Jay Swoboda announced his intentions to run for 9th Ward Alderman in a comment on this site.  Incumbent Ken Ortmann is known for being the only Alderman out of 28 that refuses to even accept communications via email.  The link from the 9th Ward page to email Ortmann simply says, “This alderman prefers not to be contacted via email.”  Nice.  Sorry but my courier pigeon has gotten tired.  My quill pen has run dry.  When Ortmann was first elected in 1999 did he say things like “I refuse to accept faxes.”  Do we need any stronger symbol of being completely out of touch?  Swoboda’s campaign website is here.

Blogger & political consultant Antonio French has announced on PubDef, Facebook & Twitter he is running for Alderman in the 21st Ward against incumbent Bennice Jones-King.  French was elected to the position of Democratic Committeeman in the ward in the Missouri primary last August.

I’m keeping a list of all candidates in the Spring 2009 election here.  Others may have filed but the most recent list from the Board of Elections is from November 25th.  They have failed us by not updating the list to reflect newer filings.  I assume others have filed in the last five weeks?  I have emailed them requesting a newer list but received no response.  I stopped by their offices on Monday but they couldn’t find an updated list.  I left my card asking for a list to be emailed or faxed.  Nothing.  They were busy getting new carpet installed during the last week to file for office.  Brilliant timing!

Congrats to those who have filed or who will file today!

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steve January 1st, 2009

Traffic increased substantially in 2008.  Not on the roads but here at UrbanReviewSTL.com.

In 2005, my first full year, traffic was a few hundred thousand page views.  In 2006 it reached 1.2 million pages.  Incredible!  For 2007 it shot up to 3.4 million page views.  And 2008?  An amazing 9.4 million page views!

Page views, 2005-2008

I’m targeting 25 million page views for 2009.  I’m also predicting/hoping more local businesses will see the value of advertising on local sites such as UrbanReviewSTL.

Thank you to everyone for reading UrbanReviewSTL.  May you all have a spectacular 2009!   - Steve Patterson

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steve December 31st, 2008

2008 was not a good year, especially for me personally.  2008 did have some great moments though.

About two hours into2008 my father passed away.  He had taken ill in December 2007 and was in the hospital.  I was staying at my brother’s house in Oklahoma City when the call came from the hospital for us to get there - he had “coded.”  Coincidentally, this was the same hospital where this brother was born in December 1959.  My mom passed away 18 months before my Dad, in June 2006.   I’ve written posts saying goodbye to my mom & dad.

So now I start off 2008 at age 40 with no parents.

A week later friend of a friend needed a ride to Rhode Island to start a new teaching job.  She had just bought my friend’s used car but she was still learning to drive a stick and she wasn’t comfortable driving that distance in an automatic car much less a manual.  The drive up was great — we got to know each other on the road.  She is a black female in her 50s - a native of St Louis.  She is a Harvard PhD (undergrad too). She was a Hillery supporter, I was for Obama.  We left St Louis early in the morning of Monday the 14th.

When we arrived at our destination the following afternoon, I left her and her car at her new apartment in Bristol, R.I. (map), just south of Providence.  From that point I became a transit user.  I caught the bus a block from her new place that took me to downtown Providence (map).  After a night in Providence I took the train up to Boston.

Boston was a great experience.  It was cold out but the sidewalks & subway were teaming with people.

I flew back to St Louis arriving back at my place around 1:30am on the 18th - less than four days after leaving.  From the airport I was on the final MetroLink train.  But as we were heading back to the city the conductor announces the last stop would be Grand.  Realizing I did not want to be at the Grand stop after midnight, tired with luggage, I got off at the CWE stop and called a taxi to take me home.

The trip was certainly a good distraction from the loss of my father.

Back home I jumped right back into my life by attending a charrette in Old North St Louis on the 19th.  It was cold but I rode my scooter to get there - I didn’t own a car so my choices were few.

On Tuesday the 22nd I started the semester at Saint Louis University.

The following week started off normally enough — Gateway Mall press conference, Preservation Board meeting, Marine Villa neighborhood meeting watching residents elect new officers, and a hearing at City Hall on the morning of the 31st.  On the 24th I finally got an iPhone - the price had come down and AT&T now offered business accounts.

An Aunt of mine, wife of one of my Dad’s brothers, died in Texas on the 27th of January.

I had a real estate closing scheduled for the 31st at noon but there was a delay on the Buyer’s side — I had the Seller’s side of the deal.  That night it snowed.

The morning of Friday February 1st I snapped a few pictures of the snow from my balcony and from the roof.  I discussed having dinner with a friend.  I continued my email conversation with my friend Richard Kenney in Seattle about wanting to find a good spot at Bellefontaine Cemetery for when my time was up.  Then, around 5pm, it happened - a hemorrhagic stroke.  I’ll save the details for the anniversary of the stroke but basically I didn’t think I would survive — and I nearly did not.

I spent February 2nd - April 30th in three hospitals.  My recovery has been amazing.  I’m probably 65% at this point.  I’ll probably be at 95% in a year or so.

I started driving again in July and I bought my first tank of gas for my newly purchased car on July 14 — the day St Louis gas prices peaked.

In August I resumed work on my Masters degree at Saint Louis University.  I’m past the halfway point and I expect to graduate on December 11, 2009.

The economy took a nosedive in 2008. Foreclosures rose sharply as did the list of unemployed.

In November the country impressed me by electing Barack Obama to be President.  We’ll see how well he does.  Some are naturally upset by some of his choices for his cabinet.

Going into 2009 I’m optimistic about my own future and that of our city, state, country and world.  I’m in a better mindset than I was a year ago.

Thank you to all of you for your continued support in 2008.  Peace. - Steve

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steve December 30th, 2008

I know from my reader survey that nearly 10% of you are 18-24 years old.  I also know from the Board of Aldermen Seniority List (PDF) that Phyllis Young and Fred Wessels have been Aldermen your entire lives.  All through your period in diapers, kindergarten, grade school, those awkward teen years, and college.  Both are up for re-election next Spring.  The filing deadline for candidates is 5pm Friday.

Others are not far behind.  In my view the majority of them need to step aside at this or the 2011 election cycle (depending upon if they are from odd or even numbered ward).  They are dead weight holding the city back, keeping an entire generation from participating.  It really is very selfish of them.

In 2009/10 I’ll be working on a ballot initiative to get term limits for city offices.  I know many of you say “just vote them out.”  That is fine assuming they have a challenger.  I’ve also heard people say without institutional memory the lobbyists take over.  I hate to tell you this, but these aldermen have been buddies with the same lobbyists for decades now.  Decades!  If these selfish folks won’t step aside on their own we need a mechanism to do it for them.

The other high priority is reducing the number of Aldermen from the current 28.  Some say half - 14.  I’m thinking even less, like 9 or 10.

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