Ald. Florida Calls Urban Review a “Stupid Blog”

Yes, in today’s Post-Dispatch Ald. Florida says, “It took me half an hour to find his stupid blog.” Stupid? Even those that often disagree with my views would most likely not characterize this site as stupid — as in “lacking intelligence or common sense” per one dictionary I consulted. I won’t even comment on taking a half hour to find my blog…

What I think Ald. Florida, and so many other elected officials find frustrating, is they no longer control the flow of information. In the old days, they’d go to neighborhood meetings and tell people A) as little as possible and B) what they wanted to hear. Few citizens would talk to each other about a proposal so even if some thought a plan was a bad idea they had no clue if they were the only ones that felt that way. If they thought it was bad they were not sure how to go about changing or stopping a proposal. Neighborhood newsletters did little to change things because by the time word got around the deals were done. Email had a big impact but only if you had a good list of contacts or an active listserve. A searchable website, on the other hand, is perfect for communicating to the masses. I have more readers each month than an alderman has total constituents.

Society today is increasingly interested in urbanity. Many are realizing the “suburban experiment” is nearly over and an urban existence is the way to go. My site and others provides a timely forum for discussion and debate of these relevant issues. Again, our elected officials are basically left out of the discussion because they continue to hold on to the way things were done when they were first elected. Many are a good two decades behind the times.

On the issue of the McDonald’s, as quoted in today’s paper:

“I really don’t know what I could have done differently,” Florida said. “I attend to the ward as if it were my own child.”

Really? Now what could she have done differently? Well, she could have started with telling Pyramid & McDonald’s that drive-thrus are against the redevelopment plan for South Grand from Utah down to Meremec and held firm that any such facilities would need to be limited to physical locations that have already had them. In other words, the bulk of the area has never had drive-thru restaurants and that should be enforced. She didn’t do that.

Ald. Florida will correctly argue this is a “private land swap” and they could do the deal without her. While it is true they could exchange real estate the problem with her logic in this case is the variance needed for the drive-thru. At the hearing in February Ald. Florida acted pretty much as the project’s spokesperson in full support of the variance over the objections of many residents that will be directly impacted. So, once again Ald. Florida had another chance to do something different — oppose the variance request rather than enthusiastically support it.

If she attends to the ward like her own child then it is clear she’ll sell out all the neighbor kids to make her own kid happy in the short term. She is even quoted as saying, “”Patterson went after my children,” which is pretty humorous considering they were the ones that came after me on my site (read post).

Ald. Florida has simply dug in her heals on this one, not wanting to consider the many alternative solutions offered by myself and others (see alternates). When Ald. Craig Schmid, who represents the bulk of the residents that will be affected by the relocation spoke against it, she voted against another bill that she was co-sponsoring with Schmid. Voting against legislation you co-sponsor over a disagreement on another issue is simply petty. Is this how we want our elected officials conducting business on our behalf?

The flap could ultimately cost Florida her job, as opponents galvanized by the McDonald’s debate move forward with a push to remove her from office.

This may well happen. Ald. Florida wants to blame me but she really has only herself to blame. I didn’t tell Gravois Park residents the McDonald’s would not be located on the former Sears site all the while planning for just that. I didn’t conceal drawings for the site plan at a Dutchtown meeting two days prior to the public hearing. I didn’t speak at public hearings over the wishes of the residents. I didn’t sponsor legislation to effectively spot zone the parcel to remove the no drive-thru clause from the redevelopment plan nor did I think it was OK to place a drive-thru on land acquired using federal tax dollars. I didn’t take the maximum contributions allowed from the officers of developer Pyramid Companies. Ald. Florida’s actions on the McDonald’s and other issues over the last five years have gotten her exactly where she is today, in the midst of a recall campaign. It is unfortunate that citizens have been forced to take such drastic measures to have a sense of checks and balances.

You see, in our municipal government we don’t have checks and balances. The other aldermen simply “defer” to the wishes of a singular aldermen when it comes to development issues. The will of one person often rules. Ald. Florida is attempting to say this issue is out of her hands. Interesting viewpoint since she has lobbied hard to get the necessary variance for the drive-thru and most likely will do so again on June 21, 2006 when the Board of Adjustment meets again on this issue (1:30pm, room 208 City Hall). I seriously doubt she’ll walk into that hearing and say she is withdrawing her support given all the information that has surfaced.

The McDonald’s is among several local stores operated by Jim Proctor, who says the move is necessary to build a new restaurant with an updated design.

I just love how these folks try to twist the truth around. Moving the franchise is not necessary to build a new restaurant. They’ve got a site. It may need to be re-graded and perhaps have a retaining wall added to achieve what they want. But to say they must move or close is false and is simply a tactic to get myself and others to capitulate. Since 1996 it has been recognized the area was blighted and it is the many auto-centric establishments that has made it so. We should not allow drive-thru restaurants to establish themselves anywhere they happen to buy land. Allowing them to locate anywhere is far to dangerous for the health of the street yet forcing them to leave is too harsh. The reasonable middle ground is to allow them to rebuild on their current sites.

Florida’s dilemma highlights the city’s shifting political landscape.

The landscape has changed. Myself and other citizens are tired of the status quo and some are not willing to wait until the next election cycle to take action. We are a city. We should look and act like a city. If the folks in office currently are not willing to work with those of us they are supposed to represent then we will simply replace each and every one. My role, as an urbanist, is to highlight the various issues and illustrate how politics is getting in the way of good urbanism. The tired tradition of aldermanic courtesy is not more important than the physical rebuilding and subsequent re-population of our city. Those in office & administrative jobs need to either adapt or get out of our way.

– Steve