The Twisted Logic of Ald. Florida
The West End Word had a recent article on recalls in the city. One part, about 15th Ward Alderwoman Jennifer Florida, caught my attention:
Florida called the recall effort against her a “terrible distraction,” but said that the effort against her has not affected the way she does her job, other than to force her to spend a bit more money producing newsletters and progress reports to explain her position.
Oh my, she must now communicate with her constituents!!! Oh the humanity. How dare folks “force” her to explain her position. Of course, her position in theory should be based on the feelings of the community. Did she think she could just get elected, not communicate anything, and not have any issues arise?
“There’s a lot of misinformation floating around out there, and I have to address that,” she said. “I’m trying to learn how to explain what I can and cannot do.”
The recall effort against Florida has been based on her support of a plan to move a McDonald’s franchise down the street from an existing location. Florida’s opponents say the move would be illegal, as the zoning for the new location does not allow a drive-thru, which is included in the design.
Florida said that the new location is commercially zoned, adding that there’s not a whole lot she could do to stop the move. “I think they thought I had more power than I actually have,” she said. “It’s just a small group of people who aren’t accepting [the move]. It’s like they’re trying to punish me for not getting exactly what they want.
I think someone needs to look in the mirror before talking about misinformation. Florida continues to downplay her role in the McDonald’s fiasco. After receiving substantial financial contributions from the officers of an entity seeking to profit in the deal, Florida took on an active role of making the project a reality. Her support, nearly to the point of being official spokesperson, did help influence the various boards that granted variances allowing the project to move forward. Had she remained neutral or opposed the drive-thru it most likely would not be happening now.
“I was always told recalls are about malfeasance in office or negligence. The reason why it’s in the charter is to cover corruption [in city politics]. But now it’s about not agreeing with an alderman’s position on an issue.”
I think if an alderman engages in criminal behavior we are not going to go through the recall process to remove them. Most often when a politician is caught with his/her hand in the candy jar or some other offense they typically resign amid charges of wrong doing. The recall process is in the charter to allow citizens to remove an elected representative when that person is no longer representing their interests. I believe that to be the case here and in a number of other recent recall efforts (Bauer, Roddy, & Bosley).
Florida said she suspects the recent rash of recalls stems from the citizens’ frustrations with federal and state politics. Because average citizens have little control over national issues, they instead vent their frustrations on local politicians, she said. “If you’re upset about the war in Iraq, you’re not going to recall President Bush,” she said. “Instead, you go after the people you have more control over.”
Florida can’t really be serious with this line of thinking, can she? She is suggesting that to be actively involved in local civic politics, including disagreeing with elected officials, is simply because we cannot impact issues on a state or federal level. Oh please! What a distorted view of the citizens of St. Louis! If we are not involved we are apathetic. If we are involved but disagree we are simply frustrated with others. How convenient for Ms. Florida to be so dismissive of everyone except those that agree with her. Open dialog about issues is the only way we will progress as a city but our elected officials don’t want dialog. They want status quo.
– Steve
Based on who is getting elected and re-elected, it seems the majority of voters in this country are the ones who want status quo. When we stop accepting this, we will have different. I think that is what concerns me about the recalls – we have to change our behavior before the election.
Steve-
Right you are.
Status quo equals:
29 aldermen.
County/patronage offices maintained in the city.
A democratic machine which demands loyalty.
A weak mayor outvoted by a misunderstood estimate board.
29 mini mayors.
Aldermanic courtesy.
Senior citizens the main check on elected officials.
Having no vote, I remain,
YVA
It is hard to change the status quo, when the media generally has a big hand in covering said “mainstream” candidates. Factor in general apathy towards politics, and the lack of a two, or three party system in STL, and its pretty fucked up.
I still believe that Gambaro should have gotten the balls to run as a republican.
Even though I am not a GOP supporter, we need a two party, or three party system. It is rather upsetting that the democratic party has a stranglehold on the City.
Douglas – It is easy to blame the media. Of course, they have an impact. But, at some point we have to stop blaming other factors and look within. Each of us has SOME time we can offer a candidate we believe in and who might actually be worthy of our vote. Each of us has 1 hour a week we could devote to the candidate we choose to support. We need to stop blaming a long list of other factors because, when it comes right down to it, we DO each make a difference and it all comes down to YOU! and ME!
As Chris Rock said:
“It’s not the media. You think I lock my door at night because the media is outside!”
PS – In fact, this coming weekend is Crunch Weekend for the primary. Pick a candidate you want to support. Call their campaign office. Ask them what they need this weekend. Set aside ONE hour of your time this weekend and give it to them!! Make a difference.
For myself, a bunch of us (and you are certainly welcome) are getting together at Mokabe’s for breakfast Saturday morning at 9 am. Then, we are heading over to Jeff Smith’s campaign headquarters, 4515 Olive St. 2nd flr) by 10:30 am and canvassing, calling, whatever he needs.
Every little bit DOES make a difference. All you have to do is watch how close these races are.
Make a difference
Marti,
I am actually going to be volunteering for Jeff on Saturday as well. I think I might have to join you guys for breakfast.
As I was saying before my browser crashed. The media has a huge control over political access to the public, especially when considering third party candidates. Howard Dean ran in Internet campaign, yet he was already a governor, and a member of one of the national parties. 3rd Party candidates, such as 2004 Presidential candidate Michael Badnarik, received little media attention, simply because the media is controlled by the two parties. If a viable third party was allowed attention, and access to the Presidential Debate, on a consistent basis, over the course of a few elections, we could see more third party candidates taking office. Many Americans are apathetic because of the rampant corruption, and big spending in both parties. In fact with the inconsistencies in the two parties, one can find Republicans who are no different than Democrats, and vise versa. Lets not forget both 3rd Party candidates were arrested at the 2004 Presidential Debate at WashU when they tried to serve court ordered papers which allowed them access to the debate. Why were they arrested? Because they would not have played along with the scripted “debates” and could have influenced the outcome of the close election.
I do not believe that either National Party will make significant changes unless 3rd Parties are allowed to enter debates and receive more media coverage. They have no incentive to change, as long as their base consistently supports them, and as long as they are engaged in partisan issues. As long as Republican are fighting Democrats, and themselves, why would either party take alternative solutions instead of the same old thing?
I support Jeff Smith because of his passion, and I believe he is the best inclusive candidate which can unite our City beyond race. He also has spoken against sprawl, which I find unique among the two parties.
You can win people to your side more easily by gentle persuasion and flattery than by hostile confrontation.
I watched a program recently where Ald. Florida and Mayor Slay took part in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the tower project on Gravois. She seems like a very pleasant person. Not at all what I imagined from reading the hostile and mean-spirited posts about her on this forum.
[REPLY Yes persuasion can be more effective but quite frankly I’m tired of her ‘acting’ all sweet in the public and coming up with lame excuses for her actions to the press. And people fall for it…. Sad. – SLP]
In the “what have you done for me lately” category, it would seem Alderman Florida is performing rather well.
She led the effort to save and then secure a developer for the SSNB project. Now she’s on the brink of closing the Melba Theater deal across the street.
There are good projects marching south on Grand, and Alderman Florida will be celebrating many ribbon cuttings.
Given these high profile successes on her updated list of accomplishments, her stock in trade is increasing.