The 6th Ward Race Just Got More Interesting
The Arch City Chronicle is reporting that Christian Saller is tossing his hat into the ring to become the next alderman for the 6th Ward. Kacie Starr Triplett and Patrick Cacchione have already made their intentions clear. Cacchione is having a kick-off party tonight.
Presumably all will run as Democrats with the primary on March 6, 2007. With filing not even open yet one has to wonder if we will see anyone else decide to join the race on the Democratic side. Also, there is no better time than an open seat for a Republican, Libertarian, Green or Independent to take a stab at the office. With a 3-way race on the Democratic ballot there is a good chance that many voters will not see their candidate win — might they be picked up in the April General Election or will they be loyal to the Democratic party?
While representing the residents of the 6th Ward the new alderman must still make decisions which are hopefully in the best interests of the city as a whole. My concerns, of course, are urban issues — zoning, planning, development patterns, transportation, affordable housing and so on. It will be interesting to see if any of these three will go on record with respect to actual issues or if they will play the local party machine game of speaking only about constituent service.
At the moment, Saller appears to be the least political and the one with the most experience when it comes to issues around development. It will be interesting to see how each of them characterizes themselves relative to the other two.
I want to congratulate all three of these individuals for stepping up and declaring themselves candidates for office. Hopefully the process will be productive with various ideas and issues being discussed both within the ward and throughout the city. I’d like to think a spirited 3-way race will get more voters involved in the community.
As you can see from the map, the ward is in many neighborhoods from downtown to Tower Grove East. The issues on Washington Avenue (valet parking) are quite different those in some of the neighborhoods (vacant properties, violence). Race may also become an issue — not divisive necessarily — just a factor as residents vote. The 6th Ward in 2000 was roughly 40% white and 57% black. However, the ward boundaries have chanced since the census and is more white these days. Will Cacchione & Saller split the white vote giving Triplett the win by garnering most of the black vote? I’d like to think voters will vote for the best person in which race should not be a consideration and hopefully we will see some voters selecting someone of a different race than their own.
Now all we need are additional candidates in the other even numbered wards…
Focusing the March elections on the issues will be a refreshing break from personal attacks.
Two great issues for comparing the candidates would be the recent Century demolition and the proposed Forest Park lease to BJC.
Where do the candidates stand on supporting the Century demolition or the plan to expand Barnes hospital?
Sheesh, the 6th ward boundaries are convoluted!
If you’re looking for a convoluted ward, try the 20th on for size – http://stlcin.missouri.org/alderman/alderman.cfm?Ward=20. Some of the ward boundaries in the latest redistricting fiasco are ridiculous.
The 20th ward was screwed over in redistricting.
This is great news about Christian Saller running for alderperson. I have often experienced him to be professional in his responses, conscientious about the general public good and dedicated to serving the public in his job at SLDC. Add in his excellent knowledge base about development and a host of overall urban revitalization issues and I think the 6th ward would be lucky to have him as their alderperson.
Yeah, those boundaries are screwed up, and those of us in the lower left corner don’t get that much attention from the current alderman.
My main question is why did these people wait until Reed decided to vacate the seat to run? I cannot stand how integrated politicians are just handed their positions without competition. Reed ran unopposed before and I think he would have again had he not decided to challenge Shrewsbury. (disclaimer: I did not run against Reed either, obviously, so I really can’t complain that much)
That being said, I am excited to have choices this time around, and maybe good choices for once. Reed still seems to be an unknown, at least in my portion of the TGE neighborhood. Unresponsive would be an understatement. He wasn’t opposed before and I didn’t cast a vote for that seat for that very reason.
This is not a complaint because I agree with Marti’s assessment, but what are the rules if any regarding an employee of a city agency running for alderman?
Steve,
This post has nothing to do with the topic, I just wanted to get your feelings on the subject. In recent days David Nicklaus and Mayor Slay have been posting about the RCGA run trip to Atlanta. I know the City has been taking these trips for sometime; last years trip was to St. Louis (because so few regional leaders knew what was happening in their own region). Anyways, I am sure you have seen the Mayor Slay post, but take a look at Nicklaus’s Mound City Money blog for a good rundown of topics.
http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/category/business-mound-city-money
On a side point, given those on the trip and the subject matter they often deal with, you should try and get yourself on a few of these trips. It would be a good forum to talk about many of your favorite issues.
Would it not be refreshing if someone with a redevelopment background that did not work for the city stepped up?
I am also concerned that the connector section and the south section are not getting all the assistance they need to revitalize.
Revitilization and Urban Planning do not exist in a vacuum. Violent crime in the area affects both and also has an impact on home values. I have seen aldermen at Weed and Seed meetings, but never Mr. Reed. Kacie Triplett is a regular attendee at these meetings. I am especially interested in hearing from each of the three declared candidates for Alderman of Ward 6 about the real plans they have for dealing with crime in the ward.
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