Old School Pals: Democrat Alderman Fred Wessels Backs Republican Fred Heitert in Re-Election
Local Democrat, Ald Fred Wessels of the 13th Ward, has given $500 of his campaign funds to the campaign of Republican Fred Heitert who is seeking retain the 12th Ward seat he was first elected to in the year in which the following events happened:
- YMCA sued the hot new group, The Village People, over their hit song YMCA.
- Patty Hearst is released from prison after he sentence is commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
- Margaret Thatcher becomes the new Prime Minister for England.
- Iran hostage crisis begins.
- Heath Ledger, a star in Brokeback Mountain, born on April 4th.
- Deaths of stars such as Emmett Kelley (b. 1898), Mary Pickford (B. 1892), John Wayne (b. 1907), & Vivian Vance (b. 1909)
- TV Series such as The Facts of Life, The Dukes of Hazzard, Benson and This Old House all premier this year. Other series such as What’s Happening!!, Welcome Back, Kotter; Good Times and Wonder Woman cease production.
- The top grossing film was Every Which Way But Lose.
- The Sugar Hill Gang introduced the commercial world to rap with “Rapper’s Delight” (video on YouTube, history on Wiki). Currently known as old school rap.
- A first class stamp was a mere $0.15.
You can check out the 1979 Wikipedia for more interesting facts. TV Land is also a good way to catch up on the pop culture from the period for those of you not yet born when Heitert was first elected to office. But I’m getting off subject…
Since when do local Democrats give money to Republicans or vice versa? How would you feel as a donor to a Democrat to have that candidate turn around and give some of that money to a Republican? If we are going to continue to have partisan voting in this city this should be an outrage. To verify the contribution from Wessels see Heitert’s 8 Days Before Primary Report (PDF, p2).
I’m sure Wessels and Heitert are old friends by now considering Wessels has been in office since April 1985 — the year I graduated high school. Yep, well over 20 years of hanging out together at the good ole boy social club known as the St. louis Board of Aldermen.
Since I turn 40 tomorrow I’m going to use this post as a stroll down memory lane. From the year 1985:
- Ronald Reagan was sworn into his second term as President. I didn’t say good memories, just memories. Although at this point we had not had a President Bush (H.W. or Dubya).
- ‘We Are the World’ recorded to help famine relief in Africa
- Nelson Mandela is still imprisoned.
- Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer.
- VH-1 debuts
- First class stamp cost $0.20.
- Coke tries a new formula billed as the “New Coke”
- Rock Hudson dies of AIDS.
- The film The Color Purple premiers.
- Tina Turner wins award after award for song & album, “What’s Love Got To Do With It”
- Wham!’s “Careless Whisper” tops charts. Our very cool high school english teacher uses song in class lesson, writes part of the lyrics on blackboard, “I’m never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm”
The sad thing is with this city we can’t just hop into a Delorean and change events, we simply can’t go Back to the Future.
I was born in 1985.
Old does not necessarily mean incompetent. Institutional memory can be a good thing, and seniority can help one gain power in the legislative process. Still, I would encourage everyone to vote for the BEST candidate, and that may not necessarily be the incumbent. Young and new can bring new perspectives and greater energy. It can also bring hidden agendas and incompetence, as well . . . there are no “sure things” in life!
‘Since when do local Democrats give money to Republicans or vice versa? How would you feel as a donor to a Democrat to have that candidate turn around and give some of that money to a Republican? If we are going to continue to have partisan voting in this city this should be an outrage.’
…gee uh, Patrick Cacchione
“It can also bring hidden agendas and incompetence”
In reality it is not about age, it is about stagnation, complacency, and not being open to new ideas. There are many examples of such elected officials in St. Louis. I would say our political culture naturally promotes such behavior. Perhaps there is a correlation of age and this phenomenon, yet they are not intrinsically linked. The amount of time immersed in this political culture, as with Jennifer Florida, could also be a variable.
I live in Wessel’s 13th ward, and can honestly say he causes no harm and actually does good. Over the last 18 months he’s become a huge adovcate of the built environment of our ward, starting with the small details and working up. I appreciate you contributing to the transparency of whom he contributes to, but it doesn’t cause me to doubt or wonder about him. On a list of Aldermanic Wrongs, this might be the last item, if it made the list at all.
Why would anyone be surprised that Alderman Wessels would support Alderman Heitert? Democrats have 27 seats plus the president of the board. One Republican, and that Republican, Fred Heitert has twice crossed party lines to support a Democrat running for citywide office.
With Fred Heitert its clear that he does what is in best interest of our area not party politics.
What a refreshing idea, one that our elected officials in Washington would do well to learn from.
I checked the link on Heitert’s finance report… more surprised to
learn that a long-term republican got money from two unions!
Firefighters Local #73 gave him $300 and the Electrical Workers
another $200.
His website shows endorsements from:
St. Louis Police Officers Association
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 68
St. Louis Electrical Workers, Local No. 1
St. Louis Firefighters, Local 73
St. Louis Retired Firefighters
St. Louis Labor Council
I’d call it very wide-based support and most likely the reason voters
in our part of the city have been returning him to the Board of Alderman
for many years.
“Old Republican’s” comments are well taken.
I should add that some “Democrat” officeholders are really Republicans who file as Democrats in this one-party town because it’s a prerequisite to getting elected. Wessels is one of them, or at least this isn’t the first time he’s donated to a Republican. Back in 1981 (before his election as a Democrat), he donated to Republican mayoral candidate Jerry Wamser, who carried most of south St Louis against Democrat Vince Schoemehl, who had just defeated Mayor Jim Conway in the Democratic primary.
St Louis should change its charter to have nonpartisan elections, just like EVERY municipality in St. Louis County. A one-party town effectively makes it that way anyway, but with a couple important differences:
1. Many voters refuse to vote in primaries because they don’t want to declare a party. These voters are effectively disenfranchised by the current system.
2. Filing for city office in St Louis requires paying a filing fee that goes not to the city to help pay for the election, but to the party central committee of the party on whose ticket the candidate files. (The filing fee for alderman is over $300, more than the filing fee for governor or U. S. Senator, and the filing fee for mayor is over $1,000!) Partisan elections effectively force involuntary campaign contributions to the majority party. That shouldn’t be required in order to participate in municipal government.
Oh, I almost forgot. Happy Birthday, you old fart! You get no sympathy for turning 40 from someone who turns 60 later this year!
I agree with the Oracle that the best solution would be non-partisan elections. We live in a one-party city, so party affilliation (sp?) only counts in the primaries (and excludes non-Democrats). All voters should be able to vote for the best-qualified candidate, not just rubber-stamping the “winner” (designated candidate?) of the Democratic primary. And the reason the unions are supporting a “Republican” is pretty simple – they’re just buying votes and access in the same way they do with all the Democratic members of the BoA. Unfortunately, it takes increasing amounts of money to run for office, even local ones, so no candidate will turn down contributions from any semi-credible source, even if they have to swallow hard when it comes to acknowledging just why many groups are “offering” their “support”. With non-partisan races, you’d still have the problems with special-interest contributions, and you’d, by default, cut out some party resources, making it even harder for some candidates to mount a credible campaign, but you’d eliminate part of the charade that all of us actually can vote for the people who “represent” us.
Since Missouri has open primaries, party affiliation isn’t really an issue except for those who are unaware. That said, the Oracle is right that many of our so-called city Democrats only wear that skin because of the necessity of doing so to be elected. Perhaps we’d have more open discussion of issues as a result?
Another thought … wouldn’t a non-partisan election system also remove the need to have two elections in the spring? How much money would that save?
LisaS and Steve are sooooooo right. Its interesting that Republicans of a feather, flock together: Heitert, Wessels (dino), Shrewsbury (dino).
[UrbanReviewSTL — Exactly, I’ve made this point numerous times. Partisan elections in the City of St. Louis have not benefitted the city and may have actually hurt us. And yes, we could drop the March election and simply have an April election for local offices, school board and ballot issues.]
Agree totally…the problem is that idea would make total sense.
Hmmm…Southside Voter=Old Republican…shady and typical, nuff said, case-in-point
And the 13th Ward is the most racially (white) segregated ward in the City.
With a switch to non-partisan elections, you may not eliminate the need for a second election. In Denver, if no one receives 51% of the vote, a run-off is required between the two candidates receiving the most votes in that race.
Wasn’t Wessels co sponsor of the LEED initiative for green civic buildings in st. louis? I am sure you have the details somewhere. I live in his ward, am a democrat, and do not mind he gave another candididate money. If I had an issue I probably would just avoid donating to his campaign (which I dont anyway so no biggie) I understand your issue though- why have a partisan election for aldermanic wards if something like this is going to go on.
I disagree with Lisa’s assertion that having to declare party affiliation at a primary election is only an issue “for those who are unaware.” Such reasoning is insensitive to people with very strong senses of personal privacy, and to people who are shy or otherwise have issues interacting in public. I know picking a party ballot has never been a problem for me, but I am astounded at how many people I meet who refuse to vote at primaries for that very reason. The result is that these real people really are disenfranchised. If we are really serious about making it easier for people to vote (and not just easier for crooked politicians to vote multiple times in the names of voters who aren’t voting), we should address this problem. Nonpartisan municipal elections does so.
A multi-candidate nonpartisan election could be accomplished in several ways:
1. The current “plurality wins” system, just like now in both the primary and general elections.
2. A March election with an April runoff if no March contestant wins a majority. This is similar to our current primary plus general, but without party affiliation.
3. A single election with instant runoff voting, which is catching on all across the country. This is the best solution.
In response to question above, a charter city like St Louis is free to institute whatever system it wants to elect its municipal officials, and maybe even its “county” offices like sheriff. (St. Louis County used its charter rights to make offices like sheriff, recorder of deeds, treasurer and public administrator appointive, so the city should be free to specify a different manner of election.)
Kevin, not that the point matters, but the 13th Ward is not the city’s most racially segregated (white) ward. At minimum, the 12th, 16th and 23rd are all more racially segregated (white) than the 13th. Unlike the dejura segregation prior to World War II, this is a function of free people of all races freely choosing where they want to live. It is (or should be) as constitutionally protected a right as the right to travel.
kevin said: “And the 13th Ward is the most racially (white) segregated ward in the City”
Sorry, but that’s total bullshit. You’re telling me there’s a higher percentage of whites in the 13th than in the 12th, 16th, 23rd, 10th, and 24th? No way. Lots of Bosnians in the 13th, too. And if we’re talking segregation per se, there are many north side wards that are less diverse. Have you ever been to the 13th ward, or are you relying on conventional wisdom from 1975?
Ok, Oracle, I’ll concede the primary election point to you: the current system does indeed violate the voter’s privacy, particularly at over-crowded polling places like mine. Just another reason to have multiple day elections or weekend elections (so the polls aren’t quite so crowded in those 6-8 am and 4-7 pm time slots).
I believe that the ward census numbers which you posted are from the wards BEFORE 2001 redistricting, since the new wards were based on that census. Test: Is the 20th Ward 90%+ black (the old 20th) or only about 60% black (the new 20th)?
(BTW, your link goes to neighborhoods, not wards.)
http://stlcin.missouri.org/census/sumwards.cfm
this map shows the current wards and census numbers
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