Parking Needed for Restoration and Occupancy of the Municipal Courts Building?

On April Fool’s Day Paul Hohmann had an excellent post suggesting the city was going to raze the vacant Municipal Courts Building and replace it with a parking garage.

The city isn’t going to raze the building but what are we going to do with the structure? There have been numerous ideas over the last decade but it seems the lack of a large source of dedicated parking is problematic.  Downtown has an excess of parking but the oversupply isn’t where it is needed.  I’ve got an idea.

I still miss the old city jail that occupied the NE corner of Clark Ave & 14th Street, why not build a mostly underground parking structure with street-level storefronts facing both 14th & Clark Ave? The parking could serve the need of tenant(s) in the Municipal Courts, City Hall, Scottrade Center, Busch Stadium and the Peabody Opera House (formerly Kiel).  Retail & restaurants could serve all the above as well as the Sheraton Hotel located one block south and the many daily transit riders at the Civic Center bus & light rail station, also a block south.

Activating the sidewalks along both 14th and Clark Ave would do wonders for improving the walkability of the area.  I’m thinking 3-4 floors of occupied floors about grade. If parking was above grade it should be fully enclosed.  Ideally the bulk of the parking would be below sidewalk level, not above.

The big picture would be to evaluate all 10 blocks of Clark Ave from Busch (8th) to Union Station (18th), finding opportunities to improve the many people who currently walk all or part of this stretch.  Way back in July 2006 I posted about building over the existing MetroLink lines between 15th-18th, also facing Clark Ave.

The Municipal Courts Building would be a premier location for one or more law firms.  Treasurer Larry Williams has the ability to fund the structure, leasing some space to future firns in the Municipal Courts.

– Steve Patterson

Giving Away Parking at City Hall

Saturday April 2nd I noticed the main portion of the parking lot south of city hall was full while the part closer to 14th St was empty.  The Cardinals had an away game this day so I’m not sure why all the cars.  I thought it was good to see the parking lot bringing in revenue on a Saturday rather than just sit vacant.

But wait, the gates are wide open! Of course on a Saturday there probably isn’t enough turnover to staff the booth.  The Treasurer’s Office needs to enter the 21st century and get technology to automate the process to collect the parking fee. Of course the Treasurer also has downtown parking meters at no charge on weekends but some [refer lots and would pay.

– Steve Patterson

Poll: Can we elect more Independent candidates like Scott Ogilvie to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen?

Last Tuesday voters in St. Louis’ 24th ward elected Independent Scott Ogilvie rather than Democrat Tom Bauer.  In a city where the winner of the March Democratic primary is almost always the winner, the election of Ogilvie is a big deal.

Thus, the poll question this week is Can we elect more Independent candidates like Scott Ogilvie to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen?

The choices I’ve provided are:

1. Yes, bright young candidates free of the local Democratic machine can be elected again
2. No, won’t happen again for years
3. Maybe, but Tom Bauer winning the Democratic primary helped Ogilvie win
4. I hope not, we need to stick with electing Democrats
5. Unsure/no opinion

The choices are presented randomly.  The poll is in the upper right of the site.

– Steve Patterson

Reed: Senator Chappelle-Nadal Must Go!

Yesterday the President of the Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed, sent out the following email blast:

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal said the other day that St. Louis elected officials who support local control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are “house slaves.” In her interview with Bernie Hayes on WGNU (920-AM), the senator said “What these plantation owners like Rex Sinquefield are doing is using some of their house slaves that are elected in St. Louis” and also said “It’s nothing different than what slave politics was.”

These comments are deplorable and drag us back an era that this country has worked hard to move past. People have laid down their lives to fight to be treated as equal human beings. Any public official who makes these types of comments is quite frankly not fit to lead.

This is not just an insult to me, but this is an insult to me as a father or four, as an African American male and to all African Americans across this nation. Statements by the Senator reflect the bigoted mindset that all African Americans, including the NAACP, 100 Black Men, Urban League, Clergy Coalition as well as many others, must have been ‘bought’ by, in the Senator words a “plantation owner,” when advocating a position. This type of racism cannot be tolerated in the St. Louis community or anywhere in our country.

I am formally asking the Senator to step down and will actively be seeking out individuals in her Senatorial District to help out this effort. Racism cannot be tolerated and the people of University City deserve better. Don Imus didn’t get a pass and neither should Maria Chappelle-Nadal.

I ask you to join the effort in calling out Senator Chappelle-Nadal by joining the facebook group http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maria-Must-Go/215733518441994 and contacting her office in Jefferson City at (573) 751-4106.

Lewis E. Reed

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal has been a primary opponent of Missouri returning control of the St. Louis Police to the City of St. Louis.

– Steve Patterson

One Year Since St. Louis County Voters Approved Proposition A

A year ago St. Louis County voters approved a small sales tax increase to fund transit, Proposition A. Wednesday I attended a panel discussion on why this measure  passed where previous attempts had failed.  Professors Todd Swanstrom & David Kimball introduced their new study:  From Checkbook Campaigns to Civic Coalitions: Lessons from the Passage of Prop A (PDF).  From the introduction:

On April 6, 2010 the voters of St. Louis County approved a tax increase for transit with a surprising 63 percent majority. The 1⁄2 cent sales tax now raises about $75 million a year to maintain the bus system and expand light rail. Seventeen months earlier a similar initiative had lost with 48 percent of the vote. With the economy in a recession in 2010, unemployment high, and the anti- tax Tea Party movement rising around the nation, the huge majority for Prop A was startling. In this paper we try to explain the success of Prop A and tease out the lessons for future tax initiative campaigns and civic coalitions.

Compared to the defeat of Prop M in 2008 two characteristics of the 2010 Prop A election make the victory especially surprising and help to frame our analysis: 1) Prop A succeeded in an off-year election when the composition of the electorate is less inclined to support tax increases and public transit; 2) Prop A, at least initially, did not enjoy unified business support – usually the kiss of death for transit tax initiatives.

The report details how the campaign differed from prior campaigns.  One difference was the campaign targeted some voters, as outlined by the dark line below.

Basically efforts were concentrated on West & North County and ignoring far SW and South parts of the County.  Voters who had voted in the prior 12 elections were targeted rather than all registered voters.  Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT) funded an educational component that never mentioned Prop A.  The pro-transit slogan was: Some of us ride it. All of us need it. Here is the TV spot that ran in the months leading up to the vote:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aR9rzybjuU

Notice Metro isn’t mentioned at all, the focus is on transit.

At the panel an audience member asked about a more regional approach and including St. Charles County. All agreed that more of the region should be served by transit but it was noted those areas need to step up with a funding source. In Illinois both Madison & St. Clair Counties fund transit.    While the 2010 passage of Prop A was important, we still have more work to do.

– Steve Patterson