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Readers Want Vision From Mayoral Candidates Slay & Reed

October 17, 2012 Politics/Policy 10 Comments

It’s safe to say St. Louis voters would like to know the vision that both Francis Slay and Lewis Reed have for St. Louis, but it is not clear if we will get that before the March 2013 primary.

ABOVE: Three term Mayor Francis Slay (left) and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed (right) are the two known Democratic candidates for mayor in the March 2013 primary.

A few questions that came to mind for me:

  • What do each think are the challenges facing the city through Spring 2017 and beyond?
  • For Slay what did you wan to get done in your first three terms that hasn’t happened yet? Why not? (County reunification anyone?)
  • For Reed: How would city government be different if you are elected mayor?

Here are the results of the poll:

Q: Thoughts on the 2013 race for St. Louis Mayor?

  1. Hopefully we’ll get to see their visions rather than just negative ads of the other 33 [24.44%]
  2. Slay’s reelection war chest will ensure he wins 19 [14.07%]
  3. It’ll be a very close race 15 [11.11%]
  4. With a good ground game Reed can overcome Slay’s money advantage 14 [10.37%]
  5. It won’t be a close race, a 10+ point spread 12 [8.89%]
  6. It’s good to have two qualified candidates to pick from 12 [8.89%]
  7. I liked it better when Slay didn’t have a serious challenger 10 [7.41%]
  8. Other: 10 [7.41%]
  9. Too early to think about it 4 [2.96%]
  10. Unsure/No Opinion 3 [2.22%]
  11. A 3rd candidate could muddy the choice for voters 3 [2.22%]
  12. No mayor has won a 4th 4-year term 0 [0%]

The “other” answers were:

  1. Same ol’, same ol’
  2. Its time for Mayor Slay to step down.
  3. Reed is nothing but a racebaiter and hopefully he will not win.
  4. The only thing different about these two is the color of their skin.
  5. It will become a racial race, white vs black, 
  6. slay must go!! 
  7. Paul McKee wins big if Lewis Reed unseats Slay. 
  8. poor poor stl what terrible options you have 
  9. GO SLAY!
  10. How are they different again?

Both Slay & Reed are seasoned politicians so it will take effort from the media and public to demand substance from them.

– Steve Patterson

  • guest

    Slay has absolutely no independent control over city county mergers. That issue, like just about every other issue in STL, requires collaboration. The better question would be, “which candidate has better strengths/experience at (regional/various) collaboration?”

    • http://urbanreviewstl.com/ Steve Patterson

      When Slay was inaugurated into his current term he said city-county merger was a focus. How far has he gotten toward that?

      • guest

        He has people talking about it. Dooley seems open minded. Convincing County residents is a whole ‘nother thing. Baby steps seem in order, just like taking 10 years to shrink the Board of Aldermen. Having the city re-enter STL County as an independent municipality is a logical first step, but even there you run into opposition from the city’s county office/patronage world. This issue is just another example of our region’s weak leadership structure, it’s fractured governance, and overall parochialism.

        Neither Slay nor Reed, on their own, can put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Getting to the theme of your post, it’s a good example of why so few people around here share their visions or take bold action – it’s too easy to play the “gotcha game” later.

        Given that Reed is lacing up his running shoes to take his progressive plan for the city on the road, with a series of town hall meetings, it appears he is trying to distinguish himself as the progressive alternative to Mayor Slay. It will be interesting to see what new ideas he advances, and, if elected, to revisit those after 1, 2, or 3 terms to see how many of his ideas have been implemented.

        • guest

          PS to the above comment: Being a “progressive” has seldom been the road to victory in St. Louis elections. Being viewed as stable, conservative, pro-business and pro-public safety is more in line with the wishes of most city voters.

        • http://twitter.com/ward24stl Scott Ogilvie

          Just for the record, Dooley has done essentially nothing to merge / link / unify the city & county. In fact, Mike Jones, his chief of staff and the guy actually running the show, generally argues stridently against it.

          • Ed Golterman

            Merger would finish off the County in 2 years, may be less. Mike is right, if this is his position. I’m not sure.

  • Greg

    Reed spoke at my neighborhood association several months ago (located in his former ward). He came off — to me — as a politician who will skew facts to win a point regardless of how truthful what he says is. Specifically, he criticized Slay for not having his appointees on the firefighters’ pension board do more to control costs **without mentioning the the firefighters union & retirees have a majority of the votes on the board**.

    Slay has been to our meetings several times before and I have not seen the same behavior from him.

    • http://urbanreviewstl.com/ Steve Patterson

      It’ll be interesting to see if Slay changes now that he’s challenged and if Reed will change to look more mayoral.

      • guest

        Why would Slay change? From this story, Slay has no reason to while Reed sounds like he uses “facts” the way Mitt Romney does.

  • Ed Golterman

    Action over vision: Free Kiel Opera House & MUNY from oppressive waste to ‘protect’ pretenders. End Zoo-Museums tax to pump $70 million back into city & county economy. Tap the favored, powerful providers of musical and sports entertainment for the ticket tax revenue they keep. Now $25 million a year, if you include and pro-rate the big dollars shelled over for the sky boxes-hire 200 more police officers now and 200 more next year. There is no more time for vision. Only action. . Other cities are ‘burying’ us.

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