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St. Louis Board of Aldermen: New Board Bills 6/10/16

St. Louis City Hall
St. Louis City Hall

The following board bills were introduced at the 6/10/16 session of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen:

Board Bill No. 82 | Ordinance to vacate 4900 block of Terry

BOARD BILL NO. 82 INTRODUCED BY ALDERWOMAN SHARON TYUS An ordinance to vacate all commercial driveway apron and/or curb cuts that abut the front roadway know as the 4900 block of Terry and prohibiting any new commercial driveways, aprons, and/or curb cuts from being constructed or permits to construct a commercial driveway, apron, and/or curb cuts from being issued, and containing a emergency clause.

Editorial: this isn’t to vacate the street, but commercial driveways connecting to it.  See the block here.

Board Bill No. 83 | Ordinance pertaining to commercial traffic

BOARD BILL NO. 83 INTRODUCED BY ALDERWOMAN SHARON TYUS An ordinance pertaining to commercial traffic and commercial semi service trucks prohibiting such traffic along certain portions of Terry, exempting from prohibition emergency vehicles, including tow trucks when providing service to non commercial vehicles, and containing a emergency clause.

Board Bill No. 84 | Honorarily designate 5000-5200 Lotus as Lou “Fatha” Thimes Ave

BOARD BILL #84 INTRODUCED BY ALDERWOMAN SHARON TYUS An ordinance authorizing and directing the Street Commissioner to take all necessary actions to honorarily designate the 5000-5200 blocks of Lotus Avenue as Lou “FATHA” Thimes Avenue

Board Bill No. 85 | Ordinance pertaining to vendors

BOARD BILL #85 INTRODUCED BY ALDERWOMAN SHARON TYUS An ordinance pertaining to vendors; repealing Ordinance 34889, approved on April 21, 1926, Section 29-104 of Ordinance 52030, approved on June 1, 1963, Ordinance 53070, approved on March 10, 1965, Ordinance 54719, approved on April 5, 1967, Ordinance 55785, approved on January 7, 1971, Ordinance 56640, approved on December 20, 1973, Ordinance 57583, approved on April 3, 1978, Ordinance 58086, approved on June 12, 1980, Ordinance 58514, approved on March 1, 1982, Ordinance 59090, approved on March 23, 1984, Ordinance 59454, approved on June 4, 1985, Ordinance 59533, approved on September 24, 1985, Ordinance 59923, approved on June 27, 1986, Section Two of Ordinance 64166, approved on October 24, 1997, Ordinance 64327, approved on March 13, 1998 and Chapter 8.48 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis; establishing comprehensive rules and regulations for vendors within the City of St. Louis, setting the fees to be collected by the License Collector for the operation of a vending business; establishing different classifications of vendors, creating special vending districts; Ordinance 64569, approved on February 11, 1999, Ordinance 64712, approved on July 29, 1999,Ordinance 65061, approved on October 11, 2000, Ordinance 65347, approved November 28, 2001 Ordinance 66655 approved February 28, 2005 , Ordinance 66860 approved November 8, 2005, Ordinance 68108 approved September 24, 2008, Ordinance 68588 approved March 16, 2010, Ordinance 68603 approved March 16, 2010, Ordinance 68757 Approved October 22, 2010, Ordinance 68990 approved October 20, 2011, and Ordinance 69639 approved December 30, 2013, prohibiting street vendors within the City of St. Louis except within designated vending districts; establishing vending districts within the City of St. Louis; prohibiting vending on any LRA owned property, promulgating rules and regulations for vending within vending districts; containing definitions, a penalty clause, a severability clause and an emergency clause.

Here is video of the 6/10/16 meeting.

See last week’s debut post listing new board bills here. To coincide with posting of bills online, this weekly series will move to Thursdays.

— Steve Patterson

 

Sunday Poll: Opioids/Herion vs Marijuana — Are They Equally Dangerous Drugs?

Please vote below
Please vote below

In late April singer Prince died at age 57, the corner found he died due to an opioid overdose:

Toxicology tests for Prince concluded that the entertainer died from an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl, according to a report on his death by the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office.
Fentanyl, prescribed by doctors for cancer treatment, can be made illicitly and is blamed for a spike in overdose deaths in the United States. It’s 25 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. (CNN)

Heroin is an opioid:

Heroin is an opioid drug that is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as “black tar heroin.” (drugabuse.gov)

Prescription opioids include Vicodin & OxyContin. The government classifies drugs relative to each other in five levels, here are the descriptions of the two most dangerous as described by the DEA:

Schedule I

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are:

heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote.

Schedule II

Schedule II drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs are also considered dangerous. Some examples of Schedule II drugs are: 

Combination products with less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone per dosage unit (Vicodin), cocaine, methamphetamine, methadone, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), meperidine (Demerol), oxycodone (OxyContin), fentanyl, Dexedrine, Adderall, and Ritalin

For today’s poll I’m contrasting opioids/herion (Schedule 1 & 2) to marijuana (Schedule 1):

The term “dangerous” is how ever you define it.  The poll will close at 8pm tonight.

Wednesday I’ll share my thoughts with the non-scientific results of this poll.

— Steve Patterson

 

17th Street Connects Locust, Olive, Pine, Chestnut, and Market to Washington Ave

For years now I’ve tried to end the week on a positive note, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to be optimistic about St. Louis’ future. Today is the final vote on BB64 to give public land to a developer, cutting off others from Washington Ave. The following image illustrates the potential problem.

Looking North toward Washington Ave from the WW corner of 17th & Locust St.
Looking North toward Washington Ave from the WW corner of 17th & Locust St.

Behind me is the massive Butler Brothers Warehouse, at left is 1701 Locust — both vacant and in need of rehab. At right is one of our two buildings at Printers Lofts, the 5,500 sq ft first floor is currently vacant and for sale. Cutting them off from access to Washington Ave will not help.

Looking North on 17th, a clear shot to Washington Ave if the old CPI dock was removed from the public right-of-way
Looking North on 17th, a clear shot to Washington Ave if the old CPI dock was removed from the public right-of-way
From the NE corner of 17th & Locust you can see the Post Office on the South side of Market.
From the NE corner of 17th & Locust you can see the Post Office on the South side of Market.

Voting yes on BB64 would be incredibly short-sighted sided.

— Steve Patterson

 

Architects Labeled 17th Street An Alley

When Ald Davis & Ald Hubbard visiting our condo association on June 8th they left behind developer’s plans intended to convince to stop fighting the city giving away an important piece of the street grid: 17th Street. See: Proposed 17th Street Closure Would Reduce Safety & Security For Existing Residents Around Monogram Project.

I looked through the materials — many of which are Google Street View screen captures. They couldn’t even come take photographs?  One page explained a lot about the view of the developer & architects:

Google Street View looking North on 17th Street toward Washington Ave -- but how it's labeled that shows their lack of understanding
Google Street View looking North on 17th Street toward Washington Ave — but how it’s labeled that shows their lack of understanding
A close up shows they view 17th Steet as an alley
A close up shows they view 17th Steet as an alley

The final vote on BB64 will likely take place tomorrow, hopefully the full board will reject it outright.  Many signatures have been collected on petitions opposing the vacation of 17th St, from numerous adjacent condo projects. The Downtown Neighborhood Association has also gone on record in opposition. We want to see the Monogram/CPI building occupied, but not at our expense. The public uses 17th Street daily.

Thankfully we’ll know how each alderman voted after the fact — votes are now listed online.

— Steve Patterson

 

 

 

St. Louis Hosted Numerous Presidential Nominating Conventions

One hundred years ago today the 1916 Democratic National Convention was happening at St. Louis’ new Coliseum, at Washington & Jefferson. Woodrow Wilson & Thomas R, Marshall were nominated for 2nd terms as President & Vice-President, respectively. As recently noted, the Jefferson [Arms] Hotel was the official host hotel, it opened in 1904.

Postcard for the "New Coliseum" on the SW corner of Jefferson & Market. It was replaced by the Jefferson National Bank. Click image for 2012 post
Postcard for the “New Coliseum” on the SW corner of Jefferson & Market. It was replaced by the Jefferson National Bank. Click image for 2012 post

The old coliseum, better known as St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall, had been located between 13th-14th on Olive — after just 24 years it was razed in 1907 to build our Central Library, which opened in 1912.

Three national nominating conventions were held in three separate buildings in or near the complex between 1888 and 1904 including the 1888 Democratic National Convention, 1896 Republican National Convention, and 1904 Democratic National Convention. In addition to the 1904 Democratic convention, it was used as a large venue for other conventions and congresses during the 1904 World’s Fair.

The 1896 Republican National Convention, held in St. Louis, began 120 years ago tomorrow.  My loft is just blocks from where all this took place, but mansions lined Locust St back then, known as Lucas Place at that time.

Back to the present day and the nominations for the conventions that start in July, not June as they used to.

There is a growing feeling among many of us that 1) the way the two major parties pick their nominee is flawed and 2) having a two-party system has failed the country. From a recent poll:

Some of the poll’s key findings are:

  • Just 10 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the country’s overall political system while 51 percent have only some confidence and 38 percent have hardly any confidence.
  • Similarly, only 13 percent say the two-party system for presidential elections works, while 38 percent consider it seriously broken. About half (49 percent) say that although the two-party system has real problems, it could still work well with some improvements.
  • Most Americans report feeling discouraged about this year’s presidential election. Seventy percent say they experience frustration and 55 percent report they feel helpless.
  • Few Americans are feeling pride or excitement about the 2016 presidential campaign, but it is grabbing the public’s attention. Two-thirds (65 percent) of the public say they are interested in the election for president this year; only 31 percent say they are bored.
  • The public has little confidence in the three branches of government. A quarter (24 percent) say they have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court and only 15 percent of Americans say the same of the executive branch. Merely 4 percent of Americans have much faith in Congress. However, more than half (56 percent) of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the military.
  • Only 29 percent of Democrats and just 16 percent of Republicans have a great deal of confidence in their respective parties. Similarly, 31 percent of Democrats and 17 percent of Republicans have a lot of faith in the fairness of their party’s nominating process.
  • Neither party is seen as particularly receptive to fresh ideas. Only 17 percent of the public say the Democratic Party is open to new ideas about dealing with the country’s problems; 10 percent say that about the Republican Party.
  • The views of ordinary voters are not considered by either party, according to most Americans. Fourteen percent say the Democratic Party is responsive to the views of the rank-and-file; 8 percent say that about the Republican Party.
  • Most Republicans (57 percent) say Trump’s candidacy has been good for the Republican Party, although only 15 percent of Democrats and 24 percent of independents agree.
  • Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Democrats say Sanders’ bid for the nomination has been good for the Democratic Party, along with 43 percent of Republicans and 22 percent of independents (54 percent of independents report it is neither good nor bad).

What options exist?

In multi-candidate races, the winner is often the person with the most dedicated base, not the most widespread support. In many cases, the majority of voters backed another candidate, leaving much of the electorate dissatisfied with the outcome and the winner with a dubious mandate to govern.

Both Republicans and Democrats have attempted to address that in presidential primaries with complicated delegate allocation formulas. But some voters in Maine who have wrestled with a similar problem think they’ve hit on a simpler solution: let voters rank their favorite candidates.

In November, Maine voters will decide whether they want to become the first state in the U.S. to implement ranked-choice voting. If a ballot initiative is approved, future Maine voters in primaries and general elections will be allowed to rank their choices for governor, Congress and statehouse races instead of voting for just one. If no one gets a majority in a race, the candidate who came in last is eliminated and the second choices of their voters are redistributed, in much the same way that a runoff election works. That process continues through multiple rounds until a single candidate reaches a majority. (Time)

See a 1:11 minute video illustrating ranked-choice voting here. Though we haven’t hosted a nominating convention in decades, we do still play a roll in the election process. Once again, a general election debate will be held at Washington University in St. Louis. Back in September the non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) selected Washington University in St. Louis to host a debate on October 9, 2016.

Washington University has earned the distinction of hosting more debates than any other institution in history. This is the sixth time the university has been selected by the CPD to host a debate since 1992, and it will be the fifth debate to be held at the university. The presidential debate scheduled at the university in 1996 was canceled just two weeks prior. (Washington University)

Don’t expect to see Libertarian or Green candidates in these debates, the CPD reinforces the 2-party system. Which brings me to the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll:

Q: Agree or disagree: the presidential nominating process in both major parties should be revised

  • Strongly agree 13 [40.63%]
  • Agree 9 [28.13%]
  • Somewhat agree 3 [9.38%]
  • Neither agree or disagree 3 [9.38%]
  • Somewhat disagree 0 [0%]
  • Disagree 1 [3.13%]
  • Strongly disagree 2 [6.25%]
  • Unsure/No Answer 1 [3.13%]

Count me among the the 3/4 who think we need major changes to how we elect presidents to local officials.

— Steve Patterson

 

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