Readers: Ald Chris Carter Should Remain In Office…For Now At Least; Residency Question A Non-Issue

Increasingly rare, I agree with readers in the latest non-scientific Sunday Poll:

Q: Ald Chris Carter was arrested, his wife accused him of abuse. Should he resign now or remain in office.

1. Stay in office, resign only if found guilty 17 [54.84%]
2. Resign immediately 8 [25.81%]
3. Unsure/no answer 4 [12.9%]
4. Stay in office, even if found guilty 2 [6.45%]

The allegation of something shouldn’t be enough to force an elected official to resign.  The police, prosecutors, and courts will seek justice.

The other issue, however, is his place of residence. I contacted Ald Carter on Monday to ask him a few questions, we spoke by phone. He says he and his wife, Lotasha Carter, are separated. She and their 18 month old daughter moved out of their house in the 5900 block of North Pointe Blvd a few months ago, they’ve been staying with her mother on East Gulf Shore in unincorporated North St. Louis County. Carter says he visits daily to help with their daughter.

Chris & Lotosha Carter were married in June 2013, but they’d been discussing divorce — which is why she moved out of their home.  They bought the home in July 2014 — year after getting married. Both of their names are on the deed.  The Carter’s listed their home for sale in December 2015

Monday afternoon I replied to 27th Ward Committewoman Pamela Boyd’s email, who’d questioned his residency, to see if she had any facts otherwise. In her reply she indicated her claims were based on the fact she had seen a for sale sign in the yard.  I also contacted the other person questioning Carter’s residence, I’ve not heard back from Rep Clay. Chris Carter told me the sale is scheduled to close Friday next week.

It appears the issue of his residency is much ado about nothing.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should Alderman Carter Resign Immediately or Stay In Office?

Last week a city alderman was in the news:

A St. Louis city alderman was arrested in St. Louis County on Monday under suspicion of domestic abuse.

Alderman Chris Carter was taken into custody by St. Louis County police after a traffic stop, authorities confirmed.

Carter’s wife called police about 11:20 a.m. on April 30 to report that Carter had injured her during an argument at a home in the 4200 block of East Gulf Shore near Florissant. (Post-Dispatch)

Carter represents the 27th ward, where the Democratic committeewoman is calling for his resignation.  Carter has commented.

What do you think? Vote in today’s poll:

The poll is open until 8pm, the answers are shown in random order. Please note: any organized effort to get a large number of votes, one way or another, is easy to see. If it happens the poll will be shut down and the last unaltered results will be final.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Rejected Apology From Lewis Reed Before Email Campaign Dramatically Altered Poll Results

It was nearly seven years ago I began posting a new poll question every Sunday. These polls are non-scientific, but some of us find them interesting. The polls were open for an entire week.  Most votes came on Sundays, except when an email campaign would dramatically alter the more natural outcome of the regular readers.

In November 2014 I switched the poll from lasting a week to just 12 hours: 8am to 8pm each Sunday. Since then no poll has been the subjected to mass voting as a result of an email campaign. Until this past Sunday.

At 3pm, my daily nap time, the vote was still progressing like usual — 30 votes after 7 hours. A few hours later the total vote count had ballooned to well over 125. Thankfully I checked the results on my iPad — leaving the 3pm results on my computer untouched.

Here are the results as of 3pm — 30 total votes:

Q: Lewis Reed has apologized for his appearance on Bob Romanik’s radio show last month. Do you accept or reject Reed’s apology?

• Strongly accept 3 [10%]
• Accept 0 [0%]
• Somewhat accept 4 [13.33%]
• Neither accept or reject 4 [13.33%]
• Somewhat reject 1 [3.33%]
• Reject 8 [26.67%]
• Strongly reject 7 [23.33%]
• Unsure/No Answer 3 [10%]

Just over 23% accepted, more than half rejected. The remainder were unsure or fell into the middle.

A few hours later the results looked dramatically different — 159 total votes:

• Strongly accept 113 [71.07%]
• Accept 10 [6.29%]
• Somewhat accept 5 [3.14%]
• Neither accept or reject 4 [2.52%]
• Somewhat reject 2 [1.26%]
• Reject 12 [7.55%]
• Strongly reject 8 [5.03%]
• Unsure/No Answer 5 [3.14%]

Seven hours to get 30 votes, but another 129 came in the last 5 hours. A Reed staff person found out about the poll through a mass email. See screenshots of both here.

Here’s the problem I have with Reed’s apology: timing. Reed said he was trying to get Bob Romanik to stop by using a note/sign while on the air on January 11th. I too would’ve been shocked & speechless. If he was truly upset and embarrassed about what was said he’d have tweeted he’s feelings following the broadcast. But he didn’t.

A series of apology tweets didn’t come until nearly a month later, February 8th, after more people listened to the show on YouTube. An apology letter was posted on Facebook at 8:34pm on February 9th.

I’d never heard of radio host Bob Romanik before February 8th. From a look at the official show website I don’t think I missed out.

Here’s the official show description:

The Kraziest Son of a Bitch you’ll ever hear on the radio.  Radio like you’ve never heard it before and will probably never want to hear again. If you think the real grim reaper is scary, wait until you see and listen to Bob Romanik “The Grim Reaper of Radio!”. The Grim Reaper’s show will be like his face, very scary and very, very ugly. “On the Dark Side” is the most controversial show on radio today. “The Grim Reaper of Radio” is not politically correct or politically incorrect, he’s politically insane!!

After your Experience with Bob Romanik, “The Grim Reaper of Radio”, Death Just May be Enjoyable!

Reed was so upset with Romanik during his January 11th appearance that he came back on January 28th (@25:20) — sending out a tweet w/photo! I listed to the entire show but Reed didn’t let Romanik know his January 11th comments were out of line. Fifty-seven minutes I’ll never get back.

Reed has embarrassed the Board of Aldermen.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Do You Accept Lewis Reed’s Apology (UPDATED)

UPDATE:

This poll was manipulated by mass voting.

—

Last week a radio interview from January 11th began spreading like crazy on social media and the news:

For anyone who’s ever listened to Bob Romanik’s On the Dark Side radio talk show on 1190 AM, it should come as no surprise that a recent episode is drawing controversy. After all, the ex-strip club owner/police chief and convicted felon is always coming after his political and personal enemies with a mixture of wild insults and abhorrent threats, all book-ended by the show’s trademark rainstorm sound effects as though forecasting the flood of complaints that’s to come.

So it’s not exactly news that Romanik tried to discredit 15th ward alderwoman Megan Green last month by calling her a “good-for-nothing, skanky bitch” who, in his words, deserves to be literally flushed down the toilet and sexually violated by a storybook character. For veterans of Romanik’s radio wars, it’s more of the same. (St. Louis Magazine)

Romanik’s guest was Lewis Reed, President of the Board of Aldermen.

Short version: 2:50 minutes:

Long version: 12:34 minutes:

After this became controversial Reed apologized in a series of tweets:

Today’s poll question:

[results deleted]

This poll will be open for 12 hours, will close at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Strongly Disapprove of Stadium Financing Plan

I watched quite a bit of the live stream of the Board of Aldermen special session yesterday as they debated a floor substitute version of Bill 219. Yes, the bill changed after the Sunday Poll was conducted and the BoA began yesterday morning.

More than 75% of those who voted in the non-scientific poll selected a disapprove answer. Conversely, just over 21% approve. Those who “strongly disapprove” accounted for a majority of the votes!

Q: Approve or disapprove of financing plan for a new stadium up for final vote by the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday?

1. Strongly disapprove 37 [56.06%]
2. Disapprove 11 [16.67%]
3. TIE  5 [7.58%]
   1. Strongly approve
   2. Approve
4. TIE 4 [6.06%]
   1. Somewhat approve
   2. Somewhat disapprove
5. TIE 0 [0%]
   1. Neither approve or disapprove
   2. Unsure/No Answer

Despite opposition, the Board of Aldermen advanced the bill:

St. Louis aldermen met in a special session to consider approving the city’s share of funding for a new NFL stadium – $150 million.

The aldermen approved the bill, which will come to a final vote on Friday. (KSDK)

The 2nd special session this week will start at 3pm.

— Steve Patterson