Presidential Primary More Important Than General Election For Missouri & Illinois Voters

Based on the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll an overwhelming majority of readers plan to vote in the upcoming presidential primaries.

Q: Agree or disagree: I’m NOT planning to vote in the upcoming presidential primary (either major party).

• Strongly agree: 2 [8%]
• Agree: 0 [0%]
• Somewhat agree: 0 [0%]
• Neither agree or disagree: 1 [4%]
• Somewhat disagree: 0 [0%]
• Disagree: 2 [8%]
• Strongly disagree: 20 [80%]
• Unsure/No Answer: 0 [0%]

Both Missouri & Illinois are open primary states, registered voters get to pick which ballot they want at the polls. Other states, like Oklahoma, are the opposite. In those states voters must register to a party, that’s the ballot they get when voting in a partisan primary. Anyone in Missouri or illinois who claims to be a registered Democrat or Republican is mistaken.

Unlike four years ago, only one major party has a competitive primary this year. We already know in the November general election that Missouri will go red, Illinois will go blue. So voters in these states who want to the Democratic nominee to win need to vote in the primary.

Primary dates:

• Missouri March 10th
• Illinois March 17th

Like 2016, I’m voting for Bernie Sanders. His policy positions are right for the country, and the best alternative to 45.

Voting on all races in the November general election is important, especially House & Senate races.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Do You Plan To Vote In The Presidential Primary?

Right now it’s hard to ignore Missouri’s neighbor to the north, Iowa. The Iowa Caucuses are the first in the nation to begin nominating presidential candidates.

The Iowa caucus campaigns are closing in on their final days. Whether you’ll be a first-time caucus participant or you’ve been participating for decades, now’s the time to put your knowledge to the test.

The caucuses gained national notoriety after helping catapult Jimmy Carter to the White House in 1976. This cycle has brought dozens of candidates to the state to win over Iowans. (Des Moines Register)

The Iowa Caucuses will take place on Monday February 3, 2020.  Interestingly, due to a rule change, more than one candidate could claim victory. New Hampshire is next, with a traditional primary, on Tuesday February 11, 2020.

Though President Trump is being nominally challenged for the GOP nomination in most states, this primary season will focus on the still-large field of Democratic candidates. Their focus will soon turn to other states, including Missouri & Illinois.

• Monday 2/3/2020: Iowa caucus
• Tuesday 2/11/2020: New Hampshire primary
• Saturday 2/22/2020: Nevada caucus
• Saturday 2/29/2020: South Carolina primary
• Tuesday 3/3/2020: Super Tuesday with 14 states, American Samoa, and Democrats Abroad
• Tuesday 3/10/2020: Missouri, 4 other states, and Washington D. C.
• Thursday 3/12/2020: Virgin Island caucus
• Tuesday 3/17/2020: Illinois plus three other states.

This continues into early June, see the 270towin primary calendar page here.

The winner(s) of the Iowa caucus will get a bump in polls and media attention, but that’s no guarantee of a victory in November.

Only three politicians have won a contested Iowa caucus and become president — Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. (Business Insider)

Which brings us to today’s poll:

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Board of Aldermen: New Board Bills Week 29 of 2019-2020 Session

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen meet at 10am today, their 29th meeting of the 2019-2020 session. As previously noted, they have the first two meetings labeled as Week #1, so they list this as week/meeting 28.

Today’s agenda includes five (5) new bills.

• B.B.#193 – Tyus – An ordinance repealing Ordinance Number 70333 and containing an emergency clause. WHEREAS, ordinance number 70333 became effective August 14, 2016. As such the ordinance was designed to create a centralized process for traffic complaints received by the City of St. Louis so that they could be managed in an efficient manner to be called the City of St. Louis Traffic Calming Policy.
• B.B.#194 – NUMBER NOT USED THIS SESSION
• B.B.#195 – Tyus – An Ordinance directing the Director of Streets to permanently close barricade or otherwise impede the flow of traffic in the north-south bound, approximately 240
  linear feet., alley located between Palm Street and Lexington Avenue in C.B. 4456, approximately 95 linear ft. east of Kingshighway Memorial Boulevard east curb line and containing an emergency clause.
• B.B.#196 – Vaccaro – An Ordinance establishing a three-way stop site at the intersection of Mardel Avenue and Macklind Avenue regulating all traffic traveling eastbound on Mardel Avenue at Macklind Avenue and regulating all traffic traveling northound and southbound on Macklind Avenue at Mardel Avenue, and containing an emergency clause.
• B.B.#197 – Murphy – An ordinance approving a blighting study and Redevelopment Plan for the 3808 Wilmington Ave. Redevelopment Area.
• B.B.#198 – Tyus – An ordinance pertaining to vendors; establishing comprehensive rules and regulations for vendors within the Kingsway East, Kingsway West, Penrose and Mark Twain Neighborhoods, prohibiting street vendors within the except within designated city park vending districts; establishing a city park vending districts within the Kingsway East, Kingsway West, Penrose and Mark Twain Neighborhoods, prohibiting vending on any LRA owned property, expressly prohibiting the distribution or sale of newspapers, pamphlets, handbills or other written or printed matter sold or distributed for the purpose of disseminating news and information in the Kingshighway Memorial Boulevard Median that runs from the southern end at Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard to the northern end at West Florissant Avenue, requiring The Director of Street to post No Vending, No Soliciting Signs in both of the medians of Kingshighway Memorial Boulevard intersecting Natural Bridge, promulgating rules and regulations for vending within vending districts; containing definitions, a penalty clause, a severability clause and an emergency clause.

The Board of Aldermen meeting begins at 10am, past meetings and a live broadcast can be watched online here. See list of all board bills for the 2019-2020 session — the new bills listed above may not be online right away.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Split on Residency Requirement for Police

The City of St. Louis has had an employee residency requirement for years now. The concept is simple, if you want to work for the city you need to live in the city. Their wages stay in the community and multiply as spent locally. It’s easier to understand a community when you’re part of it — not just an outside observer.

Fifteen or so years ago I listed a friend’s south city house for sale, the buyer was moving to St. Louis after accepting a city job. I recently saw the buyer at an event — she and her husband still live in the house and she still works for the city. This is the ideal outcome.

It seems the St. Louis Police are having a hard time filling vacant positions because qualified applicants in the region don’t want to move. This is common, as people all over the St. Louis region tend to commute to their jobs — they don’t necessarily move to the municipality where each new job is located.  This explains why I-64 and I-270 have daily backups as motorists commute to/from work.

This is one of those rare issues where I’m undecided. Here’s the non-scientific results of the recent Sunday Poll:

Q: Agree or disagree: St. Louis Police shouldn’t have to live in the city.

• Strongly agree: 15 [31.25%]
• Agree: 6 [12.5%]
• Somewhat agree: 2 [4.17%]
• Neither agree or disagree: 2 [4.17%]
• Somewhat disagree: 2 [4.17%]
• Disagree: 11 [22.92%]
• Strongly disagree: 9 [18.75%]
• Unsure/No Answer: 1 [2.08%]

While I’m undecided I’m also not sure how I feel about removing the residency requirement for only one of many city jobs. Is the law enforcement profession so different than refuse handlers, bookkeepers, etc?

Oh right, some cops in St. Louis beat up a black colleague working undercover as a protestor. So here’s my question— would dropping the residency requirement mean we’d have more or less racist police? Or would the percentage remain unchanged?

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Board of Aldermen: New Board Bills Week 28 of 2019-2020 Session

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen meet at 10am today, their 28th meeting of the 2019-2020 session. As previously noted, they have the first two meetings labeled as Week #1, so they list this as week/meeting 27.

Today’s agenda includes two (2) new bills.

• B.B.#191 — Rice/P.Boyd/Spencer/Navarro/Ingrassia/Guenther Green – An Ordinance amending Ordinance 68597, by creating and defining six Temporary Food Permit Types with a permit fee schedule; identifying Low Income, Low Access census tracts; establishing a Temporary Food Safety Training Special Fund to help pay for Temporary Food Safety Training; recognizing and requiring a free application with the Health Department for Cottage Food Production Operation Temporary Food Permit waivers, established by RSMo. § 196.298; and further explaining what happens to a new annually approvable food permit that is not approved within ninety (90) days, all to be codified in Chapter 11.42 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis.
• B.B.#192 – Vollmer – An Ordinance authorizing the Amendment to Ground Lease (“Amendment”) between the City of St. Louis and Lucas-Hunt Associates, L.P., a Missouri limited partnership, for property and improvements commonly known as the Hampton Gardens Apartments located at 5927 Suson Place, St. Louis, Missouri 63139.

Their informal calendar includes one Bill for perfection— a public vote to reconsider reducing the size of their body in half.

Board Bills for Perfection – Informal Calendar
IGA B.B.#11 – Muhammad/Vaccaro – An ordinance submitting to the qualified voters a proposed amendment to the Charter of the City to maintain the Board of Aldermen as a body of twenty-eight Aldermen representing twenty-eight wards and preventing its reduction beginning December 31, 2021 to a body of fourteen Aldermen representing fourteen wards as called for under Article I, Section 3 of the City Charter; proving for an election to be held for voting on the proposed amendment and the manner for the voting; and for the publication, certification, deposit, and recording of this ordinance; and containing an emergency clause.

I’m still in favor of cutting the number of members from 28 to 14 — what matters more to me is how the new ward boundaries are drawn.

Republican senators rolled out a plan Tuesday to ask Missouri voters to undo key parts of a nationally unique redistricting model that directs a demographer to draw new legislative districts with “partisan fairness” and “competitiveness” as top criteria.

The Republican proposal would abolish the demographer position and relegate political fairness and competitiveness to the bottom of the priority list, behind such criteria as compact and contiguous districts that keep communities intact. (AP via NBC News)

The Board of Aldermen meeting begins at 10am, past meetings and a live broadcast can be watched online here. See list of all board bills for the 2019-2020 session — the new bills listed above may not be online right away.

— Steve Patterson