St. Louis Public Schools are “Bankrupt”

St. Louis Public School CFO, Cedric Lews, last night indicated by deficit spending the system is technically bankrupt. His comment came during questioning from members of the board over the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year which begins on July 1, 2006.

At one point board member Bill Purdy asked questions about line item expenditures in the budget. He mentioned money for “deputy” superintendents of which we have none. He wondered why we have text books in three locations within the budget. This was all pulled from a “by location” report of the current budget which he had sitting on the table — a huge document.

Purdy’s focus with the location report was to look at possible cuts in the central office. Indicating we have less students and less teachers perhaps we should have less administrators in the central office. Purdy’s comments drew applause from the audience prompting board President Veronica O’Brien to bang the gavel and proclaim, “This is not a rock concert.”

She’s right, it was not a rock concert. However, it was entertaining in a sad sort of way. I may have to stop attending school board meetings just to keep from getting too jaded about the future of our schools and city. But O’Brien’s “rock concert” comment got me thinking. Perhaps we replace CFO Cedric Lewis with St. Louis native comedian Cedric the Entertainer? That guy is a funny. I bet he can make us laugh about the millions in the hole we are. And what if the board sold t-shirts, “I survived the St. Louis Public School Budget Debate: 2006.” Depending upon which faction you liked better you could get the board members to sign the shirt. Sadly, we can’t see enough shirts to overcome the deficits.

Superintendent Creg Williams had a very good response to Purdy’s questions on the line items in the budget. Well, sorta good. Williams indicated the line items used in the budget were established 5-10 years ago. Thus, line item names do not necessarily correspond with current titles. The budget is already the size of 2-3 phone books and on top of that we have line items that do not reflect our current system. When the board members don’t fully understand the budget they are expecting to pass how can we as mere citizens have any confidence.

On the issue of trimming the central office budget Williams said the administration could be completely eliminated and we’d still have a deficit, that it represents only 4% of the total budget.

Later Peter Downs asked about maintenance. A senior staff member from that department, I don’t recall his name, indicated the bulk of his maintenance budget was going to roof maintenance — something on the order of $3.1 million for this coming fiscal year. When asked if that was enough his response was a big no. It appears other building maintenance must take a back seat to roof repairs. This is logical as it does not good to do other maintenance only to have the roof leak.

I witness last night, during the hour or so I was there, a level of hostility among board members that was not encouraging. I supported Peter Downs and Donna Jones and I am glad they are there to ask questions that I know I certainly want answered. What is missing from all this is someone to rally the troops, pull everyone together and get us on solid footing.

I’m telling you, we need Cedric the Entertainer to conduct these meetings.

– Steve

Body Art in the City

My birth state of Oklahoma is finally waking up to reality and allowing legal tattoos, the last state to do so. Oklahoma’s law did not allow “permanent” tattoos but in a fun twist tattoo studios opened up shop stating that laser removal options made tattoos non-permenant and therefore legal. Rather than allow this the state has changed the law and is setting up regulatory guidelines.

Like nearly everywhere else confusion surrounded the practice of tattoos, the artists and the patrons. In St. Louis this has been manifested in a ban in redevelopment areas. Common language is the following:

pawn shops, adult bookstores, x-rated movie houses, massage parlors or health spas, auto and truck dealers (new or used), pinball arcades, pool halls, secondhand or junk shops, tattoo parlors, truck or other equipment rentals requiring outside storage, blood donor facilities, free standing package liquor stores, check cashing centers, any use (except for financial institutions or pharmacies) that utilizes a sales or service window or facility for customers who are in cars, or restaurants that sell products to customers who are in cars or who consume the sold products in cars parked on the restaurant premises, or sell products through a sales window to customers who are in cars or to pedestrians outside the building for immediate consumption by the customer either on or off the premises.

The no sales to customers in cars ban (aka drive-thru), as you might guess, it a good rule in my book. Drive-thru restaurants are simply not urban. Neither are the drive-thru bank & pharmacies that are permitted.

But you just don’t get much more urban than a tattoo studio.

I take personal offense to tattoo “parlors” being lumped together with x-rated movie houses and blood donor facilities. Why a personal offense? Well, I have five tattoos so far. My first was at Iron Age in the loop while one of my more recent tattoos was done at Cheap Trx on South Grand (I was their first paying customer when they opened the tattoo studio, thank you very much). The others were done in San Diego, New York City and San Francisco (at the studio of well known tattoo artist Ed Hardy). For me, the tattoo is a wonderful art form that I embraced not in my impulsive 20s but in my 30s.

KSDK is running an AP story on a new study looking at the demographics of those who get tattoos:

The study, scheduled to appear Monday on the Web site of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, provides perhaps the most in-depth look at tattoos since their popularity exploded in the early 1990s.

The results suggest that 24 percent of Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed; that’s almost one in four. Two surveys from 2003 suggested just 15 percent to 16 percent of U.S. adults had a tattoo.

“Really, nowadays, the people who don’t have them are becoming the unique ones,” said Chris Keaton, a tattoo artist and president of the Baltimore Tattoo Museum.

But body art is more than just tattoos.

About one in seven people surveyed reported having a piercing anywhere other than in the soft lobe of the ear, according to the study. That total rises to nearly one in three for the 18-to-29 set. Just about half — 48 percent — in that age category had either a tattoo or piercing.

Funny, our city’s redevelopment language doesn’t say anything about body piercing. I guess those with piercings are not as much of a perceived threat as those with tattoos? And yes, I have some piercings as well, all done at Cheap Trx on Grand.

I’ve visited many of the tattoo studios in our region and I know a number of the artists. I have friends with many visible tattoos and they are all productive, contributing citizens. In fact, at least one member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen has a tattoo. I have also visited tattoo studios in nearly every city I’ve traveled to and more often than not they are part of the area which is considered hip & cool. Banning tattoo studios in large parts of St. Louis sends a message, “we don’t want vibrant areas with a diverse & youthful population.” Not a good way to compete with other regions for the creative class.

The legal and regulated art of the tattoo should not be banned from our redeveloped areas.

Update 6/13/06 @ 7:45am – From MayorSlay.com back in March 2006:

Tattoos have definitely gone legit – and the days when City zoning codes and redevelopment ordinances banned their studios are passing quickly. The most talented practitioners of the art in the City – like David – are booked months in advance. And, yesterday’s den of vice is today’s neighborhood hot spot.

Perhaps Francis is sporting some ink?

– Steve

Metro’s Chair Seeks to Correct the Media

Local rail advocacy group, Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT), sent the following out today:

In a letter to KMOX talkshow host Charlie Brennan, Hugh Scott, Chairman of the Metro Board of Commissioners, responded to inaccurate and unfairly critical comments made by Brennan on KMOX, and on KETC’s Donnybrook program. As a supporter of Metro and public transit in the St. Louis Region, we’re providing you with a copy of Chairman Scott’s letter to Mr. Brennan. These facts will help you respond to questions you might receive about Metro and its current MetroLink extension project.

Here is the letter to Charlie Brennan:

To: Charles Brennan

From: Hugh Scott

Date: 6/9/06

While I realize that your on-air comments on KMOX and Donnybrook need to be arranged in convenient sound bites, I have become increasingly bothered by your lack of knowledge on the subject situation.

When you say things like; “We all know Metro is a mess” and then back it up with comments about cuts in bus service and $28 million “in arrears” it shows that you have not really taken the time to look at what is actually happening at Metro. Likewise, your comment on the June 1 Donnybrook program that it is “dumb” that the new stations on the Cross County Extension do not have parking is simply wrong.

For your information, the actual facts are these:

1. The Cross County Extension is a year late and $150 million over budget due largely to poor and incomplete design work on the part of the engineering consortium hired to build the project. While it may be surprising that such large multi-national firms could do such shoddy work, the evidence speaks for itself. Obviously, we hope to recover a large amount of this overcost on behalf of the St. Louis taxpayers, in a lawsuit currently pending in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

2. Bus service has not been cut in the last four years. With the opening of the MetroLink extension, we will be eliminating bus routes where they duplicate the MetroLink expansion. Otherwise, bus service has in fact increased. I might add that ridership has increased significantly each of the past two years in spite of major fare increases.

3. The $28 million “in arrears” comment seems to refer to the fact that Metro has announced that without a tax increase or more subsidy from the State of Missouri or from the federal government, we will have a deficit in fiscal year 2008. Currently, Metro is not running a deficit and in fact finished FY ’06 with a balanced budget. Last month Metro’s board approved a balanced budget for FY 07, as well.

4. Metro has built large park and ride lots and/or garages at two of the nine new stations on the Cross County Extension.(Lansdowne and Richmond Heights) Further, there will be other (non Metro provided) adjacent parking opportunities offered at the Sunnen, Galleria, and Clayton stations. Remember also that many of the new stations are also transfer points where MetroLink connects with MetroBus service. Likewise, the parking lot at the existing Forest Park-DeBaliviere station will be re-opened in time for the opening of the Cross County Extension. You can be sure that as with the present alignment, Metro will be offering a great deal of free parking.

5. The stations without parking are in very densely populated areas where it can be expected that riders will arrive and depart on foot or by bus. Specifically, the Forsyth station exists to serve downtown Clayton workers and nearby residents, the Big Bend station serves the western portion of Washington University, and the Skinker station serves the eastern part of Washington University. While it would have been nice to provide parking at these locations, “park and ride” makes the most sense when it is adjacent to major highways and thoroughfares. This has been provided for in the new extension.

6. Metro is not a mess – quite the opposite. Larry Salci and the current management team arrived mostly after the Cross County project had begun. They realized quickly that the engineering consortium was not doing a good job and they fired them. Since Metro has taken over engineering and supervision, the project has gone remarkably well. Two years ago, Metro promised that the Cross County Extension would be operating in October of 2006. Today, it appears that this deadline will be met easily. While I am admittedly biased, I believe the present management represents the solution to the problem and not the problem.

I realize that the situation at Metro is baffling and frustrating to many in the community. As you can see from the above, it is difficult to summarize succinctly all of the issues here. To date, the media has shown little interest in understanding the actual issues and in reporting on them. Instead, print and broadcast media seem to “feed off” each other’s misinformation to create stories. While this obviously arouses the ire of already frustrated taxpayers, it does little to help the situation.

Pleased be assured that the Metro staff and I will be happy to meet with you and discuss this situation in detail at any time.

Hugh Scott, III

Chair

Metro Board of Commissioners

Not to be argumentative (well, OK, just a bit), here are some thoughts:

Metro blames the “engineering consortium” that was hired for cost overruns and delays. Who hired them? Metro did. As Scott points out in #6 above, “Larry Salci and the current management team arrive mostly after the Cross County project had begun.” That is a convenient excuse but it sounds a bit like the school board, “Oh yeah, that was the guys before us.”

I still have to wonder about the size of Metro. Some have suggested they are now a lean machine while others tell me there is fat to be cut. As a citizen it is really hard to get a grasp around such entities. I was thinking we should send the Alverez & Marsal team over to Metro but they’d probably cut all the bus & MetroLink drivers but retain everyone else, collect millions and then leave town before we realized what happened.

Metro needs money just to stay afloat. Not money for expansion, just operations. It will come in the form of a tax increase. I’m not sure how we can get them to prove they are fiscally responsible but I’d like your suggestions. If they want more money I’d like to know how the current funding level is being spent. I know part of the need for additional funding will the be additional operation of 8 more miles as well as some deferred debt. They need to start a really good sucking up PR campaign. I’m not sure bitching about the media is the best way to start…

– Steve

School Vouchers Worth Considering in St. Louis

I may be about to lose my liberal credentials but here it goes, I think we should consider school vouchers in St. Louis. Before you scroll down to tell me I’m either insane or to thank me please continue reading.

Like many of you I’ve thought of school vouchers as an evil plot by the religious right to get us to help fund the “education” of a new crop Pat Robertsons. But my perspective has changed of late and it all began on a bus trip to New Town at St. Charles.

By pure luck the guest of honor for this event, John Norquist, sat next to me to and from so we were able to talk about many things. Norquist is a former Wisconsin State Rep., former Mayor of Milwaukee and is currently serving as the CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). Among the many things we discussed was school choice.

When it came up I was wondering if he was some religious nut but I didn’t get that impression from him. Then he made a statement which really hit home:

You already have school choice!

He saw my confused look and pointed out the bus window as we drove along I-270 in the suburbs. Ah ha. His point is that school choice has existed for decades, those with more money simply move to get better schools (or at least what they perceive as better schools). The reverse is true, people don’t move into areas where the schools are bad. A school voucher system in St. Louis, he argued, would allow someone to live in the city with less concern about the state of the public school system.
… Continue Reading

Revised Prediction for St. Louis Gas Prices

Back on December 30th I predicted that by the end of 2006 “a gallon of regular gas will exceed $3.00, not due to a natural disaster or terrorism.” I think that prediction might turn out to be a major understatement. At the time regular gas in St. Louis was around $2.20/gallon.

Yesterday when I left my house for dinner regular at the two stations near me was $2.69/gallon. Just a couple hours later the price was $2.88/gallon (shameful I didn’t have my camera with me). Today I noticed the price has settled to $2.84/gallon. This is all for regular. Premium fuel, like my former Audi required, is now over $3.00/gallon. Places in metro East are seeing regular in the $2.94 – $2.99/gallon range.

So today I’m revising my estimate, I think we’ll see regular gas at $3.50/gallon before New Year’s Day 2007. And I don’t mean some spike brought on by a hurricane or such. Just normal everyday pricing.

What we must remember that the cost of this increase is not simply what we pay at the pump. While the average driver may be able to pay another $750-$1,000 for gasoline in 2006 than they did in 2005 that aggregate cost will mount. Many will be unable to juggle this increased expense with their incomes. Far suburban areas will continue to find it challenging to attract service workers because it simply will not be cost effective for someone to drive 20 miles for a minimum wage job.

Our entire economy is dependent upon oil, cheap oil.

Employers & employees located nearest to mass transit will be the best off. Ironically, it will be more and more costly to operate our bus system as fuel costs surge. Increased revenues from new riders and rate increases will not keep pace with fuel prices. Meanwhile, our government will likely continue road expansion projects rather than providing efficient mass transit where needed to keep the economy moving.

We may elect more Democrats to Congress in November but I don’t think that will help much, if any. Democrats have controlled the White House & Congress and still failed to do anything about sprawl, dependence on oil and auto fuel standards. Republicans are more cozy with oil interests but Democrats don’t seem willing to make any real change, presumably out of fear of not getting elected.

Locally things will be interesting as fuel prices increase. The City of St. Louis will actually be positioned well to deal with a slowing economy. I hope we can actually utilize some of our industrial buildings to once again manufacture goods to replace those we can no longer cheaply import from China. Our retail storefronts should again begin to open up as locally made goods are sold locally. Local farmers markets will see continued growth as the big grocery chains struggle to stock shelves with reasonably priced merchandise that has to be shipped cross country.

People will naturally gravitate together in the core. Sprawling suburbs with massive McMansions will become liabilities. Owners of those 3 acre lots may have to resort to growing veggies where they have the manicured lawn now.

This is not going to happen overnight but it has already started. The shift is taking place. How quickly the economy changes is hard to say as is how rough it will be.

– Steve