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Three Houses on North 22nd Street Still Unfinished

In July 2011 I blogged about three unfinished houses on North 22nd Street, in a development known as Bosley Estates. Last week they remained unfinished and decaying. They’re at 3920, 3916, and the worst is 3912 (see on Google Street View).

Unfinished house at 3912 N. 22nd, July 2011
Unfinished house at 3912 N. 22nd, July 2011
2912 & 3916 N 22nd Street last week
3912 & 3916 N 22nd Street last week

3912 N 22nd St is owned by Jewell 7 L.L.C.:

  • Entity created on 6/27/2012
  • Entity purpose: “Generate profit from the development and sell of residential and commercial property.
  • Registered agent: Kymberly Graham: 2010 Kingsgate Dr 63138
  • Organizers: Frank K. Billups & Darryl M. Bills: 15663 Debridge Way Florissant, MO 63034

3916 & 3920 N 22nd are owned by MINORITY DEVELOPERS AND BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF ST. LOUIS, L.L.C.

  • Entity created on 1/7/2003
  • Entity purpose: “All purposes allowed under the act.
  • Registered agent: Gary Johnson: 3918 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63113
  • Organizers: Gary Johnson, Ken Hutchinson, and Walter Allen: 3918 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63113
  • Tax bills mailed to: 625 N. Euclid Ste 500, St. Louis, MO 63108 (now luxury apartments)

Building permits for 3920 & 3916 were applied for, and issued, on 4/14/2006. The permit for 3912 N 22nd was applied for on 5/16/2006, issued a month later.

City records show 4 sales for 3912 N. 22nd:

  • 4/5/2006 for $15,144 LRA/back taxes (vacant lot prior to start of new construction)
  • 7/15/2009 for $2,500 foreclosure
  • 10/22/2009 for $2,500 foreclosure
  • 2/27/2013 for $4,000 as part of a multi-location sale

Four new houses on the block were finished and sold. If I had bought one I’d be upset these were allowed to go unfinished for a decade!  Bosley Estates is named after the alderman, Freeman Bosley Sr.

Not sure which will happen first, these unfinished houses completed or a new alderman sworn into office in the 3rd ward?

— Steve Patterson

 

Police Chief Sam Dotson Tops List of People Readers Don’t Want Elected Mayor in 2017

August 10, 2016 Politics/Policy 3 Comments

When I first decided to do a poll about the 2017 race for mayor I was going to have readers pick one or two candidates they wanted to win, but I knew that would get their fans trying to get other fans to sway the outcome. So I reversed who — who do you not want?

Remember — these polls are non-scientific and are not representative of the city as a whole.

Q: In 2017, who would you NOT like to be elected the next St. Louis Mayor? Pick up to 3

  1. Sam Dotson 58 [19.14%]
  2. Lewis Reed 51 [16.83%]
  3. Tishaura Jones 39 [12.87%]
  4. Antonio French 36 [11.88%]
  5. Jamilah Nasheed 32 [10.56%]
  6. Vince Schoemehl 28 [9.24%]
  7. Jennifer Joyce 20 [6.6%]
  8. Gregg Daly 15 [4.95%]
  9. Lyda Krewson 10 [3.3%]
  10. Jeffrey Boyd 7 [2.31%]
  11. Other: 4 1.32% 1.32%
    1. CEO IMO’S Franchises Inc 1
    2. Bruce Franks 3
  12. Jason Hall 3 [0.99%]

The number of votes was higher than usual, but the results stayed consistent throughout the day.

At this point, only two have formally announced their candidacy for mayor: Lyda Krewson & Lewis Reed. Filing hasn’t even opened yet, but there will be many more before it closes in the first week of January.

— Steve Patterson

 

Sunday Poll: Who Do You NOT Want To Be Elected St. Louis Mayor in 2017?

August 7, 2016 Featured, Politics/Policy Comments Off on Sunday Poll: Who Do You NOT Want To Be Elected St. Louis Mayor in 2017?
Please vote below
Please vote below

With the Missouri primary out of the way I want to turn your attention to the Spring 2017 mayoral race. Francis Slay isn’t seeking a fifth term, so an open seat means lot of hats in the ring.

For today’s poll I’ve complied a list of eleven (11) possible candidates — several have already formally announced. I want you to pick up to three that you don’t want to be elected. In case I’ve left off a name, you can add one in the “other” field at the bottom.  The eleven names are presented in a different random order to everyone.

The poll will close at 8pm.

Unless something unexpected happens, the winner of the March Democratic primary will win the April general election and become the next mayor.

Share your thoughts below.

— Steve Patterson

 

 

A Look at Some of Tuesday’s Primary Results

From Missouri’s primary held Tuesday August 2, 2016:

U.S. Senator

  • (D) In this 4-way race the city & state both picked Jason Kander by a wide margin, with Cori Bush a distant 2nd though better in the city than statewide. Chief Wanna Dubie came in 3rd in the city and statewide.
  • (R) Incumbent Roy Blunt easily defeated three challengers from his own party.
  •  A total of 985,759 Missourians voted in this race, with 67% in the GOP (662,842),  32% in the Democratic (318,742), and the rest in Libertarian & Constitution primary.
  • In the city the total votes are as follows: Democrat (40,596), Republican (6,254), Libertarian (126), Constitution (10)
  • The 46,986 total votes from the city represents just 4,8% of the statewide vote.

Governor

  • (D) Current Attorney General Chris Koster, as expected, easily defeated three primary challengers.
  • (R) One of the most watched races. City & statewide voters picked Eric Greitens, but the order of the other three was different: City: 2) Hanaway 3) Kinder 4) Brunner; State: 2) Brunner 3) Kinder 4) Hanaway
  • This race received the most votes statewide: 1,011,386 — 67.6% in the GOP primary.

Lt Governor

  • (D) Russ Carnahan easily defeated two challengers.
  • (R) Mike Parson received 51.5% of the vote in the 3-way race, Bev Randles was a close 2nd with 43.4%
  • Unlike statewide voters, City voters in the republican primary picked Randles by a slim margin

Secretary of State

  • (D) Robin Smith easily defeated two challengers in both the City and statewide votes
  • (R) Similarly, John Ashcroft easily defeated two challengers in both the City and statewide votes

State Treasurer

  • (D) Statewide & City voters narrowly picked Pat Contreras over challenger Judy Baker.
  • (D) Statewide voters picked  Judy Baker over challenger Pat Contreras, though city voters picked the latter.

Attorney General

  • (D) Statewide & City voters picked Teresa Hensley over Jake Zimmerman
  • (R) Josh Hawley easily defeated Kurt Schaefer in a hotly contested race, statewide & City

State Representative — District 78

  • (D) Incumbent Penny Hubbard received 2,190 votes to Bruce Franks’ 2,106; 50.98% vs 49.02%. Franks hasn’t conceded the race to Hubbard.

State Representative — District 81

  • (D) Former Alderman Alfred Wessels defeated two others for the nomination.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney

  • (D) Kimberly Gardner received 48.58% of the vote in a 4-way race, 2nd place was Mary Carl with 23.6% — Carl was endorsed by outgoing Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce. Since the city is a one-party town, no other party has a candidate in the general election  — Gardner will become the city’s first African-American Circuit Attorney (prosecutor).

St. Louis Sheriff

  • (D) Vernon Betts won the 5-way race with 43.21% of the vote. Joseph Vaccaro was 2nd with 31,38%. Betts will face minimal opposition in the November general election, will become the new sheriff. However, he will not be the first African-American elected to serve as St. Louis’ sheriff. Benjamin Goins was elected sheriff in 1977 (Source).

Final thoughts

Since Missouri voters aren’t registered to a political party, as is the case in so many states, we can vote in whichever primary we decide. Thus, it’s hard to predict if the overwhelming number of voters in the statewide primary means statewide Democratic candidates don’t stand chance. Ballot issues like medical marijuana will also drive voters to the polls.

We can see that highly contested races at the top of the ballot draw more voters than nominally contested and low ballot races.

Though Missouri has voted Republican in presidential races since 2000, the Trump/Pence ticket might not continue that streak. Will the Green Party collect enough signatures to be on the ballot? Will it get enough votes to guarantee ballot access in 2020?

b

b

 

Presidential Debates Need To Be Opened Up

A comment on the recent Sunday Poll sums up the current problem with American 2-party politics:

I see zero point in giving a stage to those who have absolutely no mathematical chance of winning the election. In addition to that, over two sides isn’t a debate it’s a series of “gotcha” statements with no real meaningful discourse.

And why don’t they have any chance of winning? Because 3rd/4th parties are largely unknown to voters.

Circular logic keeps us locked into the two major parties on the state & national level
Circular logic keeps us locked into the two major parties on the state & national level

But the Democrats & Republicans like the current system, because it keeps  out new ideas:

The presidential debates — the single most important election events — should provide voters with multiple opportunities to see popular candidates discussing important issues in an unscripted manner. Unfortunately, the presidential debates often fail to do so, largely because the major party candidates exert excessive control over them.

Presidential debates were run by the civic-minded League of Women Voters until 1988, when the national Republican and Democratic parties seized control of the debates by establishing the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). Posing as a nonpartisan institution, the CPD has often run the debates in the interests of the national Republican and Democratic parties, not the American people.

Since 1988, negotiators for the Republican and Democratic nominees have secretly drafted debate contracts that dictate how the presidential debates will be structured. The CPD, which is co-chaired by leading figures in the Republican and Democratic parties, has consistently implemented and concealed those contracts.

CPD control of the presidential debates has harmed us. Fewer debates are held than necessary to educate voters. Candidates that voters want to see are often excluded. Restrictive formats allow participants to recite memorized soundbites and avoid actual debate. Walter Cronkite even called CPD-sponsored debates an “unconscionable fraud.” (OpenDebates2016)

The League of Women Voters withdrew in 1988, here’s their October 3, 1988 press release in full:

LEAGUE REFUSES TO “HELP PERPETRATE A FRAUD” 

WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FROM FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

WASHINGTON, DC —”The League of Women Voters is withdrawing its sponsorship of the presidential debate scheduled for mid-October because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter,” League President Nancy M. Neuman said today.

“It has become clear to us that the candidates’ organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and honest answers to tough questions,” Neuman said. “The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public.”

Neuman said that the campaigns presented the League with their debate agreement on
September 28, two weeks before the scheduled debate. The campaigns’ agreement was negotiated “behind closed doors” and vas presented to the League as “a done deal,” she said, its 16 pages of conditions not subject to negotiation.

Most objectionable to the League, Neuman said, were conditions in the agreement that gave the campaigns unprecedented control over the proceedings. Neuman called “outrageous” the campaigns’ demands that they control the selection of questioners, the composition of the audience, hall access for the press and other issues.

“The campaigns’ agreement is a closed-door masterpiece,” Neuman said. “Never in the history of the League of Women Voters have two candidates’ organizations come to us with such stringent, unyielding and self-serving demands.”

Neuman said she and the League regretted that the American people have had no real opportunities to judge the presidential nominees outside of campaign-controlled environments.

“On the threshold of a new millenium, this country remains the brightest hope for all who cherish free speech and open debate,” Neuman said. “Americans deserve to see and hear the men who would be president face each other in a debate on the hard and complex issues critical to our progress into the next century.” 

Neuman issued a final challenge to both Vice President Bush and Governor Dukakis to “rise above your handlers and agree to join us in presenting the fair and full discussion the American public expects of a League of Women Voters debate.”

The charade continues, with the DNC & RNC acting as gate keepers.

More than half who responded the non-scientific poll feel it should be easier for more than the two major parties to be part of the conversation every four years.

Q: The polling threshold for participation in presidential debates should be…

  • Lowered to 5% 10 [38.46%]
  • Lowered to 10% 4 [15.38%]
  • Kept at 15% 7 [26.92%]
  • Raised to 20% 3 [11.54%]
  • Raised to 25% 0 [0%]
  • Unsure/No Answer 2 [7.69%]

I’m now thinking the debates should be taken back from the major party-controlled Commission on Presidential Debates. Washington University in St. Louis will host a presidential debate on Sunday October 9, 2016 — see details here.

— Steve Patterson

 

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