Poll: Would you support a municipal/county ban on pet stores selling dogs from puppy mills?

As I read news headlines I often save articles because I think the topic deserves discussion in the St. Louis region, such was the case last month:

In curbing retail dog sales, San Diego joins Los Angeles, Albuquerque, N.M., Austin, Texas, and more than two dozen municipalities across the country. The bans, all of which have taken effect in the past three years, are evidence of a rapidly growing movement to put an end to so-called puppy mills, a term used by opponents to describe high-volume commercial dog breeders. Animal-rights groups say such facilities, which can move more than 2,000 dogs a week, supply the vast majority of pet-shop dogs. Unsurprisingly, the San Diego ordinance and others like it have attracted fierce criticism from breeders and pet-shop owners who say the anti-pet-shop movement is just plain rabid. (source)

To kick off the discussion, I thought this would be a good subject for the weekly poll. The poll is in the right sidebar. Results on Wednesday the 13th.

— Steve Patterson

Ninth Anniversary of UrbanReviewSTL.com!

Today marks the ninth anniversary of this blog. I began writing to focus on something other than my dad recovering from a heart attack. During the last nine years over 3,500 posts generated nearly 42,000 comments.

I write because I enjoy sharing my thoughts, many often disagree with me. I like to describe my vision for areas, how they might change in the future. Frequently comments suggest I’m just dreaming, the city’s broke, etc.   Well, change starts when someone dreams up an idea that’s different than the current reality.

Money is tight, but here are some public projects completed during the nine years I’ve been blogging.

• Washington Ave streetscape east of Tucker
• Shrewsbury MetroLink extension
• Rebuild of I-64/Highway 40
• Jefferson Viaduct
• Grand Viaduct
• Jefferson over I-64
• Grand streetscape
• Grove streetscape
• Tucker rebuild

No money, huh? These and other projects weren’t free. Ideas must be generated first, then you seek out funding. No government says they have extra money for the taking, the ideas are put into proper form to see about getting funded. Yesterday I saw a 2002 newsletter which had information on the idea for a new Mississippi River bridge. This idea has been hashed around for years, the scope revised numerous times as two states tried to figure out how to fund the project. It’ll open in 2014.

According to Board of Public Service President Richard Bradley, they annually oversee projects totaling “$30-40 million which includes BPS projects at Lambert Airport.”

So I’m going to continue to share my ideas even though I don’t have a funding plan at that moment.  I know that public infrastructure change often takes 5-20 years from idea to ribbon cutting, with only a small percentage making it to the end.

My tenth year begins tomorrow…

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Assuming on-street parking rates will increase, what are your two preferred methods of payment?

For decades the individual parking meter was pretty simple:

The world’s first installed parking meter was in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935.[3][4][5]
Industrial production started in 1936 and expanded until the mid-1980s. The first models were based on a coin acceptor, a dial to engage the mechanism and a visible pointer and flag to indicate expiration of paid period. This configuration lasted for more than 40 years, with only a few changes in the exterior design, like the double-headed version and the incorporation of new materials and production techniques.[6] (Wikipedia)

I included the references because they’re interesting, number 6 especially. The following image is from that source.

Today there are many ways to pay for on-street parking:

• Coins
• Bills
• Debit/Credit
• Cell Phone (example)

For the poll question this week I’m asking “Assuming on-street parking rates will increase, what are your two preferred methods of payment?” If all goes well, the four options will be ranked. This poll is unscientific, but it lets us see how the readership is thinking. The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Should St. Louis Sign The Water Consulting Contract With Veoila?

Next year St. Louis will turn 250 years old. In those early years St. Louis didn’t have a municipal water system, but for the last 178 years we have.

1764: The City of St. Louis is founded.
1831: The City of St. Louis contracts with Abraham Fox and John Wilson to build a waterworks.
1835: The City of St. Louis buys out the bankrupt Fox and Wilson, becoming sole owner of the St. Louis Waterworks. (St. Louis Water history)

With that long history comes old infrastructure. To get advice St. Louis issued a request for proposals to provide a “Operational Efficiency and Value Creation Analysis”:

PROJECT OBJECTIVE:
The objective of the St. Louis Water Division is to retain a Consultant or Consultants with expertise in water system operations that can provide insight and new ideas, programs and approaches on ways to increase the Water Division’s efficiency and/or revenues in order to postpone or lessen future water rate increases and to improve customer satisfaction. The Cityand the Water Division for the most part would like to identify the ideas, have them bedeveloped into projects or programs and be implemented through Performance Contracting such that the City has no additional initial outlay of funds for capital projects or procurement of equipment or services. There will be some Non-Performance Contracting efforts that will result in delivery of a report with recommendations and a detailed implementation plan that can be executed by the SLWD or others

Sounds like a proactive step, but the winner of the bidding process, French firm Veolia, is viewed by some as a company that specializes in the privatization of public water systems. So the fear is a short-term consulting contract is the gateway to handing over a valuable city asset.

Mayor Slay is saying Comptroller Green has a duty to sign the $250,000 contract since it went through the bidding process. Meanwhile, Lewis Reed, President of the Board of Aldermen, is calling for hearings over the handling of the contract.

For months a grass-roots organization Dump Veolia has fought the contract at every step:

We are a group of concerned residents who want St. Louis to reject a proposed water consultancy contract with the French multinational corporation Veolia, the largest water privatization company in the world.? Learn what the campaign is about, who is mobilizing against Veolia, and why.???

The poll question this week is “Should St. Louis Sign The Water Consulting Contract With Veoila?” The poll is in the right sidebar, results to be posted on Wednesday October 20th.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: In The Future, What Will You Call The I-64/I-55 Span Across The Mississippi River?

Last week one of our busiest bridges was renamed/rededicated:

The span, colloquially (but inaccurately) known as the Poplar Street Bridge, was originally named for Dickmann, a former St. Louis mayor. It was renamed Monday for Clay, the former Democratic congressman from St. Louis.

In a rededication ceremony downtown, with Gov. Jay Nixon, Mayor Francis Slay and other dignitaries looking on, Clay and his son, current U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, pulled away a black veil to reveal the white-on-green sign announcing: “Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge.” (stltoday)

This will make the traffic reports on TV & radio significantly longer, if the new name is used.

When I moved to St. Louis 23+ years ago it took me a while to figure out what the “PSB” was. Ah, Poplar Street Bridge…but it was actually the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge. Confusing.

The poll question for this week asks what name you’ll call the span in the future. Here are the choices in the poll:

• Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge
• Poplar Street Bridge
• PSB
• Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge
• Other

These will be presented in a random order in the poll (right sidebar).

— Steve Patterson