St. Louis-Based Association Has An Issue with the Obama’s Garden

Besides having a new dog, Bo, the first family has a garden at the White House.  Specifically, an organic garden:

The back-to-the-earth movement has gotten the ultimate PR push. First lady Michelle Obama has planted the world’s most famous new garden on the White House grounds. Michelle Obama’s White House garden symbolizes much more than dreams of a few plump tomatoes or juicy snap peas.  (source: USA Today)

Seeing our First Lady plant the first White House garden in 60 years warms my heart. I grew up with a garden and my grandparents on both sides of my family had large gardens.  Who doesn’t like a garden?

Just a few days after Michelle Obama invited local fifth graders to help plant the White House Kitchen Garden, the MACA, a group which represents and is comprised of former executives from Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto and DuPont Crop Protection, sent the White House a letter expressing their disappointment that she had not “recognize[d] the role conventional agriculture plays in the US.”  (source: Sustainablog)

Here is part of the letter:

We live in a very different world than that of our grandparents. Americans are juggling jobs with the needs of children and aging parents. The time needed to tend a garden is not there for the majority of our citizens, certainly not a garden of sufficient productivity to supply much of a family’s year-round food needs.

Much of the food considered not wholesome or tasty is the result of how it is stored or prepared rather than how it is grown. Fresh foods grown conventionally are wholesome and flavorful yet more economical. Local and conventional farming is not mutually exclusive. However, a Midwest mother whose child loves strawberries, a good source of Vitamin C, appreciates the ability to offer California strawberries in March a few months before the official Mid-west season.

Bonnie McCarvel, Executive Director
Janet Braun, Program Coordinator
Mid America CropLife Association
11327 Gravois Rd., #201
St. Louis, MO  63126

True, we’d starve if we all had to grow our own food today.  But growing a family garden to supplement what you buy in the store is a good thing.  The decision of Michelle Obama to have an organic garden is practical.

The first family must pay for ingredients in their non-official meals.  Just like you and me, the more they can grow at home, the more money they can save.

There is something too about watchng herbs & veggies grow in the garden and later see them on your dinner plate.  That is an increasingly important mesage for youth to grasp.  They need to understand that we can grow at least part of our food.  And we can do so organically.

But the chemical lobby doesn’t like the idea of our first family growing some organic food.  It sends the wrong message apparently.  I think it sends the right message.

“This is a big day. We’ve been talking it since the day we moved in,” said the First Lady as she and two dozen local students broke ground on the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House.  Those students will be involved in the garden as it develops and grows, producing delicious, healthy vegetables to be cooked in the White House Kitchen and given to Miriam’s Kitchen, which serves the homeless in Washington, DC.  (Source: The White House Blog)

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‘Project HERO’ Gets Cold Reception

The former Days Inn motel at Tucker & Washington Ave underwent a $14 million dollar renovation recently and it emerged as the Washington Ave Apartments with 94 units.

St. Patrick’s Center, a provider of services to the homeless, is working with the city and Veteran’s Affairs to rent 45 of the units to homeless vets.

Many downtown residents are upset they were not included in the planing before it went forward. More than 20 formerly homeless vets have been residents in the building since June 2008.

It is true many of the homeless vets have addiction issues. But would we prefer they be sleeping in our parks and doorways?

A participant must:

• Be an honorably discharged veteran. Men only.
• Undergo weekly drug testing.
• Pay 30 percent of income toward rent and utilities.
• Not possess alcohol on premises.
• Not have violent crime or sex offense convictions.
• Do daily morning check-ins in person or by phone with a staff member of St. Patrick Center.
• Not have overnight guests unless it is the tenant’s minor child.
• Leave his Project HERO apartment after a maximum of two years.

About the building:

• Key card access 24 hours a day to track who is coming and going.
• Security cameras in hallways and common areas.
• No loitering outside the building. A courtyard not visible from the street is available for tenants. The building also has a community room and free use of laundry facilities.
• Apartments come with kitchens. There are no communal meals.
• A St. Patrick Center employee lives in the building.
• Frequent and random visits by a case manager, which includes a check for alcohol and drugs and proper upkeep of apartments.

I personally welcome this as a means of providing housing to those in need who are trying to rebuild their lives. I do agree it should have been handled more openly. The risk, of course, is that if it had been more open it might have gotten squashed.

I’m glad to see the building being occupied. The tiny apartments were not leasing too well so these men may be the perfect tenants. These units can be a good first step to getting these men back on their feet and part of society.

The important thing is not not stigmatize the building or corner. To a degree these is no different than when a black family would move to a formerly all white street. People jumped up and down and talked about a drop in property values. The drop in values came as a result of the panicked selling cheap so they could flee mixing with someone outside their comfort zone.

I’m going to take a wait and see approach. I already like seeing ligts on in the building at night and increased foot traffic in the area. To me this will be 45 more working residents adding to the mix downtown. It will be more users of transit. The potential positives outweigh the potential negatives. So guys, I’m glad to have you as a neighbor! Welcome to downtown.

Green Party Candidates for Mayor

Those of you registered to vote in the City of St. Louis will have a choice to make on March 3rd.  Candidates, sure.  But before that you’ll have to decide what ballot to take — Democrat or Green.

This year we will see a Green primary due to two Green candidates for Mayor.  On April 4th the winner of the Green primary will face the winner of the 3-way Democratic primary, a Libertarian and Independent Maida Coleman.  Both Green candidates responded to my online questionnaire although only one answered all questions.  The questionnaire was a revision of the one used by candidates for aldermen.  As you will see, I didn’t get all the wording changed.

This is probably the best argument for having non-partisan elections.  We have a primary & general election so these two can have a primary.  The purpose of a primary is so the political parties can select their candidate.  Then you have a general with all the candidates from each party.  This year we have seven total candidates for Mayor, three Democrats, two Greens, a Libertarian and an Independent.  This does not justify having both a partisan primary and a general election.

4. Campaign website URL is (this WILL be published). Type ‘none’ if you don’t have a website/blog.

Don De Vivo:   n/a

Elston McCowan:   www.mccowan4mayor.com

7. List your 3 main qualifications for the position?

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Sitting Municipal Judge Featured on Campaign Literature for Mayor Slay

We often think of the judicial branch of government as being separate from the executive and legislative branches.  Generally that is true.  But not in St. Louis.

A recent mailer for incumbent Francis Slay features Judge Margaret Walsh being “tough on crime.”

Walsh is a judge in the city’s court system and was appointed by Mayor Slay.  Judges are often appointed, but you’d never see a US or Missouri Supreme court judge on campaign literature for the President or Governor that appointed them.

Judge Walsh helped get the city in hot water over the treatment of the homeless in 2004. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch September 24, 2004:

A municipal judge should not have prescribed community service work for people accused — but not convicted — of nuisance crimes, said Jeff Rainford, chief of staff to Mayor Francis Slay. He pledged that the tactic will not be repeated.

The announcement will not stop two lawsuits that target the practices, lawyers who filed them said. Those suits generally claim that the city is trying to drive the homeless out of downtown by violating constitutional rights. U.S.  District Court Judge E. Richard Webber held hearings Friday and Monday on the alleged mistreatment.

A big part of the federal case concerns an order, signed July 2 by Chief Municipal Judge Margaret J. Walsh, that allowed the jail to release people who were arrested for certain offenses during the July Fourth weekend if they performed eight hours of community service work. As a result, about two dozen suspects picked up litter around Lucas Park downtown without ever seeing a judge.

The lawyers compared it to slavery and allege it was part of a strategy to keep the homeless away from Fair St. Louis.

Rainford said Judge Walsh signed the special work-release order at the request of Bob Crecelius, director of the city’s probation and parole office. Rainford said city jail administrators were afraid of being swamped by arrests during the fair and wanted a safety valve.

Walsh said she signed the order “in a hurry” shortly before the fair began. She and Rainford said that, in the future, the city court will establish special hours during the fair to handle cases. Rainford said the city has no plans to discipline Crecelius or Walsh.

The involvement of the Slay administration in the municipal court worrys me.

This and other topics will be discussed tonight at The Royale:

Last week we had a casual discussion about the upcoming city primary. We will be continuing this next Monday, the 23rd, with a new sponsor to the event, the Saint Louis Beacon’s Bob Duffy offering some structured conversation. Along with the Beacon, we will also have hosts Steve Patterson of urbanreviewstl.com, Dave Drebes of the Arch City Chronicle and the Missouri Scout, and DJ Wilson of KDHX’s Collateral Damage.

A discussion of race at a time of political engagement in St. Louis, co-sponsored by The Royale and the St. Louis Beacon. February 23, 2009.

Agenda:
The purpose of this meeting is to encourage a civilized discussion of the racial tensions and progress in race relations in the St. Louis region – a topic that is always relevant here but even more so at a time when the Mayoral election in the City of St. Louis brings racial politics into high relief, if for no other reason than the fact that the incumbent is white and the opposing candidates are African American. The discussion is meant to initiate a long a searching examination of the topic. Its complexity assures nothing will be solved in the course of the evening,

The Evening:
Steven F. Smith and Robert W. Duffy, proprietor of the Royale and associate editor of the St. Louis Beacon respectively, will moderate the discussion. Smith will introduce Duffy, who will discuss the background and the formation of the Beacon and will mention past collaborations with the Royale, including coverage by Smith et al of the Inauguration in January.

Duffy will explain that in the organization phase of the St. Louis Beacon, one issue was mentioned constantly as being of paramount interest and concern to the Beacon staff, in terms of providing in depth coverage of the enormously complicated issue of Race. The Cookie Thornton Story in Kirkwood was an immediate concern as we just begun publication. The story and issues related to it have continued to be discussed in depth on the site.

Smith will explain his commitment to making the Royale a convivial meeting place for the civilized discussion of political, social and cultural issues of concern and relevance to the region. His commitment is based on a long standing interest in the revival of the city proper and the sustained economic and cultural health of the region.

Smith or Duffy will throw out an initial question: How seriously is race to be taken as an issue in this election, and Why? Or, How is the region enriched by racial diversity and how do racial issues have negative impact? Or, How do you personally deal with racial prejudices in your daily personal and business life?

Smith and Duffy will caution the audience that although heated discussions are encouraged, this is not Bill Reilly or even Jon Stewart, but a situation providing a place for and encouragement of honest but respectful discussion.

The partisan primary is March 3, 2009.

Northside Aldermanic Candidate Questionnaire Responses

The following are responses from Aldermanic candidates in various wards on the city’s northside.

These responses are from Sharon Tyus running in the 1st ward against Ald. Troupe, Jeffrey Hardin running against Freeman Bosley Sr. in the 3rd ward and Antonio French running in the 21st against Ald. Bennice Jones-King.  Only Jeffrey Hardin answered all the questions.  None of the incumbents responded.

Another 3rd ward candidate, Velma Baily, faxed me typed responses to a few questions.  Because I was unable to copy/past the faxed text, her answers are in PDF form here.  This questionnaire was online and very easy to use.

The first three questions were basics like name, phone number and email address so we start at #4.

4.    Campaign website URL is (this WILL be published). Type ‘none’ if you don’t have a website/blog.

Tyus/1: none

Hardin/3:   www.jeffreyhardinstl.com

French/21:    www.21stWard.org

5. List your 3 main qualifications for the position?

Tyus/1:

#1: 12 years as Alderwoman of 20th Ward-Thus 12 Legislative Experience
#2: Juris Doctor Washinton University-Aids my ability to read and understand legislation as well as to help write legislation.
#3: Pratical Experince in Economic Development and Planning for a Community.

Hardin/3:

#1: Proven Employment Development Skills
#2: Active Community Involvement
#3: Extensive Understanding of the Ward and Issues as They relate to the position

French/21:

#1: Long record of community involvement
#2: Elected Democratic Committeeman in 2008 on a reform agenda
#3: Proven ability to get things done and fight on behalf of my community

6. Only one of the current 28 Aldermen does a blog so that others can read about issues in that ward. Will you, if elected (orre-elected), have a blog with postings on a regular basis? If not, what method of communications will you have with your constituents, the press and interested citizens?

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