Happy 5th Birthday To Flamingo Bowl

Five years ago today officials were all smiles as two businesses opened on Washington Ave. Good Works furniture didn’t even make it a year but the other, Flamingo Bowl, celebrates five years.

From the website:

Flamingo Bowl offers 12 lanes of bowling, as well as an extensive drink menu featuring classic, modern and signature cocktails. The full bar also offers a selection of beer, liquors and wine, while the kitchen serves up an eclectic mix of great food.

When Flamingo Bowl opened it permitted smoking but went smoke-free with most other public places on January 2, 2011. The hours are noon-3am 7 days per week.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Climate Change Is Absolutely Affecting Weather In The United States

The latest way climate deniers are dismissing reality is they acknowledge climate change but deny that it’s caused by man. The latest example is Arizona Gov Jan Brewer:

“Everybody has an opinion on it, you know, and I probably don’t believe that it’s man-made,” she told Welch, who had posed the question in the context of her upcoming speech at an energy summit. “I believe that, you know, that weather and certain elements are controlled maybe by different things.” (Huffington Post)

Different things? Such as? But it couldn’t possibly be man and all our burning of fossil fuels! Other things…non-man things.

Thankfully most of the readers don’t try to split hairs on the cause of climate change, here are the results of the poll from last week:

Q: Do You Think Climate Change (Global Warming) Is Affecting The Weather In The United States?

1. Absolutely 89 [66.92%]
2. Possibly 19 [14.29%]
3. Not at all 16 [12.03%]
4. Unsure/No Answer 5 [3.76%]
5. Other: 4 [3.01%]

Here are the four other answers:

1. You would have to be a blind dumbass to think otherwise
2. Climate change is mostly a result of natural causes; humans may accelerate…
3. Yes, it is real but probably not manmade
4. Duh!!!!

Political ideology is preventing many from accepting that humans have altered our climate. Happy 12-12-12!

— Steve Patterson

An Early Look At Our Spring 2013 Election

With the 2012 presidential election barely behind us, St. Louis’ spring 2013 election season has started. Candidates began filing on November 26th, the first was Francis Slay filing for an unprecedented fourth term for mayor.

The list of candidates posted on the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners website includes filings only from the first two days, November 26-27. Republican Director Gary Stoff confirmed yesterday morning their list of candidates is current, no additional candidates have filed. See the list online or archived.

Here’s the offices and my early take:

MAYOR

As mentioned above, Francis Slay filed to run for a fourth four-year term as mayor. Raymond Tucker is our only mayor to seek a 4th tern, he lost to Alfonso J.  Cervantes in 1965. Cervantes was a former President of the Board Aldermen, though not at the time he ran against Tucker.

Current President of the Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed, also filed to run for mayor. Will Reed be able to keep Slay from a fourth term? A 3rd candidate also filed to run for mayor in the democratic primary: Jimmie Matthews.

COMPTROLLER

Darlene Green was unchallenged in early filing for another term as Comptroller, a position she’s held for four terms.

1ST WARD

Incumbent Charles Quincy Troupe was first elected in 2005, he’s seeking a third term.

3RD WARD

Notably absent from initial filing is that of incumbent Freeman Bosley Sr. Next spring will mark the end of his 6th term in office so perhaps he’s decided 24 years is enough. A Maxine Johnson is the only candidate filed so far.

5TH WARD

Incumbent Tammika Hubbard easily won a 3-way special election earlier this year after April Ford-Griffin resigned to take a job with the city.  But Hubbard hasn’t filed for reelection to a full term. Michelle Hutchings-Medina, however, has filed for the seat.

I’ve met Hutchings-Medina a couple of times in the last year and I’ve been very impressed by her character . I’m not going to make any endorsements until after filing closes in January but as a voter in the 5th ward she has my early support.

6TH WARD (SPECIAL ELECTION)

Kacie Starr Triplett surprised many recently when she resigned her seat to take a private job. The position of alderman is part-time so many have full-time employment.  But one must have a job with the flexibility to spend some time in city hall during the week.

So far two candidates have filed for the March 5th Democratic primary; Christine Ingrassia and Damon A. Jones.

7TH WARD

Phyllis Young is finishing up her 7th term as alderman of the 7th ward — that’s 28 years! For many voters she’s been in office their entire lives. Young has filed for an 8th term in office and as you might expect, nobody is challenging her.

9TH WARD

Ken Ortmann was first elected in 1999, presumably to finish the tern of the prior alderman. He was reelected in 2001, 2005, and 2009. To my knowledge, he’s not faced an opponent in the primary or general.

11TH WARD

For the first time in many years voters may not see the name Villa on the ballot. Matt Villa resigned a couple of years ago to focus more attention to the family business, his uncle Tom Villa won the special election to finish the term. Albert “Red” Villa was alderman from 1953-1990.

The only candidate filed so far is Eddie Tucker, owner of Tucker’s Bar and Grill on south Broadway (not to be confused with Tucker’s Place in Soulard).

13TH WARD

Like Phyllis Young, Fred Wessels is finishing his 7th term as alderman in the 13th ward. Also like Young, he’s a very nice person. To his credit, Wessels ran for the citywide office of treasurer earlier this year, coming in a close second in a hotly contested 4-way race. Politicians should not be reelected time and again due to a lack of a challenger. A lack of a challenger is not a victory, it’s a failure of democracy.

15TH WARD

Jennifer Florida has been another of the aldermen to be reelected due to a lack of a challenger but 2013 will be a different. Florida, seeking a fourth term, will face Lisa Miller in the Democratic primary. I recently met Miller and I think she’ll be a strong challenger to Florida. Will it be a 2-way race or will a spoiler file?

17TH WARD

Incumbent Joseph (Joe) Roddy waited until the afternoon of the 2nd day to file. In the spring he’ll have served 25 years in office, third in seniority behind Young & Wessels.   Roddy has been challenged before but he’s easily won each time.

19TH WARD

Marlene Davis was elected in 2007 after Michael McMillan was elected license collector, no challenger has come forth.

21ST WARD

Four years ago Antonio D. French did something rarely ever done — he defeated an incumbent. French has ruffled some feathers in the ward and in Room 200, but so far nobody has filed to run against him as he seeks a second term.

23RD WARD

Joseph (Joe) Vaccaro is also seeking a second term. In 2009 he got 48.8% of the vote in a 7-way race for the Democratic nomination.  When you finally get an open seat suddenly candidates are everywhere.

25TH WARD

Another candidate facing his first reelection campaign is Shane Cohn. This is the seat I ran for, and lost, in 2005 against incumbent Dorothy Kirner. In 2009 Kirner decided not to run again and Cohn won in a 4-way race.

27TH WARD

In August 2012 Alderman Gregory Carter was killed in a traffic accident, his nephew, then-state Rep Chris Carter, won the special election to finish the term.  Carter didn’t file for reelection but a Pamela Boyd has filed for the seat.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

Many dislike how term limits have resulted in quick turnover in state government. Conversely, lack of term limits has limited opportunities for new blood in the Board of Aldermen. We need to keep the state-level limits but increase them from 8 years to 12 or 16. At the local level we need to enact term limits of 12 or 16 years so we can get some fresh faces into office. This is needed because some don’t know when to leave office.

While we’re making changes to our city charter, we should also consider the following:

1. Eliminate partisan primary elections since only one elected official isn’t a Democrat; Scott Ogilvie is an independent, not a Republican or Green. Holding a partisan primary every two years so one party can select a nominee, followed by a general election a month later so the Democratic nominee can be on a ballot facing nominees from no other political party is a massive waste of money and effort.
2. Adopt Instant Runoff Voting for when you have three or more candidates. IRV eliminates the spoiler effect of three or more candidates. For more information on IRV see FairVote.org.

— Steve Patterson

PrideFest 2013 Move Downtown Controversial

Peoples often dislike when an event that’s been held in a location for a long time moves to a different location, a recent example is the Annie Malone May Day Parade:

The parade moved downtown in 2006 in hopes of increasing community-wide participation, but has struggled to maintain the level of support it once enjoyed when the parade was held in north St. Louis. (KMOX)

I never saw the parade in north St. Louis but I have seen it a few times downtown, so more of the St. Louis community has participated.

Now we have a very similar controversy about the 2013 PrideFest parade, the annual LGBT event:

Pride St. Louis, Inc. is making some exciting changes in its 34th year. This year, the festival will be held in the heart of downtown St. Louis, at Soldiers Memorial. That means tourists and visitors will be able to enjoy the festival as well as taking in the amenities and iconic scenery of the Gateway City. (Vital Voice)

But not everyone in the LGBT community supports the change of venue from South Grand and Tower Grove Park. A Facebook page called Keep Pride in Tower Grove was started  and a rally will be held today at 5pm and then at 7pm try to convince the Pride board to reconsider the change (event).

When I moved to St. Louis in 1990 as a 23 year-old gay man the CWE was the center of the LGBT community. In 1998 the community was in uproar when the parade was moved from its longtime home of Euclid/Forest Park to South Grand/Tower Grove Park. The event has an interesting history.

History does repeat itself.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Do You Drop Money In The Salvation Army Red Kettle?

This time of the year bell ringers are out in front of stores collecting money for the Salvation Army.

The poll question this week asks if you donate. Discuss below and vote in the sidebar. Results on Wednesday December 19, 2012.

— Steve Patterson