Downtown [Organizations] By The Numbers

Don’t look for any population figures here. This post is about the financial numbers for the two organizations using public funds to ‘improve’ downtown, Downtown Now! and the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. Since our money is used to fund these organizations they are fair game for analysis and criticism.

The figures shown were extracted from 2004 tax returns (source www.guidestar.com). Downtown Now! uses the calendar year as their fiscal year while the Partnership has a July-June fiscal year. Executive Director compensation below is the total of base salary, benefits and expense account.

Here is a quick summary of the basics:

Downtown Now! is much bigger than I thought. But it also has taken on some debts. Its report showed a $10,000,000 loan at the beginning of 2004 but that it was paid off by the end of the year. However, they show other outstanding notes of $1,821,577 at the end of 2004. The maturity date for these notes was 12/31/05. The lenders for these loans were the Danforth Foundation and Bank of America.

Some serious money is spent each year. Lots of salaries, office rent, and travel expenses with too little to show. Yes, each year downtown gets better and better but I think that is a function of more and more residents and the businesses to serve them.

Downtown Now! was supposed to be a temporary organization but I don’t think the powers that be are willing to let it go.

What do you think?

– Steve

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Last week gossip columnist Deb Peterson reported:

DOWNTOWN COMMITMENT: Downtown Now topper Tom Reeves and his bride of nearly a year, Kathy Brown Reeves, former head of St. Louis’ Community Development Agency, have recently bought a new house on the manicured grounds of the Bellerive Country Club in tony Town & Country. Reported purchase price: $1.23 million.

Wow, cha-ching.

It is my understanding Reeves did quite well in the banking business before taking the head job at Downtown Now! on a pro bono basis. His defenders also say they have a downtown loft in addition to the new suburban Town & Country place.

Somehow I’m supposed to feel better about this because he has a second place downtown and works for free. Hmmm, not working.

This affirms my opinion of organizations like Downtown Now! and the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. Namely, they are tools of the rich. “Look at us, we are helping the city.”

A quick glance of the boards of both organizations and you’ll see it is elected officials and the people that paid to get the officials elected. The two organizations stay busy giving each other awards.

I can imagine it is hard for the board to complain about the fact the organization’s website still has a “what’s happening in 2004” logo on their main page when the executive director works for free. What are they going to do, fire him?

But pro bono doesn’t mean the job doesn’t have any perks.

As an example, Apple Computer’s Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs takes a salary of only $1 per year. Yet a few years ago he got a new gulfstream jet valued at something like $80 million. He has also received massive amounts of stock. The point? Steve Jobs is considered one of the highest paid executives in silicon valley despite his $1 annual compensation.

I have no idea what kind of perks Mr. Reeves may or may not be getting either directly or indirectly. I just know that in the real world of politics and big business they have ways of making things look noble on the surface and well compensated otherwise.

What is painfully clear is that someone that can afford to work for free, have a downtown loft and a million dollar McMansion in the ‘burbs probably can’t relate to the the needs of downtown residents and start-up business owners. Reeves certainly can’t manage to keep a website updated…

Read my prior post on Downtown Now! here.

[UPDATE 2/7/06 @ 10:30am. On the next post I report that Tom Reeves is not working pro-bono at Downtown Now. His base salary is $187K. – SLP]

– Steve

London Taxis In St. Louis?

I’ve seen a few in St. Louis, you may have too. The London Taxi doesn’t exactly blend in with the cars and SUVs on our streets. The distinctive look adds a European flair anywhere they go.

I want to see more in St. Louis, in particular around downtown.

I’ve only taken a taxi a few times and mostly in more urban cities such as NYC or Philly. I recall once taking a Town Car from Union Station to the Convention Center (I was with a group and we were short on time). But most of the taxis were a full size Ford Crown Victoria.

The Crown Vic is a big car with a big V-8 engine while the London Taxi is 32″ shorter! Yet, the London Taxi, being specifically designed for such purpose, has far more interior room for passengers (overall height is 14″ greater than the Ford).

The London Taxi are also a more efficient vehicle than the typical cab by utilizing a Ford-built turbo-diesel four cylinder engine. This enables the Taxi to get nearly 50% better city fuel economy than the Crown Vic!

But the real benefit is in passenger amenities. Besides generous space and head room the Taxi includes a wheelchair ramp, interior grab bars, a swing-out seat, an integrated child safety seat and communications technology for the hearing impaired. This is a real world taxi!


As we get more and more residents living in and around downtown St. Louis it would be great to walk out of say a Lafayette Square restaurant and hail a cab to drive you back to your loft. Having cabs available would allow more people to live in St. Louis without owning a car. But they must be convenient, no having to call for a cab and then wait. This is no different than the debate about which comes first, residents or grocery store. Obviously we must have residents first for the commercial enterprises to begin and survive.

Besides London Taxis I’d like to see more pedal powered cabs. This is a great way to get say from one end Washington Avenue to another. Or from your hotel to a dinner destination.

– Steve

The 1970s Plan to ‘Deplete’ North St. Louis

Over on PubDef.net Antonio French linked to a story he wrote back in 2002 regarding some history from the early to mid 1970s. This is a fascinating read and it certainly fills in some gaps in my knowledge.

French talks about a couple of reports and plans prepared in the early 70s. One is known as the “Team Four” plan, from French’s story:

The Plan recommended that each area of the City be grouped into one of three groups: Conservation, Redevelopment, and Depletion, these distinctions being based on factors including age, physical qualities, loan policies, public service level and population stability. Race is not mentioned specifically.

Apparently much of the older areas of North St. Louis were designated as “depletion.” French quotes from the plan how to deal with the depletion areas:

“Efforts must be made to adjust services and public investments so as to provide for those who are remaining in these areas. Yet these efforts should be pursued without encouraging new investment until the City determined that Redevelopment can and should begin.”

Fast forward 30 years and we can see the results of not encouraging new investment. I haven’t read these plans yet but I will be getting copies to review. In case you missed the link above, click here to go to the post on PubDef.net. The city’s website has a simple summary of various planning documents here.

– Steve

Sunshine Law & St. Aloysius

Today I made a formal written request to the City Counselor’s office for two documents related to St. Aloysius:

I had requested communications via fax or email because otherwise they send out letters in the snail mail. I received a reply back via fax indicating they’d get back to me by the 13th of the month.

I had requested any fees be waived as this was in the public interest. They denied my request to waive any costs. Yes, I’ll be getting an estimate of costs to produre two documents. By law they are allowed to charge up to 10¢ per page along with time to research the request. I’ll be curious to see how much time it takes them to research a current file.

I fully expect St. Aloysius to be on the agenda for the February 27, 2006 meeting of the Preservation Board, however, the items are not yet posted.

– Steve