5th Ward Special Election Today

Today voters in the 5th ward will go to the polls to select one of three candidates to finish the term of former alderman April Ford-Griffin who resigned to take a city position.

ABOVE (L-R): Candidate forum moderator Kathleen Farrell, candidate Tonya Finley and Rose M. Green

Independent candidates Tonya Finley and Rose M. Green participated in the candidate forum last week. The Democratic nominee Tammika Hubbard confirmed two days prior but she didn’t participate. I expected to meet and hear from all three candidates. The volunteers from the League of Women Voters of St. Louis did an outstanding job with the two candidates  that took the time to show up.

I voted absentee last week, access to my new polling place via public transit would require me to cross 14th Street without a signalized crosswalk — too dangerous.

ABOVE: Ballot on electronic voting machine (click image to view official ballot)

Turnout will be low for this election, very few people deciding who completes the term that ends in April 2013. This may cause me problems down the road for disclosing this but I voted for Tonya Finley in this election.

- Steve Patterson

Who Will be the Next 5th Ward Alderman?

April Ford-Griffin

Friday the 16th we got word that alderman April Ford-Griffin is resigning and taking a city job:

Mayor Slay has appointed April Ford-Griffin as director of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency (CREA). The position has been open since Ruby L. Bonner retired on July 1, 2011.

[snip]

Alderwoman Ford-Griffin was first elected in 1997 to represent the 5th Ward. During her time as alderwoman, she served as chairman of the Ways and Means and the Neighborhood Development Committees. She also served on the Housing and Urban Development, Streets, Transportation and Personnel Committees. The 5th Ward experienced more than $850,000,000 of new residential, commercial, institutional and infrastructure development during her time in office.

[snip]

Ford-Griffin will leave her seat on the Board of Alderman on September 30, 2011 and begin as director of CREA on October 3, 2011. (source)

I’ve long opposed career politicians so after being in office for 14 years I’m glad to see Griffin finally moving on, even if just to a building across Tucker from City Hall. The new salary is more than double the old one.

In this move, Slay also shows – very importantly, in power politics – that if you stand with him, it will pay off for you. April stood with Slay as alderman of the 5th Ward throughout the grueling negotiations between the city and Paul McKee Jr. over the controversial Northside Regeneration redevelopment agreement. April and 19th Ward Alderman Marlene Davis both supported the redevelopment agreement (with various ups, downs, retrenchments and stalemates), despite the persistent attempts to demonize McKee. April, it seems, has been rewarded. That sound you hear could be Marlene Davis making it clear that she is next in line. (Source)

As I posted back in June, I’m back in the 5th ward due to redistricting.  I won’t be running though, I don’t have the physical ability to campaign and I couldn’t stomach the politics if I were to win. So what happens next?

Once the St. Louis Board of Election Commissions receives notice of a vacancy from the Board of Aldermen they will set the date of a special election 75-90 days later. All political parties recognized by the city can nominate a candidate for the ballot. Republican, Green, Constitution and Democrats can all name a nominee.  A Democrat will be nominated but a candidate from the others is uncertain.

The 5th ward Democratic Committeeman and Committeewoman will submit a name to the city party to determine the nominee. The committeeman is Rodney R. Hubbard Sr., husband of state rep Penny Hubbard, father of former state rep Rodney R. Hubbard Jr., and father (or father-in-law?) of committeewoman Tammika Hubbard.

Independent candidates can also run. These candidates need to submit a petition with at least 10% of the number of voters that voted in the last election for mayor. In 2009 in the 5th ward that was 854 people.  Ten percent is 85.4 which gets rounded up to 86 valid signatures — so more should be submitted.  These need to be submitted up to 30 days before the date of the special election. That date will be 75-90 days from the date of the vacancy.

- Steve Patterson

Focusing on Lucas Park…Again (Updated)

Three years ago this month, a group of 10 downtown residents began efforts to clean up and  activate Lucas Park. The intent was not to run out the homeless, but to give the park the love it hadn’t received so the non-homeless would also feel welcomed in the public park.

ABOVE: Clogged drains led to the accumulation of mud, September 2008

ABOVE: After removing the mud and unclogging the drain, September 2008

The park lacked basic maintenance but loft dwellers and numerous homeless individuals worked together on several days that Fall to clean up the park. Many residents wanted a place where they could let their dogs run off-leash. The former playground of the Children’s Center was used for a while but it had serious shortcomings. After a design charrette in November 2008 it was clear to me a few others wanted to filter all communications in the group. My last involvement was in March 2009.

ABOVE: Aerial view of Lucas Park. Original playground/dog run on right with new dog run at the top

ABOVE: I was welcomed at the opening of the new dog park on April 3, 2010

Other than attend the opening of the dog park I’ve stayed away and not been involved, letting others do their thing.

ABOVE: New benches were added, the old USSR must have had a sale

In December 2010 the Missouri Secretary of State’s office dissolved the non-profit Lucas Park Beautification Project for not filing an annual report. The board and the city were unaware of this until I inquired recently.  Really? I’ve come to the conclusion this group is much like a high school clique, a small social group unwelcoming to others. The website, downtownstl10.org, hasn’t been updated since mid-2009. I was told applications could be picked up in person at Washington Ave Post, so I asked for one on my last visit and scanned it (view). By way of contrast, the Frenchtown Dog Park has the logical URL of FrenchtownDogPark.com where the application and dues can be completed online. The Shaw Dog Park is part of the Shaw neighborhood and can be found at www.shawstlouis.org/dogpark/ – rules and applications are also online. The SW City Dog Park in Wilmore Park is located at www.swcitydogpark.org. The Central West End dog park is at www.cwedogparks.com and like all the others the rules and applications are online. A new resident searching online for dog parks might not locate downtown because they wouldn’t find the one in Lucas Park. I knew I had to get back involved, I just couldn’t allow this small group to be the only downtown residents involved in the park that is just 2 blocks from my loft. It’s a public park, they hold no monopoly on it. Lucas Park, like me, is now part of the 5th ward rather than the 6th ward. Alderwomen April Ford Griffin (D-5) says she welcomes “input from all the residents.”  Good. I believe efforts must be on the ground and in the cloud. For the latter I set up the following to help with communications:

• LucasParkSTL.com
• Facebook.com/LucasParkSTL
• Twitter.com/LucasParkSTL

I don’t know at this point where this will go. I do know open communications on issues is a must. – Steve Patterson

Update Wednesday September 14, 2011 @ noon: Turns out there is a website for the dog park – lucasparkdogpark.com. Rules posted? Nope. Membership cost? No. Application form? Negative.  The only thing you can do is submit your email address so someone can contract you.  Oh yeah, the non-profit is still dissolved by the Secretary of State (view).

Back to the 5th Ward

ABOVE: St. Louis ward map from the 1960s

We know with certainty that every ten years the boundaries of St. Louis’ 28 wards will change to reflect new population based on the most recent Census. Each decade we see small changes, more dramatic at times.

Most wards are currently in the positions they were in the 1960s.  Sure, the exact lines have moved around but with respect to other wards they are similar. But wards 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 20, and 25 have different, in some cases dramatically different. For example the moving of the 20th ward from north to south in 2001.

I’ve been through two redistricting in St. Louis – 1991 and 2001. In 1991 I was living in Old North St. Louis in the 5th ward before in after. Mary Ross was the alderman.

In 1994 I moved south to a two-flat that was in Dutchtown. Ward boundaries didn’t mean anything to me in the early 1990s but I was in the 13th ward, represented by Fred Wessels who is still the alderman. In 2001 my house became part of the 25th ward, then represented by Dan Kirner. Four years later I ran unsuccessfully against his widow Dorothy Kirner who was elected in a special election.

In 2007 I moved to a downtown loft, which happens to be in the 6th ward represented by Kacie Starr Triplett.  Under a proposed ward map I will again be in the 5th ward, represented by April Ford Griffin since 1997.

After the census, all legislative bodies are required to redraw the legislative districts to represent the new population figures for each district. The City of St. Louis has 28 wards as directed by the City’s Charter. Therefore, each ward must represent an average of 11, 403 residents. The task for redrawing the boundaries is assigned to the Legislation Committee.

The committee, chaired by Alderwoman Phyllis Young with Alderman Terry Kennedy acting as vice chairman, has successfully completed this process and voted the bill from the committee. It will now go onto the full Board of Aldermen for consideration; however, with 28 co-sponsors, there is little doubt of passage.

The two goals of the group were that (1) the process would be participatory and (2) that no ward would move significantly from its current area. With that in mind, President Lewis Reed and Alderwoman Young met with each alderperson to discuss each ward’s base of population, priorities for that alderperson, and current development areas. After those meetings were completed, aldermen were brought in as small groups representing adjacent wards to discuss common boundaries and to negotiate the new lines. This process continued for the past two months to lastly redefine the boundaries.

The map that you may view here represents the final product of the redistricting process. The initial goals were achieved as members of the Board of Aldermen have actively engaged with one another in accomplishing the task. (source)

What are your thoughts on redistricting?

- Steve Patterson

Three Downtown Aldermen Seek Place for Stakeholders on Discussion of Homeless Encampments

ABOVE: North riverfront area where homeless tent cities exist

Last week the three aldermen representing downtown sent the following letter to Mayor Slay:

Dear Mayor Slay:

As the Alderwomen who represent our city’s downtown area, we write you today regarding news reports that local government is developing plans to relocate the homeless men and women living along the downtown banks of the Mississippi River. Recent events have drawn increased attention to these encampments, however their presence is an ongoing regional issue that predates even the beginning of your administration ten years ago. We commend your office for showing leadership on this important issue and taking the first steps toward implementing solutions that work for St. Louis’ most vulnerable and impoverished residents.

We look forward to being included in the process that develops the best approaches and solutions for this population. A lasting solution requires input from community leaders and residents. As you know, local partnerships, like the St. Louis City Continuum of Care, work with the homeless population day in and day out. They know the needs and problems that face this community and ought to be part of the solution for its future. Other stakeholders, such as nearby residents and business owners, should also be heard.

In short, this is a longstanding issue that requires an enduring solution. The proper approach must be delicate and allow the voices of those who directly serve and represent this population to be present at the planning table. Throughout the process, elected officials, social service agencies and community leaders should be able to offer their input, thoughts and guidance to ensure that this is a permanent approach to a decades-long issue. A process that neglects their advice or excludes their participation is simply a recipe for failure.

We urge you to reject any approach that does not include the numerous stakeholders involved in this issue. A “take it or leave it” plan developed without proper input and participation is inappropriate here and will only exacerbate existing problems surrounding this situation.

Thank you for your consideration of our position. We look forward to collaborating with you and your office on this issue, and the many others that face our great city.

Sincerely,

 

Hon. April Ford-Griffin, Alderwoman Ward 5

Hon. Kacie Starr Triplett, Alderwoman Ward 6

Hon. Phyllis Young, Alderwoman Ward 7

Last week I was nominated to the board of The Bridge:

The Bridge provides sanctuary for homeless and at-risk persons in St. Louis. Meals and support services for basic human needs are offered by a staff intent on eradicating homelessness by guiding guests on a path to self-sufficiency.

If elected to the board, the three-year term will begin in July. I look forward to learning more about this complex issue and exploring possible actions. I first typed solutions but I’m realistic enough to know homeless will always exist in our city & region. Our policies, however, can vary greatly.

- Steve Patterson

Poll: Current Thoughts on McKee’s Northside Regeneration Project?

Friday 5th ward alderman April Ford-Griffin introduced Board Bill 278 regarding Paul McKee’s stalled Northside Regeneration project:

An Ordinance authorizing the execution of a project agreement between the City of St. Louis and Northside Regeneration, LLC; prescribing the form and details of said agreement; authorizing other related actions in connection therewith; and containing a severability clause.

This agreement would cover only a fraction of McKee’s overall project:

The proposal includes cleaning up 14 vacant lots, tearing down six empty buildings and rehabbing seven more, including the old Greyhound Bus station at Cass Avenue and 13th Street. It also would build a $750,000 materials recycling center on 10th Street near Interstate 70, where bricks, wood and other materials from demolished buildings and ripped-up roads would be stored and sold for reuse. (Post-Dispatch)

This is in response to a legal delay last July:

A St. Louis judge threw out a city ordinance Friday that authorized $390 million in tax increment financing – the largest in the city’s history – for Paul McKee Jr.’s $8.1 billion NorthSide redevelopment.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker ruled in favor of city residents who allege in a lawsuit filed last fall that the Board of Aldermen did not comply with state law when it approved a tax increment financing (TIF) package for McKee’s massive project. (St. Louis Business Journal)

So McKee’s Northside Regeneration project is the subject of the poll this week (upper right of blog).

- Steve Patterson

Controversial “Blairmont” Project to be Revealed Tonight

Tonight we expect politically connected developer Paul McKee, of McEagle Development, to publicly unveil the controversial development project nicknamed “Blairmont.”

The project got this name after one of the early holding companies used to acquire properties, Blairmont Associates LLC.

Here is a video that explains Blairmont:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btSZsso5AEs

Another source of info on Blairmont is a January 2007 RFT article.

Out of the controversy came an August 2007 bus tour of McKee’s properties.  Here is 5th Ward Alderman April Ford Griffin:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOKtIaGmpN8

The next month the meetings continued.  Here is 19th Ward Alderman Marlene Davis:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHeWx-6smiw

I got involved by asking a question of Alderman April Ford Griffin.  Griffin is the chair of the Neighborhood Development committee at the Board of Aldermen.  She has a warped view of zoning.  Rather than have excellent zoning that codifies the community vision, she likes outdated zoning so developers must come to her.  The video starts out rough but gets better:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ne4ZNWqT9M

Congressman Clay talks about a hearing held at city hall with a reference to the 1970s Team Four plan that called for reducing services in parts of the city:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsx_Ph8vEj41976

Here is a summary of the infamous Team Four plan:

This document contains the technical memorandum that was submitted to the Plan Commission by Team Four, Inc. in 1975. This memorandum proposed public policy guidelines and strategies for implementing the Draft Comprehensive Plan that was prepared by others. It offered a series of considerations concerning the process of adopting, staging, budgeting and ultimately implementing the Draft Comprehensive Plan. In addition, this document contains a preface dated 1976 that attempts to clean up any inconsistencies and or controversies surrounding the proposed implementation strategies and a bibliography or annotated listing of Technical Memoranda and Appendixes. Part I of this document focused on strategies for three generic area types: conservation, redevelopment, and depletion areas; and Part II of this document discussed major urban issues and their solutions.

Today “shrinking cities” are studied and various techniques are debated.  In the 70s in St. Louis the Team Four plan was seen as a racist plot to deny services to a minority population.  We know more today about how to adjust to shrinking populations.

Tonight we will see another, a huge heavily subsidized redevelopment plan.  Many are opposed simply based on the history of the project to date.  I for one plan to go with an open mind.  I have reservations about both the developer and the political leadership.  Griffin’s view on the role of zoning doesn’t give me a lot of hope for what may be presented in pretty artist renderings actually being completed as promised.  A good framework of a zoning code can help ensure the promised vision develops into reality.

Tonight’s meeting starts at  7pm at Central Baptist Church Education Building 2843 Washington Ave (Google Map).  I’ll be there and will report on the presentation next week.

North City Development Meeting on Thursday 5/21

Last Monday myself I and others from the media were not allowed to see a presentation from McEagle Development regarding their plans for developing the tons of properties they’ve acquired (see post). We were told that another meeting would be held on the 21st and that media would be allowed to attend.  However, the meeting location and time was not yet confirmed. They had mentioned Vashon High School as a possible location for the meeting.

I just got the skinny:

Meeting May 21st at 7pm at Central Baptist Church Education Building 2841 Washington. For 5th & 19th ward residents. Media will be allowed.

The address is actually 2843 Washington Ave (Google Map) — the location of the closed door meeting from last week.  This large project will have a bigger impact than just two wards so hopefully everyone that has an interest in the proposal can get in to see the presentation.

I’ll have a history of the project as well as thoughts on what I’ve heard so far this Thursday morning as well as a followup after I’ve seen the presentation.

Media Barred From Public Meeting on Proposed Development in North St. Louis (Updated 3X)

Earlier today I got word of a meeting regarding Paul McKee’s development in North St. Louis.  I posted about the meeting and decided to go.

It looked like a public meeting:

Sign posted outside door to meeting.

However, the first order of business was an announcement that the meeting, about a development project,  was private and all media had to leave.  I stayed seated until a man came over to me and asked me to leave — saying Central Baptist Church was private property.  I left in shock.  Outside I found reporters from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,  KWMU radio and later KMOV that were not allowed inside.  I guess I was in good company.

A security guard was on hand to keep the press in check.

Church representative that announced media had to leave locked both exterior doors so nobody could enter.

The doors were locked so we could not enter the building.  The doors do have panic bars so people could exit.  While outside some regular citizens arrived.  They had to pound on the door to be let in.  Not all persons inside were residents of the two wards that had their Aldermen on the agenda (April Ford Griffin & Marlene Davis).  A third Alderman was present in the audience, recently sworn Alderman Antonio French from PubDef.org.

I’m no expert on Missouri’s Sunshine Law but I’m pretty sure this was a violation.  I’ve already filed a complaint with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster.

Developer Paul McKee was not at the meeting but the agenda listed William Laskowsky of McKee’s McEagle Development company and a Mark Johnson from Civitas, Inc.  Alderman Davis told us the public meeting would be on the 21st, most likely at Vashon High School. McKee has substantial real estate holdings in North St. Louis.  Stay tuned.

UPDATE 5/11/09 @ 11pm. KMOV reporter Ray Preston blogged about not being able to cover the meeting.

UPDATE 5/12/09 @ 7:50AM - additional coverage

• Post-Dispatch reporter Tim Logan
• Saint Louis Urban Workshop

UPDATE 5/13/09 @3:30PM – response from Missouri Assistant Attorney General Daryl Hylton:

I appreciate and understand your concerns about the meeting referenced.  As I understand the situation, this “meeting” was facilitated by two alderman, so that developers could address concerns of the citizens impacted by the development   Missouri courts, however, have interpreted the sunshine law to not apply to actions of individual members of a government entity when acting independently without any authority of the body;  or to meetings of less than a quorum of the entity absent an attempt to avoid the purpose of the sunshine law. See Colombo v. Buford, 935 S.W.2d 690 (Mo. App. W.D. 1996).

So the meeting was allowed to be closed to the press.  While legal it is not good PR for a project that has yet to garner any good PR.

—-

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Will She Or Won’t She?

Yesterday I updated my St Louis Municipal Elections Spring 2009 page with all the candidates that have filed for office as of the last date published by the St Louis Board of Election Commissioners, 11/25/08. I’ve added a few additional names to the list for those that I’ve read are running but did not file as of the date of the last list.

In 2009 we will elect Mayor, Comptroller and Aldermen for the 14 odd-numbered wards for a total of 16 races. Based on filed and announced candidates, only four of those are contested at this point. The remaining 12 face no opposition.Talk about apathy of voters all you want but it is the apathy of citizens to seek office that gets me. Anytime I talk about term limits someone always says to just elect someone else. Sure that sounds good, but when your ballot only has a single candidate for a race that is rather hard to do.

No candidate, even if I like them, should be elected to office due to the lack of an opponent. People tell me they’ve thought about running but the incumbents bank account intimidates them – keeping them out of the race. Term limits are an effective way to open races up periodically. I think we need term limits for all city offices set at three 4-year terms. This will give a person plenty of time to accomplish their agenda, retains institutional memory but open up races so that voters will have a choice of candidates. I had previously said the limit should be 8 years but 12 may be a better compromise.

A 3-term limit in effect today would prevent seven incumbents from running for the same office in 2009: Darlene Green, Greg Carter, April Ford Griffin, Joe Roddy, Phyllis Young, Matt Villa and Fred Wessels. For Young & Wessels, 2009 marks 24 years in office – they are both going for their 7th terms! Some of you reading this site were not event born when they were first elected to office. When was the last time they had an opponent? Asked another way, when was the last time voters in their wards had an option to elect someone else?

In the 23rd Ward we have a 4-way race so far. If Francis Slay had not stepped up the political ladder he’d be the only person in that race. If the incumbent, Kathleen Hanrahan, was running again we most likely would not see any of the current four that are running in the race.

In the 25th, my previous ward, everyone is wondering if Dorothy Kirner will run for a second full term. Kirner defeated me 55.9%-44.1% in 2005 after she won a 2004 special election to fill a vacancy when her husband, Ald Daniel Kirner, passed away. Filing remains open until January 2, 2009. Angie Singler, whom I’ve endorsed, was the second person to file for any race when the filing opened on 11/24/08. As such her name will be first on the ballot in the 25th Ward race. Shane Cohn, who I also know, has declared himself a candidate. If Kirner signals to others before filing closes that she is not going to run again I think we will see more candidates in this race – others may just be sitting on the sidelines patiently waiting their turn.

The next few months are going to be interesting.