Reducing The Number Of Aldermen

ABOVE: City Hall, Granite City IL

Many have long thought 28 members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen is excessive for a population of 350,000.  Across the river in Granite City IL they will have the size of their city council go from 14 members to 10 in April.  The numbers of wards will go from 7 to 5, each ward has two representatives.

In the 2011 election, all 10 seats will be up for election for either two- or four-year terms.(source)

The two & four year terms will allow for staggered 4-year terms going forward.  Their thinking was fewer residents so you need fewer elected representatives. If only we’d get wind of such logic on this side of the river!

Here is a list of past decades with the number of residents per St. Louis alderman in parenthesis.

• 2000 (12,435)
• 1990 (14,167)
• 1980 (16,171)
• 1970 (22,223)
• 1960 (26,787)
• 1950 (30,600)
• 1940 (29,145)
• 1930 (29,356)

Were the aldermen of decades past so much more competent that they could represent more than twice as many residents as our current aldermen? Granted, they didn’t need to respond to constituent emails.  Maybe, just maybe, the bureaucracy was such that citizens went there first rather than ring their aldermen? As our population declined the aldermen changed the system so they were thought to be indispensable?

Ald Fred Heitert was first sworn into office in 1979.  After the 1980 census each alderman represented just over 16,000 persons.  If we were to use this number, from the first year of a current alderman, we could go from 28 to 22 (based on 350,000 residents).  1970 was in my lifetime, if we use the 22,223 per alderman figure we would be at 16. Based on the 1950 peak we’d have only 11.

I have no clue what the magic number should be.  Perhaps we should have two aldermen per ward such as Granite City does?  It is time to reexamine how our city government is structured.  If little Granite City IL can do it, why can’t we?

- Steve Patterson

Poll On Missouri’s Historic Tax Credit Program

ABOVE: Buildings on North 14th renovated using tax credits

The State of Missouri is facing a budget crunch so everything is on the table, including tax credits:

“Missouri has 61 tax credit programs that waived $521 million in state income taxes last year. Costs for tax credits have increased five-fold during the past dozen years while state revenues have risen much less.” (AP via Bloomberg)

One credit that may be scaled back is the historic tax credit:

“Gov. Jay Nixon’s tax credit commission recommended Tuesday lowering Missouri’s annual cap on historic tax credits from $140 million to $75 million a year.

The commission said the reduction, which would be permanent, should cover all historic renovation activity under the program. Nearly $100 million in historic tax credits were authorized in 2010, according to the commission’s report.”  (St. Louis Business Journal)

ABOVE: Towns throughout Missouri have benefitted from the historic tax credit. Pictured: Springfield, MO

In 2010 “nearly $100 million in historic tax credits were authorized” so lowering the cap would reduced the number of projects getting renovated using the tax credit.  This is the subject of the poll this week.  I want to know how you, the readers, feel about the cap being lowered.  The poll is in the upper right corner of the blog.

- Steve Patterson

Readers Think The Tour Of Missouri Was A Good Use Of Tourism Dollars

ABOVE: Tour of Missouri in St. Louis, 2009

Last week 181 people voted in the poll:

Q: The 2010 Tour of Missouri has been canceled due to zero funding from the state, which of the following best describes your thoughts:

1. The Tour of Missouri has been a great event, bringing money into the state economy each year — a good use of tax money 97 [53.59%]
2. The Tour of Missouri has been a victim of fighting between Republicans and Democrats 36 [19.89%]
3. The Tour of Missouri has been a money pit, costing more than it made — a good decision to cancel 22 [12.15%]
4. Other answer… 14 [7.73%]
5. Unsure/no opinion 12 [6.63%]

The (14) other answers were:

1. If it’s so successful, they should plan for it’s financial viability.
2. screw the bicyclists. when do I get my own lane to drive in?
3. Killed by Nixon for a petty political vendetta. Politics at its worst.
4. Sad…
5. Even the Tour de France commentators said its a shame it got canceled
6. What a shame. Where was the money spent instead? What was the return?
7. This happened MONTHS ago. Why are you only addressing it now?
8. Jay Nixon needs to go for this! What a joke!
9. B and C
10. Not sure why this can’t be privately funded, the state gave it a good start
11. The Tour of MO should be able to fund itself by corporate donations and sponsors
12. Tourism should have cut back to $500K or so.
13. Not necessarily the best way to spend state money.
14. When the economy is bad, nonessentials get cut.

- Steve Patterson

Poll: Thoughts on the resignation of St. Louis Police Board member Todd Epsten

ABOVE: St. Louis Police Headquarters

Last week the state controlled St. Louis police board had a leadership change:

Todd Epsten, the last Board of Police Commissioners member appointed by Governor Matt Blunt, abruptly resigned on Wednesday after he was ousted as president by a Nixon appointee, Bettye Battle-Turner.Epsten said later he believed the board’s three other appointed members acted at Nixon’s request. Nixon appointed all three, and all came on within the last 15 months.

Nixon denied personally asking his appointees to select a new president, but said he would not be surprised if his senior staff had not talked to those three members.

“I thought it moved more quickly than I perhaps thought it would, but I think it got to where it was going to get, and now my focus is on making sure that we get a quality appointment to fill out the board,” Nixon said. It will be his fourth; the board’s fifth member is fellow Democrat Francis Slay, the St. Louis mayor. Slay supported Epsten in Wednesday’s vote.

The three remaining appointed members, Nixon said, share his philosophy that day-to-day operations of the department should be left to chief Dan Isom. He would not directly answer if he thought Epsten micromanaged.

“I mean we’ve all seen stories over the many years of the police board,” he said. “Obviously I’ve been in law enforcement and elective office for many years. I just think my philosophy has been that this is a board that should provide guidance, should provide support.” (Source: St. Louis Public Radio)

The poll this week asks for your thoughts on this matter.  Do you even care? Will it matter on the street? Was Epsten micromanaging as Gov Nixon says?

- Steve Patterson

Public notice signs face drivers, not pedestrians

If you are not paying close attention you could miss required public notice signs.

The expectation must be that motorists driving by at 35mph are going to read the notices.  But even up close it is not easy.

With the curve of the sign on the poles I couldn’t see all the information at one point.  I didn’t spot these until after the fact.

We need a public notice system for the 21st century.  Where you register your address and then set your preferences to how far away you want to be notified: 100 feet, 1/4 mile , 3 miles, etc.  You’d be notified via email for anything within the set radius from your address. Perhaps it would be tied to your voter registration?  Such a system should be regional and cross the many jurisdictional boundaries.

In the above example the pedestrians on the sidewalk probably have more interest than the motorists driving by.  At least post the signs where both can see they exist.

- Steve Patterson

State Senator pushing legislation for open enrollment in Missouri’s public schools

July 2006, Veronica O'Brien talks to the press after Dr. Bourisaw was made superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools.

A bill before the Missouri legislature could, if passed, change the composition of schools on the Missouri side of the St. Louis region:

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri lawmakers are to debate whether parents should be allowed to pick the public school their children attend.

Supporters contend open enrollment gets parents more involved and improves academic performance. But critics argue that open enrollment can create problems with school funding and makes planning harder. Teacher and school district groups also say the benefits of open enrollment are uncertain.  (Fox 2: Mo. lawmakers propose open enrollment system to let parents choose school kids will attend)

Opponents to this idea are fighting back:

“We think that the emphasis ought to be on improving public education in local school districts rather than encouraging students to be attending other school districts,” said Missouri School Board Association spokesman Brent Ghan.

Representative Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield) sponsored the bill to allow students the choice in which school they want to go to within 30 miles of their home. She said that there are problems in Missouri’s schools that need fixing.

“Right now, in Missouri, we are looking at some real crisis situations as far as the academics and the accreditation of some of our school districts,” she said. “So, I think from that stand point, those parents are going to be looking at opportunities for their children to attend an accredited school.” (KOMU,  Open Enrollment Stirs Debate)

Jane Cunningham is a State Senator (R-7), not a State Rep. She is the sponsor of SB537:

Current Bill Summary

SB 537 – This act creates procedures for open enrollment across school district boundary lines for children in foster care and for children of parents who are employed as a firefighter, emergency medical technician, or peace officer who must live within a designated school district as part of their employment. School districts must adopt a policy and designate appropriate class sizes for purposes of open enrollment, incorporating the minimum standard of teacher-pupil ratio promulgated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The policy may include spaces that could be filled by open enrollment. A student wishing to participate in open enrollment must declare intent by March first prior to the year in which the student would open enroll. If a receiving school has insufficient space for all students who want to enroll, it may institute an admissions process.

If a parent believes that a receiving district has unreasonably disapproved an application for admittance, he or she may request that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education review it. School districts must keep records and make them publicly available, as described in the act.

A student requiring special education services may only transfer if the receiving district verifies that it has an instructional program that is appropriate for the student and that the enrollment would not negatively affect the class size.

A student who enrolls in another district will be included in the receiving district for purposes of state school foundation aid.

The parent or guardian is responsible for transporting a child who enrolls in another school district. At the discretion of the receiving district, the parent or guardian may transport the child to a point on an existing school bus route.

The act also contains provisions for statewide assessment scores of students, intradistrict transfers, participation in school activities, and school district eligibility for small school grants.

This act is similar to HCS/HBs 807 & 690 (2007).  (Source: SB537)

I have no horse in this race other than wanting inner-city schools to remain competitive with suburban districts and for our region to do a good job of educating all our future adults. We certainly should use caution before doing anything that might undermine fragile districts.  Exploring and discussing ideas is certainly where we must begin.

The idea of open enrollment is the topic of the poll this week.  You can vote in the upper right corner.

- Steve Patterson

Not in service

We’ve all seen “Not in Service” displayed on local transit buses.  Local PBS station KETC went to Metro’s garage on DeBaliviere at Delmar (aerial image) to show us what happens to the buses when they return to the garage:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG3eTDai-vU

Keeping transit on the street and rails is certainly a lot of work.  For voters in St. Louis County, please keep this in mind as you go to the polls on April 6, 2010.  Without funding the region’s mass transit will say “not in service” 24/7.

– Steve Patterson

Due to state law, we are unable to display any bars in the selected area

Oh great, an app to find bars near your location…

Except that Missouri law prevents the app from working!  WTF?  Trying to think of the logic as to why such a law would be in place.  I scanned the long list of Missouri liquor control laws and didn’t find an obvious one to review.   Probably and old Blue Law.

- Steve Patterson

“Lean to the Left!”

Politically people think I’m a very leftist liberal. For me it depends upon the issue. Talk about the environment and I’ll talk about conservation. But on that issue conservation is considered liberal, not conservative.

When it comes to eminent domain I take a stronger property rights view – more conservative.

When it comes to marriage I say less government. Typically calls for less government is viewed as conservative but not when it allows those of the same gender to marry each other. Many hold the view that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Fine. But the basis for that perspective is about religion and not constitutional equality. If government is going to be in the marriage business then it needs to be equal. If churches don’t want to recognize same-sex marriages that is their right based on the Freedom of Religion. But why must we have government involved? Let’s unregulate marriage. Liberal or Conservative?

This week I was told to “lean to the left.”

Not from someone discussing politics, but my physical therapist. This month I’ve been in outpatient therapy at the Rehabilitation Institute of St Louis, located near BJC. So when my therapist told me to lean to the left I grinned and did as told.

For those new to this site, I had a stroke on February 1st – not quite nine months ago. My left side was completely immobilized. 100% out of commission. I returned home on April 30th. Since coming home my balance and walking has greatly improved. I still use my power wheelchair to go distances more than 3 blocks but I walk when I can.

One of the things we are working on in therapy is to get me to trust my left side more and more. My hip & knee are still weaker than they should be so exercises are aimed at strengthening them. I have a tendency to depend too much on my right side – leaning that direction so my right leg carries more of my weight than my left.

So I need to lean to the left.
A full recovery where you can’t tell I had a stroke will still be measured in years. But my progress this past six months has been great. In therapy I’m getting the instruction I need to take me the rest of the way to a full recovery.

Here are some of the things I can do now that I could not do when I returned home from the hospital:

• Walk with a more even cadence.
• Take normal showers standing up.
• Get up from a seated position without pushing myself up from the chair with my right arm.
• Put on a jacket while standing.
• Use my left hand/arm to turn on/off light switches, turn my deadbolt lock, open my door, push elevator buttons (some require more pressure than I can exert), carry light unbreakable items, rotate a small object in my palm, and flip someone the bird.

Now that I’m doing more I really have to be even more careful not to fall. Doing things like turning on/off lights is not effortless. I can’t reach around a corner with my left — I have to be in front of the switch. It is amazing how the brain can reprogram itself. Me seeing my left hand be useful is helpful in this reprogramming process.

Some things I still cannot do:

• Carry a glass or plate of food with my left hand.
• Carry anything weighty with my left.
• Get seated on the ground/floor and get back up again.
• Take a bath (I prefer showers anyway but I like the occasional bath).
• Type with both hands. I’m at 20 words per minute with my right only.
• Two-step (course I couldn’t do that well before the stroke).
• Ride a bike or scooter.
• Open the driver’s door from the inside or put down the windows with my left hand.
• Open many doors with my left — many require a lot of force — more than I have to give at this time.
• Raise my left hand.

The trick is to just keep trying. Sometimes it takes me a bit, certainly longer than just using my right. But I have to learn to lean to the left.