confused says:

Why the he** did the supposedly Democratic organization of the 6th ward vote to endorse a guy who is a Republican lobbyist?

6th ward resident says:

The red herring about Mr. Cacchione’s job as a lobbyist working for the best interests of his clients as any of us would expect him to do is just subterfuge and half-truths coming from his opponent whining over sour grapes that her ground game just isn’t up to his.

[UrbanReviewSTL — I have heard people not associated with any campaign having concerns about this issue, but they could simply be repeating what they’ve heard.  I can see the validity in the argument he is simply a lobbyist and he does what he is paid to do — that is the part that has me more than a bit concerned.  Will he continue the lobbyist mindset at city hall and work for the interests of this clients — those that are paying to get him elected?  I don’t know the answer to the question and it would be wrong of me to assume that but his long-time job as a lobbyist has me concerned in this regard.]

stlmark says:

Wow, a healthy discussion on alderman candidates! As a 12th ward citizen, I am so jealous. We need this kind of intelligent debate and activity in every ward.

[UrbanReviewSTL — The 12th Ward also has three candidates, two republicans and one democrat, so it would be great if some group organized a debate.  They can coordinate with the League of Women Voters to actually handle the mechanics and rules of the debate.  As a lower profile race with less money it would be an excellent way for 12th ward voters to meet all three candidates at the same time.]

SouthCityRepub says:

Glad to see that #stlmark# has a interest in the race for alderman. I too would like to see Alderman Heitert and the democrat candidate express their vision for the future of our city a some type of public forum after the primary in March. While I have a great respect for Alderman Heitert’s work in the past for the Republican Party, I also understand why he has seen the need to cross party lines and work with democrats on the board and the mayor’s office. In a democrat city, our ward has never suffered because of Heitert’s support of statewide Republican candidates. Heitert seems willing to work with anyone to improve the city.

While I’m sure voters will re-elect Heitert it’s good the democrats are offering a choice this time around.

Kevin says:

I originally posted this on ArchCityChronicle, I have just begun to get into these very interesting and important blogs after the endorsement:

As a new member of the so-called 6th Ward ‘Democrats’ I helped expose Patrick Cacchione in a conflict-of-interest action that he steered in the October meeting just prior to the November election. In that meeting he was a staunch opponent of Amendment 3 and because of his ‘recommendations’ the ballot measure was swayed with very non ‘democrat’ ideas and reasons to a VOTE NO on Amendment 3. However, he decided to not mention that he was a paid consultant for Missourians Against Tax Abuse during this meeting and when called out and exposed on this matter he attempted to brush it under the carpet by manner of email correspondance. Mr. Cacchione was then called out about the matter during the November meeting and then apologized about not disclosing this information the members of the meeting. By not telling the members of the meeting this information, he hid the truth from the members and swayed the vote- which is not only a conflict of interest, but also a lie.

It was interesting to see how Cacchione answered the question at the endorsement meeting: ‘Are there any groups that you are affiliated with that may influence your actions as alderman?” (not sure if this was the exact wording) to which he did not mention that he was a paid consultant of the Missourians Against Tax Abuse. Obviously, he wouldn’t mention this, nor would he admit that he already had indeed influenced a major decision for the 6th Ward- and eventually the state. And unfortunately this kinda sealed the deal for me.

The sad thing is that he really answered all of the other questions very well and very convincingly. Cacchione has great experience and I really feel that there is a lot that he can accomplish in this ward. He knows who talk to and how to get things done. After all, he’s a lobbyist so no side- Democrat or Republican- is off his radar to get things done for the ward. All of the candidates did not really mention any concreted plans for anything, but Mr. Cacchione has a lot that he is already doing, especially with his ongoing work to make the old Foodland site something good for the community. His MANY years of experience is self-evident and maybe if he’d figure out how to connect with all the different people in this ward he’d get the bigger picture of what needs to be done in this ward and in this city. Instead he is an effective- and sadly to find out the hard way- also a shady political businessman. It is this kind of political wheeling and dealing that was exposed in last 6 years and that which we voted out on November 7th. And as the new Democratic congress moves to pass legislation on lobbying/ethics reform, it doesn’t matter who you are- red or blue; local, state or federal; if you are dirty…you are dirty.

I look forward to continuing with the 6th Ward Democrats in the future and working with Mr. Cacchione either as Alderman or whatever post he may have in the 6th Ward Dems, but no matter, he will always be checked and balanced. Sorry, the damage has been done. There are many ideas to be heard and many faces to know, some bad and some good, some old and some new. Hopefully, there will be new ideas and new faces that will join this group in future. But for now, we can only work with what we got, and a lot of what we got is very very good.