Recently I was in the Target on Hampton and saw they had finally added a fresh food section. I often wondered why a fresh food section wasn’t included when this store opened in 2005.
ABOVE: New fresh food section in the Hampton Target
They had to steal square footage from other areas to get the space to expand their grocery offerings. So I began wondering where all of you shop for groceries. Do you go to big supermarkets like Schnuck’s or Dierberg’s? Whole Foods? Vincent’s? Walgreen’s?
ABOVE: Soulard Farmers' Market (click for website)
The poll this week asks the question and provides many answers. The poll is in the right sidebar.
A week ago I took the bus to Fox Park — the neighborhood and city park — to check out a community project in the park. Mark Groth (St. Louis City Talk) told me he and others on the Fox Park park committee would be planting 40 trees so I had to stop by.
The city website for the park says: “Fox Park and Playground began to be used for recreational purposes in 1917 under a permit from the Fox Brothers and was purchased in 1931.” In 1909 the land that is now the park was the lumberyard for the Fox Brother’s millwork and wagon businesses.
ABOVE: The Fox Park pavilion faces Shenandoah Ave (click image to view in Google Maps)ABOVE: An auger made digging relatively easyABOVE: Placing the trees in the holes created by the augerABOVE: New playground equipment was recently added when the park was in the 7th wardABOVE: Next on the wish list is a new basketball court to replace the tired existing courtABOVE: Only one of two rims remains but it's in sad conditionABOVE: The west end of the park had buildings facing California Ave until recent yearsABOVE: Much work remains to address years of neglectABOVE: The east end of the park is leased to the Police Athletic League for a ball diamond
I really like this little neighborhood park, such a great asset  for the residents. I applaud them for putting sweat equity into the park.
Soliders’ Memorial is one of my favorite buildings downtown. It was built to honor the fallen from WWI but it was barely finished before the start of WWII in Europe, opening on Memorial Day 1938.
ABOVE: Mayor Dickman laid the cornerstone 75 years ago
Mayor Bernard F. Dickman laid the cornerstone on this day in 1936. These days we don’t build out of stone so we have ground breaking ceremonies  — a shiny shovel tosses a pile of dirt. Nothing to note the start of the building 75 years later.
ABOVE: Mayor Slay presented a proclamation in front of Soldiers' Memorial declaring Marine Week (June 20-26)
Soldiers’ Memorial has served as the backdrop for many events over the years, including Marine Week this summer.
ABOVE: People enjoy the steps during a downtown festivalABOVE: The mosaic tile ceiling in the center is impressive
The two galleries are filled with interesting WWI memorabilia. Stop in sometime and check it out.
Yesterday I posted about the bankruptcy last  year of Ald Marlene Davis. Today I take a look at a non-profit she co-founded that annually receives hundreds of thousands of dollars through city contracts.
The Vashon/JeffVanderLou Initiative was formed on April 14, 2000. The three founders were Columbus Edwards, Marlene Davis and Norman Seay. The original board of directors consisted of Mike McMillan, Marlene Davis and Norman Seay. (source) When founded the non-profit was located in the basement of the True Light Missionary Baptist Church at 2838 James “Cool Papa” Bell in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood. A source told me the organization paid no rent.
A 2005 fiscal review by the Comptroller’s office (PDF) concluded “The Vashon-JeffVanderLou Initiative, Inc. did not fully comply with federal, state and local CDBG requirements.” The Comptroller’s office reached the same conclusion in 2007 (PDF)
ABOVE: Mirrored entry door to the Vashon/JeffVanderLou Initiative office now at 3030 Locust
In July 2007 a change of address was filed with the secretary of state’s office, the new address: 3026 Locust in Midtown. The 2007 IRS Form 990 shows occupancy (rent) of nearly $36,000. Â The owner? SAG Properties LLC. Who is SAG Properties? One SAG partner is Barry Adelstein, one of two former partners of Marlene Davis in the failed Gene Lynn’s club I mentioned yesterday. The 2008 & 2009 Form 990 show similar amounts.
License Collector Mike McMillan remains on the board serving as president. Â Barry Adelstein is also McMillan’s landord at a building a couple of blocks east. The bulk of the revenue is from city contracts to provide services to several wards. Â Most of the expenses are salaries. I plan to continue reviewing these documents to try to map out how all the parties are connected.
The Ways & Means Committee at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen is probably the most important of their standing committees:
[The] Ways and Means Committee is concerned with questions of finance, assessments, budget, public debt; appropriations and other bills not properly referable to other committees except monies administered by the Community Development Agency or the St. Louis Development Corporation.
The City of St. Louis needs competent leadership to address the financial problems  facing our city. Thankfully the committee chair is now Lyda Krewson (D-28). Her full-time job is as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the firm PGAV. The qualifications of the other ten current members of the committee pale compared to those of Krewson. In fact, one member of the committee shouldn’t be serving on the committee at all.
Marlene E. Davis (D-19) was elected to the Board of Aldermen in March 2007 (unchallenged) to finish the term of Michael McMillan, who became License Collector. After getting elected, this former President of the St. Louis School Board and two partners bought the legendary jazz nightclub Gene Lynn’s in July 2007, presumably from Mr. Gene Lynn himself. The partners were Kim Kyunah of O’Fallon, IL and Barry Adelstein of St. Louis.
ABOVE: Gene Lynn’s was located in the Lindell Marketplace
On August 27, 2008 The Lindell Marketplace LP filed a lawsuit against the three for rent and possession totaling $100,171.92 In December 2008 the once-popular club was closed.
On March 3 2009 Davis defeated challenger Michelle Lawrence (73.44% vs 26.56%) in the democratic primary for a full 4-year term. On March 19,2009, a consent judgement for $24,000 was filed by Judge Peebles with payments of $300/month starting in April 2009.
In March 2010 Davis filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Davis listed assets of $10,500 and liabilities of $119,718.47. Nearly $17,000 was back taxes to the Missouri Department of Revenue ($5,000) and the Internal Revenue Service ($11,953.37).
A few of the “creditors holding unsecured non priority claims” were:
Barry Adelstein $30,000
Kim Kyunah $28,000
Lindell Marketplace $25,506
Davis’ income was listed as $3108.28/month but after taxes and a tax garnishment of $1083.33 her take home pay was just $1,114.10/month. In a separate line for other monthly income Davis listed $350/month for “adjustment for expenses paid by city” bringing the total to $1,464.10/month. What’s interesting is the monthly expenses schedule — $3,003.00/month. The 2nd biggest item was an install payment of $384/month under auto. The largest was $425/month detailed on a separate sheet as:
Mailings for ward: $175.00
Stamps: $150.00
Parking: $100.00
Really? $3,900/year on mailings & stamps?
I’ve had my share of regrettable financial decisions over the years but I doubt Davis’ ability to make sound finical decisions for the City of St. Louis as a member of the Ways & Means Committee.
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