Poll: Who Should Gov Nixon Appoint St. Louis License Collector?

Last week it was announced a city hall regular would be leaving elected office to take a new job:

The Board of Directors of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc. has appointed Michael P. McMillan, 41, as the next president and chief executive officer of the 95 – year old Urban League affiliate. McMillan, the License Collector for the City of St. Louis since 2007 and a longtime Urban League member and supporter, takes the helm August 5, succeeding James H. Buford who is retiring after 28 years of stellar service to the Urban League. (Urban League)

McMillan, 42 as of last Friday, will be assuming an important leadership position in St. Louis, congratulations.

This also means a city-wide elected office will become vacant, the position of license collector.    As a county office, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, will appoint a successor to complete the term, which ends on December 31, 2014. The next primary is in August 2014.  The appointee will have nearly a year in office on the day of the primary.

Speculation began right away as to who Nixon might be considering, the Post-Dispatch listed the following in Field to replace St. Louis License Collector is wide open:

• Brian Wahby, the former chairman of the St. Louis City Democrats who lost a bid for city treasurer last year.
• Terry Kennedy, a workhorse at the Board of Aldermen who chairs the board’s Ways and Means committee.
• Marlene Davis, close friend of McMillan’s who represents his old Midtown ward.
• Martin Casas, who unsuccessfully ran for state representative and is looking to stay active in politics
• Donna Baringer, alderman from the city’s Ward 16.
• Jeffrey Boyd, alderman from the city’s Ward 22.

If Nixon appoints a current alderman then we’d see jockeying to fill that seat. I personally like to see the players change seats every so often, otherwise races get stagnant as voter apathy increases.

Speaking of stagnant, we shouldn’t forget the two most senior members on the Board of Aldermen:

• Fred Wessels
• Phyllis Young

Both were sworn into office in April 1985! Wessels ran for treasurer last year, Young ran for president of the board of alderman in 1995.

Assuming all are equally qualified, Nixon may consider the race of his appointee. He may not want to appoint a white person to a citywide seat held by a black person. Then again, he may not care.

Will McMillan ask Nixon to appoint Marlene Davis? Given her recent financial difficulties, the increased salary would no doubt help her personally. As of January 1, 1999, the annual salary was $64,130 (source). I’m uncertain of the current salary after annual adjustments.

The replacement is the poll question this week: Who should Gov Nixon appoint St. Louis License Collector? The poll is in the right sidebar, you’ve got the option to add a name if you like.

— Steve Patterson

Readers’ Favorite St. Louis Commercial Streets: Euclid, South Grand, Delmar, & Cherokee

Rarely does the “unsure/no answer” option go unselected in the weekly poll, but last week the voting was higher than usual with 145 total votes and everyone had an opinion about their favorite commercial street in St. Louis. Here are the results:

Q: Pick your favorite commercial street in St. Louis city

1. Euclid (CWE) 32 [22.07%]
2. Grand (South Grand) 25 [17.24%]
3. Delmar (Loop) 23 [15.86%]
4. Cherokee Street 20 [13.79%]
5. Washington Ave 17 [11.72%]
6. Other: 11 [7.59%]
7. Manchester Ave (The Grove) 8 [5.52%]
8. Morgan Ford 5 [3.45%]
9. Locust St (Midtown Alley) 3 [2.07%]
10. N. 14th Street (Old North) 1 [0.69%]
11. Unsure/No Answer 0 [0%]

As I said in the post introducing the poll, I’m thrilled there are so many choices.

In hindsight I should’ve 1) noted I meant a commercial street with organized marketing effort  2) defined what a commercial street is and isn’t, 3) allowed 2-3 selections rather than just one, and 4) included a few of the ones below submitted by readers:

1. DeMun Neighborhood West of Clayton
2. Ivanhoe
3. Macklind
4. manchester ave
5. the Loop and South Grand tie for me
6. Castleman Circle (Shaw & Vandeventer)
7. Manchester (Maplewood)
8. Gravois
9. Mackland
10. Truman Parkway
11. Hampton Avenue

Ivanhoe & Macklind are the two I wish I had included. DeMun is an interesting area…in Clayton, not the city. Interestingly nobody added say 2nd Street in Laclede’s Landing.

How did Euclid in the CWE edge out South Grand, Delmar Loop, and Cherokee? Probably a number of factors but the main one is likely the first mover advantage. It was Euclid Ave that convinced me to move to St. Louis in 1990, at the same time the other streets were nothing like they are today.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: Why So Little Transit-Oriented Development In The Last 20 Years?

The 20th anniversary of the opening of our light rail sys system, MetroLink, is next week.For the last 12-18 months there has been a big push by Citizens for Modern Transit and East West Gateway Council of Governments to kickstart development around the stations.

The poll this week lists many possible reasons why development hasn’t happened around the stations, you can pick up to 3. The choices are presented in random order.

On July 31st, MetroLink’s 20th anniversary, I’ll share my thoughts on why development hasn’t happened  and what we need to do so the next 20 years are more productive.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: What Is Your Favorite Commercial Street In St. Louis City?

When I first moved to St. Louis in 1990 my first apartment was on Lindell at Euclid Ave. At the time Euclid Ave was the most urban street in St. Louis with shops (remember Heffalumps?) and restaurants. One of my first jobs was at an antique store east of Jefferson, not much positive was happening west of Jefferson except prostitution.   Not long after I made my first trip to Crown Candy — at night. The 14th Street Pedestrian Mall seemed totally dead.

Today we have many thriving commercial streets, amazing progress is just two decades.  The poll this week asks you to pick your favorite of these, here are the choices I’ve provided:

• N. 14th St. (Old North)
• Cherokee St.
• Delmar (Loop)
• Euclid (CWE)
• Grand (South Grand)
• Locust St (Midtown Alley)
• Manchester Rd Ave (The Grove)
• Morgan Ford
• Washington Ave

If you think of another you can vote for it in the poll using the other field. The poll is in the right sidebar (desktop layout).

— Steve Patterson

Poll: How Do You Feel About Police Chief Dotson’s Vision For Using Drones?

In February drones were the subject of the weekly poll and readers supported regulation of drones in Missouri. Last week we learned of a real local example:

In Chief Sam Dotson’s vision of modern policing, a drone would circle Busch Stadium to watch for terrorists, or silently pursue a criminal who thought the chase was over when the officer in the car behind him turned off its red lights and siren. (stltoday)

Dotson sent a letter to the FAA on March 25th indicating they’d like permission to operate an “Unmanned Aerial Observation Platform”. See the RFT for Dotson’s March letter and a letter of support from Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce.

I personally like the idea of using drones in the above situations, allowing the police to do their jobs, while not endangering the public with a high-speed chase. But I know many of you are camera shy, you expect more privacy even in public spaces.

This non-hypothetical example seemed like a good enough reason to revisit the issues of drones again. The poll is in the right sidebar, results on Wednesday July 10th.

— Steve Patterson