When people mention the status quo, what are they talking about?

Life is good for me right now. I have the things that matter to me, my family is healthy and the future looks bright. A lot of us in Shaw are living the good life. Our bellies are full and our warm beds are assured for the foreseeable future. So why are people talking about the status quo as though that were a bad thing?

When I look out my front door I can see a couple of houses where things are not so rosy. Many families in our neighborhood do not go to bed each night content in the world. Some live very uncomfortable lives. Its hard to think about but it is true nonetheless. The status quo includes my lovely life AND their poverty. It would be easy to blame those others for their situations but that's the easy way out. It takes a little more time and care to ferret out how my life is connected to the single mother's struggles just down the block. As it turns out, the status quo is not only about personal situations. Its about how those in leadership positions direct resources, what they value. Some of those decisions that benefit me do great damage to my neighbors.

Here is the status quo:
-Shaw's infrastructure is healthy. The houses are well cared for, the streets are maintained, the sewers have been relined, the street trees are carefully monitored.

-The people of Shaw get along with one another partly through neighborly interaction and partly through ignoring one another. The ignoring part is largely along racial lines.

-Political participation in the neighborhood is probably average but not uniform. White people in some numbers belong to the neighborhood association and, in smaller numbers, participate in the neighborhood association. Engagement on this level by persons of color is somewhat rare, especially considering that the neighborhood is about 60% African American.

-Educational opportunity in the neighborhood is split along color lines and economic position. The public schools are failing - not from a performance standpoint but from a funding standpoint. One of our two public schools closed a couple of years ago and is languishing as a vacant building in the heart of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, as more professional well-paid young families move into the neighborhood, St. Margaret of Scotland private school is expanding. They have already broken ground on a new building this winter. I believe they offer scholarships to a variety of families but they are not a real replacement for fully funded public schools.(http://bit.ly/1zAoE8D)

-The alderman's main focus for the ward is property development. I looked over his record from this legislative session and I see that of 47 bills put forward 20 are tax abatement for houses and commercial developments. The argument Alderman Conway makes is that tax breaks are needed to attract buyers, a laughable justification since houses often sell on the same day or within a week of going on the market. Shaw is one of the most desirable areas in the entire city and people will buy here with or without tax abatement.

But what's wrong with a little tax abatement here and there? See exhibit A: Sherman School. Tax abatement artificially raises home prices and is helping to drive working class families out of Shaw. No one likes taxes but they do pay for the services we all need. When the neighborhood fills up with people who aren't paying taxes and we see city services shrink we shouldn't be surprised that our neighbors who have much less than us are damaged more than we are. Its easy to ignore the loss of a neighborhood school when our children go to an expensive private school.

I believe people who can afford to purchase a newly rehabbed home in Shaw can also afford to pay some property taxes. Conway is giving away the bank and hurting those who can least afford the hit. Perhaps the most egregious example during this legislative session is the 5 year tax abatement given to the owners of a $380,000 home on Flora Place. Come on guys, pay your fair share.

It seems shady to me that several of these tax abatements are for property developers and have been issued on properties listed with no sales data. This suggests to me that these properties have been held by the developer for some period of time. This is not a recent sale so the tax abatement can't be said to have been issued to attract buyers. The alderman's decisions are transforming Shaw in very real ways but only a handful of people are reaping the benefit.

-Conway is the status quo. He has been here so long that he seems to feel the ward belongs to him; his right to represent the ward is unassailable. He scoffs at the idea of participatory budgeting. Deciding where tax dollars get spent has always been his bailiwick. Why would he start sharing now?

The problem goes beyond whatever entitlement Conway may feel in his position. After all, he is from the St. Louis he grew up in -- the St. Louis of racial politics and back room dealing. In this way of governing there are never many key players. The big decisions are made early and even if they are sold to the neighborhood as cooperative decisions there is always a strict limit to the amount of input citizens are allowed to have in the process. Here is where the neighborhood association membership is important. The alderman works with the association but he doesn't go much further. If you don't belong to the SNIA, your voice will not be heard.

-Conway doesn't seem to value all the residents in the same way. At a recent debate he claimed to be out on the streets at the protests every night. He's right -- he has been there, I've seen him. Unfortunately, he seems to have been there solely to report back to a small group of neighbors who feel threatened by the protests. I did some investigating and I haven't been able to find a single protest leader who has been approached by Conway to discuss the needs of the people who are speaking out, making their voices heard. This sizable portion of Shaw is so unhappy with the status quo that they leave their warm homes in all weather and demonstrate in the streets, in the face of police intimidation, risking their safety and freedom. Why can't Conway be bothered to find out what he could do to help meet those needs? Instead, he's there to make sure we don't get out of hand. That is so old school St. Louis politics.

I can't think of any substantial efforts Conway has made to make life better for the working single mothers, the African American children who are racially profiled by police, the low-wage part time employees who live in Shaw. Conway is so out of touch with the bulk of the citizenry that he insists there is still plenty of "affordable housing" in Shaw.

-The status quo is our inability to really look at the big issues. I get it. It's nearly impossible to work on solutions to difficult problems like race, poverty and access to education when you don't understand those problems. Its so much easier to ignore the big issues and focus on streets and houses. Our neighbors have worked for years on the built portion of our neighborhood. As a result we live in a fine place so maybe now is the time when we step back and reassess. It is no disrespect to our predecessors to decide that we are now ready to move forward and begin to work on the human part of Shaw. To do that we need representation that is capable of including ALL the voices of Shaw. We need a representative who isn't threatened by differences and who doesn't reinforce the social divides that already exist here. We need a representative who doesn't retaliate against people who disagree with him, who doesn't shut out the opposition. That is not too much to hope for and I think, as a neighborhood, we are ready for it.

If you are ready to move forward vote for Kevin McKinney on March 3rd.

8th Ward Forum

I attended the debate at Mullanphy, hosted by the League of Women Voters of St. Louis, on Tuesday night. Below you will find the entire text of the debate with a few caveats. I did not include the opening statements or the closing statements. If you want to hear those ask the candidates - I imagine they memorized them.The questions are pretty much verbatim as read by Kathleen Farrell and I present them in bold type. The answers are almost verbatim as given by the candidates. I omitted some repetitions, all of the "uhs", and a few words I couldn't understand (designated as [inaudible]). Occasionally I omitted a parenthetical remark or a clumsy grammatical construction that did not contribute to the meaning of the comment. I definitely left out the cutesy politician stories ("when I was a boy", "my mother always said", "back home on the front porch" type of stuff). There are a couple of places where I paraphrased because I didn't think it was important they be exactly reproduced. I typed this as quickly as I possibly could and it came out to nine single spaced pages so my fingers look like spaghetti and this is not a perfect reproduction. I did strive to accurately convey the actual claims, promises and accusations. Actually, I tried to get as much as possible word-for-word and spent some time replaying the recording to get it all down but it's still not 100%. If someone was unable to attend but really wanted to this is the next best thing. There is no analysis or critique here - I will do that later! This product is free so it's also caveat emptor.

The candidate answers are designated thus:
CO - Steve Conway (D)
MK - Kevin McKinney (D)
SI - Robert Shelli (R)

1. Police Civilian Oversight Review Board: Do you support it? Why? How would you change the current proposal before the Board of Aldermen?

MK: Yes I do support and they need subpoena power, needs to be a separate department in the city. We need to get a vote on it. It is reactionary and should have been put in place when it was brought up in 2006.

SH: Haven’t read proposal but agree in principle and agree with body cameras. Cameras should have presumption of exfoliation.

CO: I’m cosponsor of current bill, I voted to suspend rules to accelerate passage, its important so citizens have confidence in police department and greater appreciation of them.

2. Where should the ward focus more commercial development?

SH: I’m unprepared for the question.

CO: I co-founded Tower Grove Neighbors Development Corp and we made a plan for business development. We have had 86 business licenses issued in last 3 years.

MK: It’s a shame there hasn’t been planning over the past 18 years. We need more development on some corner lots. We have limited amount of economic development and we need more.

3. What are your plans to bring more for-profit businesses to the Shaw Neighborhood?

CO: Over years we have done strategic planning in the neighborhood. We’ve brought Restituo, Ices, the Station, tremendous number of corner business. We have Salama’s Market under contract, IMO’s has been rented. I’m a CPA and appreciate getting the job done as fast as possible.

MK: We need business locations, office locations. Sherman School is a major building that would be a good place to have offices, a center for children after school.  A lot of people have said they want to work from home so we need offices.

SH: We need improved roads.

4. Question for Conway: How has tax abatement been used for housing development and how do you intend to use it in the future?

MK: Over half of the Alderman’s last 22 bills have been for tax abatement. We have adequate housing in Shaw. The problem is we are pricing ourselves out of Shaw. Gentrification is the Alderman’s second blood.

SH: Pass

CO: I take exception to the fact that tax abatement is my second blood. We give people no other incentives than tax abatement to encourage them to do a historic renovation. We freeze real estate taxes for 5 years or 10 years. It allows younger people to make a house payment.

5. Not everyone in the ward can afford $300,000 condos or a historic rehab. What will you do to ensure the diverse economic status and development of the neighborhood?

SH: I’m not prepared for that. My research is in roads and sewer projects.

CO: There is a tremendous amount of affordable housing in Shaw. We used to sell houses for $1 in Shaw. Most of the first renovations were people of moderate income.

MK: You have to incentivize developers and builders to build affordable housing, just as you are incentivizing developers to build $300,000 homes. If you give tax abatement on a $500,000 house on Flora why not incentivize a developer on Shenandoah at $200,000? That’s wrong.

6. Do you support and what would you do to get us a Community Education Center in the middle of Shaw?

CO: Just quickly, we incentivize every developer at every price level in the Shaw neighborhood. We’ve always committed 8^th Ward funds to funding Community Education Centers. School board and feds cut the money. When we do the budget in April I will ask the Recreation Department to commit money.

MK: Just as we work with developers and contractors we have to work with the school system to build the broken lives of our children. After school programs are very important and let’s talk about improving after school care and quality of life of children in the ward. We should commit funds just as we present half of our bills for tax abatement.

SI: Pass

7. Why don’t we put up some basketball courts in the neighborhood?

MK: Mullanphy School has goal posts but no hoops. Sherman School would be a great location for goals. I played basketball her for a year and half and I started playing at Tower Grove Church. I know the neighborhood kids that play ball. But we need to do more than that. We need more people playing ball, talking to the kids and talking with them to make a difference in their lives and in yours.

SI: I’m fairly certain there is money in the budget for basketball hoops.

CO: The hoops at Mullanphy School broke. I personally paid to replace them twice. I said if they break again I won’t buy them again. I support hoops. More important is opening this facility again for children in the neighborhood.

8. Tower Grove Park is a major area attraction but pedestrian access, particularly across Kingshighway, is difficult and dangerous. What plans could you put into place to improve it?

SI: I would develop Kingshighway at the corners, at Magnolia and Arsenal. A midway crosswalk could be disruptive to traffic. I don’t have a good answer to that.

CO: Journey Church and residents have asked and we have investigated a couple of times. The city cost of blinking red light has come down but was in excess of $150,000. We asked them to give us a figure for flashing red light by Journey Church. I would support that and I would fund it.

MK: With closing of Kingshighway overpass this is a good time to stripe the street and painting crosswalks like we did on Magnolia and Tower Grove. We could put in temporary crosswalks easily.

9. Why has Salama’s Market been targeted when it is a heavily used store in  [inaudible]? How can you keep these community stores in Shaw?

CO: Salama’s Market has not been targeted. Years ago I offered him a façade grant from the Cltural Resoiurces Board to get him to improve the exterior. A couple of years ago the City’s Health Department went in there and food was rotten, there were dead mice in there, most of the freezers didn’t work, most of the coolers did not work. The visual blight it has on that corner of the neighborhood is unacceptable; whereas Berhe at the Shaw market accepted the grant. We give them a $10,000 façade grant and they have to match it. Look at the dramatic improvement that Berhe made on the corner of Klemm and Shaw. They’ve not been targeted. Joe Salama runs the store; his brother Sam Salama sold the city the store. We hope to have an RFP out on it sometime soon.

MK: Berhe and the folks at Shaw Market have done an excellent in changing the focus of their market and working with the community. I can’t say that much about Sam Salama’s. I do know that it’s taken the city about 2 4 years to get that figured out and it’s not happened yet. Thinks that we really want to happen we make happen; things that we really don’t care too much about, they can wait.

SI: Pass

10. What’s your position on eminent domain?

MK: I’m from a town in Tennessee that used eminent domain as a last resort. People will say you have to sacrifice the small or the weak so the larger community will benefit but when it comes to taking people’s homes that’s something you really got to think about, and think long and hard about it. If they take their home, they’ll take my home and then they’ll take your home. I know we need the jobs but I would use eminent domain as a last resort after everything else had an opportunity to work through.

SI: Use of eminent domain should be vanishingly rare. [inaudible]

CO: I’m personally opposed to using eminent domain in my time as alderman we’ve never done an owner occupied property. We’ve done two properties over the years, both cases that served a greater purpose. One was just trying to shake us down for as much money as he could possibly get. Mr. McKinney was alluding to Geospatial, the alderwoman has indicated there are 40 or 41 homes that may or may not get taken by eminent domain. That is in the 5^th Ward, it does have city-wide implications. In some cases there is only one home on each block.

11. What can you do to make sure our neighbors are not displaced due to rising rents or property taxes. In other words, how can you prevent the gentrification from hurting other residents?

SI: Uhm, I don’t really have a way of doing that. If the rent goes higher, that’s certainly going to price some people out certain properties. If prices go down they will be more accessible to more people. That’s the way things work.

CO: The rents going up or down is based on the market rate. There is a tremendous amount of affordable housing still available in the Shaw neighborhood and in the 8^th Ward. I don’t understand the questioner’s position that rents going up or down are there’s some reason there’s not affordable housing in the 8^th Ward. We just had a lot of houses selling from $80,000 to $130,000. Market rate sets the standards. The Magnolia apartments are low to moderate housing, it has been here for many years and we are very comfortable with that and those projects on Magnolia. But the rents aren’t that high.

MK: How you can determine that rents are too high in Shaw is that Sherman School closed. It had 300 kids in its prime, it got down to 125 and they closed it down. Why”? The people and the kids left the ward. They couldn’t afford to stay in the ward anymore. Yes, gentrification, unfortunately, is here but we can do some things that make things better for the people in Shaw here today. But it takes hard work andit takes rolling up your sleeves. And it takes being a full time alderman to make things better for the people that live here in Shaw.

12. Will you state clearly where you stand on the building of a new stadium for the NFL?

CO: Alright I’ll just finish upon Sherman School. They lost the fight to stay open and the school board in their infinite wisdom moved the boundary down to 39^th Street and took some of the haw people and put them in the Shenandoah school and that contributed to the loss. I’m opposed to spending a billion dollars on a new stadium.

MK: I’m an NFL fan. But I don’t think we need to be building a stadium for the billionaires. I think we ought to approach the development of the stadium as we would any other developer. We would help you get your land together, infrastructure, water, roads but we’re not building your house. I think we have higher priorities. If we’re going to build a stadium let’s spend some money on Sherman School to turn it into an after-school center, a community center for our children. That would be a higher priority for me.

SI: We should probably get a quote for how much it costs for a coat of paint for an entire stadium because building a new one is kind of stupid. [applause]

13. What would you propose as a mutually beneficial solution to the City vs new Life Evangelistic Center conflict?

MK: Larry Rice in some means is doing some great things to provide housing for the homeless. No one else wants to take that on and he does. We need to work with other groups that want to get involved as well. The problem I run into with Larry is his place is supposedly licensed for 30 beds and he has 300 or more people there. That’s not right. Let Larry house 30 people and let’s work with other people. It’s a very important task and we can’t pile on Larry for trying to do what he is doing.

SI: Mr. Rice has done some good stuff with the homeless and needy but the shelter is only treating a symptom. It involved mental health screenings, and jobs programs.

CO: Larry Rice’s heart is in the right place. Sometimes he’s [inaudible]. He tried to do something up there at Vandeventer and 44 a couple of years ago, put a homeless shelter tent to make a point about that property there. Over the past three or four years the mayor’s put together a better coalition of homeless organizations to provide services. Eddie Roth oversees the program. Larry Rice has an ongoing problem with the downtown neighborhood because he is not responsive to the neighborhood there. He wants to do the right thing for the homeless.

14. Should police be fired if their body camera is turned off?

SI: I think I answered that earlier. They can turn it off if they go to the john or something but if they are in the squad car they should probably have it on for their own protection and for the protection of civil liberties.

CO: I don’t know that the absolute penalty would be firing. But it would be a serious violation if we get the civilian review board in place. If it is off during an arrest, depending on what the circumstances are, you may be fired, you should be fired. Not if they are going to the bathroom or getting a cup of coffee at the Quicktrip. If they are on call or on duty that’s probably a firing offense in anyone’s book.

MK: Yeah, I’m going to hold the police to a very high standard. I don’t think they need to be fired but its part of the disciplinary process. The body camera is like their guns, the mace, their handcuffs, the batons, and Taser. They have to take responsibility for that. So if they don’t there’s a disciplinary hearing they’ll need to go through, just as if they leave their gun laying down and something happens. They’ve got to look at the body camera as a part of their job.

15. For Conway: Where did you stand on the holiday entertainment contract for the city?

CO: I voted for it, we feel comfortable about it, that operation is not coming to St. Louis for the first part of the contract. We have a penalty clause written in there. We get paid because they didn’t show up and we have the opportunity to allow other people to use the music venue this summer. Then they‘ll have one more chance to make it at the end of the summer and then the contract will expire if they don’t do it.

MK: meanwhile the great people of St. louis go without music, these events get cancelled, we don’t get to have any fun. When the events were going to be held, if we wanted to go to them we had to pay. No, I’m not necessarily for it. I didn’t think it was a good idea when they voted to do it and this jst proves it now these guys can’t produce what they’re supposed to do.

SI: Pass.

16. What plan do you have to bring participatory budgeting to the ward? Maybe you can also explain what that is.

MK: I know they do it in the 6^th Ward and the 15 Ward. Basically it’s an opportunity for you the citizen to decide how the money’s being spent in that particular ward. I think its well past time that occurred her in the 8^th Ward. I’m very much in support of that. I think it’s more than giving the opportunity to decide where the money should go but it gives the people the opportunity to decide. If you want a park, if you want a façade on a building, to develop a vacant piece of land then we all sit down, we discuss it, we debate it, and then we vote. Those things should come from the people and I plan on bringing participatory budgeting to the 8^th Ward.

SI: I was previously unfamiliar with that term but from the description of the candidate it sounds like a good idea to me.

CO: Mr. Shelli don’t be misled because the dollar amount is about $280,000 a year that we have available in discretionary capital improvement funds for each ward. Here in the ward we generally do about $40,000 of new dumpsters and about $135,000 to $145,000 of new street paving each year.  A long block costs about $19,000 per block in asphalt. We have very little available for other projects but sometimes we have the ability to respond to projects like redoing the medians and paying for a maintenance contract for  the medians on South Grand or doing the new banners for the Shaw neighborhood. Those are things those neighborhood groups have asked for and particularly we just finished fixing up the underpass and Jeanette did work with that and I begged for the money to have the underpass and I know Monte worked on that. There is very little money available.

17. How will you be more active and engaged with 8^th Ward citizens who live in Tower Grove East?

CO: The nice thing is I like to look at some of the things we’ve done there. We did the Grand Avenue streetscapes project, one of the most incredible displays of smart development in the city – bicycle friendly, pedestrian friendly We had all of the sustainability ideas going three or four years before it was even en vogue. If you look at the corner of Arkansas and Wyoming, the medians, we did a historic overlay district for Tower Grove East so they could qualify for the historic tax credit on historic renovations. I work with each of the different groups, each of the block captains. Some of the greatest success in Tower Grove East was closing down a number of nuisance properties over the years. So we are available for each and every one of the neighborhoods. I know that people always have that jealousy syndrome going on.

MK: I’ve talked to a lot of people over in TGE and they feel that they’re stepchildren in the ward. They feel like they’re not getting the things they deserve, any of the attention of the ward. I’ve pledged to those folks that I will come work with them to accomplish some of the things they would like to see done. I think one of the biggest things is they have the 6^th Ward alderman committed to do some things as well. It’s very important we continue that relationship. The difference though is proactive vs. reactive. We’ve talked about the medians and banners and we got that done, but there wasn’t any plan to maintain the medians until about 6 months ago and the medians got on the TV and the alderman was able to come up with some money. That should have been part of the plan the whole time.

SI: Well, certainly, well, you know, I’m ready to be a civil servant, civil employee and then take all you on as my bosses. If you want me to do something please let me know. I look forward to speaking with any or all of you about what you would like to see done in this district.

18. Can you explain the boundaries of Ward 8 and will you support a reorganization of the ward geographically?

KM: [McKinney explains the boundaries] Getting back to the banners. I was here and the neighborhood organization did a great job getting the banners up but I thought it would fall to the alderman to get them repaired and that never occurred.

SI: [Adds one item to boundaries]

CO: Yeah, just look for my lawn signs. To go back to continuing maintenance on Grand medians, a fantastic lady in TGE, Ann Moore, originated the medians and the beautification and she had set up a support network when they put it in place many, many years ago and the contributions were supposed to come from the various neighborhoods. That kind of fell apart, Ann wasn’t getting paid, and what Alderwoman Ingrassia and I had done was agreed to come up with the money for two years to fund part of a maintenance contract and allow the neighborhood associations – they had come to the housing corporation to get additional funds - to maintain that the way it was supposed to be. With respect to the banners I know Laura Kinsell-Baer is in the room tonight, I made her order extra banners this time, 33% more so if they get ripped they can be replaced.

19. Eminent domain in the north parcel and the COB bill.

SI: I’m not familiar with either one.

CO: Citizen Oversight Board, I’m a co-sponsor, I voted to expedite it. It’s coming to us like a blue plate special. I will be supporting exactly the bill in front of us. If there are amendments attached I will support it with or without amendments. The north parcel for Geospatial job: I support that bill to keep the jobs from going to Illinois or Fenton. I supported that bill, we talked about it earlier.

MK: COB is something I would definitely support, with subpoena power, and setting it up as a separate department. My concern is when the cosponsors had an opportunity in 2006 to pass the civilian review board bill. If you had it in 2006 there’s a highly likely probability that some of the things that transpired wouldn’t have transpired because the police would have been held accountable for what they were doing from 2006 forward. Again, we need to be proactive rather than reactive. They only reason we’re talking about civilian review now is because of things that have gone on. If those things hadn’t occurred, civilian review board wouldn’t have ever come up. We had a chance in 2006 and we should have passed it then.

20. Should the City of St. Louis aldermen be allowed to make changes to the Fire Department pension system?

CO: We are allowed and we have made changes to the pension system. The firefighters endorsed Mr. McKinney because of my position with respect to pension reform. Right before that came before us you saw the expose on the news and in the Post-Dispatch about what the costs were. At that point in time the salaries of the Fire Department were $55 million. The annual pension cost was $28 million and growing exponentially. It was the fastest growing item in our budget. It would have been irresponsible of me as your representative not to support reform.

MK: So basically we morally told one group one then and then we did something different. Now you put yourself in that position. You’re working for someone and you’re working for them for twenty years, twenty-five years and you’ve worked under the assumption that you are going to get the pension. And when it comes time to get the pension it’s no longer there. Well, you say that happens in business all the time. We’re talking about the government, the fire fighters, the people standing there and serving you. It would be one thing to tell new hires we have a new plan for you guys and you gals but if you’ve been there now we should have honored our word. If it means changing some things, change some things. Change how much you pay the alderman. Change how much you pay the mayor. He’s not going to lose anything on his pension when he goes out but those firemen lost their pension. That’s not fair. [applause]

SI: I’m glad firefighters are living longer. I suppose that’s part of why pension costs are going up and that’s good. But if we made a commitment to pay these pensions we ought to do it. That’s basic stuff we learn in kindergarten. If you say you’re gonna do something do it.

21. Should the alderman have a lifetime pension?

MK: I don’t think so. No. The aldermen get a decent salary, $20,000 or $30,000 for part time. Do they get paid enough? Yeah, they get paid enough. Do they need a pension? No, they don’t need a pension. I mean if you can’t give a pension to a firefighter - and actually the aldermen are making more money than an entry level firefighter so that’s not right at all.

SI: I can’t think of a good reason for an alderman to get a lifetime pension. Mr. Conway might have some ideas. [boisterous laughter]

CO: You know I love this job. After 24 years I stand before you all the time and I take whatever you’ve got to give me. But back to the firefighters, just a summary. No other city employee at any level had anything like that. What was even more amazing was the pension was based on the last two years pay. Mayor Schoemehl  added the ability to add sick leave to last year’s pay. And more than half of the firefighters were going out on disability which was an even more lucrative benefit for them if they went out.

22. How will you prioritize your duties as alderman along with your regular jobs?

SI: I’m a general practice attorney. A lot of what I do is minor drug offenses, personal injury. A lot of that work is in court, mostly in the morning, or occasionally at night in the county. But I don’t actually spend a large number of hours at it. I could devote a large amount of my time to working as an alderman. An addendum to before: I did not recognize the civilian review board thing when I answered earlier. I support that though I haven’t read the exact proposal. I would have to read it but in theory I do support it.

CO: I have all the time that I need to perform my job as an alderman. Some weeks it’s a fifteen hour week job, some weeks its 50 or 60 hours, depending on the issue. When we had the protests going I was there every single night. Whatever time it takes to do the job I dedicate that time. Back to the pension, the aldermen are considered city employees because they do get pay and they do get a pension. After 20 years you get about 38% of your two highest years after the age of 65. More and more of the aldermen are doing that as an exclusive job.

MK: I’m a self-employed housing developer and I have the ability to pass my business down to some associates. We do most of our work out of state so I’m not here competing against Sal or Sean for development money. Presently my wife is the CEO for Habitat for Humanity and I wouldn’t try to work a part time job to supplement that so I would be doing the aldermanic job full time. Full time means availing myself when you want to see me, not when I’m free for you to see me. If you want me at 8 or 5 or 2 I don’t have to stop something else to see you. I would like to develop some office space here in the 8^th Ward so I can have an office here to see you too, in the 8^th Ward.

23. Are you for or against red light cameras?

 CO: I would support it except people who are making right turns on red. One of the most dangerous situations we have in the city is people running red lights. A child who grew up in this neighborhood wrecked the car, had too many friends in the car and was t-boned. I told my son to wait three seconds after the light goes green to make sure there’s no more cars coming. That is a serious, serious problem. When we passed that bill we did not envision the enforcement of the St. Louis rolling right turn stop. Unfortunately they’re taking that to the letter of the law. I support removing the right turn on red as an exception to the red light camera bill.

MK: The red light camera is the opportunity to catch someone after they’ve already done something wrong. I don’t know if it’s the right thing or not but I do know a lot of people are against it, think this red light camera is a waste of time. I think it really needs to be looked at. If I had to vote right now I’d vote against it. I don’t think we need to have it. We might leave the cameras up to catch some people who do some things and see what’s going on with traffic but the frequency people are being summonsed over the red light cameras, I don’t think it’s worth it.

SI: Yeah, I’m not a fan of red light cameras. Yeah, besides being caught on more than one occasion I hear a lot of people upset about them and quite frankly, most people, myself included, a hundred dollar hit for a very minor traffic infraction like going right on red, that can set someone back considerably. I think it does more harm than it does good.

24. How should we avoid a Ferguson-like situation in the 8^th Ward?

MK: By talking to your neighbors, by learning who your neighbors are, by making a concerted effort to meet and greet neighbors. By making a concerted effort to not go around your friends and family and tell bad, racist jokes that then perpetuate the way you feel. By actually spending time with people in your neighborhood, on your block and on your street and learning who they are and not walking out of your house with blinders on. Also, creating more jobs for the youth in our neighborhood. We need to create work opportunities for our children.

SI: The question is kind of ambiguous but I would say greater oversight over the police. I would say a lot of things became apparent in the aftermath of the shooting and the subsequent decision not to prosecute, well, they were disturbing to say the least. I think, like, entry level, we should focus on what we are doing in law enforcement, primarily how we train our police, how they are trained to respond to certain situations, and we can go from there.

CO: A couple of things: the first response when Vonderrit Myers was shot was to ask the police to move out. We got together with the safety committee and the police were catalysts for a lot of what went wrong in Ferguson. They were definitely not the way to handle it. We made the decision to pull the police out, utilize volunteers and deescalate the situation. That was part of the main strategy we adopted and it worked because not on my watch would we see that type of outcome. The other thing is Lawrence Johnson started the Shaw conversations, an incredibly important thing for the future of this neighborhood and to all the neighborhoods that we get together on a regular basis and talk about things we don’t often talk about. I’m supportive of it.

25. For Conway: You had a high profile during the protests in Shaw. How would you describe your role and if you could adapt that role what would you change? I want the other two candidates to talk about what their role would be.  

CO: My role was to keep you informed, protect your home and protect your safety. There was nobody else to do it. I didn’t know I was going to do it. I did it the best I could. I gave every single bit of information I had available from every resource whether it be the police, the neighborhood association, the ministers, the pastors. We put together a whole barrage of resources to have the outcome we had. I look back on these times and I know the one photographer, he took some pictures of me and I could  not believe the expression on my face. I look back and I’m so thankful we had the outcome and the cooperation of all of you that we did, so thank you.

MK: I think the demonstrators that we had here in Shaw performed admirably. I don’t think they were out there running around acting crazy and doing things we saw in some other locations. I think the demonstrators in Shaw conducted themselves extremely well. I think the police felt like, after what went on in Ferguson, that things needed to be handled a little differently. I appreciate that the Safety committee was out working and keeping people informed. I think in a lot of instances it’s the communication between each other that really makes the difference. The Myers family, they appreciated the fact that they had the opportunity to demonstrate themselves and express their opinion on the loss of their son. I know there are activists here now that appreciate that as well.

SI: Considering some of the real low points that occurred during the protests in the Shaw neighborhood, not the least of which was the tear gassing of some people in a closed area, if anyone’s familiar with that, I’m glad it didn’t go any worse than it did and I hope we learned something from it. Hopefully if it occurs in the future we can do better.

26. What one or two concrete ideas do you have to increase participation in this kind of event and in voting among African Americans and all races in this ward beyond white citizens?

MK: I think it’s a matter of trust, spending time with your next door neighbor and explaining what’s going on and how its needed. Actually trying to develop some rapport with them. I know a lot of people will vote in the presidential election, but this election is March 3^rd. A lot of people are getting excited but it takes hard work to get people to trust you, to actually want to sit down with you and talk about how things can be better. They want to see things that are better. They don’t want to just talk about it. So I think in the African American community, its more about ‘you just telling me want to do something is one thing but doing it is another.’ And they want to see it get done.

SI: I agree, results talk. If people see good results from their alderman they’re more likely to participate the next time they have the opportunity.

CO: We have to make sure that everybody, black or white, feel that they are a stakeholder. We each have an individual obligation and we have a reason and a stake in the outcome to participate. Inclusion is a big part of it, do the boards on which you sit include African Americans? The outgoing president of SNIA was African American, on the housing corporation there’s requirements that 51% of the board meet the requirements so that we have representation of everyone. That’s the type of inclusion we’re looking for. Convince people they are stakeholders and treat them as such. That’s how I carry myself in life and how I react with everyone in the ward.

27. If you had one thing you could accomplish in the next four years; & top priority?

SI: Streets and infrastructure are by far my most important concern. Secondly, I guess my top priority would be to live up to everyone’s expectations. If you voted for me I hope you’re satisfied with your choice.

CO: I have two main priorities. One is public safety and two is Tower Grove Park and that’s why I took over and became chair of the Ways and Means committee, to see that we get adequate funding of Tower Grove Park. For 10 years I took care of that. We made sure the park got its funding. Number 2 is funding public safety to the level we need in the City. That is both the fire department and the police department. I support putting additional police on the streets. I support cops. I support neighborhood ownership model and I support putting the 160 police officers through a variety of additional business licensing tasks. Those are all [inaudible]. Those would be my priorities going forward.

MK: I know the alderman talks a lot about Tower Grove Park and I serve on the board of Friends of Tower Grove Park. We hear periodically how every year there’s always a cut. That doesn’t really count as maintain funding. But my main priority is the children of the ward. I want to try to make sure we do something with Sherman School that will benefit the children of our ward. I also want to make sure we improve the after school programs for Mullanphy, Shenandoah and the children of our ward. That is the number one priority I would deal with right now.

28. If elected, which boards would you continue to serve on or seek to serve on?

CO: With respect to Tower Park, whatever the parks department does that’s the percent Tower Grove park funding goes up or down. The problem with Tower Grove park is it looks too darn nice compared to the rest of the city. I’m looking forward to taking the Ways and Means Committee. I’ve chaired the Health Department and Housing Committees. The health department does a tremendous amount for us in the city.

MK: I’d like to be on the Conventions and Tourism Committee, the Health and Human Services Committee, the [inaudible] Committee and Public Safety.

SI: You probably see this one coming, but Streets. [laughter]

 

The four faces of Shaw

Its been a while since I've sat down to write anything, mainly because there has been so much to process lately and the old squishy bio-RAM has been working overtime! After the death of Vonderrit Myers and the ensuing protests many of our neighbors here in Shaw stood up and joined the ranks of the righteous and the outraged. Lots of others responded differently, trumpeting the most racist of sentiments and turning all opportunities for thoughtful discourse into argumentative Round Robins of name calling, self-centered whining and downright bullying against those they saw as their opponents. Most of us just hunkered down like little baby birds, hoping the storm would pass soon. What once seemed to be a peaceful neighborhood full of kindly neighborly folks has turned into a cesspool of cliques, some of which remind one strongly of St. Louis from the 1950's.

But maybe that's just me. Maybe the jerks were just as jerky last year but, for whatever reason, I ignored all the warning signs and I've actually been surrounded by jerks all along. Anyway, let's look at what Shaw actually seems to be in the light of this new spring -- in the spring after so many of us got angry, behaved like children, refused to show compassion and ignored our neighbors' pain as loudly as we possibly could.

They say a crisis shows you what you're really made of and is that ever true in Shaw! This crisis has laid our reality bare with near X-ray clarity. As revealed by recent events, Shaw is like a body whose organs are in revolt, a corpus whose limbs take independent directions, a being with no agreed upon sense of direction. From my point of view there are four main groups of people in Shaw and none of us are on the same page. If you do not find yourself in this list then you may live in Shaw but you are an outsider. There are a lot of us here too. 

Those who hold the most power in Shaw are a diverse group but they in no way represent all of Shaw. I call them the Old Standards. These people are invariably and strongly linked to St. Margaret of Scotland church and school. Many of these people have lived in Shaw for decades and they are almost exclusively white. In collective, this group has always been in control of the most important political and fiscal decisions in Shaw. They often run the neighborhood improvement association to one degree or another. They use the association, the alderman, city government and the courts to redistribute property ownership in the neighborhood. Perhaps the most visible effect of this group's power over the last 30 years is the transfer of about 20% of Shaw's housing stock from rental property to single family ownership. This group is used to making the big decisions for everyone else and they don't take challenges to their power kindly.

The secret weapon of the Old Standards is the undeserved social status that comes with residence on Flora Place. Not all Old Standards live on Flora Place but many do or have in the past. Those who live elsewhere in the neighborhood often strive to buy on Flora Place. At social events and in meetings of the neighborhood association Flora Place residents generally receive a certain amount of kowtowing from the other, less worthy residents of Shaw. Street of residence, religious affiliation and race are the three most important qualifications of an Old Standard. You might become one if you can provide two of those qualifications, but you'll be lucky if you do!

The Old Standards are often supported by the Reliables, a sizable but shrinking number of off-Flora working class whites. Some of these people have spent their whole lives trying to fit in with the Old Standards and never quite make the grade. Others accept their inferiority and settle for supporting the shady class structure imposed upon the neighborhood by the Old Standards. Quite a few of the Reliables have either given up on this fool's errand or were never really into it in the first place. These are the people who repeatedly rise to the occasion in times of crisis and actually do something worthwhile! They provide the rest of us with inspiration and hope for the future. Reliables are generally good folks with good intentions and some actively work for change but too many of them remain silent when they should be sharpening their pitchforks.

There is another group of people in Shaw who have been here even longer than the Old Standards and the Reliables. I call them the Neighbors. This group is made up of the African American families who anchor nearly every block in the neighborhood by virtue of their longevity here. In many cases four or five generations of these families live in and around Shaw. Their matriarchs have been here since time immemorial. Many of the Neighbors own their homes but younger family members tend to rent. The Neighbors all seem to know one another and they form a network of care and support that flies completely under the radar of the Old Standards. The Old Standards don't know (and don't seem to want to know) any of them. When the Old Standards are not ignoring the Neighbors they are doing their level best to get rid of them - one family, one house at a time.  BTW, the Neighbors don't seem the least bit impressed with the Old Standards.

It's hard for me to imagine how a place could include two groups of people so separate and isolated from each other. In fact, it might be closer to reality to say that there are two Shaws - one white, one black, coexisting uneasily, seldom interacting, seldom even acknowledging the other except when forced together at a court hearing. It's rather like an old episode of Star Trek where two star ships exist at the same place and time but in different realities.

Of course I am generalizing but this is, in broad strokes, the reality I encountered when I moved here 15 years ago. Some of this has become clear only in the past few months, but most of it was readily apparent on Day 1. There are no significant bridges between the Old Standards and the Neighbors. Never have been, never will be. Some of the Reliables have coexisted more easily with some of the Neighbors but overall there's not much going on there either.

During the past decade a very important fourth group has emerged in Shaw. The Newbies are quite diverse when it comes to religion, race, and political bent. Early arrivals were mainly from out of state but in recent years they have been joined by an increasing flow of local suburbanites. The Newbies are mostly younger and better educated than Shaw's entrenched groups. They tend to have more money than either the Reliables or the Neighbors.

For me, this is where it gets really interesting. If anything is to ever change for the better in Shaw it will be because the Newbies make it happen. Many in this group are uncowed by the Old Standards and they bring a real desire to live in a just society and the energy to work towards it. Our streets were crowded not just by Ferguson protesters this fall, but also by Shaw Newbies.

Unfortunately, success is in no way assured. Quite a few of the Newbies are as racist as any of the others here. As Newbies buy homes on Flora Place they seem to be falling hook, line and sinker for the same sham promise of meaningless social status that has plagued that street since it was built. Other Newbies are poised to join the ranks of the quiet Reliables - good of heart but more concerned that the neighborhood looks good to outsiders than that it becomes a place of justice. The poison vat that passes for our neighborhood social media website has become what it is largely through the inability of some Newbies to really hear one another and through others' unwillingness to rock the boat. 

So what can be done to change this place for the better? My hope is that the Newbies vote -- in every election. I hope Newbies pay attention to how power is meted out and how decisions are made in Shaw and the 8th Ward. I hope the Newbies realize that while we work, eat our dinners and watch our TVs, there are a handful of people who are deciding the fates of so many of our neighbors. What do you want this place to be in the next 10 years? Are you going to trust that the right things will get done for the right people without your input? Shaw doesn't exist as it does by accident. Our own little apartheid regime is the result of lots of those decisions getting made by a few people while the rest of us sat around and trusted our leaders to do the right thing. As you know, they haven't been doing the right thing - not by a long shot. If they had, we wouldn't be where we are now.

Most of all, I hope the Newbies resist with all their might the tendency to join one of the entrenched groups in Shaw. As you come in your hundreds, do not become an Old Standard or a Reliable or a Neighbor. Instead become a bridge. Shaw has about 5,000 homes. That is 5,000 different families. Imagine what a wonderful Shaw this would be if we had 500 real and permanent bridges. Imagine what that would do for our children and for our city. Imagine what it would do for all of us.

Dear SLU, are you racist or just a bunch of privileged assholes?

That moment when someone close to you, someone who works with you every single day, has a son who dies - actually dies - but you are too sleepy/ bored/ busy/ racist to stand up and offer him some community support. Yes, that moment.

That was you, last night. We made it easy - we came to you at a time when classes were over and you were doing nothing that couldn’t wait. You know, smoking weed, watching that shitty Teen Titans show or sitting on the toilet with your dick in your hand. You could just as easily have waited until tonight to stain the tiles but you have your priorities.

A lot of you came to the rally and participated, felt the love and left feeling like better people. A few of you might have even learned something. But more of you stayed in whatever sad little space you were in and cranked out intellectual turds on YikYak.

Dear SLU, after seeing these rivulets of racism trickling out from under your front door I can only imagine what a seething mass of horribleness must lie within.

•         Stop protesting and make something of your lives
•        I want my concealed carry license. Asap.
•        They are waiting for the new Nikes to drop and SLU has nice grass to sit on.
•        Protest at the police station. They won’t go near a police station. lol its called warrants.
•        Sitting around a clock tower disrupting a college campus instead of getting a job.
•        There are 2000 ex or future cons at the clock tower
•        It is such a shame these protestors have made so many people uncomfortable and lose their pride in SLU.
•        Shouldn’t these people be at their job or school??? Oh wait.
•        If you’ll notice all those tax deductions from your paycheck…
•        SLU was SO FUCKING STUPID for letting these people in.
•        Fuck these protestors
•        We gotta give these boys a good lynching
•        You can’t ‘axe’ me anything
•        Way to be late for your own event. Just like a ...
•        I blame the BSA
•        My thoughts? Leave our campus
•        I feel truly sorry for all the freshmen who have this tainted view that this is normal for SLU
•        Get the fuck off my campus cause you dont pay tuition
•        This is bullshit and they should be off our campus
•        I did not leave the south side for this
•        I hope nobody at the clock tower brought a sandwich
•        This is just a time bomb waiting to happen
•        Why the fuck are there so many SLU kids standing in the crowd? Why the fuck are you even there?
•        I have pepper spray and I’m not afraid to use it.
•        SLU gets free attention for being not racist, but whatever.
•        I paid to go to private school for a reason.

Alright I’m going to stop right here because I’m tired and I feel sad. This is just the entries from 3 hours.

Old folks might not know about YikYak. It’s a 100% anonymous social media platform that exists only to ruin reputations and allow cowards a safe place to express their most shameful thoughts. College students seem to love it.

What I learned when #FergusonOctober came to #Shaw

This is a (hopefully) ordered explication of what went down last night, why every person in Shaw should have been there and why Vonderrit Myers doesn’t have as much to do with it as we think.

What I thought before: Watching the news closely for the past few weeks I had developed a picture of the protests as disorganized and violent and characterized by lawless elements doing awful crap. Then I started watching Twitter and that impression was only reinforced by the flood of emotion-laden tweets that included “they do this because…” “they are racist because…” etc. Sorry, but making blanket statements about things going on inside other people’s heads doesn’t convince me. You might be right but you might be wrong too.

News coverage from the Post Dispatch and local TV stations has been incomplete. Even a casual reader with the intelligence of a Q-Tip might suspect that much of the real stuff is not getting reported. We all know only the most salacious details get featured, the violence, the crying, the drama. That’s just how they do that thing they do to sell ads. Even so, my overall impression of the protests was not a favorable one - probably because the messages coming from alternative media are too diverse and chaotic to present an intelligible counter story.

When I headed down to the protest early in the evening I wasn’t feeling it. I was going to see what might happen and to help keep some of the more fearful neighbors informed through the security committee. I was a little apprehensive but was determined to see what was going to happen in my neighborhood. What happened was this:

The protestors assembled and marched straight out of Shaw. They reassembled at the QuickTrip on Manchester, over on the edge of the Grove, had a sit in, marched back to the store at Shaw and Klemm, had a quiet debrief and went home.

I doubled back to the neighborhood during the sit-in but rejoined the group about twenty minutes later. During the march I was impressed with the calm, collegial atmosphere that was all around. I did not see a single person who was violent, there was no haranguing of the police and I did not see any negative behavior directed towards the neighborhood. My view of the protestors as volatile and potentially violent was challenged by every moment I spent with them.  The most interesting part of the night was the debriefing and it put it all into perspective for me. By “all”, I mean #Ferguson, #Handsup, #MikeBrown, #Shawshooting and #FergusonOctober. But first, this:

I started getting really interested in the Twitter feeds around the protests a while back. As mentioned, lots of that is over the top but a few individuals really popped out of the flow as level headed, passionate and whip smart. When I walked down to the protest yesterday I already knew that four of them were on their way to Shaw and Klemm and I made up my mind to try to find and meet them if the crowd seemed approachable in general. I’m not going to gush about personalities because that’s stupid but, as usual, my intuition was dead on. These folks were exactly as I had hoped - focused and clear headed, but also nicer than I had expected. As I talked with them my mind went back to the leaders and organizers I worked with in #ACTUP way back before there were @ and #’s. I was still a little apprehensive about what the night had in store for the neighborhood but as I accessed old memories about the world of direct action I could see the signs of planning all around. Nothing was left to chance. This was not a riot.

In my previous post http://homegpa.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-i-learned-when-ferguson-came-to.html I voiced confusion about why the previous protest in Shaw seemed so disconnected from the death of Vonderrit Myers. Why is he already barely even a ghost? This might be the biggest thing I got from last night. The protests are not about him. This protest wasn’t even about Michael Brown. This was about the living, about us. The organizers chose the QuickTrip, not Shaw. We were the staging area. The police were ready but the protesters had them outflanked before they even came to Shaw. People in the crowd were from Shaw, from all across our city and from elsewhere. I met people from many states, of various ages and races. The organizers kept it clean and calm and let the police demonstrate their intimidation and brutality for all those people to see. It worked. Apparently the reporters on the scene don’t understand but I totally get it. I wish all my neighbors could have seen that too. You might feel some of the admiration I felt for those kids last night.

When I got up this morning I read the Post Dispatch just for kicks. Wouldn’t you know it, they did it again. They talked about the arrests, the sit-in, but there was almost no sense of who the protesters are and what the night was like overall. Reading the article I couldn’t recognize my experience in that “news”.  There was that glaring blank spot in the middle of the article too. To paraphrase:  cops said move, protestors chanted, police advanced on protesters, protesters were detained.

So what happened between the advancing on the protestors and the detentions? The police chief said rocks were thrown. Plenty of videos and photos from the event are out there and I don’t see any rocks. Of course no one can see everything at once in a big event like this and I wasn’t there at the moment so I guess anything’s possible. What I do know is this: http://instagram.com/p/uCwk_whmkj/  If you can watch that and not be upset I don’t know what to say. I also know that before and after QuickTrip the crowd was calm and the atmosphere was one of solidarity and love. That’s amazing after what happened at the QuickTrip.

When I rejoined the group the arrests were in progress. The protestors were walking back to Shaw in several clusters. They were still calm, moving quietly and staying on the sidewalk, not chanting. The organizers were in control and were managing the crowd. The police presence was tremendous though and very intimidating. I would not be honest if I didn’t say this was the worst of the night for me. I heard that marching sound and the chatter of their batons striking boots from the top of the Manchester bridge, long before I caught up with them at Vandeventer and Sarah. The armored formation was marching the protestors out of the Grove. This much was viscerally clear: leave now or we are ready and able to fuck you up. Pretty basic. That message was in no way proportionate to the spirit of the protest and I can’t logically defend any other conclusion: we’re not as free as we want to believe. This is the message the organizers wanted to demonstrate. They set it up and the police did the work for them. My moment: All the burned flags in the world can't protect us from our own police.

So Shaw neighbors, why should you have been there? The protestors were not violent. It was as much a community event as any I have ever been a part of in Shaw. I have wondered why some people have taken their children to the protests. What I saw last night was a family friendly environment (aside from the police action). I wish you had all been there and had brought all your kids to see and be a part of that crowd. That crowd was our neighbors, not thugs defending dead criminals. That got redefined for me last night because I was there, I participated, I felt it all. 

The fear you feel is real but in my opinion it is not based on our city's reality. Our peace and property is not threatened by a handful of smart and organized young people who will undoubtedly transition into political leadership soon. Our security is threatened by the inability of our police protectors to know us and love us the way we need to be known and loved. I’m still a law-and-order guy. I don’t want bad guys with guns running around Shaw. These folks aren’t - and that is not what they are defending. They are defending us and we need to find some way to be a part of that effort.