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Sources tell PUB DEF that at about 4:45 p.m., Citizens to Recall Aldermen Bosley turned in their petitions to the St. Louis Board of Elections.
Developing...
UPDATE: We interviewed Debra Gordon, of Citizens to Recall Bosley, yesterday before a contentious ward meeting at Clay Elementary School. We asked her about a rumor we heard that signatures would be turned in this week. At that time, she declined to comment. Tonight, Gordon confirmed that signatures were indeed turned in. And while she would not tell us how many signatures her group submitted, she did say it was "well over" the 1,400 required to put the question to the voters.
VIDEO: Committee Recommends Asking Voters Again About Police Residency
By Antonio D. French
The legislative committee of the Board of Aldermen today recommended a board bill that would ask city voters whether they prefer police department employees to live in the city.
Board Bill #47 is sponsored by Aldermen Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward), Ken Ortmann (9th), Stephen Gregali (14th), and Jennifer Florida (15th). It would put on the November ballot a question very similar to one voted on in April 1995. At that time, 68.36% of city voters answered yes to the following:
Shall commissioned police officers and civilian employees of the Metropolitan Police Department of the City of St. Louis be required to reside within the City of St. Louis just like other City employees?
The ballot language in November will be almost identical, except "just like other City employees" has been removed. During today's committee meeting, Alderman Fred Heitert (12th Ward), the Board's lone Republican, asked Ortmann why that wording was removed. See video:
Since the City of St. Louis funds the police department, but has no say over department policy and procedures, this vote would be non-binding. Supporters hope it will guide the decisions of the state legislature and the governor-appointed police board members.
We overheard a Lambert Airport official today saying the family of a Missouri soldier killed in Iraq was forced to wait for hours to accept the body Wednesday because of President George W. Bush's arrival in St. Louis for a fundraiser for Sen. Jim Talent.
At the fundraiser, Bush said "one thing about old Jim Talent, he understands what I understand, is that when you put a man or woman in uniform and ask them to go into harm's way, they deserve the full support of the United States government."
Most Many of the employees of St. Louis Public Schools did not get paid today as scheduled. District spokesmen Johnny Little and Tony Sanders have not returned repeated calls, but sources in the district say the fault lies in the treasurer's office.
As we reported earlier this week, Superintendent Creg Williams turned those duties over to the district's interim chief financial officer, Cedric Lewis, after Enos Moss suddenly resigned from the post three weeks ago.
Developing...
UPDATE 1: Mary Armstrong, the president of the teachers' union, said today's payroll mistake affects all of the district's employees who get paid by direct deposit. She said she has asked the superintendent to make paper checks available to those employees today for pick-up at the district headquarters.
She said she has also asked the district to prepare letters addressed to the creditors of those employees facing non-sufficient funds (NSF) and late fees because of the today's error.
UPDATE 2: Tony Sanders, a district spokesman, said that principals are collecting names those teachers that "want or need" to get paid today and that checks will be delivered to those employees at the school sometime this afternoon.
Sanders would not say how the mistake occured, except to call it a "human error." He would not identify the particular human at fault.
UPDATE 3: Two thousand (out of approximately 5,000) employees were affected by today's direct deposit transmission error. District spokesman Tony Sanders pointed out that that is not "most" of the district's employees. And so we have corrected our original post to reflect that.
Sanders also wanted to clear up a couple of other things. He said the decision to give paper checks to only those employees who requested one was because had checks been written to all 2,000 employees, you would have some employees who would not be available today to receive them. Due to Independence Day holiday, some staff members would then not receive their pay until they returned next week -- or later for employees who are on vacation. It would also be difficult to notify those employees.
Sanders also pointed out that the error impacted all staff members who utilize direct deposit, not just teachers, as some have suggested.
UPDATE 4: Contrary to a promise from Dr. Williams emailed to all district staff, some employees did not receive paper checks by the end of the day. We are told that those employees who bank at U.S. Bank should see the funds available tomorrow. Those that bank at other institutions should see their funds available on Monday, July 3.
UPDATE 5: Here's a video of an interview we did this afternoon with the Local 420's president, Mary Armstrong...
Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr. tonight engaged in a vicious and personal attack on the character of one of the people at the center of an effort to recall him from office.
Bosley called a town hall meeting at Clay Elementary School to discuss the benefits to the City of St. Louis of eminent domain. He invited the city's deputy mayor of development, Barb Geisman, to present the same PowerPoint presentation that she delivered to state legislators when they were deliberating on the issue earlier this year.
Nearly an hour into the meeting, Bosley told the audience that the real reason he called everyone there was to refute claims that he was "taking somebody's house and throwing them and their kids out."
Around the school's gymnasium, where the meeting took place, Bosley hung enlarged documents baring the name and signature of Mrs. Maxine Johnson. Johnson began gathering signatures to recall Bosley after the City assumed ownership of her home using eminent domain.
The bill authorizing the action was introduced by Bosley, who has maintained that taking Johnson and her neighbors' property was in the best interest of the ward. A non-profit organization started by Bethlehem Lutheran Church is soon scheduled to begin building a new housing development where Johnson, her husband, and her six children now live.
Bosley accused Johnson of gaining knowledge about the development years ago and buying the land with the hopes of reselling it at an inflated price. He pointed to a blown-up copy of a letter signed by Johnson and addressed to the church. In it, she says she may consider selling her home for $200,000.
"What in this ward at this time is worth $200,000?" asked Bosley, who has represented the ward for 28 years.
Johnson said she wrote that particular letter because she was told that she had to respond to the developer's original cash offer within 14 days. She said she doesn't want to sell her home at any price. In an earlier interview with PUB DEF, Johnson said she owns her home now and she couldn't afford to buy another house big enough for her large family for the price the church was offering.
Several speakers objected to the personal nature of Bosley's attack. They said that the issues of eminent domain usage in the City of St. Louis are larger than one woman and that more 3rd Ward residents than just Maxine Johnson want new representation at City Hall.
In March 2005, Jeffrey Hardin lost his bid to unseat Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr. by just 19 votes. That narrow lost was heartbreaking to many residents of the 3rd Ward who said their veteran representative, who is 4th in aldermanic seniority, has become out of touch and has presided over a three-decade decline in the quality of life for most residents of his northside ward.
Some of those residents -- many sparked by that omnipresent source of controversy; eminent domain -- have started a petition to recall Bosley. Tonight, Hardin told PUB DEF that if that effort (which he says he is not involved in) is successful, he will run again.
STLToday.com, the website of such fine publications as the Post-Dispatch and St. Louis' Best Bridal, has been down for the last 30 minutes. May I suggest STL2day.com as an alternative?
On Tuesday, we reported that Superintendent Creg Williams had not recommended a replacement for the school district's treasurer, who resigned three weeks ago. After an investigation by PUB DEF, it was learned that Williams had assigned those duties to the district's chief financial officer without consulting with the school board.
On Wednesday, we reported that Williams may have also overreached his authority by firing roughly 1,000 teachers and asking them to reapply for their jobs. A copy of the superintendent's contract, obtained by PUB DEF after a Sunshine Law request, clearly states that all hirings, firings, and reassignments are to be recommended by Williams but must be approved by the school board.
While the board did approve reconstituting three high schools and four middle schools at its May meeting, district spokesmen said Williams sent termination letters to teachers at more than a dozen different schools.
School Board President Veronica O'Brien said that she believes Williams should have asked the board before such moves were made. She also said that she had requested the superintendent to submit a resolution asking the board to act on his recommendation. That had not been done.
PUB DEF asked Williams by email when he planned to ask the board to approve these two moves. He has not responded.
The board's vice-president, Bill Purdy, told PUB DEF, "superintendents are directly accountable to the board of education and not the other way around."
Yesterday, Mayor Francis Slay weighed in on the situation in support of Williams. "It is no secret that I -- and a lot of people in our community -- trust Dr. Williams and hope that he perseveres here. And it is no secret that Purdy disagrees," Slay wrote on his blog.
"School boards are elected to provide direction. The superintentent is hired to run the district. Not the other way around," wrote the mayor.
Click here to download this week's print(able) edition of PUB DEF Weekly. Copy, Print, Share.
Drop off some copies at City Hall, your neighborhood coffee shop, or give a copy to an old person who doesn't know "what all the fuss is about them fancy com'pooters and Innerwebs."
Members of the Clifton Heights Neighborhood Association voted 100-6 tonight to oppose a new QuikTrip gas station and convenience store proposed for the corner of Hampton and Columbia.
The Association also heard from two of the five candidates running for the state senate. Derio Gambaro and Jeff Smith spoke about their backgrounds and fielded questions from the audience on topics including school funding and Tax Increment Financing.
The three northside candidates -- State Reps Yaphett El-Amin and Amber Boykins, and former Ald. Kenny Jones -- did not attend.
UPDATE: And now video from the vote and the preceding discussion on whether to count it... Ald. Bill Waterhouse (24th Ward) said the vote of the neighborhood association would not be the only factor in his decision to support or oppose the development. He said that representatives from QuikTrip had collected more than 250 signatures of people in support of the new gas station. A hearing on the project has not yet been scheduled.
In the three week since St. Louis Public School's treasurer abruptly resigned, Superintendent Creg Williams still has not asked the school board to approve a new one. In the meantime, without a vote of the board, the district's interim chief financial officer, Cedric Lewis, has also been serving as the acting treasurer.
Nearly three weeks ago, Enos Moss suddenly resigned as treasurer of the St. Louis Public Schools. Although the district has repeatedly declined to comment, some people believe that his quick departure was related to a $4.2 million bill from the district's Pension Board.
That bill was delivered to the district in December 2005, but did not come to the attention of the Williams or Lewis until six months later. And since it was not included in this year's budget drafts, next year's projected budget deficit literally doubled overnight.
That Williams has not asked for board approval of Moss' replacement is a source of controversy in the district and on the school board. Board President Veronica O'Brien told PUB DEF that Williams was asked to present a resolution to the board for approval, which he has not done yet.
Board approval for personnel reassignments is something that is clearly spelled out in Williams' contract, which was obtained by PUB DEF last week after a Sunshine Law request.
"It was my understanding that the board should approve this change," said O'Brien. She said that is especially needed for a position as sensitive as treasurer, whose name appears on all of the district's checks.
District spokesperson Tony Sanders could not tell us whose name is currently on district checks.
Bill Purdy, vice-president of the school board, said he was "disappointed that the superintendent has chosen to challenge the board's authority." He said Williams could have called a special meeting to at least inform the board of his selection.
"The superintendent would be wise to recognize that board members are elected by the vote of citizens," said Purdy. "It is that same board that hires and evaluates the performance of the superintendent."
"Superintendents are directly accountable to the board of education and not the other way around," he said.
District Judge Fernando Gaitan, Jr. today ordered the State of Missouri to halt all executions until its procedures are reviewed.
The Associated Press is reporting that the judge said those procedures presented an "unnecessary risk" of "unconstitutional pain and suffering" to inmates on death row.
The decision could mean some extra time for Reggie Clemons, whose case supporters had previously planned to meet tonight to discuss. The Justice for Reggie campaign meeting is tonight at 7:00 at the Legacy Bookstore, 5249 Delmar Blvd.
Three representatives of Barnes-Jewish Hospital made their case Friday for why it is in the best interests of both the City and the hospital expand a current lease on a section of Forest Park.
June Fowler, BJC's Vice-President of Communications, Michael DeHaven, BJC’s general counsel, and Linda Martinez, a partner with the Bryan Cave law firm, told members of the Forest Park Lease Committee that, while BJC would prefer to outright purchase the land, the hospital would be willing to commit to the following as part of a 90-year lease:
(1) building a health care facility on the land, (2) including a price escalator in the annual lease payment, (3) ensure all of their lease payments went to maintaining the rest of the park, and (4) pay for moving the Hudlin tennis courts and playground wherever the city decides.
In this video, Fowler gives a brief history of the different appraisal amounts of the land. Clearing up one source of concern, she says that the public parking meters near Euclid are not part of this land.
In this video, Fowler outlines the things that BJC is willing to commit to in the agreement.
In this video, Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward) questions Fowler and DeHaven about BJC's intentions with the land. One of the things to come out of his questioning is that BJC has future plans to tear down Barnes-Jewish West Plaza and Queeny Tower, which was just built in 1965. DeHaven pointed to the buildings' inability to withstand a major earthquake.
In this video, Fowler outlines what she sees as the benefits to the city and hospital from this proposed deal. She said that the proposed lease payment is the highest per square foot rate in the city.
In this video, Fowler says it does matter who is asking for this lease. She says BJC is a good and committed corporate citizen and deserves consideration for the services it provides to the area.
Editor's Note: These video postings include our 100th YouTube video. It is also our 570th blog posting since PUB DEF returned in October 2005.
The Clifton Heights Neighborhood Association will be having a forum for candidates in the 4th District State Senate race Monday night at 7:00 at Mason Elementary School, 6031 Southwest Avenue.
All of these producers were given the same prop (a shopping bag), the same character (Leo or Linda Garren, a bank manager), the same line of dialogue ("Is that all I am to you?"), and just 48 hours to make a short movie. Here are some of the results:
"IN THE BAG" Produced by: Andrea Dixon Genre: Disaster Winner of "Best Use of Prop"
"I HATE ZOMBIES" Written and Directed by: Matt Stuertz Genre: Horror
"FROM THE HIP" Directed by: Phil Voissem Genre: Western
"SPACE BETWEEN US" Co-Produced and Directed by: Ezra Hubbard and Jonathan Eberle Genre: Family Film
"ROVER" Directed by: Jeff Chamberlin Produced by: Joshua Hawkins Genre: Road movie
And as a special treat, here are some outtakes from another film also called "In the Bag." This one was produced by a group called Section Six.
Oh, wait! Here's a late entry... and it's animated!
"ROMANTIC INTEREST" Directed by: Joe Millitzer Written and Voiced by: Peter Wilberding Art by: Katie Johanness Genre: Film Noir
UPDATE: Here's "IN THE BAG" by Section Six Productions:
Today marked the one-year anniversary of the controversial Kelo v. City of New London Supreme Court decision which upheld the right of governments to take private property for the purpose of giving it to other private interests.
To mark what some have called "a dark day" in personal property rights, members and supporters of the Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition (MEDAC) rallied in front of City Hall today.
Some in the crowd carried signs calling for the recall of aldermen that have used eminent domain in the City of St. Louis. "Recall Roddy," some shouted, referring to 17th Ward Ald. Joe Roddy. Third Ward resident Maxine Johnson carried a sign calling for the recall of 3rd Ward Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr.
A group of seven to ten residents of the 17th Ward have organized an effort to recall their longtime alderman, Joe Roddy.
Kim Jayne, a longtime ward resident and one of the organizers of the recall effort, sat down with PUB DEF yesterday afternoon to explain why she and other are ready to see Roddy go.
Sitting at her living room table, with a large map of the ward hanging on the wall behind her, Jayne said Roddy is unresponsive to the needs and wishes of the ward's residents and instead focuses on its corporate citizens, like BJC Hospital and Washington University, which owns lots of property in the ward.
On Wednesday the St. Louis City Board of Adjustment heard testimony from people for and against a proposed new McDonalds drive-thru restaurant on South Grand Ave. In a closed session after their public meeting, the members of the board voted to deny the opponent's appeal to an earlier ruling granting the hamburger chain a conditional use permit.
This controversial development has been the spark of an on-going effort to recall Ald. Jennifer Florida, in whose ward the new McDonalds would be built. Florida, who has expressed her support for the plan, was not at this week's meeting.
Alderman Craig Schmid was at the meeting. He continues to break with the longstanding tradition known as "aldermanic courtesy" -- when aldermen usually bow to the wishes of other aldermen as it relates to issues in their wards -- and again testified against the development.
Also testifying against the McDonalds was blogger and "urbanist" Steve Patterson. Patterson has been a vocal critic of this plan for months on his Urban Review blog.
No private citizens spoke in favor of the development, but two representatives from McDonalds did. Attorney Gary H. Feder told the board the development plan for that area (which forbids drive-thru restaurants) does not preempt city zoning ordinances which do allow for conditional use permits to be issued.
A source from Jeff Smith's state senate campaign said someone was arrested this morning after attempting to break into their campaign office on Olive at 3:15 a.m. this morning.
Developing...
UPDATE: A spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department tells PUB DEF they have no record of an attempted break-in at the address of Smith's office.
People in Smith's campaign say when they showed up this morning, the building's owner was there and he told them he received word early this morning that someone had been arrested after trying to break in. A phone call to the landlord was not immediately returned.
Here's the latest print(able) edition of PUB DEF Weekly. Download it, print it, share it with friends. Just don't wipe with it or smoke it. Fanning with it is okay. That's allowed. But only because it's hot.
The St. Louis Police Board held a public meeting tonight in south St. Louis. One of the things on its agenda was to hear public comments on the issue of maintaining a department policy requiring most civilian employees to live in the city.
The almost all-white audience was filled mostly with people supporting the idea that department employees should be able to live wherever they'd like. They pointed to the state of the city schools, the rise in property values, and even crime as reasons all employees of the Police Department should be able to move out of the city.
Only a handful of people spoke in support of keeping the requirement. One elderly woman said she felt safer with police living in her neighborhood. At the conclusion of her statement, she was booed by some in the audience. Another older woman said city jobs should go to city residents. She was also booed.
The St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners will be be holding a public meeting on the southside tonight in the Word of Life Lutheran School gymnasium, 6535 Eichelberger, at 7:00 p.m.
"I think this is a perfect opportunity to hear how the residents of St. Louis feel about civilian residency," said Chris Goodson, president of the police board, in a press release sent to media today.
"It gives citizens who work during the day the opportunity to attend a board meeting and to voice their concerns to the body that represents them,” said Goodson.
A district spokesperson said the board will also hold its July and August monthly meetings away from its usual location of the downtown police headquarters. No dates and locations for those meetings yet.
This video was shot less than 15 minutes ago. In it, Joe Edwards, the owner of such cool businesses as Blueberry Hill and The Pageant, asks the City's Board of Adjustment to grant a variance to allow a flashy neon sign for his planned new bowling alley, The Flamingo, on Washington Ave.
UPDATE: According to Steve Patterson, Edwards got his variance.
A few people have emailed me or posted comments about them having trouble watching our videos. Here are some things that might help:
First, make sure you have the latest version of Flash installed on your computer. Flash is the program that allows you to view animated websites and sites like ours that have lots of multimedia. Download it for free at www.adobe.com/downloads
Second, you may not be able to see the videos because your computer is behind a firewall that blocks video from YouTube.
YouTube is fantastic. Millions of people view and share content everyday on this rapidly growing service. But some companies worry about the "wrong content" being shared and they block everything from YouTube all together. Locally, I know the St. Louis Bread Companies block the service. That's a shame because I really like blogging from BreadCo.
Third, if the video keeps starting and stopping while it's playing, most likely your Internet connection is slow. The best way to deal with this annoyance is to click the play button to begin the download, then press pause. The video will continue to download (which you can see by the shaded meter moving to the right). When it's done downloading, click the play button again and enjoy a smooth video.
The St. Louis City Teachers' Union Committee on Political Education (COPE) has recommended that the union endorse State Rep. Amber Boykins for state senate.
COPE also recommended former school board member Bill Haas be endorsed in his campaign against State Rep. Rodney Hubbard. We are told that Hubbard never showed up for his scheduled interview with the teachers.
Local 420's executive board, which is not bound to accept the committee's recommendation, is expected to announce its full list of endorsements later this week.
Committee pushes back vote on cop residency bill to June 30
By Antonio D. French
The Legislation Committee of the Board of Aldermen met this afternoon to discuss a bill to again ask voters whether they prefer cops to be required to live in the city.
Board bill 47, sponsored by Aldermen Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward), Ken Ortmann (9th), Steve Gregali (14th), and Jennifer Florida (15th), would be non-binding since by state law St. Louisans have no say over STLPD policies. Backers say it is meant simply to "assist the Missouri General Assembly in their deliberations regarding the residency requirement."
City voters approved similar language about ten years ago. Since then, the St. Louis Police Board, whose members (except for the mayor) are appointed by the governor, voted to allow some officers and civilian employees to move out of the city.
Today's meeting did not have the necessary quorum for a vote. The committee will likely vote to pass the bill out of committee on Friday, June 30.
All five of the candidates running for the open 4th District State Senate seat showed up early this morning for a debate sponsored by The St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA).
Before an audience of people who don't have to be at work on a Tuesday morning, Kenny Jones, Amber Boykins, Jeff Smith, Derio Gambaro, and Yaphett El-Amin answered questions on topics ranging from the upcoming Stem Cell ballot initiative and a possible toll bridge crossing the Mississippi River to education funding and whether St. Louis' business community pays its fair share in taxes.
In one of the most spirited parts of the debate, former State Rep. Derio Gambaro attacked the record of professional educator Jeff Smith's Confluence Academy charter schools.
Gambaro pointed to the fact that 3rd grade students from the schools scored far below most students from St. Louis Public Schools on the state's reading tests [67.5 % of Confluence's 3rd graders tested "Unsatisfactory" in 2005 versus 24.7 % for SLPS].
Gambaro said he prefers a voucher (or tax credit-funded scholarship) system that would allow parents the choice of taking their kids out of SLPS and sending them to a school that is fully accredited.
Smith said it is unfortunate that people "who have just talked about doing things for the city schools are attacking people who have done things to improve the city schools."
He said that majority of the parents at Confluence gave the school an A or B grade last year and that there is currently a list of hundreds of families on a waiting list to send their kids to the charter school.
Trouble viewing this video on YouTube? Click here to download it to your computer.
Check back later for more videos from today's debate...
VIDEO: CRB Flap Again Shows Police Should Be Under Local Control
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, June 19, 2006 at 9:55 AM
Alderman Terry Kennedy (18th Ward) was the original sponsor of the bill that was passed earlier this year by the Board of Aldermen to create a civilian review board to investigate reports of abuses of power by city cops. Mayor Francis Slay vetoed that bill and proposed a weaker version, which the state-controlled police board approved.
Last week, we reported that supporters of Kennedy's bill noticed significant changes between the version the police board approved in public and what actually became policy with the signature of police board president Chris Goodson.
Kennedy sat down with PUB DEF to again express his belief that the citizens of St. Louis deserve the same right to control their police department just as citizens of most other American cities.
VIDEO: Conway says Forest Park deal is going to be a tough sell for BJC, Slay
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Saturday, June 17, 2006 at 7:26 PM
A PUB DEF VIDEO REPORT
Alderman Steve Conway is one of five members of a special committee charged with looking at the financial details surrounding a controversial proposal to hand over a portion of Forest Park to Barnes Hospital for the next 90 years.
In an interview with PUB DEF yesterday, he told us the status of the those committee hearings. He also said he thinks it's going to be tough for BJC and Mayor Francis Slay to get this deal pass the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.
Conway said he thinks a bill to approve the proposal won't be introduced in the Board of Aldermen any time soon. Because of that, the money expected from the deal was taken out of next year's budget.
VIDEO: Aldermen pass budget, give small wage increase to city workers
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Friday, June 16, 2006 at 1:52 PM
The St. Louis Board of Aldermen today passed Board Bill #1, the bill which sets the city's budget for the fiscal year begining July 1. Much to the delight of the employees of the City of St. Louis, the budget does include a pay raise for city workers, albeit a small one.
Alderman Steve Conway, an accountant by trade who co-sponsored the bill along with Board President Jim Shrewsbury, was instrumental in finding the money for the raise and including it in the budget. Just a month ago, Mayor Francis Slaysent out an email to city workers telling them that there would be no pay increase this year.
The 3% raise won't kick in until January 2007 and therefore will only be reflected in half of employees' paychecks this fiscal year. So in actuality it amounts to just a 1.5% annual increase.
Conway sat down with PUB DEF this afternoon to explain where the money was found to pay for the $3.7 million in extra salary payments and how the city may save another $10 million in management costs.
VIDEO: Percy Green says Board should not renew Superintendent's contract
By Antonio D. French
Legendary activist Percy Green has for decades been at the forefront of the struggle for civil rights and equality for African-Americans, a goal that over the years has found Green dangling from the Gateway Arch, sitting in numerous jail cells, standing before the Supreme Court, and all points in between.
In November 2003, Green found himself again in handcuffs. This time after being dragged from a meeting of the St. Louis Board of Education after a member of the school district's security team claimed he was trying to incite a riot. Green denied that charge and after hearing testimony from three witnesses, including school board member Bill Purdy, and judge agreed, finding Green not guilty Wednesday of all charges.
Green sat down with PUB DEF the day after his acquittal at a southside café to talk about the incident that led to his arrest and his recent open letter to the members of the school board asking them not to renew the contract of Superintendent Creg Williams.
Click here to download the video "Percy Green on his Arrest" (8MB). Click here to download the video "Percy Green on Creg Williams and SLPS" (12MB).
State Senate candidate Derio Gambaro won the endorsement of the 8th Ward Democratic club tonight. Sources tell PUB DEF the former State Rep received 27 votes. The next closest candidate was Jeff Smith with eight.
Smith had better luck in the 28th Ward where he beat out Gambaro with 29 votes. Gambaro tied with Yaphett El-Amin with six votes each.
Today is the deadline to sign up to be a tech support guy (or lady) at polling places on Election Day, August 8. The folks at the St. Louis City Board of Elections say techs are still needed.
You don't have to be a CS, able to write code with your eyes closed. Just know a bit more than the sweet white-haired ladies that will be asking for your photo I.D. before you can vote.
Do a public service and make enough to pay your car payment (or at least one fill-up). The pay is $225 for a day of training and the actual work on E-Day. Call Stephanie Doss at 622-3546 or Summer Richardson at 622-4327. Tell 'em PUB DEF sent you.
Here's the latest print edition of PUB DEF Weekly -- and boy, do we mean latest. We've been throwing so much news up here on the website, Nicky B. can barely keep up.
Most of this issue is full of stuff from last week, but still download and print it. Drop off some copies at City Hall, your neighborhood coffee shop, or give a copy to an old person who doesn't know "what all the fuss is about them fancy com'pooters and Innerwebs."
Legendary activist Percy Green was found not guilty today on charges of resisting arrest stemming from a November 2003 incident in which Green was forcibly removed from a public meeting of the St. Louis Board of Education.
Judge James Walls cleared Green after hearing testimony on his behalf from school board member William Purdy, Teachers' Union VPs Byron Clemons and Beth Faust.
Condos owned by Police Board President Chris Goodson burned to the ground this morning. The fire at Mississippi Place Townhomes, located in south St. Louis at Lafayette and Mississippi, occured around the same time as a fire just a few blocks away at at Vail Place Townhomes on South 18th. Street.
Get a whole lot more news and videos from last night's school board meeting at our sister site, STLSchools.org, home of the St. Louis Schools Watch.
See reports on the school board rejecting the superintendent's budget (with a video of Dr. Williams calling for an end to the "finger-pointing") and union leaders defending the district's contract with Sodexho, saying they don't want to be in the same boat as the teachers, "collectively begging, not collectively bargaining."
VIDEO: School Board gets on board to help save Cleveland High School
By Antonio D. French
As was expected, the St. Louis School Board voted last night to move the students and staff of Cleveland NJROTC High School to Pruitt Middle School. They also voted to approve a proposal to work with the newly formed group dedicated to raising private funds to repair and upgrade Cleveland with the goal of eventually bringing the students back.
The resolution, proposed by board member Bill Purdy, also directed the district to continue to provide basic maintenance and security to Cleveland after relocation so that the building is not vandalized and does not fall further into disrepair.
Purdy's resolution replaced one approved earlier in the meeting which was submitted by Superintendent Creg Williams. Williams' proposal also moved the students out of Cleveland for the 2006-2007 school year, but it did not address what SLPS was going to do with the building once empty.
Board members Ron Jackson and Bob Archibald said they believed that the issue of repairing Cleveland should not be considered seperate from the numerous aging buildings owned by the district, each with their own structural and maintenance-related problems.
Archibald added that he believes the district still has too many schools for the number of students it serves. "We really need to have seventysome schools, not ninetysome," he said. He suggested that Cleveland be included in a broader discussion held over the next three months on how to address the district's infrastructure problems.
Several people addressed the board on the issue of preserving the 93 year-old building, including Alderman Craig Schmid; attorney Matt Ghio, a board member of Landmarks Association which has joined the Alliance to Save Cleveland High; and Travis Reems, also a member of the Alliance. See videos:
The board approved the measure with Archibald, Jackson, and Board President Veronica O'Brien voting against it.
Members of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCAR) held a press conference in front of City Hall yesterday to call attention what they claim are serious violations to the state's Sunshine Law by the St. Louis Police Board.
Jamala Rogers and John Chasnoff said that the version of a Civilian Review Board reflected in a General Order signed in May by Police Board President Chris Goodson is different from the one presented and approved at the board's April meeting.
The Coalition said these changes are significant, and that they were not made in an open meeting is a violation of Missouri's laws on open government.
"You can talk in detail about whether the changes improve the bill or weaken the bill," said Chasnoff. "But the fact that these are unauthorized changes is a slap in the face to open government."
CAPCAR noted 13 differences between the order signed by Goodson and what was agreed to at the April meeting. Among the most significant are changes to how the CRB can interact with witnesses to allegations of police misconduct and how board members can be removed.
The latter document inexplicably removes a clause that would allow the CRB, by a majority vote, to request the Chief of Police to allow one of its members to be present at an Internal Affairs interview of a witness to police brutality.
Also absent in the second document is the phrase "for good cause" in reference to how and why CRB members can be dismissed by the police board.
Richard Wilkes, spokesman for the police department, said these issues will be readdressed at the next police board meeting. He said that there was confusion in the department over what objections to the CRB that Chief Joe Mokwa raised in the public meeting and what changes he requested to the police board members in writing.
Chasnoff said that if that's true, it is possibly another violation of the Sunshine Law since that document was not made available to the public at the time of the meeting.
What is clear is that the differences between what was presented in public and what was ordered by the police board would likely have simply become law if not for the watchful eye of citizen activists like Chasnoff and Rogers.
In other company news, regular viewers of our videos will be happy to hear that we've upgraded our camera equipment. Good-bye Canon ZR-80. Hello Canon GL1!!!One of our longest supporters was kind enough of loan us the equipment for a while. And for that, we are very grateful.
So now all we need is a couple of professional microphones and Watch out Elliott Davis!
If anyone out there has any such shotgun, handheld, or wireless mics for sale or loan, please email me at antonio@pubdef.net. Thanks.
Several candidates and elected officials were in the audience at yesterday's OBS Candidate Forum for the 4th District State Senate candidates.
State Representative Connie Johnson, Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, State Rep. Candidates Jamilah Nasheed, Joe Palm, Talib El-Amin, and Karla May all watched as Derio Gambaro, Jeff Smith, Kenny Jones, Amber Boykins, and Yaphett El-Amin answered questions on different issues facing the residents of the district they each want to represent in the state senate.
May, who is running against Committeemen Palm and El-Amin to replace Yaphett in the state house, rose to ask a question that was directly pointed at the wife of one of her opponents.
She asked where the candidates stood on the issue of Missouri becoming a "right to work" state. There are currently 22 states with laws that discourage collective bargaining by prohibiting trade unions from making membership a condition of employment, either before or after hire. There is an ongoing effort to make Missouri such a state.
Four of the candidates voiced their strong support for labor, but El-Amin, who along with her father, Eddie Hasan of MOKAN, has sometimes been critical of local labor unions, said that unions do no have an excellent record for being inclusive of blacks and other minorities.
"In order for us to all come together and for us to really see the benefit of labor, we have to be at the table benefiting from the good-paying jobs," said El-Amin.
The candidates seeking to replace the term-limited State Sen. Pat Dougherty answered a wide range of questions tonight at a forum hosted by the Organization for Black Struggle.
Derio Gambaro, Jeff Smith, Yaphett El-Amin, and Kenny Jones were asked whether they support the City of St. Louis regaining control of its police department and where they stood on the issue of requiring cops to live in the city like other city employees.
Gambaro said that the issue should be handled like the Home Rule issue a few years back, with voters across the entire state asked whether St. Louisans should have the same right as most of them. Co-moderator Irene J. Smith, former 1st Ward alderman, quickly reminded Gambaro that this is a statutory issue, not a constitutional one, and that the legislature can decide it at any time.
El-Amin said that Gambaro has spoken at the same hearings as she has on police residency, but on opposite sides of the issue. She said she firmly believes that police -- and firefighters -- should be required to live in the city, something which Gambaro has testified against.
Smith and Jones also spoke in favor of requiring police to live in the city. The fifth candidate, Amber Boykins, was not present when this question was asked. She arrived to the forum nearly 90 minutes late.
The event will be from 4 - 6 p.m. at the Rowan Community Center, 1401 Rowan Ave. Organizers say all of the candidates have been invited to attend.
The candidates are State Reps. Yaphett El-Amin and Amber Boykins, former Congressional candidate Jeff Smith, former Alderman Kenny Jones, and former State Rep. Derio Gambaro.
State Senate candidate Jeff Smith and his supporters organized a basketball tournament today in Fairgrounds Park. The free food, music and ice cream made for a good time for the dozens of people that came out for the event. But not everyone was glad to see the southside Democrat.
Three men from the Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) walked along Natural Bridge Avenue carrying signs which read "Jeff Smith is trying to buy you with basketball and Bar-B-Q." One of the men told PUB DEF that he was supporting the campaign of Yaphett El-Amin, one of Smith's four opponents in the August 8 primary. The man said that El-Amin had not asked him to protest Smith's event.
Few people were distracted by the small protest and Smith even offered the men food and water.
The four candidates in this hotly contested race are Smith, State Reps. El-Amin and Amber Boykins, former State Rep. Derio Gambaro, and former Alderman Kenny Jones.
So how does a bill for $2 million get delivered to St. Louis Public Schools in December 2005, but not come to the attention of the superintendent or the chief financial officer until this Monday?
"The district is in the process of investigating this matter. At this time we are unable to release any information," answered Johnny Little, the district's public information director.
On Tuesday, Superintendent Creg Williams informed the school board that next year's budget is currently $4 million over budget -- double what was thought just a few days before. Williams said the reason was that a bill from the district's Pension Board just landed on his desk Monday, after apparently being recieved by someone in SLPS six months before.
Little declined to say whether this situation is at all related to the sudden resignation this week of the district's treasurer, Enos Moss.
Frank Popper, the director of the documentary film, "Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?," which chronicles the unsuccessful grassroots Congressional campaign of Jeff Smith, will be on C-SPAN tonight at 6:00 p.m.
Popper, who is from Webster Groves, will appear on the show "Close Up" along with another director whose film is also being featured at the Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington, D.C. next week.
The State of Missouri will no longer pursue appealing a recent court decision that allowed a lesbian couple to adopt their foster child.
Attorney General Jay Nixon said that when Gov. Matt Blunt signed a bill which repealed the state law that banned sexual contact between two people of the same sex, the case became moot.
A story on Missourinet.com reports that the Social Services Department has objected to dropping the appeal. "A spokesman says it will quickly write a new rule dealing with foster care licensing and how gay applicants are to be treated," said the story.
"The Department had cited the same-sex sexual contact law as a primary reason for denying the lesbian couple a chance to adopt a child, saying one of the women was not of reputable character - although she has a degree in human and family development, with a specialty in children."
Supporters of Gov. Matt Blunt have started running a new ad on Missouri radio stations to help save the governor's dismal approval rating; at 35% as of last month.
The ad describes a gloomy situation for Missouri before Blunt became governor. "What a difference a year and a half makes," the ad says. An announcer says Blunt "got it right" with his spending cuts and education formula change.
On their webpage, where you can also listen to the ad and give money to help keep it on the air, Missourians for Matt Blunt, Inc. says "liberal media bias" is responsible for the public's negative view of Blunt.
There's something for every kind of political watcher this weekend -- except maybe basketball-hating conservatives.
For those pissed off that in the year 2006, Detroit is still producing vehicles that give less than 15 miles per gallon, the man who used to be the next President of the United States has a movie for you. "An Inconvenient Truth," starring former Vice President Al Gore, will open Friday at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema. Frontenac is one of the "select cities" to get this highly anticipated documentary this week. It opens everywhere else next weekend.
For those pissed off that in the year 2006, Detroit got its ass handed to hit by Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat and therefore have no desire to watch the NBA Finals (which start tonight), state senate candidate Jeff "I love this game" Smith has an event for you. The professor and basketball coach will be heading to the northside Saturday to host his first annual 3-on-3 b-ball tournament in Fairgrounds Park.
On Sunday, Smith and his opponents (for the senate, not on the court), Amber Boykins, Yaphett El-Amin, Derio Gambaro, and Kenny Jones, have been invited to the Organization for Black Struggle's candidate forum at 4:00, at the Rowan Community Center, 1401 Rowan Ave.
And speaking of struggle, radio host Lizz "Living Life as a Liberal and Loving It" Brown and former Ald. Irene J. Smith will be conducting their Urban Institute class on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at 1020 N. Taylor. They will be discussing the Team Four Plan and how they believe charter schools are a part of that "poisonous plan."
UPDATE:MoveOn.org is hosting a conference call with Al Gore on Sunday. To participate, call one of the following numbers just before 6:00 p.m. and enter the appropriate passcode:
Line 1 Toll free: 1-888-891-0496 Passcode: 8626127
Line 2 Toll free: 1-888-891-0496 Passcode: 4765019
Line 3 Toll free: 1-888-891-0496 Passcode: 5417431
Yes, things can get worse for St. Louis Public Schools. And according to Superintendent Creg Williams, they may get a lot worse by the end of next year.
Williams told the school board Tuesday night that the district will be facing a $50 million deficit in November 2007. He said the district must be aware of its financial situation in future decision-making and that he and the board should develop a plan of how they will pay their bills 18 months from now.
But some board members, including Ron Jackson and Robert Archibald, questioned whether the district should be spending so much money this year, knowing what awaits next year.
The district's chief financial officer told the board that many of Williams' proposals, parts of his "strategic plan," are still unfunded and the district is already looking at being $4 million over budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
See a special video report on this at STLSchools.org, home of the St. Louis Schools Watch.
VIDEO: CFO Tells Board Next Year's Deficit Double What Originally Thought
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, June 07, 2006 at 4:53 PM
The chief financial officer of the St. Louis Public Schools had some more bad news for the school board at last night's meeting. He said the roughly $2 million shortfall for the 2006-2007 budget is actually closer to $4 million.
Superintendent Creg Williams told the board that the district received a $4.2 million bill from the district's pension fund in December, but he and Cedric Lewis, the acting CFO, didn't find out about it until Monday.
Williams said that $2.1 million of that amount is due this year and the rest is due next year.
The additional $2 million deficit plus the components of Williams' "strategic plan" initiatives which have not yet been funded puts the district on shaky financial ground for next budget year. But the real trouble starts in 2007-08, according to Lewis.
The CFO has estimated that SLPS will faces a budget crisis of approximately $50 million by November 2007. Check back later for a video report on this issue.
After starting the week off nursing a dog bite, state senate candidate Jeff Smith received some welcomed news a couple of days later. His campaign today announced the endorsement of three of the area's largest labor unions.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council #13, the United Auto Workers Region #5, and the Communications Workers of America Local #6320 all declared their support for Smith, according to a press release from his campaign.
Sam Simon, Smith's campaign manager, said his candidate now has far more labor support than any candidate in the race, despite the fact that he is running against several sitting and former legislators.
Smith is running in the August 8 Democratic primary against State Reps Amber Boykins, Yaphett El-Amin, former State Rep. Derio Gambaro, and former Ald. Kenny Jones.
Senator Jim Talent voted this morning against a filibuster by Senate Democrats on a proposed Constitutional amendment to outlaw homosexuals from marrying. Talent is a co-sponsor of the amendment which conservatives say would preserve the "traditional definition of marriage."
"This issue represents a big difference between me and my opponent," said Talent in an email to supporters today. "Claire McCaskill supports gay marriage and recently she told the media she's opposed to a Constitutional Amendment to protect traditional marriage."
A spokesperson for McCaskill said the state auditor doesn't think the Senate should be spending time on the issue.
"Claire has always believed that marriage is between a man and a woman. And like John Danforth and Vice-President Cheney, she thinks federal action on this issue is unnecessary," said spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh.
We have updated our video page this morning and are updating our iTunes video podcast as I type. So podcast subscribers, look out for new videos to download to your computer today.
Download the latest issue of PUB DEF Weekly. As usual: make as many copies as you like and distribute them in your apartment building, on campus, in City Hall, wherever. We like leaving them under the windshield wipers of random Mercedes-Benzes and H2s. Try it. It's fun.
School board member Peter Downs made a motion at tonight's administrative meeting to have the superintendent look at cancelling the district's contract with controversial maintenance contractor Sodexho.
By a vote of 4-2, the board voted to add to next week's regular board meeting agenda a resolution to ask Superintendent Creg Williams to come back to the board by September with a plan on how to bring the services currently being performed by Sodexho back in-house.
Voting against the motion were board members Robert Archibald and Ron Jackson. Joining Downs voting in favor were Donna Jones, Bill Purdy and board president Veronica O'Brien.
O'Brien voted against Down's original motion to have Williams come back to the board with a plan in one month. Williams said that he needed more time to review such a large contract.
Board member Flint Fowler left the meeting early and was not present at the time of the vote.
Congressmen Lacy Clay (D-1) and Russ Carnahan (D-3) will join 16 other Democratic members of Congress from five central states for what is being billed as a first-ever, regional e-townhall meeting.
Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., Congresspeople from Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas and Indiana will team up to take e-mail questions on issues such as homeland security, the war in Iraq, rising gas prices, rising healthcare costs, college affordability, and immigration.
VIDEO: Documentary May Give Candidate a Boost Days Before Election
By Antonio D. French
A PUB DEF VIDEO REPORT
In a close campaign with nearly half a dozen candidates, any little thing can push one of them to victory. Less than two weeks before the August 8 primary election, one state senate candidate may get that push from a local silver screen.
Washington University professor Jeff Smith is the subject of a documentary film about his 2004 Congressional campaign in which he nearly pulled off one of the biggest political upsets in recent St. Louis history.
The film, titled "Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?," will be seen at the Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington D.C. later this month. But on July 27, St. Louis audiences will get a chance to relive the grassroots campaign which ended with a narrow defeat by the highly-favored heir to one of the state's most powerful political dynasties, Russ Carnahan.
The film will open at the Tivoli theater just days before Smith's name will again appear on the ballot.
On August 8, Smith will face four other much more seasoned politicos. This time though, he is arguably the frontrunner, with a comfortable lead in fundraising and now a film credit on his resume. But will it lead to victory or another disappointment for Mr. Smith's fans?
U-City Urges Passage of Universal Health Care Resolution in Congress
By Antonio D. French
University City's Council passed a resolution at its meeting Monday endorsing House Resolution 676, "The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act."
The city is the first in Missouri to endorse the bill. Similar resolutions are under consideration by city councils in Richmond Heights, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Hazelwood, Creve Coeur, and St. Louis City.
H.R. 676 was introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) with sixty-eight cosponsors in the House. Supporters say the act would provide a national universal, comprehensive, single-payer system of health care.
There will be a ceremony on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. on the front steps of University City Hall, 6801 Delmar, in which supporters will call on other cities to pass similar resolutions in support of universal health care for all Americans.
VIDEO: New Alliance Says Cleveland High School Can (and Should) be Fixed
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, June 05, 2006 at 1:08 PM
Members of a new group dedicated to stopping any attempt to permanently close Cleveland NJROTC High School gathered this morning at the school to present their position to the public and the press.
Debbie Irwin, of the Dutchtown South Community Corporation and the new Alliance to Save Cleveland High, said the mission of the Alliance is to assist the school district in creating a modern, safe, state-of-the-art Cleveland High School with academic excellence for its students.
Irwin said that would include helping to raise the needed funds to renovate the school. But she said the alliance would first like to get a better estimate of how much it will actually cost to make Cleveland a healthy place for students.
"We do not believe that it will cost $20 million," said Irwin referencing an estimate given by Superintendent Creg Williams. She said that figure includes $10 million to air condition the building, $9 million of which has already been funded through a bond issue.
Aldermen Dorothy Kirner (25th Ward), Craig Schmid (20th Ward) and Fred Wessels (13th Ward) attended today's event. As well as school board members Veronica O'Brien and Bill Purdy.
In an exclusive video interview with PUB DEF, Purdy gave a bit of the history of how Cleveland got in its present state of disrepair.
At a special meeting yesterday, the St. Louis Teachers' Union unanimously voted "no confidence" in Superintendent Creg Williams and his administration. The union also asked for the resignation of former school board member Vince Schoemehl from the school system's pension board.
Get the latest on St. Louis Public Schools at STLSchools.org, home of the St. Louis Schools Watch.
