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The effort to recall Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward) entered its final stage today as organizers turned in nearly 90 more pages of signatures.
As readers may remember, on July 10, the St. Louis Board of Elections informed the recallers they were 778 signatures short of the 1,466 needed to put the recall question to the voters. They were given 20 days to gather the rest.
We are told that today's pages represent just 800-850 signatures. Bosley will again have an opportunity to ask signers to remove their name from the petition.
Judging by the high percentage of signatures withdrawn (339) and rejected (733) 20 days ago, it is not looking good for the recallers.
Sources tell PUB DEF that the lawsuit to remove Bill Purdy from the school board will not be heard today. The hearing has been postponed for several weeks to late August.
The Gateway Green Alliance and the Universal African Peoples Organization will be hosting a forum Wednesday on the debate surrounding the Stem Cell Initiative.
"Will the Stem Cell Initiative that Missourians vote on in November be beneficial or harmful for black Missourians?" This will be the focus of a panel at 7:00 p.m. on August 2 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd.
Moderated by Ziah Reddick, the discussion will feature Pastor B.T. Rice of the New Horizon 7th Day Christian Church speaking in favor of the ballot initiative and Stephanie Rubach, RN, of Missourians Against Human Cloning speaking against it.
Despite the extreme heat yesterday, according to organizers, more than 2,500 people attended the 6th Annual Community Empowerment Festival of the Jeff Vanderlou, Blumeyer, Vandeventer, Tiffany Park, Shaw, Midtown and Grand Center Neighborhoods.
Fire Chief Sherman George, Marlene Davis and Ida Goodwin Woolfolk joined 19th Ward Alderman Mike McMillan at the annual event at which people were treated to health screenings, a job fair, senior services, college recruitment info, and giveaways of school supplies and grocery certificates. Kids enjoyed slides, rock climbing, horse rides, and sitting in a real race car.
Sponsors included the City of St. Louis, Metropolitan St. Louis City Police and Fire Departments, SLATE, SLAAA, CDA, Enterprise Leasing, Anheuser Busch, Pepsi Cola, President Casino, SLU, Grand Center, Major Brands, Hardee's, the Vashon/JVL Initiative, Scottish Rite Cathedral, Sam's Club, National City Bank, Commerce Bank, the Human Development Corpration, CAMCO, and McCormack Baron Salazar.
See more video from yesterday's State Board of Education meeting at our STLSchools.org site, including one of Commissioner Kent King discussing his frustration with the lack of parental involvement in St. Louis City.
Also read about School Board President Veronica O'Brien and her children's alleged run-in with a group of angry supporters of ousted basketball coach Floyd Irons.
Members of the State Board of Education yesterday discussed the loss of focus on the students of St. Louis Public Schools by both sides in the ongoing political battles affecting the district.
"I can remember six, seven, eight years ago when we had a great deal of concern about Kansas City and actually St. Louis was improving every year and things were looking like it might turn out to be one of the better urban districts in the country," said board member Thomas Davis of Kansas City.
"And here we sit these number of years later and St. Louis' trend line has clearly been down and decelerating faster than almost any district than we have data on," said Davis. He said that in all the discussion he has read about the current situation in the district, he has not seen a focus on student achievement.
Vanetta Rogers, the St. Louis regional board member, shared in her colleague's assessment. She said she also saw a loss of focus by the players in the ongoing soap opera that SLPS has become.
"You hear the adults -- with their factions and their views and their PACs and their whatever -- talking about who failed to agree with whom about what," she said. "But you don't hear enough about efforts to come together and try to create a single voice."
The State Board of Education is meeting today in Jefferson City. Sources tell PUB DEF to expect some kind of action regarding St. Louis Public Schools.
We grabbed a video camera and are heading to Jeff City to see for ourselves.
Developing...
BREAKING NEWS
Commissioner of Education D. Kent King today appointed the following five Missourians to a special committee that is charged with helping to find solutions to the "continuing turmoil in the St. Louis Public Schools":
Dr. William H. Danforth Atty. Frankie M. Freeman Dr. Donald Suggs Atty. Ned Lemkemeier Michael Middleton
Check back later for video from the meeting and subsequent press conference.
UPDATE 2: Here's a video of King's announcement. Read more at our STLSchools.org.
Mike McMillan is now old enough to be President of the United States. That's just one of the dreams and possibilities that was spoken aloud yesterday in the ballroom of the beautifully refurbished Coronado in Central West End.
The official occasion was the 19th Ward alderman's 35th birthday, but the feeling in the room and the weight of all the heavies in it was indicative of a much bigger event: the much anticipated arrival of the city's next political force.
McMillan will soon become St. Louis' third black citywide elected official (yes, don't let the light skin and the almost blue eyes fool you -- he's black). But no citywide elected official, not even the Mayor or the Comptroller, has the mix of cross-racial appeal, fundraising ability, and smell-it-in-the-air potential as this guy.
But then, everyone already knows that. That's why nearly everyone who is anyone in St. Louis politics came out last night to welcome his arrival.
Eating slices from a cake shaped like City Hall (why not just pass out Mayor McMillan buttons?), politicos mingled with each other and spoke of things to come.
"Someone wrote you a birthday check and, without thinking, made it out to Senator Mike McMillan," said Ida Woolfolk in her introduction of the city's next License Collector.
We could try to make a list of everyone we spotted in the crowd, but that just sounds like too much bold print. Instead, watch this music video:
Now bear witness to the charm of your future something-or-other. Here is McMillan's "thank you" speech from last night:
VIDEO: McCaskill Gets FOP Nod, Says She Supports Police Residency
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 5:43 PM
Democrat Claire McCaskill, who is looking to unseat Missouri Republican Senator Jim Talent in November, officially received the endorsement of the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police today at a press conference in front of the Eagleton Courthouse.
Butch Albert, Vice President of the FOP, said McCaskill, a former prosecutor in Jackson County, has been a valuable ally in law enforcement's fight against Methamphetamines. McCaskill said Talent, whose campaign today repeated claims that she opposed his federal Anti-Meth law, has mischaracterized her position.
Afterwards, PUB DEF asked McCaskill what her position is on St. Louis City's police residency requirement, something that the FOP and other police organizations oppose.
"I think the people of St. Louis are the ones that should decide that," said McCaskill. "I know that for some members of the FOP that's a tough stance on my behalf."
After winning the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington D.C., Frank Popper's documentary film on the unsuccessful 2004 Congressional campaign of Jeff Smith is premiering tomorrow at the Tivoli theater in University City.
"Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?" follows Smith, who is in the last 13 days of a tough primary battle for state senate, as he goes from mild mannered college professor to a grassroots political force that threatened to knock off one of Missouri's biggest political heirs.
Tomorrow's 7:00 showing is sold out, but we are told that some tickets still remain for the 9:30 show. Here's a clip from the movie:
And here is our earlier report on the film's possible impact on the state senate race:
The U.S. Senate passed a bill yesterday that would make it a crime, punishable by up to a year in jail, to transport a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion.
Locally that means that teens from East St. Louis, Belleville, or Centralia, for instance, would have more limited access to St. Louis abortion clinics. Missouri senators Kit Bond (R) and Jim Talent (R) voted in favor of the law, Senate Bill 403, while both Illinois senators voted against it.
Alderman and License Collector candidate Mike McMillan will be celebrating his 35th birthday tonight in the Coronado Ballroom at the Chase Park Plaza. Most of the city's big political and business players are expected to drop by. The festivities start at 5:30 p.m.
UPDATE: Oops, it's actually at the Coronado on the corner of Lindell and Grand Spring in the 19th Ward, which makes more sense.
Richard Callow is profiled in the August edition of St. Louis magazine. The mayoral advisor and public relations hired gun is described in the piece by former Post-Dispatch writer John Michael McGuire as "Machiavellian," "a snake," "creative," and enormously influential.
As much as the story is a tale of a remarkably manipulative (and therefore successful) PR operative, it is also a subtle indictment of the quality of St. Louis journalism and the perpetually sleeping watch dog that not only ignores the corruption and obvious conflicts of interest that sit under its nose like a steamy pile of poo, but whose own laziness has made it dependent on the burglar's treats.
Callow's "relationship" with his live-in whatever, Barb Geisman, the City's deputy mayor of development, is something that we and others have pointed to as a clear and ongoing conflict of interest that has cost taxpayers millions.
But McGuire also does a good job of outlining his friendships with a string of shady reporters: Jerry Berger (former Post gossiper), Mike Owens (Channel 5); Jamie Allman (formerly of Channel 4); and Jeff Rainford (Mayor Slay's chief of staff who as a reporter for Channel 4 was once involved in a botched "sting" to catch an Illinois priest with a male prostitute).
"He is like the St. Louis managing editor," one observer is quoted saying. "Most publicists work to place stories. He works to kill them," said another.
Never one to hate the player, we think that Callow's been in St. Louis 15 years -- longer than any other place he's ever been -- probably because its just so frickin' easy here. The quality of St. Louis television and print journalism is atrocious.
The greatest obstacle a corrupt public official or businessman must encounter while robbing the public trust is stepping over all the sleeping watch dogs on his way out.
Yesterday's storm-related press conference and photo op at the Wohl Recreation Center [see our earlier story] brought out many state and local elected officials. Governor Matt Blunt; Sen. Jim Talent; St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley; Mayor Francis Slay; Fire Chief Sherman George; State Rep. Amber Boykins and her husband Shaun Simms; Aldermen Terry Kennedy and Jeffrey Boyd were all present.
But some officials were noticeably absent, including Congressman Lacy Clay whose district Wohl serves. Sources in Clay's office say the Congressman was more than a little peeved that he was not invited to the event. And as it turns out, even several of the officials who were at the event were not officially notified, but rather just heard about it minutes before.
Ald. Kennedy let Ed Rhode, the mayor's communications director, know that he was not happy that he didn't get a call. "We just found out about it. They just called us," Rhode answered.
Kennedy told PUB DEF that despite the pats on the backs from Blunt and the bunch about working together during this time of crisis, they failed to involve those people on the front lines.
The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment today.
UPDATE: A spokesperson from Blunt's office called to say they rarely notify federal or local representatives of the Governor's visits. She said Slay and Dooley were only notified because their offices were the ones through which state aid was being directed.
Claire McCaskill's campaign announced today that she has received the endorsement of the Missouri State Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).
Law enforcement officers from the over 5,000 members of the FOP will join McCaskill and local Sheriffs for the official endorsement tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. in front of the Eagleton Federal Courthouse, 111 South 10th Street, in downtown St. Louis.
McCaskill, who is seeking to replace U.S. Senator Jim Talent, will also outline her plan to give local law enforcement the tools they need to "fight terrorism and make Missouri more secure."
VIDEO: Sharpton, El-Amin call on Ameren to abandon rate hike
By Antonio D. French
State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin was joined today by Rev. Al Sharpton in calling on the electric utility Ameren to drop its plans to raise its rates by nearly 18%. Facing millions of dollars of property damage and lost wages, Missourians should not be asked to pay even more for electricity and Ameren should be "corporately compassionate" and not ask them to, said El-Amin, who is running for the state senate.
"There must be a standard set, that when power companies fail, the people should not pay the tab for their failures," said Sharpton.
On July 7, AmerenUE filed requests with the Missouri Public Service Commission for rate increases for its gas and electric services. According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the company cited major investments in the infrastructure of its natural gas business and rising operating expenses as reasons for the rate increase.
State and local elected leaders gathered for a press conference and photo op at Wohl Community Center in north St. Louis yesterday. Governor Matt Blunt, U.S. Senator Jim Talent, Mayor Francis Slay, and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley thanked each other for their cooperation during the ongoing crisis that has thousands of St. Louis area residents still without electricity.
The politicians also asked the public to be patient, saying that Ameren, the electric utility, was doing all it can.
"They are overwhelmed," said Slay. He said Ameren's resources have been extremely strained by the amount of storm damage. "Why that occurred and where do we go from here, we're going to address in the future, but at this point, complaining and pointing fingers is not the way to approach it," said the mayor.
Monday's more favorable assessment of Ameren's handling of the situation contrasted with the mayor's comments in Saturday's Post-Dispatch. In that article by reporter Jake Wagman, Slay blasted Ameren officials for being "very, very vague" about when power would be restored to the city.
"They don't really promise anything specifically - I think intentionally so," Wagman reported Slay saying in a briefing to aldermen at City Hall. He later added: "This is a life or death situation."
Wagman asked the mayor about his change in tone yesterday. Slay said his position has been consistent. "The article was inaccurate," he said. Slay said Ameren was vague because they didn't want to get people's hopes up prematurely.
If you're interested in hearing audio from the entire press conference, you can download it here. It's about 20 minutes long. Check back for the full video later.
Activist and former Presidential candidate Al Sharpton will be in town today leading a protest at the downtown offices of Ameren. Sharpton and local community leaders are asking the electric utility to postpone a proposed rate increase for one year while the community recovers from last week's storms and the ongoing power outages.
The protest will be at 10:00 a.m. at 1901 Chouteau Ave.
Still getting caught up with everything now that my electricity is back on. Shot some video yesterday but haven't had time to edit it yet. Look for it later today. Will also be looking closely at the latest campaign finance reports today, so look out for that as well.
Traffic on the site has been busier than ever. More than 11,000 visits a week for the past two weeks. Did see bit of drop off when the power went out, but it's back on track since yesterday. So with exactly TWO WEEKS LEFT until the August 8 election, there is still time to get in your political ad. Shoot an email to antonio@pubdef.net to get rate information.
And thanks to Sylvester Brown for mentioning PUB DEF and this video in his Sunday column. Looks like the PUB DEF blackout might be over at the Post-Dispatch. Maybe now Steve Giegerich will start crediting our STLSchools.org when he re-reports our scoops.
COLEMAN GETTING CANNED?The Source, a Republican blog, claims that a battle is brewing between Minority Floor Leader Maida Coleman and fellow Democrat, State Senator Tim Green. The Source says Senator Chuck Graham, the Assistant Minority Floor Leader, is attempting to replace Maida with Tim. Stay tuned...
BOND TO BUSH: BRING THE BUCKS U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent have asked President Bush to quickly approve Governor Matt Blunt’s request for a major disaster declaration for Missouri in response to this week's storms. They requested financial assistance for St. Louis City and Dent, Iron, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Louis and Washington Counties. The AP reports about 440,000 homes and businesses in the St. Louis area were still without electricity Saturday morning, but about 130,000 had been restored over the previous 24 hours.
BIONDI BACK FROM BEIRUT AFTER BOMBING After surviving the bombing of Beirut, Father Lawrence Biondi, President of Saint Louis University, made it back home yesterday from Lebanon.
As you may have heard, or even seen, Jim Talent is using his considerable financial advantage over his Democratic challenger, Claire McCaskill, to start running television commercials rather early, with well over three months before the November general election.
You can view those commercials on Talent's website, along with little intros by the senator himself. "It's kind of like the director's commentary on a DVD," Talent says about the Internet broadcast. Click here to view Talent's director cuts.
After two nights of sweating in the dark and sleeping on a futon on the back porch, my girlfriend, my dog and I split town and headed to Chicago yesterday evening. Not to rub it in or anything, but the weather is great, the power is on, and all lanes are open on the information superhighway.
Senator Kit Bond's office made a series of announcements today pointing out millions of federal dollars the veteran lawmaker recently got earmarked for his home state.
Bond secured $77 million in funds for Missouri defense projects, including:
$2.5 million for the Center for Geospatial Intelligence at the University of Missouri-Columbia, $5 million for Advanced Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies at the University of Missouri-Rolla, $3.5 million for the Center for Nano/Micro/Systems & Nanotechology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, $2 million for the University of Missouri-Rolla’s Steel Castings Program, $7 million for Clean Earth Tech., located in St. Louis, $2 million for Sage Tech., located in St. Louis, $4 million for Avant, located in Overland, $3 million for GE Energy Systems, located in Kansas City, $3 million for Engineering Software Research, located in St. Louis... the list goes on and on.
Bond secured another $8 million in funds for health care projects, including:
$500,000 for the City of Springfield to be used for program development and expansion, equipment and technology for the Ready to Learn Program. $875,000 for Missouri Highlands Health Care to be used for construction, renovation and equipment costs for a new facility in Popular Bluff. $1,000,000 for St. Louis Children’s Hospital to be used for construction and renovation costs for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Expansion. $750,000 for the United Inner City Services to be used to expand the early learning programs in Kansas City.
Bond and Sen. Jim Talent shared the credit for bringing $3 million to the state for public transportation and almost $7 million in federal funds for a Child Development Center on the Ft. Leonard Wood base.
KSDK is reporting that Mayor Francis Slay has asked Gov. Matt Blunt to send National Guard troops to the city. No, not to assume control of the city schools (yet), but to aid in the recovery from last night's storms.
Speaking on NewsChannel 5 at Noon, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay says he has asked Missouri Governor Matt Blunt to call in the National Guard and declare a "State of Emergency." Mayor Slay said he expects National Guard troops to begin arriving Thursday evening.
Ameren says the storm was the worst in its history. Click here to get the latest information about outages from the company's website.
Former Presidential Candidate General Wesley Clark will in Missouri tomorrow to help raise money for Claire McCaskill in her campaign against U.S. Senator Jim Talent.
"At a time when so much needs to be fixed, we can't afford 6 more years of 'maybe'," wrote Clark in a letter to supporters of his WesPAC. "We need strength, we need independence, and we need clarity and conviction," referencing the time it took for Talent to announce his position on stem cell research.
Clark will join McCaskill at Talayna's Restaurant in Chesterfield, on the southwest corner of Olive and Woods Mill Rd, tomorrow from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
For the third day in a row, people protested the school board's decision to force the resignation of Superintendent Creg Williams.
Yesterday evening, in front of City Hall, two dozen people carried signs bearing messages critical of the school board majority and shouting, "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it!" They also gathered signatures on a petition of "no confidence" which they plan to turn over to the school board and the media later.
Among the protesters once again were ousted Vashon basketball coach Floyd Irons and local sports personality Demetrius Johnson, whose sister's job with SLPS was eliminated the same day as Irons'.
State senate candidate Jeff Smith also joined the picketers Wednesday. In an interview with PUB DEF, he said he joined in their disappointment in the board's decision to force out Williams.
"I didn't think he had a fair shot to see his plan through," said Smith.
KTVI Channel 2 is reporting that a lawsuit is being filed by citizens on behalf of former Superintendent Creg Williams and former Vashon basketball coach Floyd Irons, who were both were fired last week. The lawsuit reportedly seeks to remove board member Bill Purdy.
Channel 5 reporter Sharon Stevens gives a little more detail. She reports Purdy is being sued by fellow board members Flint Fowler and Ron Jackson and 47 other citizens, including Floyd Irons. The lawsuit claims Purdy is serving on the board illegally and should be removed.
KSDK reports the issue being whether a person can run for the school board if he or she has relatives who work in the district. Two of Purdy's daughters and a grandson are teachers in the district. A recent change in Missouri state statutes allows school board candidates to serve, even if there is family working in the system.
But according to Stevens, the school board bylaws still say that is illegal. Those bylaws have not been amended to reflect the state law and that is what the lawsuit is based on.
The St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners will again hold its regular monthly board meeting away from the department headquarters. They are again meeting in the southern part of the city, tonight at 7:00 p.m., at St. Raymond’s Hall, 939 Lebanon. Attendees will have the opportunity to voice their concerns about the Department's civilian residency rule.
"I think this is a perfect opportunity to hear how the residents of St. Louis feel about civilian residency and it gives citizens who work during the day the opportunity to attend a board meeting and to express their concerns to the body that represents them," said Colonel Chris Goodson, President of the Board of Police Commissioners.
The Board's August meeting will be held at The Tandy Center, 4206 West Kennerly on Wednesday, August 16, 2006, at 7:00 p.m. Open Board meetings are normally held the third Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at Police Headquarters, 1200 Clark Avenue.
Hundreds of people were unable to get into last night's school board meeting, the first since the board forced out Superintendent Creg Williams and popular Vashon basketball coach Floyd Irons.
Reporters from PUB DEF, KMOX, The Arch City Chronicle, a photographer from The Post-Dispatch, members of the Clergy Coalition, and several elected officials stood in the summer heat, waiting to be allowed in. Even after a few of us were allowed into the building, we still could not enter the auditorium until dozens of people had left the meeting.
"By order of the fire marshal," we were told.
Inside, the crowd let the school board know that they were not happy with the events of the past week.
Chants of "Hey, hey, ho, ho! Veronica's got to go!" could be heard loudly in the hallways. Board members were booed and comments, some vulgar, could be heard after nearly every board move.
"Back to the bad old days," said one parent.
Among the business the board was able to complete was the passage of an almost $400 million budget for the next fiscal year. That budget, prepared by Williams and his team over several months, was questioned for the first time by board members Bob Archibald and Ron Jackson, both of whom are rarely critical of such things in public meetings.
After voting in favor of a budget last month that overspent by $4 million, Archibald asked the new superintendent, Dr. Diana Bourisaw, if $10 million could be further cut from this balanced budget in anticipation of the predicted financial crisis facing the district in 2007.
After little debate, the budget was passed by a 4-3 vote.
A story on the website of the St. Louis American this morning suggested that folks upset at the recent moves by four members of the St. Louis Board of Education might be laying the groundwork to recall one or more of the members. But a quick check with the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education suggests that is not possible.
The city and the school district are separate political subdivisions. While the city's charter outlines the procedure for recalling city elected officials, DESE officials believe it has no bearing on the school board.
"There is not a general provision in state law that allows for the popular recall of school board members in local school districts," said Jim Morris, a DESE spokesman.
But Morris said there is, however, a provision of law that applies to SLPS (as a metropolitan school district). Section 162.631 gives the circuit court jurisdiction over the school board and spells out a process by which board members may be removed.
However, it is unlikely that a judge would see the firing of a popular basketball coach, or even the recent resignation of Superintendent Creg Williams, as grounds to remove any one member from the board.
As a side note, that story on the American's site carried a photo taken by this reporter and used without permission. We wrote the paper's editor, Chris King, to inform him of the faux pas. We checked the site later in the day and the photo was gone. In its place was another school board-related photo and story. The first paragraph of that story reads:
"A crowd of more than 50 people picketed outside the home of School Board President Veronica O'Brien on Monday night calling for her removal from the board and the rehiring of basketball coach Floyd Irons."
Except for the word "tonight" being replaced with "on Monday," this was lifted word-for-word from our story yesterday on the incident.
Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but twice in the same day is just ridiculous.
What did you find as auditor of the district and are you still the auditor?
How long will you be "interim" superintendent?
What do you think about the recent talk about a state takeover of the district?
What makes what you're doing any different than what Creg Williams was trying to do?
How will you alter Creg Williams' "strategic plan" and will you rehire the teachers that he fired?
Will you end or alter Williams'reorganization plan for some of the city's most troubled high schools?
How will you lure students from charter schools?
Only 4 of the 7 members of the board are here today. How will you help heal the rift that exists on the school board?
PUB DEF asked Bourisaw, who is the 6th superintendent in three years and the 2nd superintendent in the last 7 days, what can she say to parents who wonder about stability in SLPS?
What experience to you have that qualifies you to reforming this district?
A parent asked Bourisaw, because SLPS is at least double the size of any district you ever led before, not to mention it's urban and mostly poor and black, what makes you qualified to lead this district?
What are you going to do differently than Creg Williams to reform SLPS?
How will you work with the divided board?
You're taking a smaller salary than your predecessor, will your other staff as well? And how will you pay for your planned reforms?
When where you first approached about becoming superintendent?
A crowd of more than 50 people picketed outside the home of School Board President Veronica O'Brien tonight calling for her removal from the board and the rehiring of basketball coach Floyd Irons.
The crowd, led by local sports personality Demetrius Johnson, shouted chants of "Veronica must go!" and "recall, recall" while O'Brien sat on her front steps protected by nearly a dozen City police officers.
The protesters promised to come out in force at tomorrow's school board meeting. They also said they would return to picket O'Brien's home again.
Harold Brown, district assistant to State Sen. Pat Dougherty, has joined Jeff Smith's campaign to replace the term-limited Democrat. "These are huge shoes to fill," said Brown. "And Jeff Smith is the only one of the candidates who can fill them. Like Senator Dougherty, Jeff will represent the entire district – from Bevo Mill to Walnut Park."
The new superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools was introduced today to a room full of reporters, district employees and parents. Dr. Diana Bourisaw promised that the first day of school will occur as scheduled and that the district will return to a focus on full accredidation.
"Our goal is to make St. Louis Public the best choice in the city, not the last," said Bourisaw.
Bourisaw -- who used to be the head of the 11,000-student Fox C-6 School District and an area superintendent in Sacramento, overseeing 14,000 students -- introduced several members of the new team leading SLPS following the resignation of Creg Williams Friday. Many of the faces on this "new" team were very familiar to watchers of the district.
Back as treasurer and also chief financial officer is Enos Moss, who abruptly resigned from the position a few weeks ago. At that time, it is believed that he received much of the blame for a $4 million dollar bill from the district's Pension Fund being delivered to SLPS in December, but not included in the budget or brought to the attention of Williams until last month.
Also back is Mulugheta Teferi, a former chief academic officer and principal of Gateway Middle School, who will again serve as CAO. And Deana Anderson, who served under Williams, has been promoted and will assume the duties of chief operations officer.
A packet handed out the media, still bearing the name of Williams as superintendent, highlighted many of the problems facing Bourisaw, the school board (only four of whom attended today's press conference), and the district. Declining enrollment, increasing costs of supplies and services, competing charter schools -- these are all things the new superintendent pointed to as challenges which can be overcome.
"We need to remove the distractions, put our blinders on, and move ahead," she said to some applause.
But not everyone was happy about the change in direction. After the press conference, one angry parent confronted board member Donna Jones demanding to know why Williams was forced out. The woman said that Board President Veronica O'Brien, whose children attend school in Clayton, couldn't relate to what the continuing instability means to parents of students in SLPS.
The St. Louis Board of Education will hold a press conference today at 1 p.m. at the Clyde C. Miller Academy, 1000 North Grand Ave, to introduce interim Superintendent Dr. Diana Bourisaw.
From the press release: Prior to accepting the position of Interim Superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools, Dr. Bourisaw served as Superintendent in the Fox C-6 School District and in the Sacramento City Unified School District in Sacramento, California. "I'm very pleased that Dr. Bourisaw has accepted the position of Interim Superintendent," said School Board President Veronica O’Brien. "She is committed to improving the academic achievement of the 35,000 students in this district."
LATE STARTER BUILDING STEAM? Former Ald. Sharon Tyus announced over the weekend that she had accumulated several endorsements in her bid to re-enter politics as State Rep from the 60th District. Third Ward Committeepeople Lucinda Frazier and Johnny Saddler; 4th Ward Committeepeople Norma Leggett and James Clayborne; 18th Ward Committeepeople Ernestine Hill and Jessie Todd; and 21st Ward Committeeman Arthur "Chink" Washington, according to Tyus, have all backed her campaign against activist and frontrunner Jamilah Nasheed, former State Rep. Bob Bartlett, and Shaun Simms, husband to the current state rep, Amber Boykins.
DEM YUNGSTAS The College Democrats of America (CDA) are holding their national convention at Saint Louis University starting this Thursday. There will be speeches given by DNC Chairman Howard Dean, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, retired General Wesley Clark, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, Congressman Russ Carnahan, Congressman William Lacy Clay, and CDA's national leaders. This is the first time the College Democrats will have their stand alone convention outside of Washington DC.
OFF THE HOOK? The last vestiges of Mayor Slay's three-year control of St. Louis Public Schools went out the door with the exit of former Superintendent Creg Williams last week. For many, the manner of Williams' departure lets both him and the mayor off the hook when the consequences of their and the Darnetta Clinkscale-led school board's decisions start to show. Williams leaves smelling like a rose with a quarter million dollar parachute and Slay gets to say all the coming problems are the fault of the new board majority. Game, set, match. Nicely played, Mr. Mayor.
EXCUSE OUR SLACKING Campaign finance reports will be rolling in today and in the coming days. Click here to look up how much a Missouri candidate is raising and who's giving money to who. We're a little distracted by this schools stuff and probably won't get a chance to analyze the reports until later in the week. If you spot something fishy, or at least interesting, post a comment about it here or shoot us an email at editor@pubdef.net.
It Didn't Have to Go Down Like This, Board Becoming What it Hated
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Sunday, July 16, 2006 at 12:39 PM
Last week, in an off the record conversation with a member of the St. Louis school board's minority, he and I agreed that the tensions between the board's majority and Superintendent Creg Williams could only be solved in one of three ways:
(A) Williams and the board could try harder to work together, coming to a working agreement about each other's roles in reforming SLPS; (B) The board can get rid of Williams; or (C) The state could get rid of the board.
He and the Mayor opted for C. The board majority opted for B. And both Williams and the majority seemed unwilling or unable to take the A option.
There may have been reason to dismiss Creg Williams. To date, he had offered no plan to deal with the estimated $50 million financial crisis facing the district in less than 18 months. He was often unwilling to provide board members with information they felt they needed to make informed decisions. He routinely overreached his authority in hiring high-priced consultants, reassigning employees, and making major moves without the approval of the school board, as was contractually required. And he was often openly insubordinate to his bosses -- something that the mayor has fired his own high-profile employees for.
When rumors began to spread about possible action against Williams, I offered the following advice: Make your public demands of the superintendent, allow him time to comply or not. If the tensions persist, then make your case for the need for new leadership. Over 30-60 days, talk to opinion makers and editorial boards. Tell them what Williams is doing wrong. Build public support for a change in direction.
If it is true, as some board members have said, that Williams has made so many poor decisions that the district is being set up for a chaotic and disastrous first week of school, then the board should have kept Diana Bourisaw "in waiting" for a few more weeks, let the disaster happen, then come in to save the day.
But now, if any little thing happens during that first week (and it always does), it's going to be seen as the board's fault for throwing the district into chaos just weeks before the start of school.
This thing should have gone done much smoother than this. As I write, nearly 48 hours after the bloodbath at 801, the board still has not held a press conference. The board still has not said why Williams (or even Floyd Irons) was dismissed. The board still has not explained why a quarter million dollars of taxpayer money is going to paid by an already bankrupt school district to get rid of a man who had a higher approval rating than the board of education.
The new school board majority has disappointed many of its supporters who backed them because they were upset with the secretive and arrogant manner in which the former majority operated.
That school board, backed by Mayor Francis Slay, made major decisions, costing the district millions of dollars, without any regard for public input. It thumbed its nose and the state's Sunshine Laws and operated like a private corporation whose major stockholders resided in City Hall and not in the poorest neighborhoods of our city.
This board is now on the brink of becoming what it said it hated.
Two months ago, after the board agreed to hold off on Williams’ recommendation to close Cleveland High School to allow time for public input, Board President Veronica O’Brien, a Slay appointee, called a special public meeting with less than 24 hours notice. Some school board members were out of town and couldn’t even attend. Some aldermen who showed up at the hastily called meeting complained that it appeared that O’Brien had called the meeting just to “get it out of the way.”
As we all know now, O’Brien again this week -- with far less than 24 hours notice -- called an emergency meeting to replace Williams with a woman that some board members had never met before and clearly the public does not know. After the deed was done, neither she nor board members Bill Purdy, Peter Downs or Donna Jones had anything to say to the media or the public about what they had done.
The level of arrogance of this board has shown this week matches, and maybe even exceeds, that of the Slay/Schoemehl/Roberti board. It has squandered much of the good will coming from the April election and has done two things that many thought were impossible: made Archibald and Jackson the voices of reason, and made this reporter agree with Mayor Francis Slay.
It is a damn shame how this thing went down. It didn’t have to be this way and the damage may be irreparable.
U.S. Senate Candidate Claire McCaskill today delivered the Democratic response to Pres. George W. Bush's weekly radio address. Click here to listen to her speech in support of stem cell research.
Former Superintendent Creg Williams told Channel 4 reporter Anne Steffens that he resigned today after talking to his family and close friends. He said he was not fired or forced out as has been reported. After saying as recently as yesterday that he would not resign, Williams told Steffens that he felt that the new board deserved the opportunity to select their own superintendent. Click here to see Steffens' interview. Click here to watch Mayor Francis Slay's press conference.
School Board President Veronica O'Brien has called a special emergency board meeting for 6:30 tonight. No word on the agenda, but some speculate that this could mean the end of Superintendent Creg Williams' time in SLPS.
Developing... UPDATE: Dr. Creg Williams' time as the superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools is over. It is not clear yet if the school board fired Williams or, in the face of a 4-3 vote, he resigned. What is clear is that the school board is as divided as ever and calls are increasing for the state to take over.
After the closed meeting vote, board member Bob Archibald was the first to emerge. He blasted the board majority for letting Williams go. He told reporters that he thinks the state should come in and take over SLPS.
Still Developing...
UPDATE 2: SLPS is now headed by Dr. Diana Bourisaw who was hired by the Board just a couple of weeks ago as an internal auditor.
More...
UPDATE 3: Mayor Francis Slay weighed in on the firing tonight, calling it a "damn shame." He told television reporters that only hope now for SLPS is a state takeover.
Oh boy. The risk of poking fun at someone is that they could go and up the ante on you. And oh boy has Sen. Jim Talent upped the ante.
Last week, we had a little fun at our junior senator's expense when he announced his Women for Talent coalition. Surrounded by a group of women from all over the state, all willing to give "pink cred" to Talent in his race against Claire McCaskill, we jokingly asked, Do ladies love Cool Jim -- L.L. Cool Jim? Photoshopped pictures of a hip-hopping Talent started coming in.
Well, tomorrow Talent is launching his "African-Americans for Talent" coalition. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.
Before we start receiving Photoshop images that are just plain offensive, let us redirect your creative "talents" back to L.L. Cool Jim. The contest is still on and that "special prize" is still up for grabs!
BTW, Talent will kick-off his African-Americans for Talent coalition on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at the Renaissance Grand Hotel downtown. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson will attend.
In a state that has elected more dead Democrats to statewide office than black Democrats, the question should be asked: Does the Democratic Party take black voters and elected officials for granted?
That's the question radio show Lizz Brown is discussing this morning with State Sen. Maida Coleman; State Reps. Connie Johnson and John Bowman; and Ald. Charles Q. Troupe. Listen to the show on WGNU 920-AM until 10:00 a.m. Or listen online at www.WGNU.net.
State Senate candidate Jeff Smith released a statement today responding to a press release from the campaign of Yaphett El-Amin which referred to his race, calling him a "known Caucasian."
Smith said, "While we have offered a hopeful, progressive vision to unify this district, Representative El-Amin has chosen to mire her campaign in the divisive politics of the past."
"Our city is moving forward. Yet just as we begin to move past race and revitalize our city, the El-Amin campaign had to resort to the politics of fear and hatred in a disgraceful attempt to teach racial hostility to a whole new generation of voters," said Smith.
Word is that Father Lawrence Biondi, president of St. Louis University, is in Lebanon tonight, holed up in a hotel room while Israel bombs the country.
UPDATE: The AP now has the story... "University spokesman Clayton Berry said Biondi has been in frequent contact with the school and is talking with the U.S. Embassy to find out when and how to best get out of the country and return home."
The St. Louis School Board and Superintendent Creg Williams didn't even give Floyd Irons a slap on the wrist for the financial irregularities at Vashon High School. Instead, they cleared Mr. Irons, apologized to him for the bad publicity and gave the erroneous impression that prosecutors had exonerated him.
It was a stunning example of the lack of public accountability.
...the School Board has left a mistaken impression that Mr. Irons has been exonerated by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce. Jeannette Graviss, Ms. Joyce's chief warrant officer, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that "the bookkeeping was so sloppy that there would be no way to determine if there was criminal behavior.... It is an exaggeration to say that the review exonerated anyone," she added. "That is completely false."
...Mr. Irons is a great basketball coach with political clout. Getting to the bottom of the financial irregularities at Vashon would have taken a lot of gumption and willingness to take the heat from angry Irons supporters. This board and this superintendent have demonstrated they don't have it.
From today's Post-Dispatch:
...instead of dealing with these real and crucial issues, the St. Louis Board of Education spent this week plotting coups like the tin-horn governors of a banana republic. The board fired Floyd Irons, the most successful high school basketball coach in Missouri history, a man who was going to retire next year anyway, a man with a huge and loyal following than can now be expected to create more trouble for a district that hardly needs it.
...But the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's office said it found no reason to pursue criminal charges against Mr. Irons. Mr. Williams Tuesday reiterated his view that the case against Mr. Irons didn't merit his dismissal. "It's unfortunate that as superintendent I have to spend my time on issues that don't have anything to do with academic achievement," he said.
Creg Williams may be the St. Louis Public School's last, best hope to regain accreditation and avoid state takeover. If that happens, the teachers union, and its proxies on the school board, may come to regret their actions.
Lost in all the talk about the downsizing that left Floyd Irons unemployed (if only temporarily) is the fact that this week the St. Louis School Board got a balanced budget out of a reluctant and increasingly insubordinate superintendent.
Last month, Superintendent Creg Williams submitted a 2006-2007 budget to the Board which was unbalanced and dug the district $4 million deeper into financial uncertainty. Against the recommendation of Williams and the votes of board members Bob Archibald, Ron Jackson and Flint Fowler, the four-person majority rejected that budget and instructed Williams to find more cuts.
A month later, at Tuesday's Administrative meeting, Williams came back with a General Operating Budget in which expenses did not exceed projected revenues and, perhaps most importantly, actually pays down nearly $3.5 million in debt.
Board Vice President Bill Purdy commended Williams not just for submitting a balanced budget, but also for supplying board members with much more supporting documentation than he did last month.
But board member Robert Archibald downplayed the significance of the $7.5 million swing from creating more debt to eliminating debt. He said that it represented only a small percentage of the total budget and was only a drop in the bucket compared to the $30-50 million debt projection for November 2007.
Gov. Matt Blunt has signed a new law that effectively bans Wal-Mart from opening a bank in Missouri.
The bill bars industrial loan companies from having any deposit or loan office or bank branches in Missouri. Wal-Mart recently applied to run an industrial bank in Utah. Instead of opening branch banks or granting loans to consumers, Wal-Mart executives have said the mega-company wants to charter a bank just to handle the $140 million credit, debit and electronic check payments that the company processes yearly, which could save it millions of dollars in fees.
"Ugly Water," the new book by St. Louis native Joe Wood, tells the long-forgotten story of the 1894 lynching of John Buckner in Valley Park, located in south St. Louis County.
From the description: "It has been said that Lynching is a crime peculiar to the United States; that it is an American institution. One might say that where so ever one might dig, they may find such a story. I decided to dig in my own backyard. In 1894, the small village of Valley Park, Missouri became the setting of one of American History's most peculiar crimes. This startling and controversial work documents the details of one of America's biggest secrets. Everything you thought you knew about Black History... could be wrong."
John Cross, of The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (A.C.O.R.N.), has been acting as a psuedo Director of Communications for the El-Amin for State Senate campaign, writing and faxing press releases and getting the word out to "the community" about various campaign events. Today, Team El-Amin's need for a real D.O.C. was once again blast-faxed across the 4th District.
Dave Drebes of the Arch City Chronicle, a longtime supporter of Jeff Smith, one of El-Amin's four opponents in the August 8 election, published a press release written by Cross that refers to Smith, who is white, as "the known Caucasian candidate."
The release then states that polled voters in the mostly black district changed their support from Smith to El-Amin, who is black, after they "learned more about the candidates," suggesting that the poll may have been a push poll, a technique in which a campaign attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a real poll. According to Wikipedia, the mildest forms of push polling are designed merely to remind voters of a particular issue -- such as race.
Cross' communications skills have been called into question before. After Team El-Amin was hit by a double dose of "baby mama drama" and a politically tainted Channel 5 reporter, Cross was put in charge of notifying the media of the campaign's press conference which came four days after the KSDK report. PUB DEF and representatives from The St. Louis Argus, co-owned by El-Amin's father, were the only media that covered at the event.
With 27 days left in this close campaign, there's still time for a change in message -- and messenger.
On the Voting Rights Act, which parts of are scheduled to expire in 2007: "First, records from the US Department of Justice confirm that the actual number of documented complaints to federal officials regarding unfair election practices was higher from 1982-2004, than from 1965-1982. Second, the study confirms that polling places and voting hours in minority neighborhoods were routinely changed shortly before elections. And finally, election officials were found to have illegally purged voters from registration lists and to have refused to translate election materials for citizens who have difficulty with English."
On the proposed new Missouri-Illinois bridge: "Recently... this region has tripped over the new Mississippi River Bridge... Unfortunately, Illinois and Missouri have been unable to agree on the proper financing mechanism to build the span. There have been several bridge plans; the most recent offered by Governor Rod Blagojevich and other Illinois elected officials in a press conference two weeks ago. In each proposed plan, Illinois has money, Missouri does not."
"Under the old new bridge plan, there is currently a $461 million shortfall towards the proposed $910 million needed to build a totally new, freestanding bridge. That is $461 million that MoDOT says they do not have. In addition, to pay for the new bridge some Missourians want to create a public-private consortium to build the bridge and then charge a $2 toll to the mostly Illinois motorists who will be using the billion dollar span. Mercifully - for our sake and that of the residents of Illinois -- the state of Illinois has offered Missourians a deal that we cannot afford to pass up."
On Iran, in a letter of support to Maryam Rajavi, the "future President of Iran": "Appeasement of the Iranian regime has failed to achieve a more democratic Iran. Instead, appeasement has only emboldened the Mullahs in their pursuit of nuclear weapons, and encouraged their support of terrorism and the suppression of human rights."
"I do not think war is a viable option for achieving regime change in Iran. The Iranian people do not want a foreign confrontation. Your commitment to providing a third option to support the Iranian people in their efforts to establish a more democratic government appears to be the best way to establish peace and security in the region and in the world. I wish you and the Iranian Resistance movement every success in your struggle against the brutal Iranian regime."
In other Clay news, Deb Petersonreports that he will celebrate his 50th birthday on July 21 at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will headline the $1,000-a-person dinner party to support Clay's re-election.
GRADUATION DAY The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will be holding a graduation ceremony tomorrow for 19 new police officers. The event will be at Harris-Stowe State University starting at 7:00 p.m. The St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association's (RCGA) Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Tom Irwin, will serve as the guest speaker at the ceremony.
ACT TWO The Police Board will hold a public meeting next week, July 19, at St. Raymond's Hall, 939 Lebanon, at 7:00 p.m. Once again, the board will be discussing the issue of the residency requirement for civilian employees. Observers can be sure to hear a chorus of whines and moans from disgruntled civil servants on everything from the poor state of the city's public schools to, most ironically, the high rate of crime. They might even boo more old ladies. The board will also hear for final approval, the order establishing Mayor Francis Slay's version of a civilian review board.
COME BACK WITH MY CAR! Early this morning, officers received an assignment to investigate suspicious persons in front of 3310 Nebraska. Upon arrival they located one male subject and two female subjects sitting in a van. The subjects were detained and an investigation was conducted. An investigation revealed that one of the female subjects was wanted for a probation violation. She was arrested, handcuffed and placed in the rear of the police vehicle. Seconds later, the woman slipped out of her handcuffs, climbed over the front seat and drove off in police vehicle. The vehicle was later located abandoned in the 900 block of Cherokee.
Here it is, your moment of Zen... Download the latest issue of PUB DEF Weekly.
Remember: make as many copies as you like and distribute them in your apartment building, on campus, in City Hall, wherever. But for God's sake, don't litter. We hate that!
A rumor is circulating around St. Louis Public Schools that the Mayor and at least one holdover from the last school board majority have requested the state to step in to take over the troubled school district.
It is believed that Mayor Francis Slay and board member Ron Jackson told Kent King, Commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, that the current board majority is standing in the way of Superintendent Creg Williams' reform plans. Sources tell PUB DEF that the two asked DESE to take over the district at the first opportunity and appoint Williams to oversee it, effectively eliminating the St. Louis Board of Education.
DESE officials told PUB DEF that they are aware of the situation in St. Louis, but would not comment any further at this time.
Board member Jackson confirmed that he has been in contact with state education officials, but denied asking them to take over the district.
"I asked them to keep a close watch on the situation," he said. However, Jackson did say he thinks that the state may need to step in at some point, should SLPS' situation get much worse.
"Boards of education are creations of the state," said Jackson, adding that he thinks tensions between Williams and the current board are standing in the way of needed reform. Jackson said he couldn't say whether or not the mayor had also been in contact with DESE.
Ed Rhode, spokesman for the mayor, has not yet replied to our request for comment. PUB DEF today made a formal "Sunshine Law" request of the Mayor's office for copies of any and all correspondences between that office and DESE.
Sources at DESE have confirmed that people from "several camps" have been in contact with the department in recent weeks about the situation at SLPS.
But even if DESE did decide to step in, the state can only take over a district after it has been unaccredited for two years (as in the case of the Wellston School District) or if disaster struck and a district was unable to open its doors and operate.
This scenario may give some support to the conspiracy theory quietly making its way around SLPS. Some SLPS principals, teachers and board members have been quietly asking this question: Is Creg Williams trying to destroy the school district? And why?
An article by Steve Giegerich in today's Post-Dispatch highlights the concerns of some in the district that the 2006-2007 school year may bring the disaster that sets the stage for a state takeover.
Williams has repeatedly said that the district faces a $50 million deficit in Fall of 2007 that would mean that SLPS could no longer meet its financial obligations. Yet in his 2006-2007 budget submitted last month, which was rejected by the board, not only were no steps taken to address that crisis, but $4 million was added to it.
Almost two weeks ago, the district failed to pay many of its employees on time, blaming it on "human error." And last week, many key district employees were dismissed, including most (if not all) of the people in the office which administers federal Title 1 dollars and possibly the only district employee familiar with the software used to send special data to the state.
District spokesman Tony Sanders has not replied to requests for comment on these dismissals.
The board will meet for three meetings tonight starting at 5:00 at the district's Administration Building, 801 N. 11th Street. See the complete agenda, including consent agenda items, at our sister site STLSchools.org, home of the St. Louis Schools Watch.
Shannon Weber, political director for the Carpenters' District Council of Greater St. Louis, has confirmed the endorsement. We're told press releases are coming...
