By Antonio D. French
Filed Monday, January 22, 2007 at 9:12 AM
Labels: Analysis, Announcements
SLAY SHARES WITH DEVLIN -- The mayor and the man accused of kidnapping two boys have something (or someone) in common: Richard Callow. According to Jake Wagman, Mayor Francis Slay is allowing his number one P.R. man to moonlight as the media man for Michael Devlin. Either Francis thinks he's so Teflon that even the stink of a kidnapper won't stick or it's becoming very obvious that he has no control over his aides. Makes you kind of wonder who's running the show in Room 200.FROM POPE TO BLUNT, BY WAY OF STL -- We're a little late in mentioning this, but for those that missed it, check out this link to a profile piece in the Columbia Missourian on the Governor's Chief of Staff, Ed Martin.
Martin, the former chairman of the St. Louis City Election Board, said of his old job, "It was possibly as dysfunctional as any agency in the state when I came in... And I think by the time we were done, we oversaw maybe the best elections St. Louis has ever seen. I think the governor saw that and was impressed."
The man that also once worked for Pope John Paul II ends with these words: "Pray for me."SHOW ME THE MONEY (We couldn't resist) -- The Show-Me Institute will release a new study this week on how to replace the much-maligned city earnings tax.
The new study is a follow-up to a March 2006 study which showed that large cities with earnings taxes experience lower growth. Total real income has fallen in St. Louis since the 1970’s. The groups says the new study describes how St. Louis can replace the earnings tax without affecting city services and spark an economic revival.
Prof. Joseph Haslag of the University of Missouri is the author of the study.
13 Comments:
Callow's job is to spin things in the direction that helps those who are paying him. It is not about seeking out truth or what is best for the community. This clearly shows he will take on any job regardless of the client. I simply cannot trust anything or anyone he is behind because I know it is about money.
1/22/2007 9:50 AM
Steve, I agree with you about Callow. He's not a truthseeker, he's a spinner. But that's his job. Some people think he's good at it (I'm not one of them).
But really the issue here is about how the mayor is allowing himself to be indirectly associated with a man who is fast becoming one of the most reviled in America. And how Callow's relationships with his other clients (be it Devlin or the Cardinals), never seems to make it in the "mainstream" conversation on conflicts of interest or how little influence the mayor has over a man that has so much influence on him.
Can you image the uproar if one of Blunt's aides was working for Devlin while on the Governor's political payroll? Or even a McCaskill aide?
1/22/2007 10:34 AM
Lot here, but the Callow news is fascinating and will be interesting to watch. Talking about putting the nail in ypur own coffin, The Show-Me Institute's analysis is very important. To think just 37 years ago that 55% of local jobs were in the City (compared to 22% today) speaks volumes of how public policy impacts a region. Taxing income/productivity inevitably begets less productivity and less jobs. Simply mix in MoDOT and we magically get SPRAWL!
1/22/2007 12:24 PM
Richard is completely tacky and unpredictable.
As for Antonio, your above comment makes me image that you've switched your support from Kacie to Patrick.
1/22/2007 4:22 PM
Geri Dreiling wrote a piece in the RFT [July, 2002?] stating that Callow was a lead industry lobbyist. Don't know if Callow is still occupying the same living quarters as one the the Mayor's cabinet members.
Huge conflict of interest!!!!!!
No surprise that Callow would work for Devlin, given his lead industry lobbying. The close ties between a lead industry lobbyist and the Mayor's Office speaks volumes about the Mayor's Office and their purported concern for St. Louis children.
1/22/2007 5:41 PM
"As for Antonio, your above comment makes me image that you've switched your support from Kacie to Patrick."
Huh?
1/22/2007 6:19 PM
Geri Dreiling is as much of a whore as Callow is. Talk about paid hit jobs. Google the strumpet and you'll get the picture.
1/22/2007 10:44 PM
The ties between Slay and the lead industry are easily beat by one of his predecessors: Freeman Bosley, Jr. went from being out mayor to repping the lead paint industry.
1/22/2007 11:38 PM
It's O.K. for Mayor's Office to have ties to lead industry?
The fact that Bosley sold out to lead industry, doesn't make the Callow-Mayor's Office connection O.K. Bad for both.
When Slay says SLPS teachers are bad, it helps lead industry.
1/22/2007 11:55 PM
This Devlin thing is sickening, but shouldn't be surprising to anyone who's watched Callow operate.
But is Callow good at his job?
If you define that job as convincing people to pay him to get coverage, he's very good. People believe they must pay him to get their side in the news, especially the Post. When I was involved in downtown St. Louis civic/development issues, more than once I heard people say, "I'll have to pay Richard to get it in the paper." He was perceived as having total influence at the Post, especially when Berger was running amok and Callow lived in his ear. I even heard (from a party who knows) that he was involved in selecting Berger's successor.
If you define his job as actually serving a client's best interests, the story is different. The SLPS debacle, for example, is in my opinion a case study in how NOT to control a story. He's also put the mayor at risk through his conflicts of interest. Only in St. Louis can a guy like him continue to thrive.
1/23/2007 12:27 AM
Oh, NOW I get it!
"...makes me image that you've switched your support from Kacie to Patrick."
Because I mistakenly wrote "Can you image the uproar" and Patrick still has the same typo on his website.
Very clever, Mr. Anonymous. You got me.
Now that I've figured out your little riddle I can get some sleep.
1/23/2007 1:19 AM
I have been informed and have since verified that the typo on Pat Cacchione's website has been fixed. I'm told it was fixed last week.
1/23/2007 9:08 AM
Of course Bosley's involvement with the lead industry doesn't excuse Slay's through Callow; all it shows is how widespread the problem really is.
Lead is a major health issue in an older urban city, and the fact that the current mayor tolerates a tie and a former mayor went from supposedly protecting the people affected most by lead to representing those who poisoned the city shows that no one is serious about it.
(And by "no one" I include the opportunistic Greens who conveniently use the lead issue for fundraising purposes.)
As for Callow, I would not say "only in St. Louis" could he thrive. He seemed to do very well in Washington, DC where there are legions of consultants just like him.
And look at Daley's mishandling of PR for his privatization of the Chicago Public Schools -- surely there are some bad PR consultants involved there, too.
Anywhere there is politics, and as long as leaders are more concerned about image than constituent service, there is spin. Callow is not as unique as people believe him to be, nor is he as peculiar to St. Louis as others say. Plus there are bigger stories about Lou Hamilton and other consultants that never seem to make it into the press. Maybe those are the effective consultants?
1/23/2007 1:07 PM
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