By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 12:12 PM
Minority Floor Leader Maida Coleman (D-St. Louis) denied rumors that she is planning to make an early departure from the State Senate. Labels: Rumors, State_Senate
Talk has spread around the Capitol that Coleman, who because of term limits is in the last year of her career as a legislator, may soon be appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board of Probation and Parole.
But Coleman tells PubDef that she has no plans at this time to leave her seat early. "I love my job and no one has offered me an appointment," she said.
If Governor Matt Blunt was to appoint Coleman to the post, which pays more than $80,000 a year, that would greatly change the dynamics of the race to succeed Coleman.
Currently, State Representatives Rodney Hubbard, Connie Johnson, Robin Wright Jones, and Tom Villa are the names most often mentioned as possible successors. In the African-American community, there is a worry that infighting could leave St. Louis without any black representation in the state senate for the first time in decades.
If Coleman were to resign early, the Democratic committeepeople of her district would vote decide the Democratic nominee for the special election. That means that instead of having to win close to 10,000 votes, a candidate will need to only earn about 7 votes to win the nomination. And that's a whole 'nother ball game.
In other Maida news... The Republican blog, The Source, attacked Coleman this week for her support of Michael Ocello for a seat on the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board. Ocello is the strip club owner who was recently elected to the Mehlville School Board.
Coleman reminded PubDef that Ocello's was actually a re-appointment to the SBRF Board and that the board's chairman, J. Scott George, a Blunt appointee, sent her a letter requesting that she support Ocello for another term.
Here's an interesting quote from Ocello from a Woodhull Foundation paper titled "The Erotic Economy":
"You need a minimum of $2-3 million to even open a decent club," explains VCG holding company president Michael Ocello whose company owns almost 20 clubs worldwide. He trains ladies in current affairs, dress and wine tasting to boost his profit margins as well as the woman's earning potential.
"A lady from a rural community and limited background can come to work for me and someday leave our establishments with some sophistication and networking under her garter. It isn't a negative exchange, that's for sure."
5 Comments:
It's amazing. Teachers are told they make too much money, (most earn under 40,000. annually--yet the Board of Parole and Probation members earn 80,000. annually. This clearly demonstrates the government's priorities.
Missour Yankee
5/03/2007 2:49 PM
Pimp.
5/03/2007 5:33 PM
Hmm.. Ocello sounds like a pimp! I wonder does he want his daughters to aspire to be strippers?
5/03/2007 6:34 PM
Slam me if you want, but doesn't a pimp use up women and give nothing in return? From what I read, Mr. Ocello is not advocating that. He is claiming (note I said "claiming") that the women who work in his clubs leave his employment a little better off than when they began.
I would like to hear from those ladies.
It seems so easy to name call when you offer no other better alternatives.
5/03/2007 10:56 PM
Ain't no Democrat going to support Rodney Hubbard for state senate. We might as well vote Republican.
5/04/2007 10:32 AM
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