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The Gateway to the West Chapter of the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) will host a Jackie Kennedy expert at their quarterly meeting this Saturday. Steven Brawley runs the website pinkpillbox.com and will speak about the 1960 election and the first lady's term in the White House.
The APIC will also be buying, selling and appraising political memorabilia.
The meeting will be this Saturday at 12:00PM at the Carpenters Union Hall on 1401 Hampton Avenue.
Robin Harris will officially announce his candidacy for the State House District 86 seat tomorrow night. The campaign kickoff and fundraiser will be held tomorrow at 7:00 pm at 1813 Loehr Estate Drive in Ballwin.
Harris, a retired Naval officer and current Northwest Airlines Captain has not run for public office before.
To RSVP or for more information, call (636) 519-7173
Another State House candidate, Deb Lavender of Kirkwood just launched her website, www.lavenderforstaterep.com.
The agenda for next Thursday's State Board of Education meeting includes Derio Gambaro's oath of office. Since he was sworn in once, but then withdrawn, he must be sworn in again to make him a member of the board.
This calls Rick Sullivan's appointment into question since he was also withdrawn and reappointed, but to our knowledge he was not sworn in again. We are awaiting word on Sullivan's status.
UPDATE: As of 5:00, SLPS Communications Official Deborah Sistrunk had not yet gotten back to us regarding Sullivan.
According to a news release, 30,729 students are currently enrolled in St. Louis Public Schools. On the first day of school this year, 22,793 students showed up for class.
Earlier this week it was announced that the Centene Corporation will move its headquarters from downtown Clayton to two the coming Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis. But not everyone is happy about the arrangement.
Centene has promised 1,200 new jobs downtown in the next five years. In return, the city and state must fork over $78 million in tax incentives.
One group that has always been opposed to taxpayer funding of the Ballpark Village is the Coalition Against Public Funding for Stadiums. They say the Ballpark Village is part of the stadium and should not be built with taxpayer funds.
Fred Lindecke of the Coalition visited PubDef's studio to talk about the issue.
The membership of the St. Louis Police Officers Association has voted "no confidence" in the leadership of Chief Joe Mokwa. But despite the lack of support among his officers and numerous scandals — including $40,000 stolen from a police station vault — the mayor and Mokwa's state-appointed bosses say they're staying with their man.
"The fact that only 17 percent of the Police Department’s 1,859 employees said they do not have confidence in Chief Joe Mokwa is hardly an indicator of any widespread discontent with his tenure," said the Mayor Francis Slay's blog.
Of course, the mayor neglected to mention that the 48% turnout in the no-confidence poll was much higher than the 15% turnout in Slay's own 2005 primary victory.
Chris Goodson, president of the Board of Police Commissioners, which is appointed by the governor, told KWMU that despite frustration over staffing and pay, Mokwa is doing a good job.
"Leadership is going to have popular and unpopular decisions that comes with the job, but what we want to know is are you making the right decisions to provide the best public safety for the workers and the citizens of St. Louis," Goodson told KWMU.
But the citizens of the City of St. Louis, which once again has earned the title of "most dangerous" in America, have little say in the running of their police department. Unlike most cities, the mayor does not hire or fire the chief of police. In fact, the chief is only accountable to the the police board, which is appointed by the governor and approved by the senate, both located in Jefferson City.
The politics suggests the People have little control over the police. The crime statistics suggest the police have little control over the streets. And the mayor's statement shows the opinion of rank-and-file cops can (and will) be disregarded as easily as the opinion of the people they protect and serve.
As reported earlier, the Green Party of St. Louis gathered enough signatures to request an audit of the city. They held a rally outside of City Hall today to make the announcement.
Missouri Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) are asking the Justice Department to investigate possible civil rights violations in the case of the Jena 6. Clay and the CBC say the treatment of the case appears to be "An unbelievable example of the separate and unequal justice that was once commonplace in the Deep South."
They have also asked the Governor of Louisiana to pardon one of the Jena 6, 16 year old Mychal Bell. Bell is currently being held without bail, awaiting trial as a juvenile. The Third Circuit Court of Louisiana previously ruled he was erroneously tried as an adult.
In their letter asking for Bell's pardon, Clay and the CBC say the decision to refuse bail "Is harsh, to the point of being unconscionable."
ST. LOUIS — According to Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee, CPA, there WILL be an audit of the City of St. Louis. State law requires that a citizens' petition for a municipal audit have enough valid signatures to equal 5% of those who voted for governor in the most recent election. For St. Louis, that would be 7,192 signatures. Montee's office counted 10,842 signatures that were turned in and determined that 7,715 were valid. A press conference announcing the successful petition effort will be at:
11:00 am, Thursday, September 27, 2007, St. Louis City Hall, Tucker entrance
Members of the Green Party of St. Louis began collecting signatures in late 2006, when they reported that the City had not given full disclosure of where childhood lead poisoning prevention money was being spent.
"The issue has now gone far beyond lead poisoning dollars," says chief petitioner Daniel Romano. Along with other City residents Susie Parker, Percy Green II, Cris Mann, and Jerry S. McCaleb, Romano signed the July 25 letter submitting the petitions that requested an audit.
"In addition to lead remediation work in homes, we are asking the auditor to investigate how much is being spent removing lead from public schools," Romano adds. "We would also like to know how federal grant money allocated to build a recreation center on 12th Street near Peabody School was used, since the center never went up."
Susie Parker is Outreach Coordinator for the Green Party and collected several hundred signatures herself. She is concerned that block grants were made so that businesses would create jobs for low income citizens. "But I don't see the jobs that were created from those grants," Parker observes. "I want the auditor to tell us where the grant money went, how many jobs were created, and how much people earned on the jobs. And we need to know how much money was spent in each ward so we can know if all areas of the City benefited."
Both Romano and Parker want the audit to shed light on people who have lost their homes through eminent domain. "We've heard that HUD grant money should have been used to repair homes that were later blighted and taken from their owners," charges Romano. "We want the audit to tell us how much HUD money was supposed to be spent for repair and how much was actually spent."
Parker added, "And we need the HUD grant expenditures broken down by ward. Are all areas of the City being treated the same?"
The Greens say that the audit should begin with a specification of sources and expenditures of all Departments, Divisions and Commissions of the City of St. Louis, all "County" offices (i.e., Sheriff, License Collector), the Police and Fire Departments and the airport.
In late October, Romano, Parker and several other petitioners will meet with Thomas Kremer, CPA, Director of Local Government Audits for the State Auditor's office. They will indicate their interests for issues to be addressed by the audit. Residents with suggestions for what the audit should examine can e-mail fitzdon@aol.com or call 314-727-8554. Tips may be left anonymously.
Those awaiting the outcome of the trial to decide control of St. Louis Public Schools will have to hang on for another six days. According to SLPS spokesperson Deborah Sistrunk, Judge Richard Callahan has said he does not expect to make a ruling until at least next Tuesday.
Budget concerns were the main topic of the High School Athletics Administration/Management Subcommittee meeting last night. Due to budget cuts this year, each high school received $7,500 for athletics instead of the intended $10,000.
Athletics budgets have been lower than $7,500 in the past, but this $2,500 deficit could cause sports to be canceled and coaching staffs to be cut.
On the morning of Monday, September 17, members of CODEPINK from Springfield visited the Washington D.C. offices of Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill with letters from their constituents demanding that they stop funding the occupation of Iraq.
Missouri Attorney General candidate Margaret Donnelly is holding her first St. Louis fundraiser tonight at 8025 Maryland Avenue. The event starts at 5:30.
So far, over 150 people are co-hosting the event. The cost for the evening is $1,275 for hosts, $500 for sponsors and $250 for friends.
UPDATE: Not really the ideal way to end a fundraiser (From the Political Fix):
So packed that the event set off the fire alarm.
The ear-splitting sound came just as folks continued to eat and right before the speeches. The upshot: all those who were able had to walk down 18 flights of stairs. Donnelly, D-Richmond Heights, stayed on the roof with those who couldn’t.
State Senator Jeff Smith was charged today with a misdemeanor offense of using a false identification during a July 31 visit to the Isle of Capri Casino in Booneville. State Rep. Joe Aull (D-Marshall) and lobbyist Lynne Schlosser were also charged in conjunction with providing Smith the false ID.
You visit PubDef everyday. You email links to all your friends. You use our reports to sound "informed" at parties. And you've never paid a dime. Nice deal you got there.
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Two subcommittees of the Special Administrative Board will meet this week. First, the High School Athletics Administration/Management Subcommittee will meet today at 6:00 PM in room 108 of the Administrative Building at 801 N. 11th Street. The High School Athletics Finance Subcommittee will meet tomorrow at 6:00 PM in the same location.
Attorneys representing the elected St. Louis Board of Education, the appointed Special Administrative Board, and the state Board of Education will appear in a Cole County courtroom today for the start of the trial to decide who should be in control of the St. Louis schools.
The elected school board argues that the state Board of Education unfairly changed the rules by stripping the district of its accreditation more than a year before it was scheduled to be re-evaluated. The state board argues that SLPS' financial and academic situation, added with its persistent instability in its leadership, created a dire situation which forced them to act.
After several earlier rulings against them, the president of the school board said he doesn't expect the judge to rule in their favor.
"You have to remember this is a judge that ruled that the state constitution doesn't guarantee children a public education," president Peter Downs said at a forum last week referring to Judge Richard Callahan's ruling against 200 school districts across the state which challenged the state's method for funding public schools.
Regardless of the outcome of this trial, Downs said he expects appeals. "This to be ultimately decided by the state supreme court," he said.
There is a growing rift between two of the more active organizations in Missouri Democratic politics.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is charging the liberal political action group Missouri Pro-Vote with "union-busting." Meanwhile, Pro-Vote says SEIU Local 2000 and the Brotherhood of Union Support (BUSS) are using intimidation and harassment to force its five St. Louis employees to join the union.
SEIU has filed a formal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. Pro-Vote has responded by kicking SEIU off its steering committee.
The Board unanimously passed a resolution at their morning meeting today stating their support for Mokwa. Leading the way was the alderman from one of the most crime-ridden parts of the city, Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward).
Sure, the police officers want more money, Bosley said, but so do we all. The police motto is to protect and serve and sometimes, Bosley remarked in his raspy voice, that means doing some service for free.
Bosley also did not blame Mokwa or the department for crime — “Whenever we’ve called for help, you’ve been there.”
Besides, Bosley said, crime has been around since biblical times.
“Cain slew Abel,” Bosley reminded the chamber.
“Whenever you have more than three people, there is going to be crime,” Bosley said.
By the way, no such resolution has been introduced to show support for Fire Chief Sherman George, whose department, in comparison, is squeaky clean. And if it were, it would not likely pass unanimously.
Were you one of the hundreds of St. Louisans that traveled to Louisiana this week to show support for the Jena 6? Share your videos of the historic event.
Post them online (you can use YouTube, Blip.TV, Vimeo, or any other video hosting site) and then send us the link to editor@pubdef.net and we'll post them here on PubDef.net.
On Wednesday we filed a formal counter-notification with YouTube in response to our account being suspended and our more than 500 videos being taken off-line. The suspension came just hours after KSDK Channel 5 filed two complaints with YouTube alleging that we violated their copyrights by using clips of their broadcast in our piece criticizing their coverage.
We believe our usage of KSDK's video falls under the "Fair Use" provision in copyright law. From the Stanford University Libraries:
Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. For example, if you wish to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote a portion of the novelist's work without asking permission. Absent this freedom, copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about their work.
The St. Louis Chapter of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare is hosting an education forum today featuring School Board President Peter Downs, Special Administrative Board member Richard Gaines, and PubDef.net editor Antonio French, who will serve as moderator.
The topic of discussion will be: "If the city public schools debate is about the children, then what about the children?"
What is best for the city school children as we move forward? What do the children need? And what can we do to help?
The event will be Friday, Sept. 21 (that's today) from 12:00—1:30 PM at the Heritage House, 2800 Olive Street (at intersection of Olive and Leffingwell). The event is of course free and all are welcome.
Last night at a special committee meeting, the four members of the elected St. Louis Board of Education who were present voted unanimously in favor of a resolution of support for Fire Chief Sherman George who is facing disciplinary action from Mayor Francis Slay.
Board members Peter Downs, David Jackson, Donna Jones and Bill Purdy passed the following resolution asking Slay to "refrain from micro-managing the fire department and allow Chief Sherman George to do his job without interference":
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS IN SUPPORT OF FIRE CHIEF SHERMAN GEORGE
WHERE AS, St. Louis Board of Education recognizes and salutes the outstanding leadership and performance of Fire Chief Sherman George.
WHERE AS, Chief Sherman George and members of his staff have diligently worked in partnership with the St. Louis Board of Education in providing students the opportunity to shadow city firefighters.
WHERE AS, Chief Sherman George was instrumental in creating an educational partnership with the Fire Department and the St. Louis Public Schools for the benefit of city high school students.
WHERE AS, Chief Sherman George is highly recognized within his profession and was selected to help identify a new Fire Chief for the City of Atlanta Georgia.
WHERE AS, Chief Sherman George is active in the St. Louis Community and attends many civic functions.
WHERE AS, Chief Sherman George was appointed to the position of Fire Chief by former Mayor Clarence Harmon.
WHERE AS, Chief Sherman George and members of his department have faithfully participated in Career Day programs for city youth at the annual Career Day Fair held at the convention center.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS, AS FOLLOWS:
The Board of Education hereby salutes and commends Chief Sherman George for his professionalism, knowledge and leadership within the fire department.
The Board of Education hereby strongly urges that Mayor Frances [sic] Slay and members of his staff refrain from micro-managing the fire department and allow Chief Sherman George to do his job without interference.
THIS RESOLUTION shall be dated September 20, 2007 and shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.
The Board of Aldermen returns from their long summer break this morning. They were scheduled to return last Friday but cancelled the meeting so that aldermen could attend the funeral of 10th Ward Alderman Joe Vollmer's father.
Today will mark the first meeting for new Board Clerk and Attorney Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman.
Here's today's agenda. Meeting starts at 10:00 as usual.
BARACK ME ALL NIGHT LONG - All the local Obama Girls will soon have a place to camp out at. We've learned that the Barack Obama for President campaign has come to Missouri. They are currently working out of a donated temporary office space — really a cubical — in a St. Louis business, but they are looking for more permanent digs. This comes just over four months before the Presidential Preference Primary Vote on Feburary 5, 2008.
IRONS BEHIND BARS? - If you were anywhere near a TV yesterday, you may have heard that former Vashon basketball coach Floyd Irons pleaded guilty to wire fraud and mail fraud Thursday. The charges are related to real estate purchases made in 2005 and 2006. Irons now faces 30 years in prison and one million dollars in fines. Sentencing is on November 29th. Swish!
ETHICS COMMISSION: 'NEVERMIND' - The Missouri Ethics Commission took back it's decision ordering candidates to either justify or give back campaign contributions over a retroactively imposed limit. The initial decision was made on September 11, but Republicans filed suit claiming the commission violated open meeting laws. The commission voted to withdraw that decision yesterday, and will take up the issue in their October 4 meeting.
The St. Louis Chapter of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare is hosting an education forum tomorrow featuring School Board President Peter Downs, Special Administrative Board member Richard Gaines, and PubDef.net editor Antonio French, who will serve as moderator.
The topic of discussion will be: "If the city public schools debate is about the children, then what about the children?"
What is best for the city school children as we move forward? What do the children need? And what can we do to help?
The event will be Friday, Sept. 21, from 12:00—1:30 PM at the Heritage House, 2800 Olive Street (at intersection of Olive and Leffingwell). The event is of course free and all are welcome.
The webzine NewTeeVee.com has written about our spat with KSDK Channel 5, which has resulted in all 500 of our YouTube videos being taken off-line:
French argued that the use of the clips — less than sixty seconds from two different newscasts, edited to include titles commenting on the station’s reporting — was clearly fair use. He pointed to past Pub Def footage used by Fox News to argue that this is standard operating procedure in broadcast journalism. “We think we’re ideal YouTube users,” French said of the site. “We work our butts off here; we don’t get any money, it’s completely free.”
Mike Shipley, the news director at KSDK, confirmed that the station had issued the takedown notice, but disagreed that French’s clip was clearly fair use. “It’s not my understanding that fair use allows for you to take the piece in its entirety and reuse it for your own purposes,” Shipley argued over the phone, continuing:
"He never approached us about the material at all. If he had excerpted something and edited all on his own and put together his own presentation about it, that would be one thing. But to simply pirate the video from our site and use it without our permission is copyright infringement."
French said that what troubles him is that in the course of a few hours he can go from providing a public service using YouTube’s platform to being completely removed from the site.
The Special Administrative Board and the teachers union are joining forces for a special panel discussion this afternoon.
Here's the press release:
Low-performing schools – and how to turn them around – will be the topic of a St. Louis panel discussion on public education. The Special Administrative Board (SAB) of the St. Louis Public Schools will join St. Louis Teachers and School Related Personnel, Local 420, in sponsoring the event.
The meeting will take place Thursday, September 20, at 1 p.m., at the SLPS Administration Building, 801 N. 11th St., Room 108. The discussion, which is open to the public, will feature a panel made up of selected district stakeholders. These stakeholders will question representatives of two school districts that have demonstrated success in improving low-performing schools. Fielding the questions will be educators from the Chicago Public Schools and the ABC Unified School District of Los Angeles County. They will describe collaborative partnerships, best practices, and research-based models that led to academic success in their districts. Officials from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) will also be on hand.
The public engagement committee of the St. Louis Special Administrative Board, chaired by Richard Gaines, is spearheading the event. The SAB, AFT and Local 420 are actively involved in exploring educational reform models with a proven track record in school improvement.
As dozens, if not hundreds, of St. Louisans head down to Jena, Louisiana today to support the Jena 6, and anti-war protestors settle into the third day of their week-long 24-hour protest outside the St. Louis office of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, PubDef.net reporter Gabe Bullard asks the following question:
Why are today's college students so much less likely to engage in protest than their parents' generation?
The Instead of War Coalition, a St. Louis based peace organization, is holding a 24-hour week-long rally called the "Days of Decision" Watch outside the St. Louis office of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.
Neither KSDK, YouTube, Google, or even the Internet gods themselves can keep PubDef from delivering the news.
This week's videos are back online. We're working on last weeks now, then the week before that.
Feel free to drop us an email if there's one you'd like to see back up ASAP.
In the meantime, contact YouTube and let them know you'd like to see PubDef's videos back up immediately. And contact KSDK to let them know how much they suck.
Yesterday evening, Multimedia KSDK, Inc. filed a complaint with YouTube about our posting of a video contrasting a September 13 story by reporter Mike Owens which ended with a promise to air a tape of an allegedly crooked real estate seller "saying he makes regular payments of cash to the local alderman" with their September 14 follow-up story that makes no mention of the allegation.
At 5:29 PM we received notice that YouTube took that video off-line. Then late last night, around 1:00 AM, all of our videos went off-line. That's around the time KSDK Channel 5 filed a second complaint, this time on the posting of the original Sept 13 video. YouTube responded by suspending our account and taking all 500 of our videos off-line.
First, we believe our usage of Channel 5's video falls under the "Fair Use" doctrine, the same doctrine Channel 5 presumably operates under each week as they use video content from other sources in their news broadcasts. In fact, PubDef's own video has appeared on local television without our expressed written consent, presumably under "Fair Use".
Secondly, KSDK never contacted us to ask us to remove the content and its labeling of us as a copyright infringer with YouTube is wrong and has caused us and our readers quite an inconvenience.
As we work this issue out with YouTube, we'd just like our readers and our community to know what's going on, and the extent to which KSDK has gone to crush fair journalistic criticism.
Sources tell PubDef that State Rep. Joe Aull (D-Marshall) will be charged tomorrow in conjunction with providing State Senator Jeff Smith (D-St. Louis City) a false identification during a July 31 visit to the Isle of Capri Casino in Booneville.
(Our sources may be the same sources that told The Source, who beat us in reporting this story. We really hate being beaten.)
Smith is not expected to be charged tomorrow, but sources say the Cooper County prosecutor is still weighing the possibility.
It is also unclear if lobbyist Lynne Schlosser will be charged this week. She was the Isle of Capri employee who gave Smith Aull's players card to allow him to stay in the casino following a legislative tour, despite not having his own identification with him.
According to a new ranking by BlogNetNews.com, PubDef.net is the 7th most influential political blog in Missouri.
The site (more specifically BlogNetNews.com/Missouri) launched a new feature this week that ranks which Missouri state politics and news blogs are having the most influence on the direction of conversation in the state blogosphere.
Considering we haven't even heard of, let alone visited, half the other blogs on the list, we're not sure how realistic the ranking is, but we'll take the compliment just the same.
"Our rankings come from data provided in your RSS feeds, data from the activity of readers on BlogNetNews.com and data about Internet traffic from third parties," says the site's operators.
Each Sunday morning at 12:01 AM, BlogNetNews.com will release a new top 20 list of the blogs "most powerfully shaping opinion in the Missouri blogosphere." Here's the link.
And here's the current list:
1 Tony's Kansas City 2 Fired Up! Missouri - 3 The Turner Report 4 Politics Blog 5 KY3 Political Notebook 6 The KC Blue Blog 7 PUB DEF 8 CHATTER 9 Show Me Progress 10 Branson Missouri 11 Rhetorica: Press-Politics Journal 12 Blog CCP 13 Ozarks Messenger 14 Arch City Chronicle News 15 Ozarks Politics 16 The Source 17 The Kansas City Post 18 Corner of the Sky 19 Missouri Politics 20 Gone Mild
Okay, so this is probably a great time to encourage you to ADVERTISE on this "influential" website. Rates are reasonable. Call (314) 260-7321 or email us for a quote.
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Nixon: Pay Day Lenders are "Modern Day Loan Sharks", Need Caps on Interest
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 6:35 PM
Attorney General Jay Nixon gathered with a group of local Democratic elected officials today to call for the Republican-controlled state senate to act to regulate the state's Pay Day Loan industry.
Joining Nixon were State Senators Rita Days (who Nixon praised for leading the charge against astronomical-interest lenders) and Jeff Smith, State Representatives Talibdin El-Amin, Robin Wright Jones, Jamilah Nasheed, and Juanita Head Walton, and Committeeman Joe Palm.
Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, the likely Democratic nominee for governor in 2008, today said that Governor Matt Blunt's office appears to be breaking the law by destroying their email records.
Sodexho's contract with the St. Louis Public Schools will continue at least until June 2008, at which time contract negotiations will start again. That's according to a spokesmen for the district.
Sodexho, which provides custodial services to the schools, sent a letter to the district last week announcing they were leaving in November of this year.
"Their main issue was our shaky financial situation," said SLPS Media Spokesman Eric Little. "But it's been worked out through at least the end of this school year."
PubDef has obtained a copy of that Sodexho letter. See below.
Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon will be in north St. Louis this morning calling for stronger legislation against the payday loan industry.
Nixon says Missouri has some of the most lenient payday loan laws in the nation. Because of Missouri’s lax laws, some loan recipients could end up being charged as much as 1,950% APR (with an average of 422%). According to the most recent report by the Division of Finance, nearly 3 million payday loans were issued last year and the number of new loan licenses issued to lenders has increased by 69% since 2003.
The result of these lenient laws: Missourian families paid $317 million in fees and interest in 2005 alone, second in actual dollars only to the state of California.
Nixon's press conference will be held in vacant lot directly across the street from Payday Loan Center, 1315 N. Kingshighway, at 10:30 AM.
The Instead of War Coalition, a St. Louis based peace organization, is holding a week-long rally called the "Days of Decision" Watch outside Senator Claire McCaskill's office, 5850 Delmar.
The rally is aimed at urging McCaskill not to support the $190 billion war funding bill currently being debated in Congress unless it is attached to a specific withdrawal timetable.
The Missouri Republican Party and State Rep. Shane Schoeller (R-Willard) filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Missouri Ethics Commission for violating of the Sunshine Law when the commission met earlier this month to discuss campaign finance contributions.
The lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court alleges that the Ethics Commission violated the Sunshine Law on September 11 by holding a closed meeting to discuss matters that its notice, tentative agenda and approved agenda stated would be discussed in open meeting, by closing a meeting without valid legal reasons and by holding a closed session that was not limited to the matters that could be discussed in closed meeting. The lawsuit also says the commission and commissioners “knowingly” and “purposely” violated the Sunshine Law by discussing policy matters which should have been discussed openly with the public having an opportunity to comment.
The Missouri Republican Party is seeking a temporary restraining order followed by preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the Ethics Commission and its Commissioners and its agents from implementing any decision made in connection with the meeting and is seeking a court order voiding all actions taken by the Ethics Commission at the meeting and any actions taken by staff of the Ethics Commission pursuant to directions received at that meeting.
“The Missouri Ethics Commission blatantly violated the Sunshine Law by meeting in secret and denying Missourians their right to be informed about a significant public policy decision that affects the lives of thousands of contributors and candidates. The MEC’s actions run contrary to the notion of open government and that is why Missouri Republicans have stepped up and filed this lawsuit,” said Jared Craighead, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party.
“The Ethics Commission’s violation of the Sunshine Law tarnishes a campaign finance system already damaged by Jay Nixon’s collusion to tank the defense of a new law that injected transparency into the system.”
KSDK Chickens Out, Doesn't Name Accused Alderman or Air Tape
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, September 17, 2007 at 11:20 AM
After promising that on Friday we'd hear a tape of a allegedly crooked real estate seller "saying he makes regular payments of cash to the local alderman," KSDK ran a short follow-up that did not include the tape, the name of the alderman, or any mention of the allegation.
An email to reporter Mike Owens, who investigated the story, has gone unanswered.
YouTube Note: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Multimedia KSDK, Inc"
Cops Gone Wild(er): $40,000 Stolen from Police Station Vault
By Antonio D. French
What's a few tens of thousands of dollars here and there? As long as you've got the unconditional support of your Board and the mayor.
It's good to be Police Chief Joe Mokwa.
Adding to the ever-growing list of scandals at Mokwa's police department (and reasons the chief should be held accountable to the people of this city, not a Governor-appointed board), the Post-Dispatchreports today that as much as $40,000 in cash has been stolen from the evidence room in the basement of St. Louis Police Headquarters.
Let me just skip to the end of this story before my head explodes from complete frustration: No one will be severely disciplined. Mokwa will keep his job. Slay and the police board will say how this actually adds to the level of confidence they have in him. And life will go on as usual in Crazy Town.
From the Post's story:
The department's internal auditors discovered the vault theft this summer. Those auditors were called in after a theft from one of three safes in the North Patrol Station on Union Boulevard earlier this year. That theft involved less than $500, sources said; a culprit has not been caught.
However, Mokwa took disciplinary action against several top assistants after that earlier theft was discovered. Assistant Police Chief Steve Pollihan received a written letter of reprimand; Lt. Col. Reggie Harris was given a day off without pay, and Capts. Steve Hobbs, Leman Dobbins and James Moran were all given two days off without pay.
A letter of reprimand? Two days off work? Oh, my! Now that's what I call cleaning house.
"Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Francis Slay must go!" That was the chant outside city hall today as the 5:00 deadline the mayor imposed on Fire Chief Sherman George came and went without George making any promotions.
Slay and his public safety director, Charles Bryson, said they will announce George's punishment on Monday.
Having trouble watching our videos? It's been a busy week on the site. Lots of videos, which means lots of Flash elements which can slow down some computers.
Catch up with our last 20 videos at PubDef.TV. Things should load a lot faster over there.
By the way, PubDef.net reached a new milestone today when we posted our 500th video. Watch them, search them, share them, rate them, and comment on them all on our YouTube site.
We have something special planned for Number 501 (Make that #502! We couldn't resist posting a video of today's City Hall protest).
Speaking at a meeting hosted by Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe Wednesday in north St. Louis, freshman alderman Marlene Davis fired off at legislators that voted in favor of the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit (three of the four northside state reps and both state senators supported it).
She also weighed in on Fire Chief Sherman George's situation. She said voters should hold Mayor Francis Slay accountable in 2009.
Davis joined Troupe in spreading some incorrect information about the Land Assemblage Tax Credit that caused fear in the minds of many poor homeowners in the audience.
She said the legislation was filled with "jargon" that "doesn't mean a whole lot other than [developer Paul McKee] can have what he wants and you don't have no say so."
That is false.
The words which Davis disregarded as "jargon" say that the tax credit can only be awarded after the Board of Aldermen has passed an ordinance approving the redevelopment plan. That process, like with any other bill, means public meetings and hearings.
Any "giving private land or property to a developer" has to be initiated and approved by the Board of Aldermen. This piece of legislation has nothing to do with that process.
Any properties taken by eminent domain, condemnation, or acquired from the LRA are not eligible for this tax credit. Such properties may be part of the total redevelopment, but only if the ordinance passed by the Board of Aldermen says so.
I am not aware of any instance in the history of the Board of Aldermen (and please, if someone knows otherwise, do let me know) when a property was taken by eminent domain without the support of the alderman in whose ward that property was located.
Most of the Blairmont property is located in the 5th Ward where Alderman April Ford-Griffin has said repeatedly that she will not support — and in fact, fight — anyone's property being taken by eminent domain for this project. One can only assume that Davis, in whose ward McKee also owns property, has a similar position.
There is too much on record that developer Paul McKee and the City of St. Louis have done wrong since the inception of this project that there is no need for people to start making things up. It damages the credibility of the valid arguments of people who are serious about making sure this project benefits the people who live there today and it's irresponsible because it uses lies to scare the shit out of people.
While these people keep spinning the events of two weeks ago they are missing the fight which is going on right now.
Details, details. We've said it before and we will keep saying it. The difference between if this thing turns out to be good for St. Louis or very bad for the people who live in the Blairmont area will be in the details.
All the little details not expressly stated in the legislation — you know, all that "jargon" — is being worked out right now by bureaucrats at the Missouri Department of Economic Development in the form of rules. These rules will further lay the groundwork for what can and cannot be done with this money.
Please, no more public meetings and press conferences on old stuff. Three in one week is quite enough.
Will the legislators who are unafraid of big words and legal phrases please get back to the table. This thing is not over. Look for more videos from Wednesday's meeting later.
UPDATE: And if you haven't read the final version of the legislation, here's a link (see pages 13-18).
And if you'd rather watch someone explain it to you (I know you spoiled PubDef readers like the video stuff), here is a very informative 10-minute video of Sally Hemingway from the Department of Economic Development discussing the tax credit in detail.
The St. Louis Police Officers Association is sending out "No Confidence" ballots to its 1,200 members this week to express their displeasure with the leadership of Police Chief Joe Mokwa.
Union leaders say the ballots should be returned and counted in about two weeks.
An off-duty Arnold police officer allegedly put a gun to a 21-year-old black man's head in the parking lot of a White Castle's in Florissant yesterday. The man said Officer Chris Hoelscher called him a nigger and threatened to kill him. Following his report, the Arnold police chief suspended Helsher. He resigned a few hours later.
Five Deputy Sheriffs from Jefferson County were suspended this week after being involved in an off-duty bar fight Wednesday night at the R-Place Bar & Grill in House Springs. According to the bar owner, the fight began between two women — one of whom came with the officers.
From the Post-Dispatch:
He said all of the officers were escorted out of the bar and a bartender observed them removing their rear license plates in the parking lot.
Moments later they came back into the bar, Gaulden said.
Anna Rankin, a bartender, said, "I told them 'I'm going to call the cops,' and they said, 'We are the cops.'"
And of course, a St. George police office was caught on tape this week by a young white guy threatening to trump up charges on him and "ruin your life" for not showing the officer the proper respect as he violated the young man's civil rights.
"Do you want to go to jail for some fucking reason I come up with?"
"Ever get smart mouth with a cop again and I'll show you what a cop does."
"Talk back again and I'll say you were resisting arrest or something. You want me to come up with something? I can come up with nine things."
"You want me to lock you up and show you that I'm right and you're wrong?"
Had a bad night? "Don't ever take it out on a cop. We'll ruin your career and life and everything you've got."
Republican Chris Sander, a mortgage company executive from Ellisville, has filed to run for Congress against Democrat Russ Carnahan. This is Sanders' first bid for political office.
Last night Channel 5 reporter Mike Owens did a story on a shady real estate man who sold a couple a home that he apparently no longer owned. The real owner is evicting the "buyers" and the shady salesman is ducking the law and TV cameras.
It was a pretty good story. But more interesting than the story itself was the teaser at the end.
"Tomorrow night, more on Furqan and we'll hear a tape of him saying he makes regular payments of cash to the local alderman, a charge the alderman denies."
Hmmmmmm. Who could it be?
Considering the reporter is married to 28th Ward Alderman Lyda Krewson, we can pretty much rule her out.
According to clues from Owen's report, the property Wali Furqan sold the couple is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of the 3rd Ward, represented by longtime alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr.
Whoever it is (and we really can't wait to find out who), as the KSDK report stated, he (or she) completely denies the charge.
Only four days on the job and Charles Bryson, the new public safety director, has already received his first mob of angry citizens to descend on his northside home. Lucky for Bryson they were carrying picket signs and not burning torches.
Bryson and his boss, Mayor Francis Slay, have given Fire Chief Sherman George until 5:00 PM Friday to make the promotions. If he does not, he will be "disciplined" on Monday.
It's never good when you come home to see firefighters at your home. The good news for Charles Bryson is that it's just a political fire that will be ablaze on his street today.
The Fire Institute for Racial Equality, AKA F.I.R.E., AKA the black firefighters' union, will be protesting today outside the home of the City's new public safety just one day before he is expected to take action against Fire Chief Sherman George.
Mayor Francis Slayappointed Bryson as director just this week, replacing Sam Simon, who after being criticized for months about his supervision of the fire department, abruptly took a job with St. Louis University just days before his scheduled showdown with George. That task has now fallen on Bryson, who has found himself in the middle of a racially-charged storm of controversy.
George supporters have charged that Bryson (who is black) lacks the necessary experience to lead the Department of Public Safety and was hired only to provide political cover for Slay when he fires the city's first black fire chief.
F.I.R.E. will also conduct another protest tomorrow (Friday) at 5:00 PM at City Hall.
UPDATE: PubDef has heard a rumor — rather, a possible scenario — in which Mayor Slay and Director Bryson place Chief George on 30 days unpaid suspension for failing to make the promotions as directed. During that time the fire department is placed under the control of an interim chief — maybe an African-American — who makes "compromise" promotions reflecting the racial balance of the department.
We won't have to wait long to find out if this rumor — or scenario — has any legs.
UPDATE 2: Appearing on Channel 2 yesterday morning, Bryson appeared to offer a tiny bit of face-saving wiggle room for the chief. He said he and Slay would accept if George, by 5:00 Friday, offered a date in the future when he would be willing to make the promotions.
Bryson also said Slay has told the chief that he did not have to promote anyone that he did not feel comfortable with.
On Wednesday Gov. Matt Blunt approved the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission’s nomination of Omar Davis to serve as the new director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
Davis, of Jefferson City, is the director of Legal Services Division and general counsel for the Department of Revenue. Davis previously served as Deputy General Counsel in the governor's office and Securities Enforcement Council for Blunt when he was Secretary of State.
Davis, 32, holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kansas State University and a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri School of Law.
Davis’ appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.
Yesterday Blunt also nominated Rod Chapel, the current director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations whom Davis will replace, to a six-year term on the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission.
Prior to his role as the head of the DLIR, Chapel worked as the Legal Services Division Director and general counsel for the Department of Revenue.
Chapel, 37, previously served as an associate in the Sly James Law Firm. Mr. Chapel holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Oklahoma State University, a juris doctorate from Tulane Law School and a master of laws in taxation from Washington University School of Law.
Chapel will replace Terry Jarrett. His nomination is subject to Senate confirmation for a term ending September 12, 2013.
Alderman Kacie Starr Triplett is heading east. Far East.
Starr has been invited to represent the United States on an international exchange program to Vietnam. The American Council of Young Political Leaders selected Triplett after receiving her nomination from Congressman Russ Carnahan, her former boss.
"I am excited and humbled to be part of this valuable program," Triplett said. "I look forward to forging lasting relationships with other young leaders from the United States and Vietnam."
Triplett will be part of a seven-member delegation that will travel throughout Vietnam from October 12-26. The delegates will meet with national, regional and local political officials, business and civic leaders.
The Associated Press is reporting that Missouri House Republicans have chosen Ron Richard to take over the chamber's top position in 2009 — assuming he wins re-election to the House, Republicans hold onto power, and new lawmakers abide by the wishes of their predecessors.
From the AP:
Those numerous assumptions highlight the novelty of the House Republicans' decision to elect a speaker-designee.
Richard will serve in training for the next 16 months under House Speaker Rod Jetton, then still would have to officially be elected by the full House in January 2009.
Richard, of Joplin, defeated suburban St. Louis Representative Allen Icet in a secret vote by House Republicans.
The GOP currently holds a 90-70 majority over House Democrats, with three vacancies.
UPDATE: The other new leaders are:
Senate Assistant Floor Leader - Sen. Jack Goodman Senate Caucus Leader - Sen. Luann Ridgeway House Floor Leader - Rep. Steven Tilley House Pro Tem - Rep. Brian Pratt
UPDATE 2: A statement from Gov. Matt Blunt:
“I congratulate Sen. Jack Goodman, Sen. Luann Ridgeway, Rep. Bryan Pratt and Rep. Steven Tilley on their new leadership positions in their respective chambers. I also congratulate Rep. Ron Richards and wish him well in his leadership role.
“I look forward to working with the new leaders in both chambers in the coming year to continue to build on our commitment to increasing funding for education, enforcing the laws against illegal immigration, protecting Missouri children from Internet predators and building on a strong economic climate that has helped Missourians create nearly 85,000 new jobs since January 2005. I believe that every Missourian deserves the opportunity to have a good job, raise a family, and to pursue their dreams.
“Again I look forward to working with the House and Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle to put the Missourians’ best interests ahead of partisan politics and to put Missouri’s families first.”
It has not been a good week for 1st Ward Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe.
Channel 4 reports that Troupe, who owns numerous residential properties, is being sued by a family who rents from him after a one-year-old girl fell out of a second story window which reportedly did not have a screen installed.
Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe appeared on Lizz Brown's radio show this morning to counter any claims that he ever spoke in favor of House Bill 1, the economic development package which contained the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit.
Brown even played for her listening audience the first few seconds of PubDef's recording of Troupe's testimony in which he criticizes the bill as a "Christmas Tree" for legislators around the state, "with the exception of the Land Assemblage part of the bill." Brown then quickly instructed her engineer, Howard, to turn off the tape.
She and Troupe of course left out the part when Troupe said, "Mr. Chairman, I think the bill is a great bill... I think it brings a lot of economic development to the area and I support everything in this bill."
PubDef wasn't the only one who was shocked by Troupe's 180-degree turn in Jefferson City. State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, who has consistently opposed the Land Assemblage Tax Credit, was visibly furious with Troupe after his testimony.
She argued with him as he returned to his seat two chairs away from her. Across the lap of Rodney Boyd, lobbyist for Mayor Francis Slay, Nasheed voiced her displeasure in a loud whisper. When her loud whisper was no longer a whisper at all, she and Troupe took their conversation to the hallway.
The conversation ended with Nasheed walking away and yelling "sell out" to the alderman and former state representative.
Guess she misunderstood Troupe's testimony too.
Troupe will be hosting a forum tonight on the dangers of the bill he called a "great bill" three weeks ago. Fellow aldermen April Ford Griffin, Freeman Bosley, Sr., and Marlene Davis are supposed to be there as well.
The entertainment starts at 6:00 PM at Lexington School, 3130 Norwood Avenue.
Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly is known for his sharp dress and smooth style, and tonight for only $500 you too can be a Cool Cat like F.X. himself.
Daly is hosting a jazz-themed fundraiser tonight Steinberg Rink in Forest Park. Those who contribute $50 can call themselves "Hipsters"; $250 get you to the "Daddy-O" stage; and real players can skip the $500 "Cool Cat" level and jump right to "18 Karat" heights for a mere $1,275.
The shindig begins at 5:30 and ends at 7:30, which seems pretty early for hipsters and Daddy-Os.
Susan Turk, writing for the St. Louis Schools Watch, reports that the controversial facilities management company Sodexho USA has effectively quit.
In a letter dated September 4, 2007 Sodexho Vice President, Education Facilities Services Jerry Tuggle informs the superintendent that "Sodexho is terminating the Agreement, (Editor's note: meaning their contract) effective November 5, 2007." Two months notice and that's it.
They want all outstanding amounts paid immediately. They give the district the option of buying all Sodexho equipment and supplies used at district premises on or before the termination. date.
Why now? Have they finally gotten fed up with all the negative assessments of their services? Or are they angling for a renegotiated and more lucrative contract? Can the SLPS find another "provider" in less than 2 months? Can they bring custodial and maintenance services back in house in that amount of time? Stay tuned!
A group of women legislators, all of whom supported the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit, held a forum at Harris-Stowe University yesterday to inform the public about exactly what it does — and does not — mean for St. Louis.
Before a crowd of about two dozen concerned citizens, State Senators Maida Coleman and Rita Days, State Reps Robin Wright-Jones and Juanita Head Walton, former State Rep Amber Boykins, and Mike Jones, aide to St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, discussed how economically distressed areas such as the City of St. Louis and parts of St. Louis can benefit greatly from state-provided economic incentives to spur needed development.
The public forum provided details and facts in the face of misinformation being put out by some other local elected officials, most notably Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe, who beyond all explanation testified strongly in favor of the tax credit before the House committee (watch the video), but the next day said he was against it and charged that it was a continuation of the Team Four plan.
Troupe is hosting a meeting of his own Wednesday, along with Aldermen Freeman Bosley, Sr., Marlene Davis, and April Ford-Griffin (who was scheduled to be at an event yesterday with tax credit supporters Jeff Smith and Rodney Hubbard).
Perhaps the most informative part of the Harris-Stowe forum was a presentation by Sally Hemingway with the Missouri Department of Economic Development detailing the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit — who can apply for, what it can and cannot be used for, why condemned and eminent domained property will not qualify for the tax credit, and how many areas in the state could potentially benefit from its use.
We may post one or two more videos from this event at PubDef.TV later tonight.
After first saying she wouldn't, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill has bowed to the pressure and agreed to return contributions linked to Norman Hsu.
From the AP:
The Missouri Democrat said she made the decision over the weekend, as the cloud of suspicion has grown surrounding contributions from donors connected to Hsu.
McCaskill took no money directly from Hsu, but her staff has estimated that the senator received more than $18,000 from people reportedly associated with Hsu, including the family of William Paw of Daly City, Calif.
On Friday, McCaskill said she had no plans to return the money from Hsu-related donors because there was no evidence they had done anything wrong. But she pledged to give up any campaign money if it was discovered to be from illegal sources or from people accused of crimes.
Meanwhile, the Missouri Ethics Commission's got everybody saying "Huh?"
From the Post-Dispatch:
The Missouri Ethics Commission voted unanimously today to tell candidates who had collected campaign contributions larger than the now-restored donation limits that they "may be in violation" of state law.
However, the six-member panel stopped short of ordering candidates to return their over-limit contributions, which in some cases amount to millions of dollars.
Instead, the commission said it plans to hold hearings for each candidate who seeks to keep his or her over-limit money by contending that giving it back would constitute an unfair hardship.
"May be in violation"? "Unfair hardship"? "Hearings"?
