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Sources tell PUB DEF that at about 4:45 p.m., Citizens to Recall Aldermen Bosley turned in their petitions to the St. Louis Board of Elections.
Developing...
UPDATE: We interviewed Debra Gordon, of Citizens to Recall Bosley, yesterday before a contentious ward meeting at Clay Elementary School. We asked her about a rumor we heard that signatures would be turned in this week. At that time, she declined to comment. Tonight, Gordon confirmed that signatures were indeed turned in. And while she would not tell us how many signatures her group submitted, she did say it was "well over" the 1,400 required to put the question to the voters.
VIDEO: Committee Recommends Asking Voters Again About Police Residency
By Antonio D. French
The legislative committee of the Board of Aldermen today recommended a board bill that would ask city voters whether they prefer police department employees to live in the city.
Board Bill #47 is sponsored by Aldermen Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward), Ken Ortmann (9th), Stephen Gregali (14th), and Jennifer Florida (15th). It would put on the November ballot a question very similar to one voted on in April 1995. At that time, 68.36% of city voters answered yes to the following:
Shall commissioned police officers and civilian employees of the Metropolitan Police Department of the City of St. Louis be required to reside within the City of St. Louis just like other City employees?
The ballot language in November will be almost identical, except "just like other City employees" has been removed. During today's committee meeting, Alderman Fred Heitert (12th Ward), the Board's lone Republican, asked Ortmann why that wording was removed. See video:
Since the City of St. Louis funds the police department, but has no say over department policy and procedures, this vote would be non-binding. Supporters hope it will guide the decisions of the state legislature and the governor-appointed police board members.
We overheard a Lambert Airport official today saying the family of a Missouri soldier killed in Iraq was forced to wait for hours to accept the body Wednesday because of President George W. Bush's arrival in St. Louis for a fundraiser for Sen. Jim Talent.
At the fundraiser, Bush said "one thing about old Jim Talent, he understands what I understand, is that when you put a man or woman in uniform and ask them to go into harm's way, they deserve the full support of the United States government."
Most Many of the employees of St. Louis Public Schools did not get paid today as scheduled. District spokesmen Johnny Little and Tony Sanders have not returned repeated calls, but sources in the district say the fault lies in the treasurer's office.
As we reported earlier this week, Superintendent Creg Williams turned those duties over to the district's interim chief financial officer, Cedric Lewis, after Enos Moss suddenly resigned from the post three weeks ago.
Developing...
UPDATE 1: Mary Armstrong, the president of the teachers' union, said today's payroll mistake affects all of the district's employees who get paid by direct deposit. She said she has asked the superintendent to make paper checks available to those employees today for pick-up at the district headquarters.
She said she has also asked the district to prepare letters addressed to the creditors of those employees facing non-sufficient funds (NSF) and late fees because of the today's error.
UPDATE 2: Tony Sanders, a district spokesman, said that principals are collecting names those teachers that "want or need" to get paid today and that checks will be delivered to those employees at the school sometime this afternoon.
Sanders would not say how the mistake occured, except to call it a "human error." He would not identify the particular human at fault.
UPDATE 3: Two thousand (out of approximately 5,000) employees were affected by today's direct deposit transmission error. District spokesman Tony Sanders pointed out that that is not "most" of the district's employees. And so we have corrected our original post to reflect that.
Sanders also wanted to clear up a couple of other things. He said the decision to give paper checks to only those employees who requested one was because had checks been written to all 2,000 employees, you would have some employees who would not be available today to receive them. Due to Independence Day holiday, some staff members would then not receive their pay until they returned next week -- or later for employees who are on vacation. It would also be difficult to notify those employees.
Sanders also pointed out that the error impacted all staff members who utilize direct deposit, not just teachers, as some have suggested.
UPDATE 4: Contrary to a promise from Dr. Williams emailed to all district staff, some employees did not receive paper checks by the end of the day. We are told that those employees who bank at U.S. Bank should see the funds available tomorrow. Those that bank at other institutions should see their funds available on Monday, July 3.
UPDATE 5: Here's a video of an interview we did this afternoon with the Local 420's president, Mary Armstrong...
Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr. tonight engaged in a vicious and personal attack on the character of one of the people at the center of an effort to recall him from office.
Bosley called a town hall meeting at Clay Elementary School to discuss the benefits to the City of St. Louis of eminent domain. He invited the city's deputy mayor of development, Barb Geisman, to present the same PowerPoint presentation that she delivered to state legislators when they were deliberating on the issue earlier this year.
Nearly an hour into the meeting, Bosley told the audience that the real reason he called everyone there was to refute claims that he was "taking somebody's house and throwing them and their kids out."
Around the school's gymnasium, where the meeting took place, Bosley hung enlarged documents baring the name and signature of Mrs. Maxine Johnson. Johnson began gathering signatures to recall Bosley after the City assumed ownership of her home using eminent domain.
The bill authorizing the action was introduced by Bosley, who has maintained that taking Johnson and her neighbors' property was in the best interest of the ward. A non-profit organization started by Bethlehem Lutheran Church is soon scheduled to begin building a new housing development where Johnson, her husband, and her six children now live.
Bosley accused Johnson of gaining knowledge about the development years ago and buying the land with the hopes of reselling it at an inflated price. He pointed to a blown-up copy of a letter signed by Johnson and addressed to the church. In it, she says she may consider selling her home for $200,000.
"What in this ward at this time is worth $200,000?" asked Bosley, who has represented the ward for 28 years.
Johnson said she wrote that particular letter because she was told that she had to respond to the developer's original cash offer within 14 days. She said she doesn't want to sell her home at any price. In an earlier interview with PUB DEF, Johnson said she owns her home now and she couldn't afford to buy another house big enough for her large family for the price the church was offering.
Several speakers objected to the personal nature of Bosley's attack. They said that the issues of eminent domain usage in the City of St. Louis are larger than one woman and that more 3rd Ward residents than just Maxine Johnson want new representation at City Hall.
In March 2005, Jeffrey Hardin lost his bid to unseat Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr. by just 19 votes. That narrow lost was heartbreaking to many residents of the 3rd Ward who said their veteran representative, who is 4th in aldermanic seniority, has become out of touch and has presided over a three-decade decline in the quality of life for most residents of his northside ward.
Some of those residents -- many sparked by that omnipresent source of controversy; eminent domain -- have started a petition to recall Bosley. Tonight, Hardin told PUB DEF that if that effort (which he says he is not involved in) is successful, he will run again.
STLToday.com, the website of such fine publications as the Post-Dispatch and St. Louis' Best Bridal, has been down for the last 30 minutes. May I suggest STL2day.com as an alternative?
On Tuesday, we reported that Superintendent Creg Williams had not recommended a replacement for the school district's treasurer, who resigned three weeks ago. After an investigation by PUB DEF, it was learned that Williams had assigned those duties to the district's chief financial officer without consulting with the school board.
On Wednesday, we reported that Williams may have also overreached his authority by firing roughly 1,000 teachers and asking them to reapply for their jobs. A copy of the superintendent's contract, obtained by PUB DEF after a Sunshine Law request, clearly states that all hirings, firings, and reassignments are to be recommended by Williams but must be approved by the school board.
While the board did approve reconstituting three high schools and four middle schools at its May meeting, district spokesmen said Williams sent termination letters to teachers at more than a dozen different schools.
School Board President Veronica O'Brien said that she believes Williams should have asked the board before such moves were made. She also said that she had requested the superintendent to submit a resolution asking the board to act on his recommendation. That had not been done.
PUB DEF asked Williams by email when he planned to ask the board to approve these two moves. He has not responded.
The board's vice-president, Bill Purdy, told PUB DEF, "superintendents are directly accountable to the board of education and not the other way around."
Yesterday, Mayor Francis Slay weighed in on the situation in support of Williams. "It is no secret that I -- and a lot of people in our community -- trust Dr. Williams and hope that he perseveres here. And it is no secret that Purdy disagrees," Slay wrote on his blog.
"School boards are elected to provide direction. The superintentent is hired to run the district. Not the other way around," wrote the mayor.
Click here to download this week's print(able) edition of PUB DEF Weekly. Copy, Print, Share.
Drop off some copies at City Hall, your neighborhood coffee shop, or give a copy to an old person who doesn't know "what all the fuss is about them fancy com'pooters and Innerwebs."
Members of the Clifton Heights Neighborhood Association voted 100-6 tonight to oppose a new QuikTrip gas station and convenience store proposed for the corner of Hampton and Columbia.
The Association also heard from two of the five candidates running for the state senate. Derio Gambaro and Jeff Smith spoke about their backgrounds and fielded questions from the audience on topics including school funding and Tax Increment Financing.
The three northside candidates -- State Reps Yaphett El-Amin and Amber Boykins, and former Ald. Kenny Jones -- did not attend.
UPDATE: And now video from the vote and the preceding discussion on whether to count it... Ald. Bill Waterhouse (24th Ward) said the vote of the neighborhood association would not be the only factor in his decision to support or oppose the development. He said that representatives from QuikTrip had collected more than 250 signatures of people in support of the new gas station. A hearing on the project has not yet been scheduled.
In the three week since St. Louis Public School's treasurer abruptly resigned, Superintendent Creg Williams still has not asked the school board to approve a new one. In the meantime, without a vote of the board, the district's interim chief financial officer, Cedric Lewis, has also been serving as the acting treasurer.
Nearly three weeks ago, Enos Moss suddenly resigned as treasurer of the St. Louis Public Schools. Although the district has repeatedly declined to comment, some people believe that his quick departure was related to a $4.2 million bill from the district's Pension Board.
That bill was delivered to the district in December 2005, but did not come to the attention of the Williams or Lewis until six months later. And since it was not included in this year's budget drafts, next year's projected budget deficit literally doubled overnight.
That Williams has not asked for board approval of Moss' replacement is a source of controversy in the district and on the school board. Board President Veronica O'Brien told PUB DEF that Williams was asked to present a resolution to the board for approval, which he has not done yet.
Board approval for personnel reassignments is something that is clearly spelled out in Williams' contract, which was obtained by PUB DEF last week after a Sunshine Law request.
"It was my understanding that the board should approve this change," said O'Brien. She said that is especially needed for a position as sensitive as treasurer, whose name appears on all of the district's checks.
District spokesperson Tony Sanders could not tell us whose name is currently on district checks.
Bill Purdy, vice-president of the school board, said he was "disappointed that the superintendent has chosen to challenge the board's authority." He said Williams could have called a special meeting to at least inform the board of his selection.
"The superintendent would be wise to recognize that board members are elected by the vote of citizens," said Purdy. "It is that same board that hires and evaluates the performance of the superintendent."
"Superintendents are directly accountable to the board of education and not the other way around," he said.
District Judge Fernando Gaitan, Jr. today ordered the State of Missouri to halt all executions until its procedures are reviewed.
The Associated Press is reporting that the judge said those procedures presented an "unnecessary risk" of "unconstitutional pain and suffering" to inmates on death row.
The decision could mean some extra time for Reggie Clemons, whose case supporters had previously planned to meet tonight to discuss. The Justice for Reggie campaign meeting is tonight at 7:00 at the Legacy Bookstore, 5249 Delmar Blvd.
Three representatives of Barnes-Jewish Hospital made their case Friday for why it is in the best interests of both the City and the hospital expand a current lease on a section of Forest Park.
June Fowler, BJC's Vice-President of Communications, Michael DeHaven, BJC’s general counsel, and Linda Martinez, a partner with the Bryan Cave law firm, told members of the Forest Park Lease Committee that, while BJC would prefer to outright purchase the land, the hospital would be willing to commit to the following as part of a 90-year lease:
(1) building a health care facility on the land, (2) including a price escalator in the annual lease payment, (3) ensure all of their lease payments went to maintaining the rest of the park, and (4) pay for moving the Hudlin tennis courts and playground wherever the city decides.
In this video, Fowler gives a brief history of the different appraisal amounts of the land. Clearing up one source of concern, she says that the public parking meters near Euclid are not part of this land.
In this video, Fowler outlines the things that BJC is willing to commit to in the agreement.
In this video, Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward) questions Fowler and DeHaven about BJC's intentions with the land. One of the things to come out of his questioning is that BJC has future plans to tear down Barnes-Jewish West Plaza and Queeny Tower, which was just built in 1965. DeHaven pointed to the buildings' inability to withstand a major earthquake.
In this video, Fowler outlines what she sees as the benefits to the city and hospital from this proposed deal. She said that the proposed lease payment is the highest per square foot rate in the city.
In this video, Fowler says it does matter who is asking for this lease. She says BJC is a good and committed corporate citizen and deserves consideration for the services it provides to the area.
Editor's Note: These video postings include our 100th YouTube video. It is also our 570th blog posting since PUB DEF returned in October 2005.
The Clifton Heights Neighborhood Association will be having a forum for candidates in the 4th District State Senate race Monday night at 7:00 at Mason Elementary School, 6031 Southwest Avenue.
All of these producers were given the same prop (a shopping bag), the same character (Leo or Linda Garren, a bank manager), the same line of dialogue ("Is that all I am to you?"), and just 48 hours to make a short movie. Here are some of the results:
"IN THE BAG" Produced by: Andrea Dixon Genre: Disaster Winner of "Best Use of Prop"
"I HATE ZOMBIES" Written and Directed by: Matt Stuertz Genre: Horror
"FROM THE HIP" Directed by: Phil Voissem Genre: Western
"SPACE BETWEEN US" Co-Produced and Directed by: Ezra Hubbard and Jonathan Eberle Genre: Family Film
"ROVER" Directed by: Jeff Chamberlin Produced by: Joshua Hawkins Genre: Road movie
And as a special treat, here are some outtakes from another film also called "In the Bag." This one was produced by a group called Section Six.
Oh, wait! Here's a late entry... and it's animated!
"ROMANTIC INTEREST" Directed by: Joe Millitzer Written and Voiced by: Peter Wilberding Art by: Katie Johanness Genre: Film Noir
UPDATE: Here's "IN THE BAG" by Section Six Productions:
Today marked the one-year anniversary of the controversial Kelo v. City of New London Supreme Court decision which upheld the right of governments to take private property for the purpose of giving it to other private interests.
To mark what some have called "a dark day" in personal property rights, members and supporters of the Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition (MEDAC) rallied in front of City Hall today.
Some in the crowd carried signs calling for the recall of aldermen that have used eminent domain in the City of St. Louis. "Recall Roddy," some shouted, referring to 17th Ward Ald. Joe Roddy. Third Ward resident Maxine Johnson carried a sign calling for the recall of 3rd Ward Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr.
A group of seven to ten residents of the 17th Ward have organized an effort to recall their longtime alderman, Joe Roddy.
Kim Jayne, a longtime ward resident and one of the organizers of the recall effort, sat down with PUB DEF yesterday afternoon to explain why she and other are ready to see Roddy go.
Sitting at her living room table, with a large map of the ward hanging on the wall behind her, Jayne said Roddy is unresponsive to the needs and wishes of the ward's residents and instead focuses on its corporate citizens, like BJC Hospital and Washington University, which owns lots of property in the ward.
On Wednesday the St. Louis City Board of Adjustment heard testimony from people for and against a proposed new McDonalds drive-thru restaurant on South Grand Ave. In a closed session after their public meeting, the members of the board voted to deny the opponent's appeal to an earlier ruling granting the hamburger chain a conditional use permit.
This controversial development has been the spark of an on-going effort to recall Ald. Jennifer Florida, in whose ward the new McDonalds would be built. Florida, who has expressed her support for the plan, was not at this week's meeting.
Alderman Craig Schmid was at the meeting. He continues to break with the longstanding tradition known as "aldermanic courtesy" -- when aldermen usually bow to the wishes of other aldermen as it relates to issues in their wards -- and again testified against the development.
Also testifying against the McDonalds was blogger and "urbanist" Steve Patterson. Patterson has been a vocal critic of this plan for months on his Urban Review blog.
No private citizens spoke in favor of the development, but two representatives from McDonalds did. Attorney Gary H. Feder told the board the development plan for that area (which forbids drive-thru restaurants) does not preempt city zoning ordinances which do allow for conditional use permits to be issued.
A source from Jeff Smith's state senate campaign said someone was arrested this morning after attempting to break into their campaign office on Olive at 3:15 a.m. this morning.
Developing...
UPDATE: A spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department tells PUB DEF they have no record of an attempted break-in at the address of Smith's office.
People in Smith's campaign say when they showed up this morning, the building's owner was there and he told them he received word early this morning that someone had been arrested after trying to break in. A phone call to the landlord was not immediately returned.
Here's the latest print(able) edition of PUB DEF Weekly. Download it, print it, share it with friends. Just don't wipe with it or smoke it. Fanning with it is okay. That's allowed. But only because it's hot.
The St. Louis Police Board held a public meeting tonight in south St. Louis. One of the things on its agenda was to hear public comments on the issue of maintaining a department policy requiring most civilian employees to live in the city.
The almost all-white audience was filled mostly with people supporting the idea that department employees should be able to live wherever they'd like. They pointed to the state of the city schools, the rise in property values, and even crime as reasons all employees of the Police Department should be able to move out of the city.
Only a handful of people spoke in support of keeping the requirement. One elderly woman said she felt safer with police living in her neighborhood. At the conclusion of her statement, she was booed by some in the audience. Another older woman said city jobs should go to city residents. She was also booed.
The St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners will be be holding a public meeting on the southside tonight in the Word of Life Lutheran School gymnasium, 6535 Eichelberger, at 7:00 p.m.
"I think this is a perfect opportunity to hear how the residents of St. Louis feel about civilian residency," said Chris Goodson, president of the police board, in a press release sent to media today.
"It gives citizens who work during the day the opportunity to attend a board meeting and to voice their concerns to the body that represents them,” said Goodson.
A district spokesperson said the board will also hold its July and August monthly meetings away from its usual location of the downtown police headquarters. No dates and locations for those meetings yet.
This video was shot less than 15 minutes ago. In it, Joe Edwards, the owner of such cool businesses as Blueberry Hill and The Pageant, asks the City's Board of Adjustment to grant a variance to allow a flashy neon sign for his planned new bowling alley, The Flamingo, on Washington Ave.
UPDATE: According to Steve Patterson, Edwards got his variance.
A few people have emailed me or posted comments about them having trouble watching our videos. Here are some things that might help:
First, make sure you have the latest version of Flash installed on your computer. Flash is the program that allows you to view animated websites and sites like ours that have lots of multimedia. Download it for free at www.adobe.com/downloads
Second, you may not be able to see the videos because your computer is behind a firewall that blocks video from YouTube.
YouTube is fantastic. Millions of people view and share content everyday on this rapidly growing service. But some companies worry about the "wrong content" being shared and they block everything from YouTube all together. Locally, I know the St. Louis Bread Companies block the service. That's a shame because I really like blogging from BreadCo.
Third, if the video keeps starting and stopping while it's playing, most likely your Internet connection is slow. The best way to deal with this annoyance is to click the play button to begin the download, then press pause. The video will continue to download (which you can see by the shaded meter moving to the right). When it's done downloading, click the play button again and enjoy a smooth video.
The St. Louis City Teachers' Union Committee on Political Education (COPE) has recommended that the union endorse State Rep. Amber Boykins for state senate.
COPE also recommended former school board member Bill Haas be endorsed in his campaign against State Rep. Rodney Hubbard. We are told that Hubbard never showed up for his scheduled interview with the teachers.
Local 420's executive board, which is not bound to accept the committee's recommendation, is expected to announce its full list of endorsements later this week.
Committee pushes back vote on cop residency bill to June 30
By Antonio D. French
The Legislation Committee of the Board of Aldermen met this afternoon to discuss a bill to again ask voters whether they prefer cops to be required to live in the city.
Board bill 47, sponsored by Aldermen Freeman Bosley, Sr. (3rd Ward), Ken Ortmann (9th), Steve Gregali (14th), and Jennifer Florida (15th), would be non-binding since by state law St. Louisans have no say over STLPD policies. Backers say it is meant simply to "assist the Missouri General Assembly in their deliberations regarding the residency requirement."
City voters approved similar language about ten years ago. Since then, the St. Louis Police Board, whose members (except for the mayor) are appointed by the governor, voted to allow some officers and civilian employees to move out of the city.
Today's meeting did not have the necessary quorum for a vote. The committee will likely vote to pass the bill out of committee on Friday, June 30.
All five of the candidates running for the open 4th District State Senate seat showed up early this morning for a debate sponsored by The St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA).
Before an audience of people who don't have to be at work on a Tuesday morning, Kenny Jones, Amber Boykins, Jeff Smith, Derio Gambaro, and Yaphett El-Amin answered questions on topics ranging from the upcoming Stem Cell ballot initiative and a possible toll bridge crossing the Mississippi River to education funding and whether St. Louis' business community pays its fair share in taxes.
In one of the most spirited parts of the debate, former State Rep. Derio Gambaro attacked the record of professional educator Jeff Smith's Confluence Academy charter schools.
Gambaro pointed to the fact that 3rd grade students from the schools scored far below most students from St. Louis Public Schools on the state's reading tests [67.5 % of Confluence's 3rd graders tested "Unsatisfactory" in 2005 versus 24.7 % for SLPS].
Gambaro said he prefers a voucher (or tax credit-funded scholarship) system that would allow parents the choice of taking their kids out of SLPS and sending them to a school that is fully accredited.
Smith said it is unfortunate that people "who have just talked about doing things for the city schools are attacking people who have done things to improve the city schools."
He said that majority of the parents at Confluence gave the school an A or B grade last year and that there is currently a list of hundreds of families on a waiting list to send their kids to the charter school.
Trouble viewing this video on YouTube? Click here to download it to your computer.
Check back later for more videos from today's debate...
VIDEO: CRB Flap Again Shows Police Should Be Under Local Control
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, June 19, 2006 at 9:55 AM
Alderman Terry Kennedy (18th Ward) was the original sponsor of the bill that was passed earlier this year by the Board of Aldermen to create a civilian review board to investigate reports of abuses of power by city cops. Mayor Francis Slay vetoed that bill and proposed a weaker version, which the state-controlled police board approved.
Last week, we reported that supporters of Kennedy's bill noticed significant changes between the version the police board approved in public and what actually became policy with the signature of police board president Chris Goodson.
Kennedy sat down with PUB DEF to again express his belief that the citizens of St. Louis deserve the same right to control their police department just as citizens of most other American cities.
