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DEF is a non-partisan, independent political tabloid based in the
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Thousands of people gathered in downtown St. Louis yesterday to protest an immigration bill being considered by Congress. They joined hundreds of thousands of people all over the country who also marched in opposition to the controversial measure.
The St. Louis Independent Media Center reports that more than 5,000 demonstrators assembled downtown in Kiener Plaza earlier Sunday evening. They carried flags and banners with messages like "Ningun ser humano es ilegal: No human being is illegal."
According to STLIMC and other media outlets, a wide array of speakers, including Mayor Francis Slay and Archbishop Raymond Burke, addressed the crowd and shared a message of determination for immigrant families.
Chanting "Si, se puede!" the demonstrators eventually overflowed into the street and marched to the old courthouse at the base of the Arch. The bilingual gathering ended with the pledge of allegiance and then a moment of silence for all of the victims of the current U.S. immigration system.
House Resolution 4437 would make it a felony to illegally enter the country and to aid those that attempt to.
The above photo was taken by Elizabeth Jenkins, "the artful activist." Click here to see more of her photos on Flickr.
The Springfield News-Leader is reporting that both President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney will be in Missouri next week.
Bush will travel to Jefferson City on Tuesday for a brief visit to discuss the Medicare prescription drug benefit, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday.
The paper said Bush will be in the state the day after Cheney holds a fundraiser dinner for U.S. Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) on Monday at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Springfield.
In Martin Van Der Werf's regular "Five minutes with..." column for the Post-Dispatch, this week he sat down with Cecilia Nadal, finder of jobs and producer of international events.
Nadal is the mother of State Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-72), who is in a tough rematch primary campaign with University City councilwoman Sandi Colquitt.
Nadal narrowly defeated Colquitt two years ago by just 196 votes and after her strong but unsuccessful involvement in the attempt to unseat U-City Mayor Joe Adams, many expect her foes to make a strong push to unseat her in August.
Is a vote on religous tolerance more about GOTV in the Senate race?
By Antonio D. French
Missourinet is reporting that the State House has tentatively approved a constitutional amendment for the November ballot that would confirm rights granted under the U.S. Constitution to voluntarily pray or worship in public places, including schools.
But some people are suspicous of the timing of the bill sponsored by State Rep. Carl Bearden (R-15) and believe it is part of an effort to draw social conservatives to the polls -- people likely to vote for Sen. Jim Talent over State Auditor Claire McCaskill in the much-watched race for U.S. Senate.
Click here to listen to a report from MissouriNet.
Senate tries to make Missouri less attractive to nuclear shippers
By Antonio D. French
The State Senate approved a bill yesterday to prevent Missouri from being the preferred, low cost route for the shipment of nuclear waste.
Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons (R-15), said he sponsored the bill because a federal mandate means that Missouri will see more shipments of nuclear waste sooner than expected.
In a statement the Kirkwood senator said, "We need to act fast and get these fees in place because the Department of Energy has estimated that Missouri could be the route for as many as 20,000 nuclear waste shipments." Gibbons said. "And I don’t want Missouri to be the radioactive waste pipeline to the West."
Gibbons says because Missouri currently charges no fees, routes through Missouri are being used even though they may be less safe than other routes in order for shippers to save money.
"These fees will put an end to the incentive for shippers to choose Missouri over our neighboring states," Gibbons said.
Donna Jones was a much stronger candidate than most political observers recognized (us included);
Jones got the most votes in 7 of 10 northside wards;
The 4th and 5th Wards were the only northside wards won by Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford;
Buford and Peter Downs got the same number of votes in the 9th Ward;
Downs and Jones won every southside ward but one;
Downs got the most votes in all but two southside wards (tied in the 9th, Jones won in the 20th);
Buford and Clinkscale won the 4 central wards;
The candidate who had the most votes in the 20th Ward (Donna Jones) won with only 126 votes;
And of course what everyone is talking about: Downs and Jones easily won the 23rd Ward, the political base of Mayor Francis Slay.
UPDATE:Some other outlets are incorrectly reporting that Clinkscale and Buford won the 3rd Ward. They are also reporting that the incumbents won the 9th Ward, which is hard to say since Buford and Down tied with 252 votes each.
The two newly elected members of the St. Louis City school board were sworn in this afternoon by Judge John Riley in the Civil Courts building downtown. But the ceremony might have been a bit premature.
Officials at the St. Louis City election board have not yet certified the election. And while the outcome is not expected to change, the official results of the election that gave victory to parents Peter Downs and Donna Jones have not yet been submitted to the state.
The Board of Elections has 14 days to certify the election. Before that happens, the Board must conduct accuracy tests on the voting machines and perform internal audits. Scott Leiendecker, the Board's Republican director of elections, said they were shooting to get all of that done by Wednesday.
"But they've kind of stepped on our shoes on this one," said Leiendecker. He said today's events have upset some down at the Board and they may now take the full 14 days.
Leiendecker said he returned a call yesterday from an attorney with the school district informing him of the things that still needed to be done before the candidates were sworn in -- including filing all outstanding campaign finance reports. That information apparently did not get passed on.
Downs and Jones should expect a letter of certification from the Board of Elections sometime before April 18. Until then, they are not "officially" elected officials.
UPDATE: There will be another swearing in on April 18, before that day's school board meeting.
During the month of April, a special episode of "Green Time TV" documents efforts of the great civil rights activist Ivory Perry to confront lead poisoning. It features extensive interviews with his longtime friend Pearlie Evans and ACTION organizer Percy Green. There are also scenes from the Ivory Perry Exhibit at the Missouri Historical Society Museum.
The show "Ivory Perry: A Pioneer in the Struggle Against Lead Poisoning" airs on KDHX-TV (Channel 21 in the City of St. Louis) at the following times:
2:30 p.m., Friday, April 7, 2006; 12:30 p.m., Sat., April 8, 2006; 6:00 p.m., Sunday, April 9; 8:30 p.m., Monday, April 10; 7:00 p.m., Wed. April 12, 2006; 2:30 p.m., Friday, April 14, 2006; 12:30 p.m., Sat., April 15, 2006; 6:00 p.m., Sunday, April 16. On Thursday, April 20, a special forum will be conducted to discuss Perry and the continuing fight against lead poisoning in St. Louis. Speakers will include:
Cong. Lacy Clay; State Sen. Pat Dougherty; former Ald. Irene J. Smith; George Lipsitz, from the Black Studies Dept. of the University of California Santa Barbara; and Dr. Daniel Berg and Kathleen Logan-Smith, from Health & Environmental Justice St. Louis. Don Fitz, from the Gateway Green Alliance, will serve as moderator.
Newly-elected school board members Peter Downs and Donna Jones will be sworn-in today (Thursday) at 1:30 p.m. at the Civil Courts building downtown (not the Board of Education building as earlier reported).
The Peace Action Education Fund released its new Congressional Voting Record analysis this week. Congressman Lacy Clay (D-MO) was the only member of Congress from Missouri to get a favorable mention.
"Never has it been as important for U.S. citizens to hold their representatives in Congress accountable on issues of war and peace as it has since George W. Bush launched his war against Iraq," said Executive Director Kevin Martin.
In this year's PAEF's voting record, 27 House members and no Senators earned a 100 percent rating. The Senate rating resulted from the 99-0 vote in favor of the $82 billion supplemental appropriation for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Six senators did however earn an honorable mention. Clay was one of the handful of House members to also get an honorable mention. Click here to see the full list.
In the month of March, we received 24,364 visits -- a 28.6% increase over the previous month. In the last seven days, we've already received almost 8,000 visits.
In March, we got 29,128 page views. That's a 23% increase over the previous month. In the last seven days, we've already received almost 9,000.
Neither of Missouri's U.S. senators are pleased with Pres. George W. Bush's proposed guest worker program.
Rich Chrismer, a spokesman for Sen. Jim Talent, recently told the Neosho Daily News the senator does not support the legislation because "It amounts to amnesty."
"Sen. Talent believes border security is our first priority," said Chrismer.
According to the article, Talent has sponsored his own immigration legislation -- "a no nonsense bill strengthening protection of the U.S. border by, simply put, increasing funding, increasing personnel and increasing penalties."
Sen. Kit Bond also opposes Bush's plan.
"We need legislation that both strengthens our border security and does not reward illegal behavior with citizenship free of consequences," Bond said in a prepared statement. "America is a country of laws and those laws need to be respected and enforced."
The Daily News said Bond did admit, however, Congress needs to develop a plan to deal with the "reality" of immigrant workers performing hard-to-fill jobs.
Parental involvement has returned to the St. Louis City School Board. After spending nearly half a million dollars in this campaign, Mayor Francis Slay's slate of candidates has been defeated by a grassroots campaign of parents and teachers.
These are the Unofficial Final Numbers:
Darnetta Clinkscale 20.3% (8,585) James Buford 21.06% (8,918) Peter Downs 25.16% (10,653) Donna Jones 24.4% (10,330) Joe Clark 5.9% (2,504)
Also... Proposition R (to amend the Charter relating to recalls) FAILED. Other media outlets, including the Post-Dispatch and local TV news, are incorrectly reporting that it passed by a simple majority. An amendment to the City Charter needs 60% of the vote to pass.
YES - 51.33% NO - 48.67%
UPDATE 1: For the record, the supporters of Clinkscale and Buford (who spent more than $450,000) paid more than $51.42 per vote (8,751.5). If there is a legacy for Mayor Slay's three-year control of the city schools, it is that they sure knew how to overpay for things.
UPDATE 2: Officials at the Election Board are reporting a voter turnout somewhere around 11%.
UPDATE 3: Votes from four precincts have yet to be counted due to a mix-up involving electronic cards left in computer voting machines locked in one polling place. Sources say that these represent just a hundred or so votes and will not affect the results. The official final results will reflect these numbers. Expect those in two weeks.
UPDATE 4: James Buford told the St. Louis American today that he is still reeling from a defeat he did not foresee.
"There was only about 10 percent turnout. The 'angry' voted," Buford said. "There are a lot of angry people out there."
UPDATE 5:Click here to see photos from the Pre-Election Day rally for Peter Downs and Donna Jones.
Workers at the St. Louis Election Board are still counting the ballots...
NOTE: Your computer isn't broken. There is no sound to this video.
SHOUT-OUTS: Special thanks to Johnson Lancaster for working the second shift at the Election Board and feeding us these hot numbers. And special thanks also to Chris at The Gelateria on Washington Ave. for staying open later just to allow us to update the site via their Wi-Fi (because the Board of Elections doesn't have it... yet).
Darnetta Clinkscale 21.91% (1234) James Buford 23.06% (1299) Peter Downs 20.28% (1142) Donna R. Jones 20.40% (1149) Dennis McLin-Shireff 2.72% (153) McFarlane E. Duncan 2.81% (158) Joe Clark 8.82% (497)
Darnetta Clinkscale 20.33% (548) James Buford 23.90% (644) Peter Downs 17.59% (474) Donna R. Jones 18.11% (488) Dennis McLin-Shireff 3.60% (97) McFarlane E. Duncan 3.82% (103) Joe Clark 12.65% (341)
St. Louis City voters, remember to check out our Video Voter Guide for today's school board race.
U-City voters, check out our Video Voter Guide for today's mayoral election.
Polls close at 7:00 p.m. And remember:State law says that employees who do not have three consecutive hours before or after work to vote may take up to three hours of leave to vote.
The battle in the 3rd Ward over an ongoing attempt to recall Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr. is being fought out today at the polls.
Some residents are gathering signatures on a recall petition today near at least one voting place. At the same time, poll workers hired by Bosley, are passing out fliers urging voters not to support the recall. Bosley's workers are passing those handouts out along with ones supporting the two incumbents running for the school board.
The anti-recall flier seems to actually be two fliers printed on one sheet of paper.
On one side the headline reads: "Did You Know?" It claims that the recall effort is being backed by "big money people." A disclaimer says it is paid for by "Citizens Against Recall." That committee, whose treasurer is Committeewoman Lucinda Frazier, was established in February and is registered with the state.
The second side, which tells voters "Don't Be Fooled," says it is paid for by "Citizens for Honest Government," Cheryl Lacey, chairperson.
But the only committee registered under that name with the state Ethics Commission is from Kansas City and its treasurer is named Dan Porrevecchio.
With 70% of the precincts reporting, it appears we have a winner in the "Name that Politico!" game. Louis P. Hamilton, of Vigilant Communications, correctly identified more politicos (and even a certain UPI photographer) that any other contestant.
Congratulations, Lou!
Now we're off to find you a "special prize." What do you get the man that has everything?
The St. Louis Teachers Union is putting out a sample ballot for the two SLPS parents running in today's election. Local 420's ballot features photos of Peter Downs and Donna Jones (courtesy of PUB DEF) and a long list of elected officials, organizations and community leaders that have endorsed them.
The sample ballot supporting the two incumbents is paid for by a political action committee called "People Working for Excellence in Public Education." Tom Schlafly is the treasurer of that organization.
It has no photographs of the candidates, but presents their names enlarged and circled over a list of other candidates. The circle seems to cross out the name of one of their opponents -- Peter Downs.
The handout states that Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford are "committed to supporting new Superintendent Creg Williams and his planned reform of city schools." Click here to download a photo of this ballot.
UPDATE: There is another handout appearing at polls around the city. This one is also paid for by "People Working for Excellence in Public Education." It does feature photos of the two incumbents -- plus a photo of Superintendent Williams. "The Real Team," it says.
The flier also carries a quote from an endorsement by The St. Louis American. "The community can best support the vision and competence of this energetic and able superintendent by voting for Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford," it says.
The Judiciary Committee of the Missouri House of Representatives, which last week conducted a public hearing in the State Capitol on the use of eminent domain, yesterday recommended passage of House Bill 1944 which seeks to reform its use in the state.
Click here and here to see videos from last week's hearings.
The St. Louis Teachers Union will defend any teacher that chooses to take off of work tomorrow. That's according to the group's president.
Mary Armstrong, president of Local 420, told PUB DEF today that district officials first told the teachers back in March that the start of MAP testing would be moved up to the week of April 10. Superintendent Creg Williams had expressed some concerns about the testing period for the important exams covering four weeks. He wanted it to cover just two weeks.
According to Armstrong, the date of April 10 was published on the district's website, the union's website and in the teachers' newsletter. Then a few weeks ago the district again changed the date -- to Election Day, April 4 -- and sent out notices expressly forbidding teachers from taking off during the testing period.
Armstrong said the teachers were "stabbed in the back" after negotiating in good faith with the district. She said that if any teacher that took off tomorrow for an "emergency" -- which she said is allowed even in so-called "black out" periods -- the union would defend them should the district pursue punishment.
PUB DEF editor Antonio D. French and Dave Drebes, the publisher of the Arch City Chronicle, will be guests tonight on "Collateral Damage" on KDHX 88.1 FM at 7:00. A topic to surely come up will be tomorrow's school board election.
Drebes has endorsed the incumbents Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford. PUB DEF has endorsed parents Peter Downs and Donna Jones.
Let's get ready to rumble!!!
UPDATE: The show is now available for download as a podcast. You can also listen to the 30-minute show online. Click here to go to Collateral Damage's website to get the April 3rd show.
Supporters of the two parents running in tomorrow's school board election will be gathering tonight for a pre-Election Day rally and press conference.
At 4:00 this evening, supporters of Peter Downs and Donna Jones will be meeting in front of the Board of Education building, 801 N. 11th Street. Organizers are encouraging people to wear red and white to show their support.
Click here to read PUB DEF's endorsement. Click here to download and spread the commercial.
Post-Dispatch columnist Sylvester Brownweighed in yesterday on the high-priced attack pieces sent out by supporters of the two school board incumbents running in tomorrow's election.
"The political material circulating for Clinkscale and Buford subtly diverts attention away from what the mayor's slate has accomplished," said Brown. "Toward what newly hired superintendent Creg Williamsmight accomplish. It's another slick, high-priced public relations maneuver."
That maneuvering comes via hired gun Richard Callow and a political action committee called Educate St. Louis.
As of Sunday, Educate St. Louis had spent $220,323.52 to keep Clinkscale and Buford on the school board. That is in addition to the more than $90,000 that Buford's campaign has raised and the other $80,000 raised by Clinkscale's campaign.
In addition, a group called the "Friends of Clinkscale and Buford Political Action Committee" has also been raising cash. The PAC recently launched a website supporting the candidates.
By the end of the day tomorrow, it is likely that those supporting the two incumbents will have spent more than $22.50 per vote.
Time is running out! Get your submissions in today by 5:00. Whoever answers the most correctly wins a special prize! That winner will be announced tomorrow. Click here to play.
The race for two seats on the St. Louis Board of Education will be decided on Tuesday, April 4. The candidates are School Board Pres. Darnetta Clinkscale and appointed board member James Buford, parents Peter Downs and Donna Jones, and independent candidate Joe Clark.
PUB DEF is pleased to present a Video Voter Guide for this important election.
A few weeks ago, the candidates appeared at a forum in the 1st Ward. Our camera was there to record their answers to questions submitted by residents of the ward. We now present to our readers the answers to three of those important questions.
This version of PUB DEF's Video Voter Guide is still a Beta, so feedback is requested and greatly appreciated.
NOTE: You will need QuickTime installed on your computer to view these videos. Click here to download it for free. Some of the videos are large files and may take a few minutes to download if you have a slower Internet connection. Be patient.
DON'T GIVE AWAY YOUR POWER: VOTERS SHOULD VOTE "NO" ON RECALL PROPOSITION
By Antonio D. French
In many ways, the citizens of the City of St. Louis have less power than people living in many other cities. We don't have control of our police department. We don't have control of our election board. And we can't rely upon our public schools to give our young people even a 50-50 shot at graduating from high school.
But in one way, St. Louisans are very powerful. That is our ability to fire our elected officials at almost any time, for almost any reason.
Since St. Louis incorporated as a city in 1823, its citizens have only exercised that power a handful of times. But since 2003, City voters have recalled three different aldermen. The average percentage of people voting to fire those aldermen was 58%. And there are at least three ongoing efforts to fire more members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
Some would simply write these off as political vendettas that have lasted long beyond Election Day. But consider this: More people voted in the last successful recall election than voted in the primary election that award the seat to the alderman in the first place. Something that alderman did (or did not do) woke people up in his ward. And they didn't like what they saw.
One of those ongoing recall efforts is in the 15th Ward. The alderman of that ward, Ald. Jennifer Florida, introduced a bill a few months ago to make it more difficult to recall elected officials. The Board of Aldermen passed that bill and on Tuesday the voters will be asked to amend the City' charter to make Florida's bill law.
Voters should reject Florida's attempt to take away power from the people of this city. St. Louis citizens have had this power since before the Civil War and should not be asked to give it up just because they are now using it.
Sure, there are some things that could be changed to allow for a more orderly process and some recommendations in Florida's bill are good ones. But to take away power without offering something in return is wrong and reveals the alderman's true intentions as nothing more than self-preservation.
If the Board of Aldermen would like to amend the charter to require the election board to develop a uniform recall petition and to notify the official that is the target of the recall effort, then maybe they could also amend it to prevent a recalled official from immediately running for the office again.
Most aldermen are in no danger of being recalled because they have built strong bases of support in their wards and they actively involve people in decision-making.
But in other wards, there is obviously a significant number of people who don't feel involved and who would like to make a point. Given no other way to effectively communicate their feelings to their elected official, they should have the right to ask their community if it isn't time to fire that official.
Time limits and other restrictions make it more difficult to put that question on the ballot. They chip away at powers we are lucky to have.
When elected officials do a good job of involving all parts of their electorate, they need not fear losing their jobs. But for those that don't, and choose to run their wards like small dictatorships, well... "When you gotta go, you gotta go."
Controversy swirls in the 3rd Ward as school board election nears
By Antonio D. French
Allegations are circulating that a request by Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr. (D-3rd Ward) to the St. Louis City Board of Elections to move a busy polling site to another location may confuse and disenfranchise some voters. But others say this is just one battle in a continuing fight between the alderman and a group trying to recall him.
Voters from the three precincts in the 3rd Ward that used to vote at the Fifth Baptist Church, 3736 Natural Bridge, will now be voting at Beaumont High School.
In a letter to the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, former 19th Ward Alderman Velma Bailey, a longtime Bosley foe, wrote: "While this change in locations on the surface my seem harmless, please be advised that this new location places a hardship on voters (the elderly, handicapped, as well as those who drive to the polling site) and has the potential to deter a large number of voters from participating in the electoral process."
But Scott Leiendecker, from the Board of Elections, said that this change was made months ago, even before he became a director of the commission.
Leiendecker told PUB DEF that his research into the matter has shown that Bosley first requested the change a year ago, but that it was then denied by the Board. Then about six months ago, the alderman again requested the change. This time, the commissioners approved it. Even though he wasn't there when the decision was made, Leiendecker said the more he looks at it, "the more I see this was probably a good decision."
Contrary to some reports, Leiendecker said the new location is handicapped-accessible, has more space for voters and voting machines, and it has a larger parking lot. He also said the new location is cheaper for taxpayers -- free, in fact.
After Tuesday's election, Leiendecker said that the Election Board will look at how things went at Beaumont High School and then judge whether to keep the location or move it back for future elections.
"But to change it now would cause even more confusion," he said.
A tipster has pointed out that State Rep. and Congressional Candidate Sherman Parkeris now blogging. In his first post, Parker said he wants to use his blog as a virtual town hall to discuss his beliefs and agenda for the citizens of the Second Congressional District.
Parker has compiled a nice list of links to local and national blogs and websites dealing with politics and black conservatism. We also again noticed that he really likes that photo we took of him back in February. Maybe he'll hire us to shoot his next campaign event.
Parker is running against Congressman Todd Akin (R-2) in the Republican primary election in August.
The website of The St. Louis Americanis reporting that a press conference that was scheduled for Friday morning was cancelled at the last minute because of what one participant called 'organizational turmoil' within the St. Louis City and County chapters of the NAACP.
That assessment came from Rev. B.T. Rice, a member and past president of the County branch. According to the American, the press conference was meant as a response from some NAACP members and at least one elected official, State Rep. Ester Haywood, to a press conference earlier in the week in which Harold Crumpton, president of the City chapter, surprised many people by standing with former KTRS host David Lenihan and asking the radio station to give the white host his job back after being fired for using the word "coon" on the air.
"City chapter president Harold Crumpton has damaged beyond repair the city chapter," former national NAACP board member Gentry Trotter told the paper. "He should be removed from office."
Seemingly without provocation, a candidate running for a state office today attacked a reporter outside of Lambert Airport.
The female reporter simply approached State Rep. Swan Bjork (R-164) and said, "Welcome to St. Louis." Bjork then leaped into a vicious attack, leaving her own staff to pull her off.
After the attack, the stunned reporter could only say, "Imagine what she would've done to that PUB DEF guy."
On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee of the Missouri House of Representatives conducted a public hearing in the State Capitol on a bill that seeks to reform the use of eminent domain in the state. Members of the committee heard testimony from many different people, from urban, suburban and rural parts of the state, on the devastating effects that the use of eminent domain had on their lives.
One of those testifying was Sarah Bowenski, who saw her home and church taken in the largest use of eminent domain in the history of the state, the Lambert Airport expansion (which she called AirPORK expansion).
The bill being considered is too late to help her and her neighbors, but Bowenski said she would like to see several points of the house bill clarified in order to prevent others from having to go through what she and her community suffered.
UPDATE: Five members of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus had a townhall meeting this morning at Harris-Stowe State University on the subject of eminent domain. According to Jim Roos, a coordinator with the Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition, State Rep. Connie Johnson (D-61), who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said she received a copy of a revised version of the bill late Thursday. She could not yet report what changes have been made.
