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The Department of Economic Development (DED) has approved the establishment of an Enhanced Enterprise Zone (EEZ) in St. Louis.
The city's EEZ covers the entire riverfront as well as large sections of the Northside and areas along highways 44, 64 and 70. According to the EEZ law, new and expanding businesses in the zone that are not gambling, retail trade or food and drink establishments are eligible for yearly tax credits for up to five years. The DED and the City will determine eligibility for the credits, and businesses may apply for an additional five year credit period if they plan further expansion.
The law also states that all businesses receiving credits must meet job and investment criteria. For businesses that are expanding or building new facilities this means creating at least two new jobs and making a $100,000 investment. Businesses that are building replacement facilities must meet the same job requirement, but also make a $1 million investment.
But not every business that builds in the EEZ necessarily gets credits. The DED awards credits on a case-by-case basis after the business goes through an application process. Businesses moving to an EEZ from elsewhere in Missouri must present the DED with approval for job relocation from the local government where the jobs are held.
Finally, any organizations taking advantage of existing tax credit programs, including the Brownfield Redevelopment Program, cannot receive EEZ credits.
The I-70 Northwest Development Corporation of St. Louis will receive $95,000 in Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) tax credits to build a senior care center. The center will take up just over half of a 4,308-square foot mixed-use building.
Dubbed the Kingsway Adult Day Care Center, the facility will provide health monitoring, social and personal care services, meals, transportation and educational and therapeutic workshops and activities to 24 senior citizens.
The $95,000 is part of $499,700 in NAP tax credits awarded by the Department of Economic Development to Missouri not-for-profits. Other organizations receiving funding include the Center for the Visually Impaired in Kansas City, Sylvan School, Inc. in Poplar Bluff and the Pregnancy Care Center in Springfield.
Governor Matt Blunt has announced that Parkside Towers, LLC will receive $5.1 million in redemption tax credits. The credits come as part of the Department of Economic Development's (DED) Brownfield Redevelopment Program, which gives incentives for the redevelopment of contaminated and underutilized commercial and industrial sites. According to Blunt's office, the property is currently contaminated with asbestos and lead-based paint.
Parkside is receiving the incentives for their plan to redevelop the Park Pacific property at 210 N. 13th Street. Missouri Pacific Railroad abandoned the property in 2003 and Parkside plans to turn the property into commercial, retail and residential space, including restaurants, offices and condos.
Residents of Lafayette Square got a first look tonight at plans for a new development on the site of the old Praxair chemical plant.
Located on the corner of Missouri and Chouteau Avenues in south St. Louis, the vacant three-block area was home to Praxair, which was leveled by explosions and fire in 2005.
The exact specifications have yet to be worked out, but developers Jeff Winzerling and Pete Rothschild have come up with a $41 million plan that would incorporate condos, town homes, parking lots, a community park and retail and office space into the now vacant area.
Click here to see the Lafayette Square neighborhood's current urban plan.
By a unanimous vote yesterday, a State Senate committee approved House Bill 1, the economic development package which includes the controversial Distressed Area Land Assemblage Tax Credit. The committee also passed two amendments to address some outstanding concerns with the credit. From the Post-Dispatch:
The revision stipulates that the tax credit cannot assist developers with outstanding fines, bills or taxes to a municipality. As of last month, public records indicate that McKee owed more than $35,000 in fees to the city for providing upkeep at the abandoned tracts, though city officials say they are satisfied the money will be paid.
The panel also approved an amendment ensuring that public hearings are held before the approval of any project qualifying for the tax credit. Last week, the House approved an amendment requiring local elected officials to sign off on qualifying projects.
After a move by State Representative Jamilah Nasheed to force a vote on the Land Assemblage Tax Credit separately from the larger economic development package, the credit still passed by a large margin of 106 to 45, with six members absent.
Voting in favor of the tax credit were Representatives T.D. El-Amin, Rodney Hubbard*, Connie Johnson and Tom Villa.
Voting against were Representatives Mike Daus, Jamilah Nasheed, Jeanette Mott Oxford and Robyn Wright-Jones.
Speaking on the floor in favor of the bill, Representative Hubbard said, "With the addition of local control, any concerns that people have with any proposed development can now be addressed at the local level."
Hubbard also read from an editorial in today's St. Louis American which said, "What is certain is that North City needs major development, and economic development in distressed areas in particular is driven by tax credits. It is also certain that a move from blight of its current scale (and not only on properties owned by McKee) to a project worth major investment is almost certain to involve compromises by North City residents and officials who represent them..." *Hubbard is a client of A D French & Assoc.
VIDEO: Michael Allen Outlines Possible Improvements to Tax Credit Bill
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 at 7:34 AM
Michael Allen, the blogger whose research into the once-mysterious Blairmont land acquisitions led to all the attention the Land Assemblage Tax Credit is getting today, testified yesterday in Jefferson City on ways to make the legislation better.
At yesterday's committee hearing on Governor Matt Blunt's economic development package, which includes the controversial Land Assemblage Tax Credit, State Rep. Rodney Hubbard* offered an amendment to require any redevelopment plan to be approved by the the Board of Aldermen. The committee passed the amendment 11-0.
Hubbard also offered an amendment to shrink the amount of land a developer needed to qualify for the credit from the current 50 acres down to just two. Committee Chair Ron Richard (R-Joplin) said he felt that amounted to "gutting the bill" and recommended the committee members vote against it, which they did.
Hubbard also attempted to add language that would require three public meetings be held before any redevelopment plan is approved. Committee members said they felt the local control amendment put in the hands of the Board of Aldermen the power to conduct as many meetings as they choose before they approve the redevelopment plan.
St. Louis Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe, a longtime critic of the city's Land Reutilization Authority's land-banking policy, testified today in Jefferson City that the proposed Land Assemblage Tax Credit would be good for north St. Louis — but only if it was amended to require any redevelopment plan eligible for the credit to first be approved by the Board of Aldermen.
Troupe said St. Louis has suffered over the years from "corrupt and backwards and sometimes outright stupid" policies. He pointed to the twenty-year-old LRA policy of acquiring thousands of properties, mostly in north St. Louis, and routinely denying independent rehabbers a chance to purchase one or two properties at a time.
With the protection of local control, Troupe said he supports this tax credit bill and sees it as promising for much needed investment.
Following Troupe's testimony, State Rep. Rodney Hubbard* offered an amendment, which was approved by the committee, to require any redevelopment plan to be approved by the the Board of Aldermen. *Hubbard is a client of A.D. French & Associates
Supporters of the proposed Land Assemblage Tax Credit bill testified today before the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development in support of the legislation.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's chief of staff Jeff Rainford; Rev. James Morris; John Cross of SEIU Local 2000; and Robert Tillman, a 19th Ward homeowner, were among those who said the proposal will allow for much needed and much delayed development to begin in north St. Louis.
When it comes to the proposed Land Assemblage Tax Credit, the devil is in the details.
A story in today's Post-Dispatch says leaders in the Republican-controlled legislature are confident that a scaled-back version of Governor Matt Blunt's economic development package will pass during the special session which begins tomorrow. Included in that package is the controversial tax credit which as originally passed seemed to include parameters that only one known developer could qualify for.
Developer Paul J. McKee Jr. has purchased more than 500 tracts of land in and around Old North St. Louis, land that could be used in part to qualify for such tax credits.
Blunt says the new bill would broaden the program so that more developers could participate. Under the latest draft, the subsidy could go to those who buy at least 50 acres for projects covering at least 75 acres in low-income areas. Up to $10 million in credits could be issued each year until the total hit $95 million.
The sponsor, Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, Mo., said he believed the new proposal satisfies concerns that the program was designed for one man. Griesheimer added that McKee "ought to be nominated for sainthood" for investing in decaying areas of St. Louis.
Senator Griesheimer may feel differently about McKee's qualifications for sainthood after he watches PubDef's latest video on the St. Charles developer's northside activities. Check back Monday for that special report.
Lowering the requirement of the acreage needed in order for a developer to qualify for the tax credit is a step in the right direction, said the original Blairmont watchdog, Michael Allen. But at 50 acres, the bill would still make McKee the only likely applicant in Old North St. Louis.
"What we need is a threshold much lower than that, closer to half that number," said Allen. "At 20 to 25 acres, other developers and even established neighborhood organizations could apply and receive these tax credits."
PubDef will be reporting this week from the special session in Jefferson City, following the negotiations as legislators, lobbyists and residents try to reach a compromise.
According to the Post, the Legislature's schedule calls for a House committee to hold a hearing on the bill on Tuesday. The full House will vote Thursday. A Senate hearing will take place Aug. 27 and the full Senate could vote Aug. 29.
Legislators: "Blairmont" Credit Should Be Amended, Opened to More Than McKee
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Thursday, August 16, 2007 at 8:54 PM
A group of St. Louis legislators, including State Reps Jamilah Nasheed, Jeanette Mott Oxford and Rodney Hubbard*, State Senator Harry Kennedy, Aldermen April Ford Griffin, Dionne Flowers, Freeman Bosley, Sr., Jeffrey Boyd, Marlene Davis, Terry Kennedy, Frank Williamson, Bill Waterhouse, and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed*, today called for the controversial Land Assemblage Tax Credit to be amended during next week's special session.
At a press conference this morning at the corner of Montgomery Street and N. Garrison Avenue in north St. Louis, 5th Ward Alderman April Ford-Griffin voiced her concerns about the proposed Land Assemblage Tax Credit that is once again being discussed by state legislators.
Griffin echoed concerns that the bill needs to be amended to allow others beside controversial St. Charles developer Paul McKee to benefit. According to Griffin, McKee has intentionally allowed his 500-plus properties in north St. Louis to deteriorate — and in some cases, workers have intentionally knocked down walls and destroyed foundations — in order to drop the property values and buy more land.
Griffin said the state legislature should not reward McKee for his poor stewardship of these properties.
Griffin also accused Mayor Francis Slay's office someone in city government of sending city workers to McKee's sites yesterday to clean up his lots ahead of today's press event.
Several other aldermen, including Charles Troupe, Dionne Flowers, Freeman Bosley, Sr., Marlene Davis, Jeffrey Boyd, Terry Kennedy, Frank Williamson, Bill Waterhouse, and Board President Lewis Reed attended the event. State Reps Jeanette Mott Oxford and Jamilah Nasheed, who both helped organize the event, were joined by colleagues Rodney Hubbard, Cynthia Davis (R-O'Fallon) and Ron Casey (D-Crystal City). License Collector and former 19th Ward alderman Mike McMillan also attended.
When a group of local lawmakers lead a tour of some of north St. Louis' most blighted areas Thursday, they'll do so to call attention to the need for development and state investment in those areas.
They'll also be illustrating why they believe the proposed $100 million Land Assemblage Tax Credit should be amended to allow other developers besides Paul McKee to qualify for it.
State Reps Jeanette Mott Oxford, Jamilah Nasheed and Rodney Hubbard*; and Aldermen April Ford-Griffin and Marlene Davis will lead a group of invited guests, including other state legislators, around parts of the 5th and 19th Wards where McKee has quietly aquired more than 500 properties.
Many of McKee's buildings have become eye sores and nuisance properties in neighborhoods occupied by longtime residents holding out for the city's "renaissance" to come their way and new residents pioneering to rehabilitate a once great area.
Oxford and Davis each told PubDef that they welcome the state's attempt to spur development, but that they would like to see the legislation, which will be voted on next week, amended to allow more developers to participate.
The legislators' press conference is set for Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at 2950 Montgomery, with a bus tour to follow at 10:30 a.m.
PubDef will be reporting next week from the special session in Jefferson City, following the negotiations as legislators, lobbyists and residents try to reach a compromise that allows north St. Louis to benefit from needed investment, while not cutting all but just one or two would-be developers out of the project. *Rodney Hubbard is a client of A D French & Associates
Longtime "Blairmont" watchdog Michael Allen sat down with PubDef Friday to discuss Governor Matt Blunt's veto just hours earlier of the giant economic development bill that included a $100 million tax credit for one man, developer Paul McKee.
In addition to giving his reaction to the veto, Allen, an Old North resident who said he fully supports the state earmarking millions of dollars in tax credits to rebuild north St. Louis, suggested ways that McKee and state legislators can craft a better piece of legislation next year — one which residents and local elected officials can support.
In Monday's edition of the Mexico Ledger — out of Mexico, Missouri — reporter Tim Hare looks at House Bill 327. It seems there's a little bit for everybody in the the giant givaway legislation.
From the article:
Referring to its potential to help create quality jobs, Senator Wes Shoemyer urged area residents to encourage Governor Matt Blunt to sign House Bill 327.
Shoemyer made the appeal during a legislative breakfast held Friday morning at the Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce. He indicated final approval of the bill could have direct benefit for Mexico and its residents.
Among the provisions of HB327 are changes to existing elements of the Quality Jobs program, including raising tax credit caps, utilizing tax credit offsets, and providing for certain tax exemptions."
The article continues:
HB327 has recently come under greater scrutiny following revelations that Paul McKee Jr., a St. Louis-based developer with political ties, could potentially greatly benefit, especially from provisions in the bill that would provide tax credits eliminating interest costs and half of eligible land costs.
Sen. Delbert Scott of Lowry City has decried the bill, stating from the Senate floor in May, "It's an attempt to hide a big pot of money for one guy. The whole thing stinks."
While the governor does have line-item veto authorization on appropriations bills, the line-item veto is not permissible under state guidelines on tax credit legislation.
If necessary, Shoemyer said Blunt "could call a special session with a narrow call on it so he knows he would get clean legislation," and also questioned whether the St. Louis developer in question would be able to meet certain eligibility requirements.
Michael Allen, the unofficial Blairmont watchdog and half of the writing team behind the Ecology of Absence blog, says developer Paul McKee is continuing his acquisition of a large portion of north St. Louis, despite public claims to the contrary.
According to Allen, one of McKee's mysterious Blairmont companies, MLK 3000 LLC, spent $935,400 between May 17 and June 20 in order to acquire nine properties.
The properties and their recorded sales prices are:
2517 North Market, $92,000.00
2225 Mullanphy, $80,500.00
2223 Mullanphy, $80,500.00
2221 Madison, $74,750.00
1902 Dodier: $115,000
1831 Laflin, $78,200.00
1836-42 N. 22nd, $147,200.00
2529-31 Hebert, $97,750.00
2500 Sullivan, $172,500.00
According to Allen, the deeds are signed by Roberta M. Defiore, manager of MLK 3000 LLC and former consultant to the Archdiocese Office of Urban and Community Affairs. The loans come from the Parkburg Fund LC, an entity incorporated in August 2006 prior to MLK 3000 LLC's first purchase.
Here is a video produced a while back on Blairmont, featuring Michael Allen:
Many people are still waiting to see if Governor Blunt signs the huge tax credit bill that would provide as much as a $100 million subsidy for McKee's still-secret plan.
The Missouri Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's decision that would have allowed the City of Clayton to use eminent domain to aid the $200 million downtown expansion of Centene Corporation.
Today the high court ruled that neither Centene nor Clayton had sufficiently proved the affluent area is indeed blighted.
Noting that the state definition of "blighted area" requires that certain portions of the city "by reason of age, obsolescence, inadequate or outmoded design or physical deterioration have become economic and social liabilities," the Court ruled today that the evidence of social liability was "insufficient."
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ronnie White, who is retiring next month, wrote "I respectfully dissent. In my view, Centene presented sufficient evidence from which the City of Clayton reasonably could have determined that the redevelopment area had become an "economic and social liability." Click here to read the ruling.
As they wait to see if Governor Matt Blunt decides to sign the huge check that is House Bill 327 — which gives millions of dollars to dozens of entities, including developer Paul McKee and his "Blairmont" companies — residents of the north St. Louis neighborhoods most affected by McKee's secret plan hold their breath and look to the sky for the other shoe to drop.
Gov. Matt Blunt today announced that 2200 Gravois, LLC, has been approved for $106,251 in Brownfield Redevelopment tax credits from the Missouri Department of Economic Development to renovate and rehabilitate the Polarwave Ice and Fuel building, 2200 Gravois.
The tax credits will facilitate the redevelopment of the property into commercial office, retail, restaurant and residential space, projecting to create an estimated 51 jobs.
The 1.5 story warehouse has been vacant for several years. The southeastern portion of the building currently does not have a roof. The property has been used in the past for manufacturing pens and for the storage and sale of ice and fuel.
The Brownfield Redevelopment Program provides financial incentives for the redevelopment of commercial/industrial sites that are contaminated with hazardous substances and have been abandoned or underutilized for at least three years.
March 6, 2007 – 150th Anniversary Dred Scott Decision
30-DAY JOB SHUTDOWN NOTICE
TO: MR. DAN LEE, CHAIRMAN & CEO PINNACLE ENTERTAINMENT
This is to advise that, thirty (30) days from today all construction work on the downtown St. Louis Pinnacle Casino Project will, through civil disobedience protest action, be shut down for the following reasons:
1. Pinnacle has failed to comply with the City’s requirement of 25% minority and 5% female inclusion on this project;
2. Pinnacle has continuously and contumaciously refused to take steps to achieve compliance with the City’s goals, as illustrated by the project currently having only 17% minority participation, though over 40% completed;
3. Pinnacle has failed to act in good faith to address the lack of minority inclusion on the project by engaging in dilatory and deceptive practices;
4. Pinnacle has failed to achieve minority inclusion comparable to that achieved on other projects in the St. Louis metropolitan area, such as the new Cardinal’s Stadium and the Casino Queen projects, evidencing Pinnacle’s lack of commitment to minority inclusion.
“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that wasn’t true. I was not tired physically, nor more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day…No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” Rosa Parks
For more information, contact the Spokesperson for the Minority Inclusion Alliance, Eric E. Vickers
Cc: Mayor Francis Slay, Missouri Gaming Commission, Media
We all know that St. Louis City is in a unique situation of being a city not within another county. Most agree that that arrangement has not worked out so well for the city.
As whites, upper-and middle-class blacks left the city in droves during the second half of the 20th Century, the city has been left with a tax base which is only a shadow of its former self and little financial support from its neighbors -- neighbors which take advantage of the city's infrastructure and amenities as much as, if not more than, actual residents and taxpayers.
Now the people of Atlanta, a city often referred to as the "City Too Busy to Hate" -- a place which unlike St. Louis confronted its issues of race head-on during the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s and beyond, is now debating whether to divide its Fulton County so that its affluent white suburbs can separate from its poorer, majority-minority urban core.
According to the AP, supporters say it is a quest for more responsive government in a county with a population greater than that of six states. Opponents say the measure is racially motivated and will pit white against black, rich against poor.
All sides agreed on one thing during yesterday's discussion of the $14.5 million TIF for developer John Steffen's makeover of St. Louis Centre -- this is a bad deal for the taxpayers of the City of St. Louis.
"This is not something that any of us wants to do," said Barb Geisman, deputy mayor of development. "But those of us that have thought about it and support this feel that we have no choice."
Geisman's remarks came at the meeting of the three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E&A), which is composed of Mayor Francis Slay, Comptroller Darlene Green, and President of the Board of Alderman Jim Shrewsbury. The Board of E&A must approve all City real estate deals and financial appropriations -- including TIFs (Tax Increment Financing projects), which they have done at least 60 times since 2001.
But what makes this TIF proposal different, said Comptroller Green, is that it puts the City's credit rating on the line by guaranteeing Steffen's bank loan.
"The earlier redevelopment agreement for this particular project -- that we did pass -- did not put the city's credit at risk," said Green. "Now that it has come back it has come asking for the city's help to purchase the building because a speculator has offered an outrageous purchase price."
The Comptroller said the only other time the City has put its credit on the line for a private developer was the disasterous St. Louis Marketplace development on Manchester Ave. That shopping center, built during the administration of Mayor Vince Schoemehl, today sits mostly empty and costs city taxpayers more than $1 million every year.
"There were safeguards put in place at that time. Those safeguards have failed," said Green.
But Mayor Slay said it is worth the risk to taxpayers to help Steffen redevelop One City Centre, the underused 25-story office building, and St. Louis Centre, the vacant downtown mall.
"This particular property is a cancer in our downtown," said Slay. "It is the biggest complaint we get from conventioners who come to this city."
Slay praised Steffen, who is also a major funder of the mayor's political campaigns, as the right man for the job and he said the City of St. Louis should do whatever it can to help get this deal done as soon as possible.
In the end, President Shrewsbury, who was seen as the swing vote on this issue and who is also in what could turn into a tough re-election campaign, agreed with Slay.
"Had this been the original proposal on this project, I, like the Comptroller, would have said no," said Shrewsbury. "But it seems like circumstances have changed and we've been forced into this position."
Green said that rewarding out-of-town speculators, like the ones that purchased this property in 2001 and now are looking at a $20 million profit in the resale, sets a bad precedent.
"I support the project," said Green. " But I don't support the method in which we're planning to go forward with this financing."
U.S. Senator Kit Bond today announced almost $500,000 in federal funds for a new education and arts community center in north St. Louis.
"This new center will provide community outreach to some of the neediest neighborhoods in the St. Louis area," Bond said in a press release today.
"This community is committed to providing children and families in the city a chance to succeed and I am proud to be a part of this important effort."
As chairman of the Senate Transportation-Treasury-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee, Bond secured $495,000 in federal funds for the Mark Twain Community Alliance which will be used to renovate a building that will become the Redevelopment, Arts, Culture and Educational Center in St. Louis.
The center will help residents living in the most disadvantaged zip codes in St. Louis City and County (63115, 63113, 63120). Children in these zip codes are exposed to numerous risk factors such as poverty, single parent households, teen pregnancy and violence. Drop-out rates in the area are also among the highest in the city.
Ald. Charles Quincy Troupe is quoted praising Bond's record.
"He extended himself to include the black community in a way that no other governor, before him or after him, did."
"As the senior U.S. Senator and statesman, he continues to exercise inclusion whether it is biodiesel in southeast Missouri or the development of a youth and family center in north St. Louis," said Troupe.
In a room on the 18th floor of Bank of America Plaza on a rainy Friday afternoon, just hours before the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Championship, the team's owners, their developer, and Mayor Francis Slay held a press conference which was as void of details as the day was of sunshine.
Maybe it was all about timing. Just seven days after saying they were "not there yet", the three sides were all smiles Friday saying they had reached an agreement "in principle" on the nearly $400 million new Ballpark Village plan.
In their own words:
Mayor Francis Slay...
Dave Cordish of The Cordish Group...
Bill DeWitt, Jr., chairman of the Cardinals...
$271.2 million of the $387 million project will be coming from Cordish directly. The remaining $116 million will come from bonds which will be paid back through the following mechanisms from new tax money generated by the project:
$56 million from tax increment financing (a TIF) from the City of St. Louis
$29 million in tax money from the Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act (MODESA)
$26 million from a special tax district created around the development (it'll add 1 percent to the existing sales tax for purchases made within the district and a extra $1 to the price of tickets to attractions within the district)
$5 million in public bonds to be bought by the Cardinals and Cordish
All of this must still be approved by several state and local boards, including the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and the three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E&A).
BIG LEAGUE, BIG DOUGH -- Sports fans weren't the only ones holding their breaths hoping the Cardinals wouldn't blow winning their 3rd straight National League Central Division title last weekend. Business owners had their fingers crossed too.
RCGA Chief Economist Bryan Bezold estimates that each home playoff game will have an estimated direct and indirect impact of $2.8 million on the St. Louis regional economy. "This economic impact is due to fan spending in and around Busch Stadium, approximately $1.5 million per game, and the indirect benefits are due to the circulation of that money throughout the region, worth another $1.3 million," Bezold noted Monday in a RCGA briefing.
Tickets to the game for you and your kid - $75. Food and drinks - $55. Watching a home game at home on TV because you can't afford to see the inside of the new Busch Stadium - priceless.
CAN STL BE LIKE ATL? -- Speaking of the RCGA, next month Chairman Scott Schnuck will be leading a delegation of 125 St. Louis regional business, civic and elected leaders in Missouri and Illinois on a trip to Georgia to meet with more than 25 of their Atlanta counterparts. They'll be trying to find out how Atlanta has been so much more successful in the areas of economic development, transit, education, parks and trails, and race relations.
Could it be that many of St. Louis' finest black thinkers in the areas of economic development, transit, education, parks and trails, and race relations all run to Atlanta, a place where they can actually get a job?
BRINGING IN BACKUP -- Claire McCaskill's getting a little more help from the phenom to the East, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). Obama -- who told a crowd in St. Louis back in March, "I can't do it alone!" -- will be stumping for the Democatic Senate candidate again this weekend (Oct. 7) -- this time in Kansas City.
Meanwhile, her Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. Jim Talent, is having special guest of his own at a breakfast fundraiser on his birthday, Oct. 18. -- Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). Let's hope she isn't inspired to go all "Marilyn Monroe" and sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. Senator".
The board of the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, the metro area's designated planning agency, will be meeting tomorrow for their regular monthly meeting. One of the topics of discussion will be the new $1 billion Mississippi River Bridge.
The board is scheduled to vote on a proposal to do yet another analysis of the traffic and financial situations at the root of more than a decade of calls for a new bridge and why construction still has not begun on actually building one.
Elected officials from Missouri and Illinois are expected to attend, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, St. Clair County Executive Mark Kern, Madison County Chairman Alan Dunstan, and St. Charles County Executive Joe Ortwerth.
The meeting will be Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. at Gateway Tower, One Memorial Drive, on the 16th floor.
The Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy and the Missouri Transportation Institute will be sponsoring a forum this week on the challenges to people and businesses expected from the planned reconstruction of Interstate 64 (Highway 40).
"Jobs and Community Life During the I-64 Reconstruction" will be held Friday, September 22, from 7:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom (Room 310), Anheuser-Busch Hall, on Washington University's Danforth Campus. The audience will be invited to take part in a panel discussion led by Kurt Odenwald, County Councilman from the 5th District of St. Louis County, and two nationally known transportation experts -- Genevieve Giuliano, professor and senior associate dean for research and technology at the University of Southern California; and Joseph Giglio, a senior academic specialist and executive professor at Northeastern University. Click here for more info.
The City of St. Louis received the deed to the L. Douglas Abram Federal Building from the General Services Administration yesterday.
Monday's ceremony marked the final step in a three-year process of the city purchasing the building from the federal government for about $7.5 million. The city plans to convert part of the building into a parking garage for a newly renovated Kiel Opera House and the Savvis Center (soon to be called the Scottrade Center). Other parts of the building will be used to relocate offices of the the city's Health Department.
Michael Allen of Ecology of Absenceis reporting that Richard Callow, political consultant to Mayor Francis Slay and live-in boyfriend of deputy mayor of development Barb Geisman, is the new chairman of the City's Preservation Board. Allen writes:
At its Monday meeting, the Preservation Board elected a new chairperson: Richard Callow, the public relations consultant who edits Mayor Slay's campaign website. New board member David Richardson nominated Callow after Melanie Fathman nominated architect Anthony Robinson, a reasonable voice who would have done well in the position.
Callow received the votes of Richardson, Luis Porello, Mary "One" Johnson (who presided over the vote rather clumsily), John Burse and new member Michael Killeen. Robinson received Fathman's vote, and the nominated parties abstained.
LRA Property Now Fair Game for Inspectors, Thank Elliott Davis
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 at 10:15 PM
For years, city homeowners have complained that the worst slum lord in St. Louis is the City of St. Louis itself. While city inspectors give citations and fines to Joe and Jane Citizen for not keeping their property up to code, city-owned properties are literally falling apart right next door. A recent change in policy might help change that.
Sam Simon, the director of the Department of Public Safety, told KTVI Channel 2 reporter Elliott Davis this week that DPS inspectors will now cite -- or at least, log -- derelict properties owned by the City's Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) just as it would any other property.
"We're going to make sure that we keep ourselves as accountable as we hope the citizens will be," Simon told Davis.
Davis had earlier profiled the plight of homeowners on Maffit Street in north St. Louis who had received citations from the city while two houses across the street sat looking like bombed out shells. Those properties are owned by the city and have for years simply been overlooked by inspectors.
This problem is especially bad on the city's north side, where most of the LRA's property is. This was the subject of a resolution introduced by Ald. Charles Q. Troupe (1st Ward) earlier this year [See video below].
In other Channel 2 news... The local Fox News affiliate will be getting a much needed face-lift on its website soon. The current format makes it by far the worst and most useless of all the local news channels sites. The new look will be based on the standard myFox format used in New York, Dallas and D.C.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Very off-topic, but we came across this little treasure a few days ago. It's a video of the late, great Sammy Davis, Jr. performing here in St. Louis at the The Kiel Opera House on June 20, 1965. He gives the city a little shout-out at the end. Enjoy.
Clear Channel Communications and developer Don Breckenridge are working on bringing new life to the old Kiel Opera House, which became vacant when Kiel Auditorium was replaced by the Savvis Center
According to the City's website, the new Kiel will have a 3,500-seat auditorium, accompanied by four smaller theaters. Clear Channel Communications will provide theater, music, dance, and other entertainment, while Fox LLC will present Broadway shows.
The project's estimated cost, as of last year, was $42 million supported by a TIF. There! How's that for bringing it back on-topic?
Related Stories:
"Carving Up Kiel" by Stefene Russell from the premiere issue of Public Defender
(Thanks to Dorota1981, from Hamburg, Germany, for the video.)
VIDEO: 3rd Ward recall battle spills into committee hearing
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Thursday, June 01, 2006 at 10:48 AM
Maxine Johnson is pissed off. The 3rd Ward homeowner says her property is being taken by eminent domain so that a church can level it and build several new houses on her block. She said her alderman, Freeman Bosley, Sr., told her many months ago that she didn't need to worry because her home was safe. Johnson is now determined to recall Bosley.
At a hearing yesterday on an unrelated piece of legislation, Johnson addressed Bosley and members of the Housing, Urban Development and Zoning committee.
Ald. Lewis Reed (6th Ward) defended his colleague, telling Johnson that she may not know about many of the fights that Bosley is engaged in.
He said that it was unfair to exclusively blame northside elected officials for the state of north St. Louis. He said that it has often been the City of St. Louis itself that has caused blight in some parts of town. He pointed to The Team Four Plan as an example.
At yesterday's meeting of the Housing, Urban Development and Zoning committee, a bill introduced by Ald. Frank Williamson (26th Ward) to create a redevelopment plan for the area around Union and Page Avenues sparked quite a response from some residents of that ward.
While there is no mention of eminent domain in Board Bill 16, several people feared that the plan might lead to their property being taken -- something that Williamson said will not happen.
Maggie McFadden, a 26th Ward homeowner, asked the committee why the city seems to bend over backwards when a developer wants property from the City's Land Reutilization Authority (LRA).
McFadden said that when a homeowner living next to an LRA property wants to buy it, the city offers very little aid and forces them to jump through lots of hoops. She added that many neighborhoods in the city look as bad as they do because of the run-down city-owned property. She called the City of St. Louis its own worst landlord.
After a brief exchange with Ald. Fred Wessels (13th Ward), McFadden told him, "Please don't try to rush me away from here because this city is operated on my tax money."
We think Wessels quickly learned what everyone else in the room already knew: Don't mess with Ms. McFadden.
People behind a controversial plan to recall Ald. Jennifer Florida met yesterday to strategize, inform the public, and gather some signatures on their petition.
What makes this effort any more controversial than any other recall attempt? Primarily the fact that the push to drive Florida out appears to be coming from forces outside of her ward.
Douglas Duckworth, one of the organizers of the recall attempt, said that the reasons why Florida should be ousted transcend the boundaries of her ward.
"If we do not unite citywide and help neighborhoods in need, especially ones where the voters are working-class with little time for activism, then the political machine will never be stopped, and reform will not take place," said Duckworth, who does not live in Florida's ward.
The central rallying point for the recall effort is a controversial McDonald's drive-thru restaurant development on South Grand Ave.
Fifteenth Ward residents and their supporters from other parts of the city have protested the plan, calling it a poor use of land and tax credits. Even a neighboring alderman, Craig Schmid (20th Ward), has broken with the practice of "aldermanic courtesy" and spoken against the project. But Florida has stood by the project saying it is vital to the revitalization of that area.
In City Hall last week, Florida told PUB DEF that the plans for the McDonald's are sensitive to the neighboring homeowners. She also said that the McDonald's plan was the best that had been offered for that area. "(Those opposing the development) haven't offered an alternative," she said.
But Duckworth says that Florida isn't listening to the people that are opposing the plan, which was proposed by Pyramid Development. "Florida is in the pocket of Pyramid, which explains why she is not listening to her citizens," he said. He points to campaign contributions made in 2004 as proof.
He and others met yesterday at St. Matthew's Church (which is not located in the 15th Ward) to address a meeting of the Gravois Park Neighborhood Association. They announced the recall effort and said that they had a list of 15th Ward registered voters.
Duckworth estimated that approximately 1,400 signatures would be needed to get the recall question on the ballot. He said they collected about five signatures at yesterday's meeting.
In a phone interview today, Florida told PUB DEF that she was "hurt" and "upset" by the news of the recall effort. She said she believes she has worked hard for the residents of her ward. She is shocked that people would attempt a recall over this one issue.
"I wish they would just look at my total record and the good that I've done for my area," she said. "I haven't done everything right, but I've tried my best."
Florida said that when she sponsored a bill last year asking voters to amend the City Charter to change how recalls were done, she never thought it would apply to her.
"I thought I could get away with it because it's something that happens primarily on the north side," she said. "I didn't think it was something that would affect me."
She said that there are many areas of town that would fight to have a new McDonald's built in their neighborhood, not fight against the person bringing it to them. She said the real benefit to the corner of S. Grand and Gravois is the new senior living center that moving the McDonald's across the street will make way for.
Florida said the real issue in that neighborhood is crime and bringing new residents and development will help ease that.
You can read more about the McDonald's controversy at www.NoDriveThru.com, which leads to a thread of postings on the issue by blogger Steve Patterson.
Bond, Slay join HUD Secratary to praise city's lead paint efforts
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, May 08, 2006 at 4:06 PM
Senator Kit Bond (R-MO), Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson, Children’s Health Forum (CHF) Founder and Chairman Dr. Benjamin Hooks, and CHF Co-Chair and former Congressman and Vice Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp joined Mayor Francis Slay and Lead Safe St. Louis for a press conference today on the city's efforts to fight lead poisoning in children.
Sec. Jackson praised the success of Sen. Bond in earmarking federal funds for lead programs for St. Louis. He said when it comes to fighting lead poisoning in children, "no one has been more forceful than Senator Bond."
In a time when many people are talking about limiting the power of government officials, Jackson said Bond has used his power in this area to benefit the effort to fight lead poisoning. "I'm sure glad Senator Bond has seniority and Missouri doesn't have term limits," said Jackson.
But some people say much more needs to be done. "Notwithstanding the funds we have gotten, we need more," said Kathleen Logan Smith from Health and Enviromental Justice St. Louis. Her organization has been putting pressure on the city to target the financial resources to the areas most vulnerable to the effects of lead.
"We need more accountability for the funds that we do have." She said many of the communities that need the funds the most are not getting them. "We've been asking the city for data and outcome measures for years."
She said that Lead Safe St. Louis, the city's lead fighting unit, have not been very cooperative. "They tell a great story, but when we ask them for the evidence to prove it, that's when we encounter blocks."
Today's event was at 3624 Arsenal Street at a house across the street from Tower Grove Park, in the 15th Ward. Also in attendance was Ald. Jennifer Florida, Anheuser-Busch Executive Wayman Smith; political consultant Tim Person; and Harold Brown, assistant to Sen. Pat Dougherty.
Barnes purchase of Forest Park land passes its first hurdle tonight
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 9:48 PM
The St. Louis City Planning Commission tonight approved a proposal that would allow Barnes Jewish Hospital to purchase or lease a portion of Forest Park. The proposal still faces several hurdles and vocal opposition from several elected officials and numerous city residents.
More than a dozen people, including representatives from Comptroller Darlene Green's office and the office of Aldermanic Board Pres. Jim Shrewsbury, spoke against the plan at a public hearing tonight in City Hall.
Deputy Mayor of Development Barb Geisman, who is also a voting member of the Commission, spoke on behalf of Mayor Francis Slay, who supports the plan.
"Many people don't even know this land is part of Forest Park," said Geisman. She also pointed out that Barnes is one of the largest employers in the city and has been a good neighbor in the Central West End.
Jim Garavaglia, from the Comptroller's office, told the Commission that the details of Barnes' plan still are not known. "Their intentions are unclear, unspoken and should be revealed to both the City and the community," he said.
He also pointed to the fact that the appraisal being used to determine the value of the 12 acres being considered is more that a year old. He said the Comptroller has authorized a new, more accurate appraisal of the land that should be available in two to three weeks. He and others asked the commissioners to hold off on a vote until that new appraisal came in.
The vote was 7 to 4, with one abstention. The plan will still have to be approved by the three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment before it is finalized. That board is made up of Slay, Shrewsbury and Green.
"After careful review of House Bill No. 1944, we have concluded that our coalition of Missouri citizens is opposed to the passage of this bill by your assembly," MEDAC said. "It is MEDAC’s stance that passage of this bill legitimizes the current abuses perpetuated by our local municipalities, allowing them to continue 'business as usual'."
MEDAC pointed to several provisions of the bill which seem to reaffirm local municipalities' right to take private property.
One section reads: "An urban redevelopment corporation operating pursuant to a redevelopment agreement with a municipality for a particular redevelopment area, which agreement was executed prior to August 31, 2006, shall have the right to acquire by the exercise of the power of eminent domain any real property…"
"These practices are precisely the manner in which properties are obtained today and account for one of the primary abuses of the use of eminent domain," said MEDAC.
Steve Patterson, of Urban Review St. Louis, is reporting that the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA) amended the Gravois/South Grand/Meramec redevelopment area at their April 4 meeting.
The move helps clear the way for a controversial plan supported by Ald. Jennifer Florida (D-15th Ward) to move a McDonalds drive-thru restaurant across the street from its current location on South Grand Ave.
"I spoke with Chairwoman Judith Doss," said Patterson. "I asked her if she was aware of the opposition to the McDonald's. She was not."
Patterson said Doss indicated the LCRA had a letter of support from Florida and therefore assumed there was no opposition from anyone.
"When I mentioned that none of us were aware of the April 4th meeting she said our Alderman should have told us," he said.
CLICK HERE to see an Exclusive PUB DEF Video from a recent protest of this project.
And speaking of Florida, several people have asked why PUB DEF was not at last night's school board meeting. Well, we were in Orlando. Tomorrow we'll be in Miami. We'll be back from Florida this weekend.
But don't worry, we'll be blogging like always. And we've still got eyes everywhere.
It was a busy weekend for citizen activists. Central West End residents gathered to voice their concerns and learn more information about a new high-rise development. Southside residents protested a plan to move a McDonalds across the street from its present location. And this morning, Maxine Johnson, a homeowner in the 3rd Ward, picketed in front of Bethlehem Lutheran Church to call attention to a plan by Better Living Communities (which was founded by the church) and Ald. Freeman Bosley, Sr. to use eminent domain as part of a planned redevelopment.
Click here to see more photos from Johnson's protest.
"We're not loving it!" they shouted. The protesters that gathered today on the corner of S. Grand & Winnebago said they want a McDonalds drive-thru restaurant to stay put and not move across the street behind several homes.
They say the move, which is supported by the ward's alderman, Jennifer Florida, would lower property values and change the character of the neighborhood.
In a joint report with UrbanReviewSTL.com, we present the following exclusive video from today's event. Click here to see more exclusive PUB DEF photos from the protest. Click here to read Steve Patterson's complete story.
Click here to see more exclusive PUB DEF photos from the protest.
Approximately 100 Central West End residents gathered in the Schlafly Branch library this morning to listen to Ald. Lyda Krewson (D-28th Ward) and representatives from developer Opus Northwest present a revised plan for a new high-rise condominium to be built on the corner of Lindell and Euclid.
In a joint report, Steve Patterson, of UrbanReviewSTL.com, has the story and PUB DEF has the photos. Click here to read the full story. Click here to see 45 exclusive PUB DEF photos.
The Missouri House of Representatives is expected to take up House Bill 1944 today. The bill makes changes to the use of eminent domain in the state. Some supporters of reform say the bill doesn't go far enough. While opponents, including the City of St. Louis and several utility companies, say it goes too far.
Several amendments to the bill are expected to be offered today.
UPDATE: The House has perfected the bill with several amendments. Click here to read the summary of the perfected bill. Click here to read the full bill.
