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DEF is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the
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VIDEO: Young Lawyers, Triplett and Smith Come Out for Barack Obama
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Friday, December 07, 2007 at 12:29 PM
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
Braving the winter weather last night, a group of young local attorneys and Alderman Kacie Starr Triplett, the local spokesperson for the Barack Obama for President campaign, came out to raise some money for the Illinois senator and talk about the importance of the upcoming Iowa primary.
Also officially coming out for Obama last night was State Senator Jeff Smith, who said it was in the interest of "domestic tranquility" that he had not come out earlier. Smith's girlfriend, Elisabeth Smith, is a John Edwards supporter. She's moved to Illinois to work on a Congressional campaign, leaving Jeff free to join the surging Obama campaign.
Hillary Clinton might have picked up more than she bargained for when she accepted the support of beleaguered mayor Francis Slay. A coalition seeking to remove him from office is moving forward with plans to protest Clinton's St. Louis appearance this weekend because he is scheduled to introduce her.
Yesterday, Sean Thompson, with the Clinton campaign, told State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, who is active with the recall effort, that there was no need for the protest because Slay was no longer going to introduce Clinton because of a "scheduling conflict."
"Upon hearing that news and confirming it myself with his office," said Thompson on a voicemail message, "I called Mr. [Eric] Vickers and talked to him and told him that the mayor would not be in attendance at the Pageant."
"It is my sincere hope that it changes the dynamic of the demonstration that you all had planned," said Thompson.
But when the Clinton campaign was unwilling to confirm in writing that Slay would not be introducing the presidential candidate, organizers moved on with their plans.
Tomorrow the Citizens to Recall Francis G. Slay, the Citizens to Support Fire Chief George, and other organizations and community leaders will hold a press conference to announce their protest plans.
"Mayor Slay, Senator Clinton's top supporter in the City, is scheduled to give the opening remarks at the Clinton Rally. Because of this, Senator Clinton is being placed on notice that protest demonstrations will take place at the rally — both inside and outside the Pageant," said the group in a press release today.
Tomorrow's press conference is scheduled for 10:00 AM in front of The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd.
The mayor's education liaison's PR event with a group of St. Louis Public Schools students Friday got a little too real when a parent asked why recently air conditioned schools were closed and sold off by the past school board supported by Mayor Francis Slay.
Robyn Wahby told parent Yolanda Nelson that the mayor's office had nothing to do with that decision, that it was entirely the decision of the school district, a separate government entity.
Despite Wahby's assertion to a parent, the mayor's office — through Wahby — was indeed very much involved in decisions made by the school boards of 2003 through 2006, including big ones like:
the decision to hire a $425 per hour New York-based corporate "turn-around" firm to run the district for a year;
the decision to close 16 schools (mostly in north St. Louis); and
the decision to outsource the district's food service and maintenance.
Of the more than 32,000 students that attend St. Louis Public Schools, only slightly more than 4,000 of them are white. Despite whites making up only 14% of the district population, two out of every five seats in some of the city's best schools — top-performing magnet schools — are reserved for white children. And because so few of their parents are choosing to send their kids to SLPS, many of those seats go unfilled, despite the fact that waiting lists of black students wanting to attend these good schools grow longer every year.
Yesterday, at a public meeting of parties in the Liddell v. The Board of Education case (the historic desegregation case which led to 15 years of court-ordered busing between city and suburban districts), teachers union president Mary Armstrong asked the parties if they would consider releasing those empty seats to black students whose families are desperate for better educational opportunities.
Armstrong said many of those families choose charter schools because they are turned away from SLPS magnets, costing the district millions of dollars every year.
In this exclusive video Armstrong mentions Mayor Francis Slay's plan to aggressively expand the number of charter schools in the city, which will put further economic strain on the district. And attorney William L. Taylor, the lead lawyer in the desegregation case, asks Armstrong her position on pay-for-performance plans for teachers.
At a panel discussion yesterday on race and politics, Shamed Dogan, a Republican candidate for state representative in west St. Louis County, slammed Congressman Lacy Clay for his stance against a white member of Congress attempting to join the Congressional Black Caucus.
VIDEO: Dogan and Nadal Spar Over Race and a "Color-Blind" Society
By Antonio D. French
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE
At a panel discussion on race and politics yesterday, Democratic State Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal and Republican State Rep. candidate Shamed Dogan sparred over Dogan's assertion that intermarriage is one of the best ways to reach a "color-blind" society.
Before his rally at Union Station Friday, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama met with a group of local elected officials at his Washington Ave. campaign office.
Local electeds in attendance included: Congressman Lacy Clay; State Auditor Susan Montee; St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley; President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed; License Collector Mike McMillan; Aldermen April Ford-Griffin and Frank Williamson; State Senator Rita Days; State Reps Rodney Hubbard, Robin Wright-Jones, and Ted Hoskins; Chairman of the City Democrats, Brian Wahby; U-City Councilwoman Hazel Erby; former St. Louis mayor Vince Schoemehl; and former state representative Betty Thompson.
VIDEO: Russell Simmons Defends the Use of Certain Words in Hip-Hop
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, October 03, 2007 at 7:25 AM
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE
During a panel discussion hosted by Congresswoman (and St. Louis native) Maxine Waters (D-CA) at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington D.C. last weekend, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons made a surprise visit and jumped into a discussion about the use of words like "nigga," "bitch," and "ho" in urban music.
Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, talked about his recent appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show, where he discussed the same topic. He said that appearance may have been a mistake because the audience already had their minds made up and weren't hearing what he had to say. Simmons soon found some panelists and audience members in D.C. also had their own strong opinions on the subject.
Simmons received some opposition from some of his fellow panelists, including a spoken word artist and actor Hill Harper, who was recently in St. Louis at a St. Louis American Salute to Excellence banquet.
The head of the Democratic Party, former Vermont governor and Presidential candidate, Howard Dean, stopped by to say a few words at the annual Missouri Walk of Fame reception hosted by Congressmen Lacy Clay (St. Louis) and Emmanuel Cleaver (Kansas City).
At a 1st Ward neighborhood meeting this morning, Mayor Francis Slay broke the news of the arrest of three youths in the shooting death of police officer Norvelle Brown.
Earlier this week, State Representative Talibdin El-Amin and his wife, Committeewoman (and former state representative) Yaphett El-Amin hosted a town hall meeting at Wohl Community Center in north St. Louis. Here are a couple of videos from that event.
PubDef.net caught up with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean at the National Urban League Convention today. We asked him what he thought about the major Republican Presidential candidates choosing not to attend the convention.
"I'm not entirely surprised," said Dean. "They didn't show up at the NAACP. They didn't show up at the National Association of Latino Elected Officials."
"Our party is the party that includes everybody — in fact, it depends on everybody in order to win. And theirs doesn't."
Sources in the Missouri State Senate have told PubDef that the President Pro Tem of the Senate, Michael Gibbons, has relieved Senator John Loudon of his position as Chair of the Senate Small Business, Insurance, and Industrial Relations Committee following his deceitful actions on the Senate floor last Thursday.
See PubDef's story on Loudon earlier today for background information.
EXCLUSIVE: Riverview Gardens is Next, DESE to Recommend Unaccreditation
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, April 23, 2007 at 11:10 AM
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE
As we reported last week, there was a rumor that the state was moving to strip the Riverview Gardens School District of its accreditation. After a week-long investigation, we can now confirm that that rumor is true.
Pub Def has obtained a copy of an April 6, 2007 letter to school district officials from Becky Kemna, the School Improvement and Accreditation Coordinator for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), in which Kemna clearly states the Department's intentions.
"As a result of the district's performance and financial situation, DESE will recommend to the State Board of Education that the Riverview Gardens School District be classified unaccredited," writes Kemna in the letter we obtained from DESE after a "Sunshine Law" request.
Riverview Gardens has been in the news recently because of the firing and subsequent indictment of its superintendent for alleged misappropriation of funds. But the letter from DESE outlines the district's larger struggles.
According to DESE, between June 30, 2005 and June 30, 2007 the district's cash on hand dropped from $12 million to just $1.6 million. "A decline of over $10 million in two years is significant," wrote Kemna. "The district will likely be considered 'financial stressed' per state law."
DESE is also concerned about the declining academic performance of Riverview Gardens' 8,000 students. According to Kemna, since the 2001-2002 school year, the district's Annual Performance Reports (APR) have shown a declining trend in the district's ability to meet state standards.
"The 2005 and 2006 APRs reflect that the district has not met enough MSIP performance standards to reach provisional or full accreditation," states the letter addressed to Interim Co-Superintendent Dr. Natalie Thomas.
Dr. Thomas told Pub Def that the loss of accreditation for the district now seems "inevitable," but the how and when of it all is still in the air. But it is exactly how — and why — Riverview Gardens is unaccredited which could make all the difference.
If the state decides to strip the district because of academic performance, the Riverview Gardens school board and officials would have two full school years to get their house in order. If the action occurs this month or next, that means they have until 2009. If it doesn't occur until June or July, then they'll have until 2010 before the state takes further action.
However, if the State Board of Education takes away accreditation for financial reasons, state law allows for DESE to step in immediately.
Dr. Thomas, who only a month ago became co-superintendent along with Dr. Rhonda Key following the indictment of former superintendent Henry P. Williams, made it clear that Riverview Gardens would prefer the first option.
"You never want to lose accreditation," said Thomas. "But we would prefer to lose it for academic achievement because it would allow greater opportunity for our community to address our district's problems."
Governor Matt Blunt will be in St. Louis today to discuss his new Campus Security Task Force, which was announced after the student massacre at Virginia Tech.
At the press conference, scheduled for 1:45 p.m. at Harris-Stowe State University, Pub Def has learned that Blunt will announce the appointment of Harris-Stowe President Henry Givens to the task force.
Yesterday Blunt announced the selection of AFT agent Michael Boxler, from Lee’s Summit, for one spot on the task force which will be lead by Director of Public Safety Mark James and Dr. Robert Stein, Commissioner of Higher Education.
Last October, Gov. Blunt drew criticism for suggesting that teachers being allowed to carry fire arms was an "interesting idea worth pursuing." UPDATE: As we reported earlier, Gov. Blunt did indeed appoint Givens to the task force. Here is the complete list of members:
The governor named the following members to serve on the task force:
Michael Boxler of Lee’s Summit – Missouri Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Kyle Brenneman of Hannibal – Dean of Student Development, Hannibal LaGrange College
Nancy Bush of Jefferson City – Center for Emergency Response and Terrorism Director, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Lynn Carter of Jefferson City – Deputy Director, Missouri Department of Mental Health
David Fedder of St. Louis – Partner, Bryan Cave
Paul Fennewald of Jefferson City – Homeland Security Coordinator, Missouri Department of Public Safety
Kevin French of Springfield – Director of Safety and Security, Drury University
Dr. Henry Givens of St. Louis – President, Harris-Stowe State University
Van Godsey of Jefferson City – Director, Missouri Information Analysis Center
Clarence Green of Maryville – Director of Campus Safety, Northwest Missouri State University
Matthew Headrick of Warrensburg – Criminal Justice Student, University of Central Missouri
James Hughes of Kirksville – Chief of Kirksville Police Department
John Jordan of Jackson – Cape Girardeau County Sheriff
Colonel James Keathley of Jefferson City – Superintendent, Missouri State Highway Patrol
John Kraemer of Cape Girardeau – Associate Professor, Southeast Missouri State University
Thomas Malecek of Town & Country – Director of Corporate Security, Brown Shoe Company
Ron Olinger of St. Joseph – Vice President of Financial Planning and Administration, Missouri Western State University
Mark Potratz of Park Hills – Director of Public Safety, Mineral Area College
Gary Snavely of Springfield – Director of Safety and Transportation, Missouri State University
Don Strom of St. Louis – Chief of Police for Washington University
Rod Surber of Joplin – Director of Public Information, Missouri Southern State University
Dorla Watkins of Parkville – Vice President for Finance and Administration, Park University
Jack Watring of Columbia – Director of University Police, University of Missouri – Columbia
Sheriff Greg White of Jefferson City – Cole County Sheriff
Chuck Witt of Columbia – Assistant Fire Chief, Columbia Fire Department
Sources tell Pub Def that Ken Franklin will be named Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party later today.
Franklin is currently an aide to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and a former state party staffer. He will be the first African-American to ever hold the influential position.
Check back later for more...
UPDATE: Over the course of several months, a field of 32 potential candidates for the E.D. job was cut down to 16, then 5, then just 3. Of those three candidates, according to Missouri Democratic Party Chairman John Temporiti, Franklin was the unanimous choice of state party officials.
Readers will recall that there was speculation that the sudden resignation of Democratic Party Chairman Roger Wilson back in January was the result of a clash between him, the Legislative Black Caucus, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, and Attorney General and Gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon over who should be the next E.D.
According to sources, all sides agreed that it was time for an African-American director, but who?
Brandon Davis, McCaskill's former political director, interviewed for the job and actively lobbied officials for weeks. But Wilson told Black Caucus members "no way" on Davis.
But it was the manner and tone in which Wilson told the Caucus "no" that some speculate quickly led to his resignation.
In February, Davis accepted a job as political director for the SEIU MO/KS State Council, taking his name out of the running for E.D. (and saving Wilson from embarrassment should Davis had been appointed despite his stern objections).
Today's appointment of Franklin both satisfies one promise to the strongest part of the Democrats' base and places the Party in the hands of a capable, well-liked director who may be able to build bridges across the state to help the Democrats retake the Governor's office next year.
UPDATE 2: It's official. At 12:45 p.m. the Missouri Democratic Party sent out the following press release.
The Missouri Democratic Party today announced that Ken Franklin from St. Louis will be the party's new Executive Director. The selection was made by Party Chairman John Temporiti and approved by the Missouri Democratic Party's Executive Committee at the quarterly state party meeting today in Jefferson City. Franklin has served since May 2005 as St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's Deputy Legislative Director and formerly ran Gov. Bob Holden's St. Louis office. Along with his experience in government, Franklin has also served as Political Director for Mayor Slay's successful 2005 re-election, Base Vote Director for Sen. Jean Carnahan's 2002 campaign, and Press Aid for Freeman Bosley, Jr.'s 2001 mayoral campaign. He has also participated in the St. Louis RCGA's Public Policy Council and the St. Louis Downtown Partnership's Legislative Affairs Committee. Franklin previously worked at the Missouri Democratic Party from 2001-2002 as the Director of Voter Outreach. "Ken's experience both in government and politics in Missouri make him the ideal choice to continue the momentum the Missouri Democratic Party has built over the last election," said John Temporiti, Missouri Democratic Party Chairman. "Ken brings both the background and enthusiasm to help Missouri Democrats win up and down the ticket in 2008 and beyond." Ken graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia with a degree in political science. Before entering government and politics, Franklin taught social studies and language arts for two years at Holy Cross School in St. Louis. Ken lives with his wife and one-year-old daughter in St. Louis, where his father, Robert, is a pastor. He replaces Corey Dillon who left in February to join the U.S. Senate office of Claire McCaskill. Franklin will be the first ever African-American Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party when he starts work the week of May 14.
A source tells Pub Def that the State Board of Education will indeed vote today to strip St. Louis Public Schools of its accreditation and will select Gov. Matt Blunt's pick to head the newly established "transitional" board to lead the district.
According to the source, Blunt's pick is Rick Sullivan, chairman of Chesterfield-based McBride & Son Homes.
Other sources tell Pub Def to expect at least two different lawsuits to be filed within 24 hours of the state's action. Pub Def will be in Jefferson City today. Check back later for video...
The following video was shot and edited by St. Louis Public Schools students who are entering the fifth day of an ongoing sit-in protest at City Hall.
This video shows most of the students' Thursday morning meeting with Mayor Francis Slay. It also shows some of the confusion and confrontation that followed the meeting.
Using tactics out of the FBI stand-off handbook, city officials ordered the air conditioning to be turned off yesterday as St. Louis Public School students, some as young as 8 years-old, waited to speak to Mayor Francis Slay about the coming takeover of the school district.
After sitting in the heat for nearly three hours, 18 year-old Howard Hughes, a senior at Roosevelt High, walked over to the two large window unit air conditioners and turned them back on. City Marshal Ron Hill quickly checked the young man, telling him he wouldn't turn his mother's air conditioning on without permission.
Hill ordered a deputy to turn the air back off.
Later in the evening, after these conditions were first reported by Pub Def and other local media, the air conditioning was turned back on.
In the matter of whether the name of a candidate for alderman should be removed from the ballot less than two weeks before the election, the Election Board today opted to leave it up to to the courts.
As we reported yesterday, supporters of Alderman Frank Williamson (D-26th Ward) sent at letter to the Election Board claiming that his opponent in the March 6th primary, H. Lee Willis, was in violation of a state law which says no person's name can appear on the ballot if he or she is in arrears for any unpaid city taxes on the last day of filing for the office. Willis confirmed to Pub Def that he did owe $786.41 in real estate taxes and $59.49 in personal property taxes to the City.
Mary Wheeler-Jones, the Democratic Director of Elections for the City, said that since it is so close to Election Day — and if the Board did remove Willis' name from the ballot there would likely be a lawsuit filed and ultimately decided by the courts anyway — the Election Commissioners today decided to leave it up to Williamson to file a lawsuit to have a judge find that Willis does not meet the qualifications for the office.
When Pub Def reached Williamson by phone, he had not yet heard of the Commissioners' decision. After we told him what happened he said he would have to discuss with his legal team his next course of action.
Following meetings with representatives from BJC, Citizens to Protect Forest Park, the Aldermanic Black Caucus, and other interested parties, Comptroller Darlene Green believes that a deal on the proposed BJC expansion plan may be reached as soon as Friday. That's according to a source in the Comptroller's office and someone who attended a meeting last night at which Green defended her position.
The meeting, which took place at the Gateway Classic Foundation, was hosted by former Mayor Freeman Bosley, Jr. and political consultant Walle Amusa. The topic was the BJC expansion plan. Most in attendance — including St. Louis American publisher Donald Suggs and St. Louis Argus publisher and MOKAN executive Eddie Hasan — blamed Green and Aldermanic President Jim Shrewsbury for killing a deal that would have meant hundreds of new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction.
We're told that many were surprised when the Comptroller herself arrived at the meeting. She was not an invited guest, but she took the opportunity to defend her position and reveal details of her ongoing negotiations which, she says, will lead to a better deal.
UPDATE 1: The Board of Estimate & Apportionment will be meeting today, but the BJC deal is not on the agenda. However, Pub Def has learned that a special meeting has been scheduled for Friday as well. At that time, it is likely that an agreement will be passed by the three-person body.
UPDATE 2: Walle Amusa, the longtime political activist and professional consultant who organized last night's meeting of African-American leaders, tells Pub Def that he accepts full responsibility for not inviting Green to the meeting.
He says the plan was for the participants to meet first to come to a consensus on what benefits to the black community they wanted to see from the BJC lease agreement. Then representatives from the group were to present those things to Green today.
Amusa said that when Green arrived unexpectedly she was still warmly greeted with applause.
"I want to thank Darlene Green for showing up and participating," said Amusa. He said he also wanted to thank the many other people that attended the meeting with less than 24 hours notice, including (in addition to those mentioned above) License Collector Mike McMillan, soon-to-be-alderman Marlene Davis, former Comptroller Virvus Jones, and others.
Amusa also added that the consensus he wished for was not difficult to reach. He said that on the first vote, there was unanimous support from the group for the BJC expansion deal as negotiated with the Aldermanic Black Caucus.
Comptroller Presses Forward, Seeks Clarification on Caucus Deal [Updated]
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 12:17 PM
PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE
Still suffering the calls of "obstructionist" from critics of her decision not to support BJC's proposed expansion plan two weeks ago, Comptroller Darlene Green is continuing with meetings to create a better deal which all sides can agree to.
This afternoon Green will be hosting the third meeting between her office and representatives of BJC HealthCare and Citizens to Protect Forest Park. This follows an earlier meeting Green had with members of the Aldermanic Black Caucus meant to clear up confusion about a deal brokered by the Caucus to ensure north St. Louis would benefit from the proposed lease extension as well. That deal has been threatened by Green and Aldermanic President Jim
