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DEF is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the
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on lawmakers, their policies, and those that have influence upon
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See more video from yesterday's State Board of Education meeting at our STLSchools.org site, including one of Commissioner Kent King discussing his frustration with the lack of parental involvement in St. Louis City.
Also read about School Board President Veronica O'Brien and her children's alleged run-in with a group of angry supporters of ousted basketball coach Floyd Irons.
Members of the State Board of Education yesterday discussed the loss of focus on the students of St. Louis Public Schools by both sides in the ongoing political battles affecting the district.
"I can remember six, seven, eight years ago when we had a great deal of concern about Kansas City and actually St. Louis was improving every year and things were looking like it might turn out to be one of the better urban districts in the country," said board member Thomas Davis of Kansas City.
"And here we sit these number of years later and St. Louis' trend line has clearly been down and decelerating faster than almost any district than we have data on," said Davis. He said that in all the discussion he has read about the current situation in the district, he has not seen a focus on student achievement.
Vanetta Rogers, the St. Louis regional board member, shared in her colleague's assessment. She said she also saw a loss of focus by the players in the ongoing soap opera that SLPS has become.
"You hear the adults -- with their factions and their views and their PACs and their whatever -- talking about who failed to agree with whom about what," she said. "But you don't hear enough about efforts to come together and try to create a single voice."
The State Board of Education is meeting today in Jefferson City. Sources tell PUB DEF to expect some kind of action regarding St. Louis Public Schools.
We grabbed a video camera and are heading to Jeff City to see for ourselves.
Developing...
BREAKING NEWS
Commissioner of Education D. Kent King today appointed the following five Missourians to a special committee that is charged with helping to find solutions to the "continuing turmoil in the St. Louis Public Schools":
Dr. William H. Danforth Atty. Frankie M. Freeman Dr. Donald Suggs Atty. Ned Lemkemeier Michael Middleton
Check back later for video from the meeting and subsequent press conference.
UPDATE 2: Here's a video of King's announcement. Read more at our STLSchools.org.
Mike McMillan is now old enough to be President of the United States. That's just one of the dreams and possibilities that was spoken aloud yesterday in the ballroom of the beautifully refurbished Coronado in Central West End.
The official occasion was the 19th Ward alderman's 35th birthday, but the feeling in the room and the weight of all the heavies in it was indicative of a much bigger event: the much anticipated arrival of the city's next political force.
McMillan will soon become St. Louis' third black citywide elected official (yes, don't let the light skin and the almost blue eyes fool you -- he's black). But no citywide elected official, not even the Mayor or the Comptroller, has the mix of cross-racial appeal, fundraising ability, and smell-it-in-the-air potential as this guy.
But then, everyone already knows that. That's why nearly everyone who is anyone in St. Louis politics came out last night to welcome his arrival.
Eating slices from a cake shaped like City Hall (why not just pass out Mayor McMillan buttons?), politicos mingled with each other and spoke of things to come.
"Someone wrote you a birthday check and, without thinking, made it out to Senator Mike McMillan," said Ida Woolfolk in her introduction of the city's next License Collector.
We could try to make a list of everyone we spotted in the crowd, but that just sounds like too much bold print. Instead, watch this music video:
Now bear witness to the charm of your future something-or-other. Here is McMillan's "thank you" speech from last night:
VIDEO: McCaskill Gets FOP Nod, Says She Supports Police Residency
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 5:43 PM
Democrat Claire McCaskill, who is looking to unseat Missouri Republican Senator Jim Talent in November, officially received the endorsement of the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police today at a press conference in front of the Eagleton Courthouse.
Butch Albert, Vice President of the FOP, said McCaskill, a former prosecutor in Jackson County, has been a valuable ally in law enforcement's fight against Methamphetamines. McCaskill said Talent, whose campaign today repeated claims that she opposed his federal Anti-Meth law, has mischaracterized her position.
Afterwards, PUB DEF asked McCaskill what her position is on St. Louis City's police residency requirement, something that the FOP and other police organizations oppose.
"I think the people of St. Louis are the ones that should decide that," said McCaskill. "I know that for some members of the FOP that's a tough stance on my behalf."
After winning the Audience Award for Best Feature at the Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington D.C., Frank Popper's documentary film on the unsuccessful 2004 Congressional campaign of Jeff Smith is premiering tomorrow at the Tivoli theater in University City.
"Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?" follows Smith, who is in the last 13 days of a tough primary battle for state senate, as he goes from mild mannered college professor to a grassroots political force that threatened to knock off one of Missouri's biggest political heirs.
Tomorrow's 7:00 showing is sold out, but we are told that some tickets still remain for the 9:30 show. Here's a clip from the movie:
And here is our earlier report on the film's possible impact on the state senate race:
The U.S. Senate passed a bill yesterday that would make it a crime, punishable by up to a year in jail, to transport a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion.
Locally that means that teens from East St. Louis, Belleville, or Centralia, for instance, would have more limited access to St. Louis abortion clinics. Missouri senators Kit Bond (R) and Jim Talent (R) voted in favor of the law, Senate Bill 403, while both Illinois senators voted against it.
Alderman and License Collector candidate Mike McMillan will be celebrating his 35th birthday tonight in the Coronado Ballroom at the Chase Park Plaza. Most of the city's big political and business players are expected to drop by. The festivities start at 5:30 p.m.
UPDATE: Oops, it's actually at the Coronado on the corner of Lindell and Grand Spring in the 19th Ward, which makes more sense.
Richard Callow is profiled in the August edition of St. Louis magazine. The mayoral advisor and public relations hired gun is described in the piece by former Post-Dispatch writer John Michael McGuire as "Machiavellian," "a snake," "creative," and enormously influential.
As much as the story is a tale of a remarkably manipulative (and therefore successful) PR operative, it is also a subtle indictment of the quality of St. Louis journalism and the perpetually sleeping watch dog that not only ignores the corruption and obvious conflicts of interest that sit under its nose like a steamy pile of poo, but whose own laziness has made it dependent on the burglar's treats.
Callow's "relationship" with his live-in whatever, Barb Geisman, the City's deputy mayor of development, is something that we and others have pointed to as a clear and ongoing conflict of interest that has cost taxpayers millions.
But McGuire also does a good job of outlining his friendships with a string of shady reporters: Jerry Berger (former Post gossiper), Mike Owens (Channel 5); Jamie Allman (formerly of Channel 4); and Jeff Rainford (Mayor Slay's chief of staff who as a reporter for Channel 4 was once involved in a botched "sting" to catch an Illinois priest with a male prostitute).
"He is like the St. Louis managing editor," one observer is quoted saying. "Most publicists work to place stories. He works to kill them," said another.
Never one to hate the player, we think that Callow's been in St. Louis 15 years -- longer than any other place he's ever been -- probably because its just so frickin' easy here. The quality of St. Louis television and print journalism is atrocious.
The greatest obstacle a corrupt public official or businessman must encounter while robbing the public trust is stepping over all the sleeping watch dogs on his way out.
Yesterday's storm-related press conference and photo op at the Wohl Recreation Center [see our earlier story] brought out many state and local elected officials. Governor Matt Blunt; Sen. Jim Talent; St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley; Mayor Francis Slay; Fire Chief Sherman George; State Rep. Amber Boykins and her husband Shaun Simms; Aldermen Terry Kennedy and Jeffrey Boyd were all present.
But some officials were noticeably absent, including Congressman Lacy Clay whose district Wohl serves. Sources in Clay's office say the Congressman was more than a little peeved that he was not invited to the event. And as it turns out, even several of the officials who were at the event were not officially notified, but rather just heard about it minutes before.
Ald. Kennedy let Ed Rhode, the mayor's communications director, know that he was not happy that he didn't get a call. "We just found out about it. They just called us," Rhode answered.
Kennedy told PUB DEF that despite the pats on the backs from Blunt and the bunch about working together during this time of crisis, they failed to involve those people on the front lines.
The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment today.
UPDATE: A spokesperson from Blunt's office called to say they rarely notify federal or local representatives of the Governor's visits. She said Slay and Dooley were only notified because their offices were the ones through which state aid was being directed.
Claire McCaskill's campaign announced today that she has received the endorsement of the Missouri State Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).
Law enforcement officers from the over 5,000 members of the FOP will join McCaskill and local Sheriffs for the official endorsement tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. in front of the Eagleton Federal Courthouse, 111 South 10th Street, in downtown St. Louis.
McCaskill, who is seeking to replace U.S. Senator Jim Talent, will also outline her plan to give local law enforcement the tools they need to "fight terrorism and make Missouri more secure."
VIDEO: Sharpton, El-Amin call on Ameren to abandon rate hike
By Antonio D. French
State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin was joined today by Rev. Al Sharpton in calling on the electric utility Ameren to drop its plans to raise its rates by nearly 18%. Facing millions of dollars of property damage and lost wages, Missourians should not be asked to pay even more for electricity and Ameren should be "corporately compassionate" and not ask them to, said El-Amin, who is running for the state senate.
"There must be a standard set, that when power companies fail, the people should not pay the tab for their failures," said Sharpton.
On July 7, AmerenUE filed requests with the Missouri Public Service Commission for rate increases for its gas and electric services. According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the company cited major investments in the infrastructure of its natural gas business and rising operating expenses as reasons for the rate increase.
State and local elected leaders gathered for a press conference and photo op at Wohl Community Center in north St. Louis yesterday. Governor Matt Blunt, U.S. Senator Jim Talent, Mayor Francis Slay, and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley thanked each other for their cooperation during the ongoing crisis that has thousands of St. Louis area residents still without electricity.
The politicians also asked the public to be patient, saying that Ameren, the electric utility, was doing all it can.
"They are overwhelmed," said Slay. He said Ameren's resources have been extremely strained by the amount of storm damage. "Why that occurred and where do we go from here, we're going to address in the future, but at this point, complaining and pointing fingers is not the way to approach it," said the mayor.
Monday's more favorable assessment of Ameren's handling of the situation contrasted with the mayor's comments in Saturday's Post-Dispatch. In that article by reporter Jake Wagman, Slay blasted Ameren officials for being "very, very vague" about when power would be restored to the city.
"They don't really promise anything specifically - I think intentionally so," Wagman reported Slay saying in a briefing to aldermen at City Hall. He later added: "This is a life or death situation."
Wagman asked the mayor about his change in tone yesterday. Slay said his position has been consistent. "The article was inaccurate," he said. Slay said Ameren was vague because they didn't want to get people's hopes up prematurely.
If you're interested in hearing audio from the entire press conference, you can download it here. It's about 20 minutes long. Check back for the full video later.
Activist and former Presidential candidate Al Sharpton will be in town today leading a protest at the downtown offices of Ameren. Sharpton and local community leaders are asking the electric utility to postpone a proposed rate increase for one year while the community recovers from last week's storms and the ongoing power outages.
The protest will be at 10:00 a.m. at 1901 Chouteau Ave.
Still getting caught up with everything now that my electricity is back on. Shot some video yesterday but haven't had time to edit it yet. Look for it later today. Will also be looking closely at the latest campaign finance reports today, so look out for that as well.
Traffic on the site has been busier than ever. More than 11,000 visits a week for the past two weeks. Did see bit of drop off when the power went out, but it's back on track since yesterday. So with exactly TWO WEEKS LEFT until the August 8 election, there is still time to get in your political ad. Shoot an email to antonio@pubdef.net to get rate information.
And thanks to Sylvester Brown for mentioning PUB DEF and this video in his Sunday column. Looks like the PUB DEF blackout might be over at the Post-Dispatch. Maybe now Steve Giegerich will start crediting our STLSchools.org when he re-reports our scoops.
