The St. Louis Observer: June 18, 2021
St. Louis celebrates Juneteenth; the Workhouse finally closes; Ways & Means fails to amend the FY22 budget
Editor’s Note1
Tomorrow is Juneteenth, officially recognized yesterday as a federal holiday since the first Juneteenth celebration in 1866. Although slavery had been abolished by Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 and the Civil War ended on May 9, 1865, Black persons remained unlawfully enslaved in the State of Texas for more than a month later, until June 19, 1865.
Alisha Sonnier, a Board of Education member of St. Louis Public Schools, notes that despite Juneteenth’s classification as a federal holiday, Black poor and working-class members do not get to take the day off from work to celebrate Black liberation, but non-Black middle- and upper-class people do. Local activist Ohun Ashe reminds us that the impacts of slavery are still very real, nearly 160 years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Recognizing June 19 as a national holiday further carries with it the risk of commercialization by corporations for further capitalist exploitation, and as Ashe points out: this holiday is not a day for white people to wear dashikis, bar hop, make social media posts, and whitewash the holiday.
Instead, as white people on Juneteenth, we should first and foremost center Black people, and educate ourselves on why Juneteenth is not true freedom for Black folks living in America. We should confront the white supremacy from which we benefit, listen to and trust Black women, and actively work to dismantle the racist systems that allow the continued oppression of Black people in the U.S., starting with making reparations. The legacy of slavery is still alive in our workplaces, prisons, and schools, and the work of abolition democracy remains unfinished.
At the end of this week’s Observer is a list of statewide Juneteenth celebrations. We ask that this weekend, to the best of your ability, that you consider attending an event in the name of Black liberation.
In the News
The Veiled Prophet continues to make headlines
Civil rights activist Percy Green criticized Veiled Prophet Queen and actress Ellie Kemper, who acknowledged her involvement in the Veiled Prophet Ball for the first time since 1999. He recounted ACTION’s infiltration of the 1972 ball, unmasking of Monsanto Corporation’s Tom Smith and local media’s subsequent refusal to publish his identity. Green called on Kemper to “publicly encourag[e] support for President Biden’s two voter rights bills and his economic Build Back Better bill.” [The Independent / Percy Green]
Intenal comments from members of the Veiled Prophet Society noted that “a vocal minority is hoping for a full reckoning on the past”. There is no indication that the Organization plans to reconcile with its racist and Confederate origins or what the “reckoning” looks like. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Austin Huguelet]
City Justice Center & the Workhouse
Emails obtained from the Mayor’s office detailed plans to keep one block of the Medium Security Institution (“MSI” or “The Workhouse”), renamed the “CJC Annex” in the new budget, with the intent to hold CJC detainees on a short term basis. The City reaffirmed its intention to close the Workhouse on the established timeline, transferring remaining detainees out of the Workhouse on June 17, but ultimately did not commit to a closure date of the CJC Annex units. [KMOV / Unidentified staff]
City Department of Corrections Officer Demeria Thomas has been accused of allowing two detainees at CJC to brutally beat a third inmate then failing to report the assault or seek medical attention for the victim. Thomas was released on house arrest shortly after her initial appearance in court. [St. Louis Post Dispatch/ Nick Robertson]
Police accountability in the St. Louis area
Former SLMPD Officer Dustin Boone was found guilty for a second time for his role in the brutal beating of fellow SLMPD Office Luther Hall during the 2017 Stockley protests. Boone faces up to 10 years incarceration and is to be sentenced in the coming months. [St. Louis Post Dispatch/Robert Patrick]
St. Ann detective Ellis C. Brown, III, was convicted by a St. Louis County jury for his use of excessive force, beating a surrendering man while making an arrest and leaving the victim with broken ribs and multiple facial injuries. Brown was released on bond pending a sentencing hearing. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. [St. Louis Post Dispatch/ Erin Heffernan]
North County municipality Bel-Ridge dissolved its police force and announced its plans to contract with the North County Police Cooperative for law enforcement services, starting July 1.2 The North County Police Cooperative currently serves seven municipalities. [St. Louis Post Dispatch/ Katie Kull]
McCloskeys’ criminal charges come to unsurprising end
On Thursday, Special Prosecutor Richard Callahan announced by a press release that his office entered into a plea deal with Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the infamous “St. Louis gun couple” who pointed a loaded assault rifle and a revolver at protesters last summer as the unarmed victims marched to former mayor Lyda Krewson’s home. In the plea deal, Mark pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault (punishable only by a $750.00 fine) and Patricia pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment (punishable only by a fine of $2,000.00). [Danny Wicentowski/Riverfront Times]
Mayor’s Office announces first phase of federal COVID relief
The first $80 million of $500 million in federal COVID relief funds has been allocated, as announced by the Mayor’s Office, including $58 million to housing & utility assistance, $11.5 million to “root cause” issues (including violence intervention programs, youth programming, and employment training), and $6.75 million to public health infrastructure. [St. Louis American / Dana Rieck]
Quote of the Week
Percy Green, recounting ACTION’s organizing around the Veiled Prophet Ball in the 1970s:
Black men and women of all colors were held back by the business deals done at the Veiled Prophet Ball historically. [I]t’s worth repeating that that’s what we were concerned about when we infiltrated the event:
We didn’t want to be a part of the ball itself. We wanted the VP Organization to be abolished altogether if the City of St Louis was to begin freeing itself from institutional white racism and become a prosperous city for all.
Legislative & Legal Updates
City of St. Louis
Mayor Tishaura Jones and Comptroller Darlene Green proposed a budget amendment that would fill the expected $5.7 million shortfall from lost federal reimbursements for detainees. Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed has refused to submit an amended budget bill back to the Board of Estimate & Apportionment, the only entity authorized to make the Board’s proposed amendments. If not passed by the Board, the FY22 budget will go into effect as passed by the Board of Estimate & Apportionment. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch / March Schlinkmann]3
Sponsored by Ald. Joe Vaccaro (Ward 23), Board Bill 19 - establishing the “Detention Facility Oversight Board” - remains in the hands of the Public Safety Committee and has not proceeded forward.
Ald. Christine Ingrassia’s (Ward 6) Board Bill 22, co-sponsored by Ald. Annie Rice (Ward 8) and Ald. John Collins-Muhammad (Ward 21), which would legislatively halt all evictions pending in the City of St. Louis is also stuck in the Public Safety Committee.
Ald. Rice has introduced Board Bill 31 to regulate the City’s use of police mass surveillance technology. This bill remains in the Public Safety Committee without further movement beyond the first read.
A resolution sponsored by Ald. Jack Coatar (Ward 7), Resolution 12, was passed by a final vote, 16-8, at the June 11 Board of Aldermen hearing. Coatar’s Resolution recommends that the Port Authority participate in an industrial revenue bond transaction with the corporation RB STL Arch LLC, which seeks to renovate the Hilton Hotel (400 Olive) at taxpayers’ expense, providing 10 years of personal property tax abatement (85% for the first five years; 50% for the remainder) and a sales tax exemption on construction materials obtained for the renovations.
Ald. Vacarro’s Board Bill 8 made it through its second reading in the Neighborhood Development Committee. This Board Bill would approve of a City-funded blight study and redevelopment plan (including five years of a 50% tax abatement) for property surrounding 3810 Watson Road in Ward 23. According to City property records and recent coverage, the real estate is owned by a financial contributor to Ald. Vacarro’s campaign.
Similarly, Ald. Marlene Davis’ (Ward 19) Board Bill 7 received a second read in the Neighborhood Development Committee for a similar plan and five years of 50% tax abatement for property surrounding 1558 Vandeventer in Ward 19, owned by 1520 S Vandeventer Ave LLC & local IT security executive Joe Gadell.
Finally, Ald. Shameem Clark-Hubbard’s (Ward 26) blight study and redevelopment plan for 5256 Vernon Avenue (owned by 5256 Vernon LLC), through Board Bill 25. This bill was given a second read in the Neighborhood Development Committee on June 11.
State of Missouri
Governor Mike Parson’s office received thirteen separate requests for special legislative sessions this fall, including attempts to strip St. Louis City of its local police control, to attack reproductive healthcare choice and life-saving medications, to address the potential loss of the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA), and more. [MissouriNet/Brian Hauswirth]
The Missouri legislature advanced two bills intended to keep young people out from being tried as adults and held in adult facilities. State Democrats also advanced an omnibus bill that would criminalize vandalism of monuments, penalize cities that cut police budgets in exchange for protection to juveniles’ right to counsel. [Missouri Independent / Rebecca Rivas]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schitt announced that his office will not seek enforcement of Revised Missouri Statute Section 610, also known as the State’s “Sunshine Laws,” against Governor Mike Parson. Despite being charged by statute to enforce Section 610 against all government departments, Schmitt likely has set the stage for a legal battle between state offices and transparency advocates for the future of public records laws in Missouri. [Missouri Independent / Tessa Weinberg]
Take Action
This week’s Take Action section includes a listing of St. Louis and other Missouri-based Juneteenth celebrations:
St. Louis
Juneteenth Cookout 2021, Fairground Park
First Annual Juneteenth Caribbean Heritage Walkathon, Forest Park Cricket Field
Juneteenth Freedom Weekend, Marriott St. Louis Grand
St. Louis County (Bellefontaine)
The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity, City of Bellefontaine
East St. Louis
Jefferson City
Juneteenth Heritage Celebration
Juneteenth Community Celebration, Jefferson City Community Center
Kansas City
This week’s Editor’s Note is brought to you by Editor in Chief Chelsea K. Merta.
This reform was responsive to an audit conducted by Nicole Galloway’s office in 2020, while she was running for governor, noting a budget deficit between the years 2016-2018.
Editor’s Note: the ongoing conflict of Board Bill 1, and the Board of Aldermen’s subsequent failure to agree to any amendments to the City’s budget, likely sets the stage for a legal battle between Mayor Tishaura Jones and Board President Lewis Reed.