The St. Lous Observer: October 22, 2021
SLU program sees boost in post-incarceration employment; City leadership initiative addresses racial inequities in COVID vaccine distribution; North City demands answers from Paul McKee
Editor’s Note
The Mayor of St. Louis has changed, but her newly-appointed City Counselor is still defending the Board of Alderman’s obstructionism and refusal to embrace transparency & accountability. At the time of writing this note, the Board President, Lewis Reed, is the defendant in several lawsuits filed under RSMo. 610, the Missouri Sunshine Laws. In each suit - one related to airport privatization records, another linked to a sham “caucus” meeting called by Reed, and yet another alleging that he violated voters’ First Amendment rights - Reed is accused of intentionally and purposefully obstructing government transparency and accountability. Reed was even sued in 2017 by colleague Alderwoman Cara Spencer, for refusing to disclose a copy of a kickback-heavy lease for the then-Scottrade Center. Through three mayors and half a dozen City Counselors, Reed has represented a last-resort effort to protect St. Louis’ “Old Guard” - the right-leaning Democrats and centrist Republicans who led the City from the shadows for decades, flaunting excessive wealth, Veiled Prophet-rooted business connections, and stale ideas that served only a few.
Charged with representing the People of St. Louis, the St. Louis City Counselor’s Office has not only zealously and aggressively defended Reed, but has approved of Reed’s actions and has asserted that refusing to disclose open, public records is acceptable behavior. As newly-appointed City Counselor Sheena Hamilton gathers her bearings on the Office, rife with chaos and bizarre legal positions, residents of St. Louis should pay close attention to her next moves.
While the City Counselor’s Office has no control over the Circuit Attorney’s Office’s strategy of recommending high, unaffordable bail, or the living conditions inside of City jail facilities, Ms. Hamilton does hold a lot of power in ensuring government accountability and transparency. Through enforcing the provisions of RSMo. §610 within the City’s own departments, Ms. Hamilton stands to affect change that no other City Counselor has before, and she should start with the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
In the News
Police and prosecutorial accountability in the St. Louis region
A St. Louis City Judge has acquitted a St. Louis County police officer who struck a 12-year old Black child, killing her while “trailing” a suspicious vehicle into City limits and outside of his jurisdiction. In the judge’s order, he noted that the child was not standing at a stoplight or crosswalk and further disregarded the officer’s excessive speed of 58 mph in a 30 mph zone. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joel Currier]
In its search to find a new Chief of Police for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Mayor’s Office has been hosting listening sessions via Zoom to collect feedback from residents on the qualities of the next police chief. Another virtual listening session is scheduled for October 26 at 6:00 p.m. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Taylor Tiamoyo Harris]
A request by Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to appoint special prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office to three death penalty cases was denied by a judge. Gardner - who has claimed that while she personally is against the death penalty, her office considered state executions to be a “tool in her toolbox” - originally asserted a non-specific conflict of interest, which turned out to be a backlog of cases and a lack of experience within her office. Gardner also has the option to decline to prosecute cases under the death penalty and retains the choice to seek life sentences without the possibility of parole. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Joel Currier]
The Bail Project has left St. Louis City after nearly four years of providing bail and pretrial assistance, and it remains in St. Louis County and St. Charles County. In the City, local leadership has shifted its focus to the Freedom Community Center, which tracks data and outcomes within the criminal legal system and facilitates transformation programs for offenders, a service that jails and prisons do not offer. [St. Louis American/Dana Rieck]
Community activists, City leadership advocate for programs to address root causes of violence, racial inequities
Transformative Workforce Academy, a St. Louis University initiative to decrease recidivism, has been hosting online job fairs for persons soon-to-be-released from incarceration. So far, the program has placed approximately 86% of its participants with a job within two months of a job fair. [Missouri Independent/Rebecca Rivas]
The City of St. Louis is participating in a nationwide effort to implement local reparation programs to address the racial wealth gap in our area. With federal data showing that white St. Louis families own $184,000 in wealth while Black families own $23,000 in wealth, programs being considered locally could target housing inequality and valuation across wards, as well as potential mortgage relief. [St. Louis Public Radio/Chad Davis]
City public health leaders met to address the racial disparities in COVID-19 vaccination distribution and how to overcome vaccine hesitation within the Black community and communities of color. Leadership plans to meet with schools and pediatricians to coordinate on vaccinating children ages 5 to 11, as expected approval for this vulnerable age group is expected in the coming weeks. Between 35 - 45% of residents in majority-Black zip codes have been vaccinated, compared to 59 - 66% in the majority-white zip codes. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Michele Munz]
Protecting Black history in St. Louis
The Father Dickson Cemetery, a historic Black cemetery in North County, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places after decades of organizing and advocating for the site. The cemetery is 12 acres and serves as the final resting place for 12,000 people, including Underground Railroad conductors, victims of lynchings, formerly enslaved persons, and military veterans. The site had been the target of numerous real estate developers, as well as neglect, dumping, and other abuses. [St. Louis Public Radio/Emily Woodbury]
Community leaders and activists are demanding a meeting with Paul McKee, the billionaire developer who is seeking to name his private, three-bed medical facility after Homer G. Phillips. McKee has deferred to his attorney, former Lacy Clay staffer Darryl Piggee, and both Piggee and McKee have refused to meet with North City residents to discuss the appropriation of the name of Homer G. Phillips. [St. Louis American/JoAnn Weaver]
As part of the development around the Major League Soccer stadium, a new one-mile stretch of walkable greenway will be installed to memorialize Mill Creek Valley, the historically Black neighborhood that previously stretched across the area. The neighborhood of nearly 20,000 was displaced to build the highway through midtown St. Louis in the name of “urban renewal.” [St. Louis Public Radio/Corinne Ruff]
Further reading
The controversial NextDoor-based “car door tampering ban” has gone into effect without the signature or approval of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. Introduced by 16th Ward Alderman Tom Oldenburg, the bill was heavily criticized for its focus on protecting property-based crimes and its required jail time and heavy fines for repeat offenders. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mark Schlinkmann]
The Federal Reserve has estimated that low- and moderate-income families will take years to recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic distress has been cited as disruptions to small businesses, childcare services, and financial stability in the wake of the pandemic, and most workers are still in a worse position than before the pandemic. [St. Louis Public Radio/Corinne Ruff]
The Uhuru Solidarity Movement, a coalition of white St. Louisans working with the African People’s Socialist Party, rallied in support of Black reparations and focused on raising money for a basketball court at Tower Grove Park. Basketball courts historically have been removed from City parks as neighborhoods have gentrified and aldermen from predominantly white wards have relied upon racist language and positions to support the removals. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Valerie Schremp Hahn]
A Kansas City-based organization has partnered with the U.S. Department of Justice to revive and strengthen a violence reduction program. The newly-relaunched Community Safety Partnership focuses on “enhanced community engagement and streamlining victim-witness support services.” [Missouri Independent/Emily Wolf]
An Illinois federal court has tossed a proposed redistricted map that was drawn and signed into law before official U.S. Census numbers were released. The lawsuit, filed by State Republicans and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), alleged that the proposed redistricted maps were unconstitutional, and the court accepted a second proposed set of maps as a “starting point” to complete the task of redistricting. [St. Louis Public Radio/Peter Hancock]
After a year of protests in the name of racial equality and addressing historical atrocities, only one statute (of Christopher Columbus) was removed and no street or park names have been revised, despite promises from City and County leadership. University City’s task force has suggested the renaming of four streets, but like other municipalities, has claimed that altering the street names will have unspecified costs to residents and businesses. [St. Louis Public Radio/Eric Schmid]
Quote of the Week
“The charter school initiative was forced upon the City of St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri. This community never asked for it, this community has never had enough input on the state level to make sure that it was equitable in process and requirements in the education realm. As we all know, if we take time to look, 95% of the charter schools have test scores below St. Louis Publis Schools. It is a sin. We have gone through trauma after trauma with children and families going to these schools...nobody can tell me that there is appropriate oversight of these [charter] schools. Nobody can tell me that the adequacy of those who are supposed to be administrating those schools is up to par…”
Alderwoman Marlene Davis (Ward 19), during the October 22 Board of Aldermen meeting and speaking in support of Resolution 65, a Moratorium on Opening New Charter Schools (sponsored by Alderman Jesse Todd, Ward 18).
Legislative & Legal Update
City of St. Louis
BB 112, introduced by Ald. Christine Ingrassia (Ward 6), would award Deli Star Corporation a 10-year tax abatement in exchange for an average wage of more than $65,000 for its 325 employees and an MOU with St. Louis Public Schools to provide employment opportunities for students & recent graduates as a condition of the tax incentives. The bill has been passed by the full Board.
BB 61, introduced by Ald. Oldenburg (Ward 16), would criminalize the act of checking car door handles in the City of St. Louis, with a fine of $500 and potential incarceration of up to 90 days. This bill was passed 20-7-2 and was sent to the Mayor’s Office on October 1. The Mayor did not sign or veto the bill, leaving it to take effect.
BB 101, introduced by Ald. Vollmer (Ward 10) and President Reed, would allow the Board of Aldermen to redraw their own ward boundary lines in consideration of voter-approved ward reduction and recent census numbers. The bill remains in the Legislative Committee with no additional movement.
State of Missouri
The Missouri State Legislature is on recess until January 2022.