Friday, May 16, 2008

Hillary Clinton

I am a delegate to the Democratic National Convention pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton. I have endorsed her and I remain strongly committed to her candidacy for president.

Before you ask me, let me say it: If Hillary Clinton falls short and is not the Democratic Party’s nominee for president (and I very much hope she is the nominee), I would like her on the ticket.

During the course of a long public career and tough campaigns for Congress and the White House, Senator Clinton has demonstrated the leadership, grasp of issues, compassion, and toughness to serve as the nation’s commander in chief. Those are essential qualifications for president – and also, therefore, for vice president.

Friday, May 16, 2008

End Of Session

The Missouri General Assembly has ended its session, and its members are now on their way back home. As usual, the City’s lobbyists (see them named below) and I have had a busy week tracking the fate of legislation important to St. Louis and its neighborhoods.

I have written about some of this legislation here in the past.

Legislators approved and sent on to Governor Matt Blunt a bill that would add funding to Project Re-Connect, an important program I support that helps former prisoners re-enter the community as productive members and stay out further trouble; a bill that would slightly increase the amount the state reimburses the City for costs associates with state prisoners; a bill that improves the state Brownfield tax credit program; a bill that would set tougher penalties on bad scrap metal practices; and a bill that would allow the Central West End neighborhood to establish a community improvement district. These bills – none of them high enough profile to end up in a TV news story – are sorts of bread-and-butter bills that help the City deliver services and balance its budget.

A bill passed in the session’s final minutes will give taxpayers across the state the assurance that local governments will roll back their rates when property values skyrocket as they did last year.

As usual, a great deal of last-minute effort went into stopping some proposed bad changes: a plan to cut the number of circuit judges failed; an effort to make red light cameras into a taxpayer funded program from a violator funded program failed; and a plan that would created higher barriers to the right to vote also failed to pass.

A change I have hoped to make in several past legislative sessions to the state’s charter school regulations failed again this year. Since charter schools are only allowed in St. Louis and Kansas City, getting outstate legislators to understand their importance is a multi-year process. I know that we will try that one again next session.

(I want to acknowledge the great lobbying effort this session on dozens of different issues by Rodney Boyd, Brian Grace, and Megan Werner.)

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Live on the Levee

By now, most of you know that Live on the Levee has announced its summer line-up of musical acts.

Here’s the Study List my staff sent me.

July 11: Umphrey’s McGee (You might know "Push the Pig". Try "Wappy Sprayberry".)

July 12: Lonestar (You might know "My Front Porch Looking In". Try "Let Me Love You".)

July 18: O.A.R. (You might know "Crazy Game of Poker". Try "This Town".)

July 19: War (You might know "Low Rider". Try "Peace Sign".)

July 25: The Black Crowes (You might know "She Talks to Angels". Try "Walk Believer Walk".)

July 26: One Republic (You might know "Apologize". Try "Say (All I Need)".)

Aug. 1: Boyz II Men (You might know "End of the Road". Try their cover of Marvin Gaye’s "Mercy, Mercy Me".)

Aug. 2: Rusted Root (You might know "Send Me On My Way". Try "Welcome To My Party".)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Too Many Shootings

Although most sorts of reported crimes are down across the City, it seems like you can’t walk past a television these days without seeing a story about another killing. The stories – all tragedies to someone’s family, to the neighbors on a certain block, to members of a particular church congregation – have a certain sameness. Most of the victims and perpetrators are young, not well-educated, not well employed, not unknown to the criminal justice system; and they live near each other. Most of the excuses offered by the perpetrators make little sense to most of us.

Too many murders. Why can’t they (the police, the judges, the jailers, the prosecutors) stop them?

It isn’t because they don’t try – and it isn’t because they don’t care.

Chief Joe Mokwa and his commanders study crime reports looking for trends – and, when they find them, they deploy their officers to suppress the most dangerous and the most annoying crimes. The officers can’t be everywhere, but neither can the criminals.

Nearly 2,000 City employees carry guns or badges as police officers, deputies, rangers, corrections officers, marshals, or law enforcement administrators. City taxpayers pay a couple hundred million dollars every year to deter, arrest, process, try, and incarcerate bad guys. The City spends additional dollars to educate and retrain offenders, hoping to make them productive members of our community. We ask the prosecutors not to bargain criminals back onto to the streets; we ask judges not to impose weak sentences.

I have talked to every group that will listen about helping build stronger families, create better schools, occupy kids after schools, offer better training and jobs to young City residents, and get guns off our streets.

We’ve made progress, but a May of murders disguises it.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Greening the Heartland 2008

I am going to miss most of the Greening the Heartland conference (June 22 -24, America’s Center) because I will be at a US Conference of Mayors meeting – but you should not. Local businesses, teachers, developers, elected officials, and City residents interested in new energy technologies, green construction techniques, creating more sustainable communities, and the thousand policy questions that arise from those topics should register for GTH 2008.

The GTH program will include experts, discussions, training sessions, workshops, and tours.

This is the fifth year of the GTH conference, but the first time it will be held in St. Louis. I hope to be back in time to say a few words to the participants. Regardless, YOU should attend. It’s a big deal.

Pre-register here.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Fastest Growing City Businesses

Two City businesses, The National System and Trivers Associates, were honored last week by Inc. Magazine and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City in their annual ranking of the nation’s top 100 fastest-growing inner city businesses.

Trivers Associates, led by Andy Trivers, is an architectural firm founded in the City approximately three decades ago. It has remained in the City throughout its corporate existence.

NSI, led by President and CEO Mark Mantovani, is a specialized advertising and marketing agency that provides services to major corporations and their retailers, including (according to NSI’s Sharon Moore) Domino’s, Acura, Ford, Mercedes, and AB. The company purchased a building at 23rd and Locust Streets in 2003, and moved to the City from Westport with its 150+ employees in 2005. Now, the company employs 190.

Congratulations, Mark and Andy. Thanks for choosing to grow your outstanding businesses here.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Changes At The Arch

Last summer, I asked three community leaders, Bob Archibald, Walter Metcalfe, and Peter Raven, to outline a path to get us to a world-class riverfront. Their suggestions – changes to the Arch grounds inspired by the best designers, a three-block connector over the depressed lanes of I-70 and Memorial Drive, creation of an independent regional trust to pay for changes, and better programming of activities along the riverfront – are good ones. And hundreds of you have sent enthusiastic comments, letters, or emails offering refinements to those suggestions.

Today, the National Park Service will announce that it has listened to what we had to say here in St. Louis about the condition of the riverfront and its lack of access to downtown – and that they will be asking for your comments this summer.

I want to express my thanks to them for this decision (and to the Danforth Foundation for helping get to this important point) and my own very strong hope that St. Louisans will come out in significant numbers this summer to talk to the NPS at its public hearings.

Without your enthusiastic support for change, nothing will.