ACC Endorsements

6th Ward

The election to succeed Lewis Reed in Ward 6 is a dream for city voters. It has three serious candidates with distinct voices engaging in a spirited campaign of issues. Our first wish is that every ward such democratic vibrancy every election.

I endorse Christian Saller for Alderman of Ward 6.

I have little doubt that Kacie Triplett will be a civic contributor in the future regardless of the outcome of this election. She brought energy and raised important issues. Likewise, I was impressed with Patrick Cacchione’s reasonable and high-minded response to the controversial ward endorsement process. His character is an asset of the ward.

Still, it is Christian Saller’s experience – at the St. Louis Development Corporation, in the commercial development committee of the Tower Grove East neighborhood, and in grass-roots opposition to demolition of historic structures from single homes to landmark buildings like the South Side National Bank – which makes him the most qualified candidate. By vowing to work full-time, the residents of the ward would benefit greatly from his experience and expertise.

Finally, it’s important to acknowledge that for years, I have written about the need to pursue racial parity on the Board of Aldermen and the importance of racial power-sharing to future of the St. Louis. So it is with some regret that I am not endorsing an African American candidate in this position. But regardless of the outcome of this election, African Americans will still be under-represented on the Board, and the time is now to lay the ground for an equitable city redistricting in 2010.

President of the Board

For the position of president of the board of aldermen, the city is again lucky to have two serious and capable candidates.

I endorse Lewis Reed for President of the Board of Aldermen.

Jim Shrewsbury has been a friend of Arch City Chronicle since our struggle for survival began five years ago. He has been be a faithful returner of phone-calls, a helpful historian of political history and devoted attendant to the rules of the Board.

In Reed I find the opposite – a person with some many ideas and efforts in the air, sometimes you have to call him twice or three times to get his attention; He hasn’t been campaigning since he was teenager; and he doesn’t list professionalism of the Board as a plank in his platform.

In some respects, I wish the scientist could conjure a Reedbury president for St. Louis, but given the choice, I choose Lewis Reed because the city’s needs seem quite beyond Shrewsbury’s ambition.

The city schools need a major overhaul, and rather than join the Mayor Slay’s unprecedented attempt to correct the situation (or oppose it) Shrewsbury has shrugged off the responsibility.

The city revenue stream needs to be enhanced, but Shrewsbury is a poll-watcher who opposed the BJC deal without principle – only because it wasn’t popular.

Lewis Reed on the other hand oozes vision. Whether it’s his innovative use of development tools, or his corralling a bi-racial coalition for the civilian review board or untangling the knots of the city’s sprawling and interweaving technology divisions. He’s about more than keeping the Board off the front page. He’s about more than calculating and navigating a dream to Room 200.

And that “more” is what the city needs. The city needs Lewis Reed for President of the Board of Aldermen.