October 2004
October 29, 2004
Electoral College
I try to stay away from the national politics, but thought I'd pass along this link to probably the best electoral college web-site.
Personnel Issues Reminder On Permitted Political Activity
A reminder on what political activity is permitted for Civil Service workers has been issued by Richard Frank, Director of Personnel and Secretary to the Civil Service Commission.
Frank summarized the rules on political activity (Rule XV of the Civil Service Rules) as follows:
* A Civil Service worker is permitted to make a financial contribution to a candidate’s campaign. This includes purchasing tickets to fund-raising activities.
* However, a candidate, campaign official or job supervisor may not ask, pressure or coerce a Civil Service worker in any way to make a contribution. Promising favorable consideration after an election is considered an enticement, and is forbidden by the Civil Service Rules.
A Civil Service worker:
* may be a member of a political organization (such as a ward organization) but may not be an officer of such an organization;
* may place yard signs at their place of residence;
* may put a bumper sticker on their personal vehicle, so long as the vehicle is not used for City business;
* may wear a political button or insignia, but only off the job;
* may not circulate petitions, mail or distribute literature, call voters on the telephone or work the polls for a particular candidate;
* may perform such campaign activity for non-candidate propositions, such as Charter Amendments, bond issues or tax proposals or other issued-based ballot items.
Rules on political campaign stem from the enactment of the Civil Service
Amendment to the City Charter in September, 1941. The rules, Frank emphasized, are intended to protect Civil Service workers.
Frank said any Civil Service worker who believes they are being pressured to help or to oppose any candidate is strongly urged to report the matter to the
Civil Service Commission office, 622-3403.
Personnel Department
City of St. Louis
Federer Low Blow
It's a skill really.
Timing you're meanest, nastiest campaign literature to hit the mailboxes on the weekend before an election so there's no time for a rebuttal.
It's amazing Carnahan is a free man considering the allegations in this Federer piece.
Yes for Home Rule campaign finance disclosure
About the same. Latest filing shows contributions of $120,000 from the Civic Progress PAC, plus an additional $150,000 from Anheuser Busch, $50,000 from Emerson Electric, $50,000 from RCGA and $25,000 from Regional Business Council.
Expenditures were largely voter contact: $528,656 going to Thompson Communications for media buys; a little radio (KTRS); a little print (American, Evening Whirl); and $77,400 to Tim Person and Associates for mail and lit drops.
October 28, 2004
Join ACT's One Day Army; Get Paid
Needed VAN DRIVERS on election day. Drivers will be taking voters to the polls and canvassers out. Drivers must be 25 years old or older and will be paid $125 for the day. The hours are noon to 8 pm. Training for Drivers will be at #80 Northland Shopping Center, Jennings, MO 63136, 12pm - 2pm, Oct 30, 2004.
They also need CANVASSERS who will be paid $75 for the day and must be
17 years old.
Finally, there is also a need for workers to distribute literature on Monday, November 1. Workers on this day will be paid $10/hour
People that are interested should call America Coming Together at
314.361.8989. Or Ted Kayser with the UAW at 314.713.8619.
American endorses charter amendments
Amendments are appropriate response to city's economic crisis, the American says.
Meanwhile the Political Eye takes on Vickers, Bauer, McNary and Bush.
Good news for McCaskill: You're Gonna Win.
Looking for my Business Journal column tomorrow? It's here instead.
Good News for McCaskill: You’re Gonna Win.
The old political saying – The only poll that matters is the one on election day – is often a sign of denial, a losing candidate trying to buttress supporter morale. But it might actually be true this time around. For the state-wide races where poll watchers find only the frustration of dead heats within the margin of error, turnout will be the deciding factor. This year, turnout favors the Democrats.
Across our state there continues a wicked divide between rural and urban voters. Butting heads on social issues as well as economic interests, the divide defines state politics. Claire McCaskill has said on the stump that if she can garner 42% of the out-state vote then she will win the governorship win due to the heavily-leaning Democratic urban areas. Robin Carnahan’s poll numbers show that her support in rural areas is much weaker than in urban areas even though she operates a cattle farm. A freakin cattle farm. And she, like all Democrats, still trails out-state!
If Democrats win, it will be on the backs of large turn-outs in St. Louis city, St. Louis County and Kansas City. Those are the places where America Coming Together (ACT) has been working for over a year. ACT and other Democratic surrogate groups claim to have registered over 120,000 new voters through their methodical canvassing techniques.
In Kansas City, congressional candidate Emanuel Cleaver, who was the first African American mayor of that city, is working wonders for the African American turn-out.
Much has been made of his opponent, Jeanne Patterson, spending over $3 million dollars on rounds after round of attack ads. But those attacks appear to be boomeranging and increasing black participation. Consider, Cleaver faced similar attacks during the primary and the response was stunning. In that district’s 2002 primary, about 10% of African Americans voted versus about 19% of the electorate. This year, about 34% of the African American population voted in the primary compared to 29% of the total electorate. In other words, African Americans went from voting less often by about half to voting more often than the electorate as a whole. When you consider that 92% of African Americans voted for Carnahan in 2000, these numbers clearly buoy McCaskill’s prospects.
Here in the Sat. Louis area, Democrats hope that Charlie Dooley’s bid to become the first African American county executive will also generate higher participation. St. Louis County is now home to the largest African American community in the state. There are, however, some rumblings that black support for Dooley is weaker than might normally be expected. Dooley challenged Lacy Clay for his congressional seat and some suggest that there is still some lingering effect.
In the third pillar of the Democrats’ urban stronghold, the city of St. Louis, there are controversial amendments to the charter that are creating racial friction between some factions. This, also, works to increase black turn-out.
Meanwhile the Republican Party lacks the immediacy of hot-button issues that reliably resonate with their core. The gay marriage amendment spiked turn-out in August, but will those voters return next week? The Missouri Baptist Convention which rallied social conservatives against gay marriage is distributing a voters’ guide about the presidential race. But it lacks that same fright factor; it’s doubtful it will have the same effect.
The net effect is that the urban areas will stun those practitioners of that ancient religion – polling. Look for the dead heat on paper to tilt toward the Democrats on Election Day.
Post Voter Guide
Post Voter Guide is here.
And a nice article comparing Zoellner and Kratky.
October 27, 2004
new Issue in the mail
Front Page:
Favazza for Mayor? by Dave Drebes
Small Change for Big Change: Local fundraisers lifeblood of political activity by Sreenu Dandamudi
Democrats Divided: Traditionals, "Bobos" and African Americans form three factions within one fragmented party by Umar Ben-Ivan Lee
My Thoughts Exactly: A toast to Matt Ghio
A, B, C, D deserve an F: A commentary by Don DeVivo
Damned if I do: A lifelong Catholic considers the consequences of voting for Kerry by Joe Moramarco
Ground War: The Battle of St. Louis by Dave Drebes
The Final Word: Mobile Manners by Lucas Hudson
Arch City Adventures: BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups by Lucas Hudson
And much much more including Endorsements, Who Knew, 60 Second Interview and Ends and Odds.
October 26, 2004
Globe article
Over on the Porch, they're enjoying a Boston Globe article half of them were interviewed for.
The lawyer called me and asked if I thought the Get Out editor was amused or annoyed by Bertelson's comment that St. Louis is "kind of dull."
October 25, 2004
People's Coffee wins City Hall contract
Congratulations to People's Coffee. They will be the new food operator at the City Hall cafeteria.
People's presently runs the dining service in the Civil Courts Building.
October 22, 2004
Last week's issue up
On the left hand side.
thank you diatriber.
Rewriting the Business Plan (again)
Verbage from the old one:
Geographically the core market for our product is St. Louis, mostly concentrated in St. Louis City. The city has two paradoxical identities. On the one hand its demographic identity is a study in diversity – half black, half white with vibrant and growing Hispanic and Bosnian populations. From the public housing projects to the private streets and mansions, St. Louis is economically diverse as well. This diversity of cultures creates a colorful political scene full of factions, tensions and intrigue. On the other hand, the traumatic consequence of the city’s divorce from St. Louis County in the 19th century, coupled with a population free fall – from 800,000 in 1950 to 350,000 in 2000 has created a unifying identity within this diverse population – the people who didn’t leave.
The intersection of these two identities has created highly accentuated political competition and discourse. Our political history has left the city with various political factions—representing various geographic, racial, or economic sectors of the city—and as the city has contracted, these factions have come into closer contact with each other. At the same time, the traditional political mechanisms that kept the city more or less unified no longer work. Thus, the phenomenon of the engaged citizen is one that is found across the city—in a variety of racial, economic, and political sectors—even though they may not seem the same or speak the same political language. However, what they all share is a need for basic political information, because increasingly the dictates of politics and economics call for them to work in a broader political context.
October 21, 2004
That Billboard
Billboard was paid for by GRC Capital Resource Management, LLC.
Zogby on the African American Vote
October 20, 2004
MO's Religious Right
Are they going to be as big a factor as in November?
There's no "pro-choice" in their voters' guide. You're either "pro-life or "pro-abortion." I guess it's something that they don't label people "pro-life" and "pro-death."
LPOV endorsements
League of Pissed Off Voters endorsements, compliments of Oracle.
October 19, 2004
Maggie Lampe, committeewoman of 25th ward
Maggie Lampe is the new committeewoman of the 25th Ward. We incorrectly identified her ward in our last issue.
New charter reform website
October 15, 2004
New Farmer Ad
Joe Frank Shakes an Angry Fist
Reprinted from the comments below:
Where does Burke come off proposing to close St. Pius V? Is the South Grand parish too progressive for him? They already had to close the school - in part because many of the wealthier residents fear diversity and got permission to send their kids to St. Margaret of Scotland. Burke wouldn't dream of closing St. Margaret's, with their City-funded Housing Corporation, ties to the Garden District, Flora Place and Compton Heights, Jim and Steve Conway, et al. (Bob Byrne, recently retired editor of the City employee newsletter "Newsgram", was once a St. Louis Review reporter and is a longtime St. Margaret's member).
And the worst part is the proposal to divvy up the parish along Grand - west to Holy Family and east to "a regional parish to be named later" housed at the current St. Wenceslaus. Thanks to Martie Aboussie, St. Wenceslaus is preserved even though it's not the most beautiful church and has one of the smallest parishes geographies currently (about 12 city blocks mostly in Benton Park West).
I live in the St. Wenceslaus parish, but I don't support these moves. Closing St. Francis de Sales except for Latin mass is just criminal - so much for the "Cathedral of South St. Louis." So does that mean St. Agatha's (current home of Latin masses) closes completely?
Also the proposals will now leave the entire historic Carondelet neighborhood without an active parish, as both Sts. Mary and Joseph as well as St. Boniface will close.
Do you realize that many of the parishes and schools being closed are being consolidated into parishes that were branches off of them!? For example, in Affton, St. George at Heege and Gravois closed its school, merging with several others nearby, all of which were splits off from St. George in the 1950s.
Even St. Raphael's in St. Louis Hills was a split off from St. George back during those boom years. St. Raphael, home to many high-level city bureaucrats, just did a major capital campaign. St. George - a beautiful church similar in style to St. Ambrose on the Hill - may not be around much longer, it seems.
My great-grandfather donated his farm to the Archdiocese in the mid-1950s to provide a site for St. Timothy's, a recently closed parish on Union Road and a split off from St. George. My grandmother was for her entire 80+ years an active member of St. George, and both my parents went to school there in the 1950s. I was baptized there in 1978, although never confirmed.
While I have never been a practicing Catholic, I still care about the people who rely on these institutions as the glue of the community. While I recognize that money is tight and priests are in short supply, this looks like politically motivated consolidation. Conservative and machine-type Democrats win; progressives and working-class communities lose. And that is infuriating.
Delores Disses Lizz, Seeks Refund
October 14, 2004
Daly: Slay OK
Despite opposing the charter amendments that Slay is backing, Greg FX Daly calls himself a "Slay guy." Daly says that the charter battle will create no permanent riff between the mayor and the county office-holders, like Daly, who share his southwest city base.
Daly is giving a fundraiser for Slay on November 16.
Catholics for Kerry
Catholics for Kerry, Answering the Call to Faithful Citizenship. This Saturday October 16, 5pm, Carpenter's Hall, 1401 Hampton. Hosted by the St. Louis Democratic City Central Committee. Speakers at this event include Mayor Franics Slay and Congressman Lacy Clay
Faithful Citizenship is the Catholic document produced by the U.S. Bishops that contradicts Burke's narrow "here are the only important issues" philosophy.
The document strikes a much more tolerant tone toward Catholics forming their own conscience than Burke's pastoral letter which clearly states exactly who God wants you to vote for.
For example: "People of good will and sound faith can disagree about specific applications of Catholic principles."
Or "The Christian faith is an integral unity, and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church's social doctrine does not exhaust one's responsibility towards the common good."
Text from the Sheriff's Website
Before it was deleted, here is what it said:
Reasons why charter reform is bad for the City of St. Louis
Certain special interest groups, calling themselves "Advance St. Louis", have
spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy signatures to place on the ballot
in the City four amendments to the City Charter. They now want City voters to
vote in favor of these amendments. The end result of these four proposals is
that by controlling one person - the Mayor - the business elite can control the
City of St. Louis. This package is more aptly termed "the one guy to buy"
package.
Discussed below are reasons why the "Advance St. Louis" proposal is bad for the City of St. Louis.
1. The "reforms" will result in an incredibly powerful Mayor with virtually no
checks and balances.
The proposed reforms will give the Mayor:
- control of a greatly weakened civil service,
- complete fiscal control of the City,
- unilateral control over all City contracts, and
- control over selection of bank depositories.
This is power that former Mayors only dreamed of having. This power will
completely stifle legitimate debate over City issues and lead to total decision-
making logjams. In the hands of a bad Mayor, this level of power will spell
complete disaster for the City. The power should be kept in the hands of the
citizens.
2. The "reform" will lead to a loss of control by neighborhoods over local land
use decisions.
One reason St. Louis has endured as a very livable city is that citizens and
neighborhood groups are close to their Alderperson. This closeness has resulted
in the Alderpersons and neighborhood groups working together to stop harmful
land uses (i.e. unwanted bars, 3:00 a.m. liquor licenses, pawn shops, big box
stores, drive throughs, homeless shelters, drug rehab centers, halfway houses
for inmates, check cashing agencies, etc.)
A cornerstone of the so-called reforms is increasing the number of citizens
that an alderman will represent. Currently each Alderperson represents
approximately 12, 435 citizens. If the proposed Charter amendments are
approved, this will rise to 23,212 citizens per Alderperson. The result will be
distant elected officials making critical decisions. The people and the
neighborhood groups will not be as important.
For purposes of comparison, in Clayton each council person represents only
2,656 residents; in Richmond Heights 1,200 residents; in Creve Coeur 2,063
residents; in Maplewood 1,538 residents; in Olivette 1,860 residents.
3. The "reforms" will gut protections currently in the City Charter which
protect City employees from politically driven chicanery.
Since its inception in the early 1940s, the St. Louis Civil Service system has
protected City employees from politically motivated abuses. As a result, the
City has avoided major scandals among its civil servants. These civil servants
protect the citizens from having tax records, including earning tax records,
disclosed to the prying eyes of politicians; from having building inspectors
close their eyes to code violations of politically protected building owners;
from pressuring health inspectors to close their eyes to unsanitary conditions;
from pressuring tax assessor's to go easy on their friends; and from pressuring
City attorneys to go easy on politically connected defendants.
The "reforms" will remove most of the provisions protecting City employees from the City Charter, allowing the now-shrunken Board of Aldermen, the Mayor, and his handpicked civil service commission, to totally change the system with no way for the citizens to stop them.
4. The "reforms" will reduce diversity in elected officials.
Besides eliminating 13 Alderpersons, the "reforms" mean the people would no
longer elect eight citywide elected officials (President of the Board of
Aldermen, Collector of Revenue, License Collector, Treasurer, Circuit Clerk,
Sheriff, Public Administrator, and Recorder of Deeds). One of only two citywide
elected African-American officials, the City Treasurer, will be removed from
office as of January 1, 2005, and the only other African-American elected
official will have her powers greatly diminished.
5. The "reforms" will result in runaway spending.
Although under financial stress for years, the City of St. Louis has managed to
avoid the fiscal bankruptcy which has hit New York City, Philadelphia,
Cleveland, and East St. Louis. A reason for this is the existence of checks and
balances which provided an independent Board of Estimate and Apportionment, an independent Comptroller, and the City Charter prohibition on the Board of
Aldermen to increase the amount of money proposed to be spent on a particular budget item.
The "reforms" will remove all checks and balances - concentrating all power
into the hands of the Mayor and unleashing the Alderperson to pursue whatever
spending whims they wish.
In a city with a delicate fiscal position, these so-called reforms could easily
spell financial disaster.
6. The "reforms" will magnify the role of money in the City of St. Louis'
political campaigns.
In the current structure, it is possible for a neighborhood leader with limited
access and money to run a successful campaign for Alderperson. The Advance St. Louis proposals will end that.
In the greatly enlarged districts, a great deal of money will be needed by a
candidate to get their information in front of the voters.
Where will that money come from? From the business elite and developers who are supportive of these changes.
Conclusion
The entire package of Advance St. Louis proposals must be defeated. They are
bad for City residents, bad for City employees, and bad for the City. They do
nothing but dilute the power of the average citizen and increase the power of
the business elite and their handpicked politicians. Do not let them have
only "one guy to buy". Protect your rights. Vote NO on all four charter reform
proposals.
October 13, 2004
Burke's short list
New issue is in the mail.
Due to a production error, "the pledge of faithful Catholics" appears on page 9 of the issue without the accompanying commentary.
Commentary:
I Pledge Allegiance to the Archbishop’s Short List
Beyond the usual familial cat-pawing that precedes elections, there does appear a mild civil war looming among the Catholic faithful in St. Louis. The conservatives, on the one hand, wave Archbishop Burke’s “pastoral letter” like a flag while moderates on the other insist that issues like access to healthcare and the war in Iraq are legitimate issue. (The liberals have long since left the reservation.)
Following Burke’s lead, some parishes are circulating something akin to a pledge of allegiance. It asks faithful Catholics to affirm Burke’s world-view which comes off as that of a detached philosopher/bishop. Its dependence on moral abstractions to navigate the world borders on inhumane. One must be blind to obvious suffering of our fellow human beings to declare same sex marriage a graver and more pressing moral issue than hunger, homelessness or the war.
Additionally his teaching that the death penalty is sometimes justified is a half-reading of Church doctrine. According to Catholic teaching the death penalty is only justified if society lacks the resources to imprison the offender for life. In other words, in the United States of America in the 21st century, the death penalty is always wrong. But it still doesn’t make the short list.
Kerry Pullout II
A little more information: Kerry actually only had about 60 people on the ground, not the 100 I suggested yesterday. My mistake. They will keep some people here to answer phones, maintain some facade of activity.
However, there were expectations of a major ($700,000 - $800,000) GOTV effort from the DNC which will not occur.
That hurts all the Democrats on the ballot.
October 12, 2004
Vital Voice accuses Federer campaign of gay baiting
Is the Federer campaign gay baiting voters? asks Vital Voice's Pam Schneider.
October 11, 2004
Adios Kerry
The word on the street is that the Kerry decided today to pull out of Missouri. Most of the 100 or so Kerry campaign workers will be gone by the end of the week. Many to Ohio and other swing states.
A well-placed Democratic Party operative calls the move "short-sighted particularly in light of the potential to develop a top-notch farm team of state-wide office-holders. I'm not sure if the national party is aware of how hard Missouri activists have worked to register new voters," referring to ACT's 120,000 newly registered voters.
In case you were wondering where the Sheriff stood
On the charter amendments, that is.
UPDATE: Well, it's gone. I guess someone decided it wasn't a good idea.
I'm back in town, btw, so there should be more updates this week.
October 07, 2004
Pick your Pavilion
Tomorrow in Tower Grove Park, Friday Oct 8.
For the conservatives: Sandra Chance, the Republican candidate for the 63rd State Representative District, is hosting a "meet and greet" picnic lunch at the Turkish Pavilion in Tower Grove Park, from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. The Turkish
Pavilion is the large red and white striped dome just off the center circle of Tower Grove. There will be FREE food and soft drinks available for lunch, and Sandra will be there to answer your questions about her campaign and the
issues affecting the district. For more information, call 314-664-6537.
For the liberals: Amy Doll, owner of Loanscapes, ShowMe Equality, Left Bank Books and others are hosting a Family Picnic at the Sons of Rest Pavillon from 11AM-2PM. There will be free food, soft drinks, music, entertainment and speeches by local members of the LGBT community. Members of Marriage Equality California will be stopping by on their way to the large rally in Washington DC.
Howard Dean, next week
Look for Dean to swing back into town next week for events with Bekki Cook and Robin Carnahan.
Something Smells at the Post
To: PDCompany, Corporate
cc:
Subject: Unpleasant Odor being addressed
There is an unusual and unpleasant order throughout the building and the
maintenance staff is working diligently to address the problem. Your
patience and tolerance is appreciated.
UPDATE: It is a city-wide stench, according to Jake Wagman.
October 06, 2004
Memo to the Pro-Life Community
Memo to the Pro-Life community: Stop deluding yourself.
Voting Republican won’t save unborn lives.
The Republican Party either can’t or won’t outlaw abortions. Furthermore, their social and economic policies tend to increase the likelihood that pregnancies will be terminated. It’s time to think about the unthinkable – joining the Democratic Party.
Republicans say they want to overturn Roe v Wade and make abortions illegal. So why haven’t they? They control the White House; they control the Senate; they control the House of Representatives. And before you blame those crazy liberal, out-of-control activists judges, let’s remember Republican presidents have appointed seven, count’em seven, of the nine justices on the Supreme Court.
So instead of living a fantasy where “hunt’em down, smoke’em out and fry’em” pro-life Bush wins re-election and appoints that critical eighth Republican justice to overturn Roe V Wade, join reality. The weather is beautiful today and there are opportunities for progress on this and other issues.
First, while you wait for the Republicans to muster the political will to follow through on their campaign rhetoric, embrace an intermediate goal of reducing the number of abortions.
But be prepared for a shock. Those awful anti-life Democrats actually do a better job at protecting unborn life than the God-fearing, born-again pro-life Republicans. The number of abortions was basically constant through the twelve years of Reagan and G.H. Bush. It fell in the Clinton years. The percentage of pregnancies that ended in abortion fell from 27.3% in 1992 to 24.3 % in 2000.The number of abortions fell from 1.6 million in 1992 to 1.3 million in 2000, down to the lowest it had been since another Democrat was president.
There aren’t statistics available yet for G.W. Bush’s time in office to determine whether this trend has again reversed course. But the evidence from the Clinton years is clear. Pragmatic, progressive politics (increased funding for sex education, economic policies that attack poverty) can reduce abortions. And the evidence from the previous twelve years of Republican leadership is equally clear. A plank in a platform doesn’t reduce abortions. All it does is foster the appearance that Republicans are more interested in campaigning against the evil of abortion than in actually ending abortion.
It’s time for the pro-life community to reassess which party deserves their support. One party tells you what you want to hear, but doesn’t have any results to show. The other says all the wrong things, but is successful in reducing the number of abortions. Which one is more pro-life?
October 05, 2004
As if on Cue
Nancy Farmer announces that she is finally doing TV.
The script reads like a Mister Rogers episode.
Party with Kerry after the debate
John Kerry will be heading over to Art Hill in Forest Park after the debate Friday.
or Breakfast with Bush. (For a mere $12,000)
You won't see any Post reporters at the Pearl Jam concert tonight
Thanks to Old Tasty for alerting me to this on the Poynter forum.
From: Charles Arms on 10/01/2004 02:18 PM
To: PD Newsroom
cc:
Subject: Dispatches 10/1/04
October 1, 2004
Politics & Concerts
If you read Poynter industry news, you will be familiar with this newsroom issue and debate: Concerts that benefit political campaigns and parties. The question: Is it ethical to attend a concert for which the cost of the ticket goes directly to a partisan political organization.
This affects us the week of Oct. 2. The Vote for Change Tour hits the Fox Theater on Tuesday night with Pearl Jam, Death Cab for Cutie and Gob Roberts and Wednesday night with the Dixie Chicks and James Taylor. Proceeds from the concerts benefit MoveOn PAC, the sister organization of MoveOn.org and America Coming Together. Both groups, according to their own websites, seek to defeat President Bush and elect Democrats up and down the ticket.
Our ethics policy offers strong guidelines:
Journalists should not run for or hold public office or publicly demonstrate support or opposition to a particular political viewpoint except in the area of Newspaper Guild-related activities. Campaign contributions, either cash or in-kind, should not be made.
Journalists should avoid becoming involved in demonstrations about controversial public issues or publicly taking sides or joining advocacy groups related to those issues. Public demonstrations would include, but not be limited to, rallies, marches, signing petitions that advocate a controversial position, erecting yard signs, using bumper stickers or wearing pins, T-shirts or similar items.
A number of newspapers have banned all newsroom staff members from attending these concerts, including the Washington Post, Rocky Mountain News, Sacramento Bee, and Minneapolis Star Tribune. The reasoning: The price of the ticket--in this case ranging from $47.50 to $67.50--goes directly to a political campaign. Our ethics policy says: Campaign contributions, either cash or in-kind, should not be made. Our ethics policy also recognizes individuals' 1st Amendment rights.
That's why we:
Strongly encourage you to stay away from these two concerts on Oct. 5 and 6.
Are not making an absolute ban on all newsroom staff.
If you do attend, however, understand this: You cannot participate in local or national election coverage in any way--whether it's writing stories, editing copy, writing headlines, taking photographs, or designing pages. If you attend, we expect you to tell your supervisor so we don't inadvertently put you in an unacceptable position.
In effect, some staff members are banned: those of us directing political coverage and/or involved in political coverage this year. News reporters, columnists, photographers, graphics journalists, editorial writers, news copy editors and designers, wire editors, mid-level and senior editors throughout the division, and all news assignment editors absolutely should not attend these concerts. Reporters or photographers covering or reviewing the concert may attend as part of normal news coverage.
Basically, the issue is this: We cannot compromise our journalistic integrity. If you have questions, please holler. More of our ethics policy related to this particular issue is below.
Nancy Farmer Blues
Sitting at home watching TV.
Kit Bond is on, talking at me.
Farmer ain't no place to be seen.
I got the Nancy Farmer Blues...
Every three or four days I get an email from the Farmer camp explaining how the Kit Bond commercials I'm seeing are wrong or false.
Farmer is responding to Bonds ad on her website! To believe that people will watch the Bond commercials and then go to her website for a response is fairy land campaigning. She needs to get on TV.
"She doesn't have as much money as Bond." Well, it's hard to find donors when you're way behind in the polls, there's less than a month to go, and you're fighting TV commercials with email.
The Road Not Taken: Go on the air early, hard for a week in September. Hope that it gives you a bounce in the polls. Use the bounce to convince donors that you really can win and raise more money to go head-to-head.
Got another email from Farmer for Senate.
How many emails does it take to win it?
Wonder if she'll even be on the ticket.
I got the Nancy Farmer Blues...
October 04, 2004
This is not a Joke.
What - 2004 Skeet Shoot Fundraiser for Rod Jetton
Where - Hollida Farm in Clubb MO, 7 miles east of the highway 67 and 34
junction in Silva MO.
When - October 9th 8:00 am to 3:30 pm with lunch at 11:30
Contact Rod Jetton
573-225-4444
Four years ago was the first time any candidate for office in Southeast Missouri held an event like this.
Participants pay $100 to shoot skeet and hope to be the best shot and
win one of the prizes. Jetton is giving away a Remington 1187 shotgun,
Beneli Nova 12 gauge, and a framed print of a WW II battle scene signed
by the artist and Col. Ollie North, as well as lots of door prizes.
There will also be 10 Remington 870 Express shotguns given to every 10th
place finisher till 100th place in the shoot.
There will also be a dinner at 11:30 that is included in the ticket
price or can be purchased separately for $25. They are serving steak,
pork tenderloin, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, baked beans, cake, and
ice cream. Josh James is organizing the meal and said, "The Beef and
Pork producers are supplying the meat and we will make sure everyone
enjoys the meal. There will be no reason for anyone to leave hungry."
October 02, 2004
ACC at BAB
Come visit your favorite Arch City Chronicle personality today at the Books Against Borders book fair.
At the ACC table:
10 am - Noon Dave Drebes
Noon - 1pm Lucas hudson
1pm - 2pm Kurt Groetsch
2pm - 4pm Sarah Saputo
October 01, 2004
Meet and Talk to Claire!
Join Claire McCaskill,
Democratic Nominee for Governor,
at a “Meet the Candidate” event in St. Louis,
on Sunday, October 3rd.
North City: Northpark United Methodist Church
1525 Orchid
4:30 p.m.
For Questions Call: Matt @ (314) 918-8683
Admission is Free.
All are welcome and encouraged to attend!
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