Endorsement

March 05, 2007

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.

February 22, 2007

25th Ward Endorsement

Went to Shrewsbury tonight.

Pat and Bev for Jim

Forwarded email:

>Subject: A message from Pat and Bev Dougherty
>Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 08:22:36 -0600
>
>
> We were not going to send out this message until next week but
having
>received literature that we believe is incorrect, misleading, and
>"dirty" from the opponent of our long-time friend, Jim Shrewsbury, we
are
>sending out our message today.
>
>As you probably know (or have at least noticed the signs all around
the
>City), Jim is running for re-election for the President of the Board
of
>Alderrman on Tuesday, March 6th. While this is an especially
important
>office (head of the City's legislative body and one of three members
of the
>Board of Estimate and Apportionment which has "yea" or "nay" powers
>regarding the City's finances and other important issues), it has
taken on
>an even more important role in light of the turmoil in the St. Louis
Public
>Schools Board of Education. The President of the Board of Alderman
will
>have the authority to appoint one of the three people to advise the
Board
>and who probably will end up taking the place of the Board of
Education.
>
>It's important that the person who holds this office is a person of
>integrity.
>
>We think so much of Jim that we designated him and his wife to be
guardians
>of our daughters when they were minors.
>
>We can't think of a better statement of our trust of his judgment than
>that!
>
>We hope you will vote for Jim on Tuesday, March 6, even if it is a
cold
>blustery day. If you want more info on Jim and his campaign, go to
>www.jimshrewsbury.com
>
>Thank you
>
>Bev and Pat Dougherty
>
>

February 15, 2007

AFSCME Endorses Gondolfi in 20th Ward Race

Galen Gondolfi, candidate for alderman in the 20th ward, received the endorsment of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, Local 2730.

From the release sent out Tuesday:

In recognition of the work that Galen Gondolfi has done to better the lives of St. Louis’ working families, the executive board of AFSCME Local 2730, chaired by Pres. Quincy Boyd, has voted to endorse Galen Gondolfi in the March 6th Democratic primary.

The rest after the jump.

Continue reading "AFSCME Endorses Gondolfi in 20th Ward Race"

February 10, 2007

OBS Denies BOA Endorsement Report

Open Letter to the St. Louis American Newspaper:

In the most recent Political Eye, the St. Louis American saw fit to engage in the kind of reckless journalism and scurrilous name-calling it often accuses others of when they disagree with the newspaper or its publisher.

With no documentation and no follow up to confirm its story, the American reported that the Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) had endorsed James Shrewsbury in his re-election bid for President of the Board of Alderman. This is an absolute lie!

On behalf of our members and our many supporters, we demand a written and public apology for your malicious attack.

To erroneously report on an endorsement is one thing. However, to use that as a basis for attacking our history and credibility is quite another. The scandalous attack on the reputation of the Organization for Black Struggle was totally unfounded and to use the American’s own words,”reactionary”. There was only one half of one sentence in the whole piece that was accurate and that is OBS “began its existence as a radical revolutionary group”.

OBS has worked tirelessly in the interest of the African-American community for 27 years. There are no back-room deals or under-the-table payoffs in our history. Our operations are transparent and our integrity has endured the test of time.

We have participated in the advancement of black political power for many years and in that process endorsed many candidates. OBS has never, ever endorsed a white candidate over an African-American candidate.This is more than can be said of the St. Louis American.



Kalimu Endesha
Leadership Council

January 25, 2007

28th ward Executive Committee votes for Reed

The 28th ward's executive committee voted unanimously tonight to recommend to its members that they endorse Lewis Reed in that ward's open-vote endorsement, February 1.

January 24, 2007

24th ward goes for Shrewsbury

By a vote of 38-4.

January 22, 2007

Who are 12th ward GOP Committeepeople endorsing?

Trick question.

In the 12th Ward, where the Republican Party has its sole candidates and a primary contest this election cycle, the GOP has no committeeman or committeewoman, no ward organization registered with MEC.

January 19, 2007

Shrewsbury nabs 8th

Also last night, the 8th ward organization endorsed Jim Shrewsbury for President.

Triplett Endorsements

In a morning-after press release, Kacie Triplett announces / reminds public of her endorsements.

January 18, 2007

Cacchione wins 6th ward endorsement

It was a packed house at Sqwires and Patrick Cacchione came away with the hotly contested ward endorsement tonight.

January 10, 2007

Reed Gets 15th Ward Nod

Last night after their forum, their membership voted to endorse Lewis Reed.

UPDATE: Pictures from last night, courtesy of Brian Werner.

December 22, 2006

Reed Endorsements

I trailed Lewis Reed last night as he hopped through six different holiday parties across the city.

Sewing up the northside is crucial to his winning, and it looks like that piece is falling in place for him.

At the 2nd, 26th, and 27th ward parties, he was introduced with each ward's endorsement.

December 14, 2006

Firefighters endorse Reed

Reed gets Local 73.

December 12, 2006

Starr endorses Reed

On her blog today.

November 21, 2006

Starr announces labor support

for her 6th ward bid.

October 31, 2006

Farr joins Democratic Party

Leslie Farr's email:

Today, I officially joined the Democrat Party. I want to continue to stress
my philosophy of not being enemies but being opponents. I came to a point
where I had to ask myself if the Republican Party was right for me and
obviously that answer was no. For five years, I served the Republican Party
and my reward was a Primary loss to a person that had only been in the Party
for three months. There is obviously no loyalty to African-American people
from certain people within the Republican Party. I watched as the party
power structure ignored the issues, needs, and concerns of low-income and
impoverished people, many of which happen to be African-American, and I
spoke out against it publicly and in private meetings.

My decision was galvanized when I thought of the current battle for Missouri
’s Senate seat. I hear the Republican candidate say one thing about his
concern for African-American issues and then watch as his actions fall short
of his words. I personally asked the Senator to make “Crack” a focus of his
campaign. Those of us that live in North St. Louis know and have seen the
devastating affect that this Cocaine derivative has had, yet the Senator has
refused to acknowledge the problem. I personally invited the Senator and
his staff to a town hall style meeting, at Beaumont High School, to be aired
on Charter Cable and they refused. This meeting would have put the Senator
in the heart of St. Louis’ predominately African-American community and
given people, that otherwise don’t have the opportunity, a chance to meet
him.

I once heard a woman tell a young girl. “You learn a lot about a man in how
he treats his mother. If he won’t treat his own with respect, what do you
think he will do to you?” So true of my years with the Republican Party; I
would walk into a function with Democrats and be greeted with open arms and
given tremendous respect, while certain Republicans were jealous and hateful
of me. I would put my blinders on and pretend like I belonged, but like my
father once told me. “You can only pretend for so long; then you have to be
honest with yourself.” My Honesty has led me home to the Democrat Party. I
thank both Chairman Wahby and Committeeman Palm for inviting me home and
then welcoming me. Just like the prodigal son, in the bible, Mr. Wahby did
so without question.

October 25, 2006

Triplett endorsements

Pearlie Evans and Jeff Smith are supporting Kacie Triplett for alderman.

October 18, 2006

Nasheed for Triplett

State Rep-elect Jamilah Nasheed told ACC today that she is 100% behind Kacie Triplett for 6th ward alderman; she says she will be door-knocking and working hard for Triplett.

August 07, 2006

Oracle: Last-Minute Smear Against Smith

Flyers endorse Gambaro.

August 01, 2006

Bloggers for Smith

Diatriber.
ArchPundit.
Umar Lee.
Who am I missing? I'll update.

Post picks

Oxford, Hubbard, Palm and Tyus.

July 31, 2006

Smith gets Post

endorsement in the 4th.

July 24, 2006

Dueling Endorsement Lists

In the 4th SD, Yaphett El-Amin and Amber Boykins are listing some of the same individuals as endorsers. As the scanned fliers indicate, both name Alderman Mike McMillan, Rev. Alvin Smith, Rev. James Morris, Rev. Douglas Parham, and Rev. James DeClue as being in their camp.

View image

July 15, 2006

Tyus Announces Endorsements

THE TYUS FOR STATE REP-60TH DISTRICT CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES: LIST OF WARD ENDORSEMENTS:
The 4th Ward Original Democratic Organization
4th Ward Committeewoman Norma Leggett
4th Ward Committeeman James Clayborne
The 21st Ward Original Democratic Organization
21st Ward Committeeman Arthur “Chink” Washington
The 3rd Ward Regular Democratic Organization
3rd Ward Committeewoman Lucinda Frazier
3rd Ward Committeeman Johnny Saddler
The 18 Ward Regular Democratic Organizations
18th Ward Committeewoman Ernestine Hill
18th Ward Committeeman Jessie Todd

Tyus has also has the endorsements of such varied groups as the Carpenter’s District Council of St. Louis and MO ERA PAC and WMC.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Campaign Manager Mr. Sterling Miller
(314) 367-2374

July 11, 2006

2nd CD

In the Arch City Chronicle edition hitting the street today, we endorse Sherman Parker in the GOP primary for the 2nd CD.

Meanwhile the Democrats have a spirited four-way race:
John Hogan
Charles Karam
Rich Lesh
George Weber

July 10, 2006

Jackson gets pro-life Endorsement

Missouri Right to Life endorsed Jack Jackson in the Republican primary for Auditor.

UPDATE: No Slap. See Oracle's comments below.

July 04, 2006

OBS Endorses El-Amin

in the 4th, on the 4th.

June 19, 2006

New Smith endorsements

The press release:

Three progressive groups and a key ward organization announced today that they are backing Jeff Smith for the 4TH district state Senate seat. Personal Rights Of Missourians Political Action Committee (PROMO PAC), Missouri Votes Conservation (MVC), the Missouri Equal Rights Amendment Political Action Committee (ERA PAC), and the 28th Ward Democrats all endorsed Smith.

June 12, 2006

Boykins gets Administrators

Amber Boykins has won the endorsement of the Missouri School Administrators PAC.

May 19, 2006

Gambaro gets 14th

ward endorsement, we hear.

April 28, 2006

Jeff Smith gets 16th

Oracle has the story.

March 31, 2006

Why the ACC Endorses Clinkscale, Buford

I've gotten a fair amount of grumbling from "progressives", about the ACC endorsement for Clinkscale and Buford.

Just about everyone who I've had a discussion of any length with ends up in shrugging agreement. Here how the conversation usually goes.

The two arguments against the slate are 1. Roberti is/was a jerk. and 2. The APR points have declined from 64 to 39.

Both are true, and meaningless in terms of moving the school system forward.

Here's what matters:

1. We do not have a functional system.

We do not have a functional system - Our school system sucks and it's a sin. In my book, it's a go-to-hell kind of a sin to let kids pretend to go to school and then send them out in the world hardly able to read.

And I overstating the terrible shape 30 years of neglect has had on our schools?

No. Look at the numbers.

10th grade reading - 6.2% met the state standard for proficiency or better. The other 93.8% failed.

Guess what? That was better than math or science MAP scores at the high school level. They were 3.5% passing and 1.4% respectively.

Yes, you read that right. 98.6% of our 11th graders failed to meet the state's standards for proficiency in the subject of science.

With respect to education, I share nothing ideologically with anyone who looks at those numbers and thinks that ANYTHING - jobs, schools, ANYTHING - is more important than creating a system where kids can learn.

Those numbers suck. But what's astounding (more on this in point 3) is that those scores are all higher now than when the reform slate took over in 2003.

Yeah, tests scores have improved under this board majority. Still anyone who's satisfied with them or thinks there should be any other goal than improving academic achievement is plain wrong.

2. The reform slate has one agenda: getting a functional system. Not preserving jobs, making those jobs easier, or preserving schools. They have one agenda - They're trying to give African American kids in St. Louis a shot at life.

“Progressives” who rail angrily about high-handed, high-paid administrators cutting low-wage jobs etc, are missing the real injustice. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING progressive about a school system that dooms youth to unemployment and crime.

3. It's working - already, which two years ago I would not have expected. I would have thought that with the shock - closing a $90 million deficit, shuttering half-empty schools, implementing a district-wide curriculum – of changing the direction of a district that accepted crap results for so long, test scores would have declined during the transition.

They haven’t. On the whole they’ve risen. 8 of the 9 MAP categories have seen improvement in test scores since the reform slate took over. That’s amazing and heartening.

More important than the progress of the past two years is the progress in the pipeline. They passed a pay increase to bring teachers' salaries in line with those of the surrounding school districts. They hired a first-class superintendent who is implementing a strategic plan that has lots of intuitively common sense elements - taking 9th graders out of the high school to give them special attention, uniforms, reinvesting in curriculum (something that wouldn’t have been possible if the majority hadn’t rationalized the schools operations (closing empty schools, managing warehouse inventory).

The question most people ask at this point is: Why, since nearly all academic test scores have risen, have APR numbers gone down?

Look here to understand the APR numbers. It's not simple, but it is understandable. And after spending some time with the numbers - the MAP test scores, the rolling averages that determine APR numbers - you'll see that the APR is not an accurate reflection of the progress that's been made.

Honestly, there aren't many people - I think I've found three - that have spent the time to look how APR scores are determined. By my reading, the big reasons for the decline: 1. ACT scores. 2. Drop-out rate.

On the ACT scores - the bad news is that they're going to continue to go down. Rather than just give the test to the best students and thereby artificially raising scores, the plan is for every student to take them. The good news - that's the way a school should work.

Yes, it hurts us on the APR numbers, but going to college should be the expectation we put on every child in the district. Part of that expectation is that everyone takes the ACT.

Finally, there's the drop-out rate. Drop-outs are a huge problem.

Why is drop-out rate important? The unemployment rate for African American men in their 20s who are high school drop-outs is 72%. It may not be totally surprising then that by their late 20s, among this sub-group, more are in jail than at work. By their 30s, 6 in 10 have been incarcerated at some point.

So why has drop-out rate increased? It looks like it's a result of better record-keeping in a better functioning school administration.

A friend of mine who's dug into the numbers a bit, looks at the drop-out and graduation rate and finds them incompatible during the previous several years before the reform slate took over. He thinks that there was shoddy record-keeping: kids that didn't show up were just counted absent for months and months and months and not "dropped out."

I don't know for sure except that it made the APR numbers go down and needs to be fixed because these kids need to stay in school and need to get a good education..

So that's my reading of the state of the schools and the direction of the reforms. I'm voting for Clinkscale and Buford. I think you should too. With them on the board, the pieces are in place to keep the district moving forward.

Thanks for reading.
dave.

"I get by with a little help from my friends...."

Over at St. Louis Schools Watch there is an extensive list of the endorsements Peter Downs And Donna Jones have received.

Peter Downs is the editor of the St. Louis Schools Watch, a watchdog newsletter that has covered the city schools for several years now.

The Carpenter Endorsement

The statement:

Today, St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Sharon Carpenter announced that she is endorsing Jeff Smith, Democratic candidate for the 4th State Senate seat.

Carpenter, the former Democratic National Committeewoman and 23rd Ward Committeewoman who remains one of the most influential figures in City politics, cited Smith’s dedication and passion for public service as reasons for her support. “Jeff demonstrated his dedication to our City long before he decided to run for office. Now, as a candidate, he has shown a tireless work ethic that will serve us well when he is elected.”

Smith also announced the support of Joe Edwards, the businessman and civic leader best known for revitalizing the Delmar Loop, who said, “Jeff will be a breath of fresh air in the Capitol. And he’s exactly what this City needs.”

March 30, 2006

Smith gets nod from Carpenter

Word is that Sharon Carpenter will soon announce an endorsement of Jeff Smith in the 4th.

March 28, 2006

Adams endorsements

Service Employees International Union Local 2000 and the American Federation of Teachers chapter in University City both announced their support for Adams.

March 15, 2006

Becker endorses Downs

Janet Becker, stalwart St. Louis progressive, sent out an email endorsing Peter Downs.

March 10, 2006

School Board Endorsements

Arch City Chronicle endorses Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford.
They also have the endorsement of the Metropolitan St. Louis Clergy Coalition, 11th Ward Democratic Club, Francis Slay Sr., the 23rd Ward Democtrats and the
28th Ward Democratic club.

Twenty-second Ward Democratic Organization Committeeman James "Jay" Ozier and Committeewoman Fay Davis endorse Peter Downs and Donna Jones for School Board.

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