Unpaid taxes. Donor and Expense Info. Cocaine. MEC cases. Structure history.  Guns. Anonymous donors. Keeping smokers in City bars. Election history. High overhead fundraising. Jeff Rainford's salary.

Vote Irene J. Smith Mayor, Democrat, is reporting $5700 monetary received, $7,500 in-kind, $6,318.72 expenses paid, $10,000 expenses incurred but not paid, $1,444.20 on-hand, $11,600 debt (includes previous loan). The expense debt is for signs from O.R. Pechman, 20th Ward. The in-kind is from Patricia Bynes, Smith's public relations director, and Marion Lawrence Collaborations, owned by Mark Scott Carroll, responsible for the candidate's easy on the eyes website. Together, the two in-kind sources are responsible for $17,000 of Smith's total receipts of $32,650. Her reports do not show the in-kind received being used in in-kind expenditures.

$3,100, more than half of Smith's monetary receipts, came from groups/persons with ties to public education: $2,500 from AFT Local 420, $100 from St. Louis Region MSTA, $100 from School Board President Peter Downs, $100 from 2009 School Board candidate Chad Beffa (also 2008 candidate for 67th Dist. State Rep. and 10th Ward Committeeman), $200 from AFT Local 420 VP Nick Clement (2008 candidate for 13th Ward Committeeman, and Beffa's former treasurer), $100 from a teacher. Also in donations, she received $1000 from businessman Sam Salama and $200 from 26th Ward Committeeman Joe Palm (2008 candidate for 57th Dist. State Rep.).

In expenses, Smith paid Marquitta Jones, Glasgow Village, $1000 in rent for her campaign office at 4919 Union. In the previous report, she listed a $1000 in-kind contribution by herself for office rent. According to City records, taxes have not been paid on the property for 2006, 2007, 2008. Jones has also not paid taxes for three years on her four-family unit at 5358 Claxton but has paid them on 5805 Park Lane. According to the St. Louis County Personal Property Tax Search, she owes for three years of personal property taxes. According to Case.net, there's an active garnishment order against her for $17,632 owed to MSD.

The properties were previously in the name of Cyrano Jones, former husband of Marquitta Jones. His businesses included Jones Economic Development Corp., Cheap Towing LLC, Pimp.C.Realtor & Home Improvements LLC.  In 2002, he pled guilty to five counts of building code violations. March 2003, Marquitta Jones filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in March 2004.

Nov 2004, Cyrano Jones was indicted by a grand jury on marijuana and cocaine base charges (Case 220041-02275A). According to Smith's original 2005 40 Days Before report, previous mayoral campaign, the committee made a $350 payment to Cheap Towing. That expense disappeared in both the 2005 Aug 24 and 2007 April 2 amended versions of the report.

Feb 3, 2005 Cyrano Jones was taken into federal custody. According to Smith's original 2005 8 Days Before report, listed under Expenditures Under $100, the committee paid $700 to Cheap Towing/Cyrano Jones for headquarters rent. In the 2007 April 2 amended version, it was a $700 payment on Feb 18 to Cyrano Jones. May 2005, Jones pled guilty to both the marijuana charge (2 day sentence) and cocaine base charge (5 year sentence). He had been a part of the Officer Antoine Gordon Heroin/Cocaine Conspiracy Case. July 2005, the transfer of most of the property titles to his former wife, per the divorce settlement, were filed with the City and County Recorder of Deeds offices.

Smith's filing address, 5425 Arlington, built 1922, is owned by Smith. Her owner address is 5343 Claxton, built 1911, which is owned by 1st Ward Alderman Charles Q. Troupe. Baden businesswoman Vivian Denise Caldwell Jones, Smith's campaign treasurer, is better known as
heat-packing Vivian Jones, poster woman for Alderman Troupe's call for the masses to arm themselves.

April 10, 2007 MEC ordered Irene Smith to either pay $36,914 in fines or within 45 days pay $1000 and sin no more for two years (MEC Case 05A082). Smith had two committees at the time. Committee to Elect Irene Smith was her 1st Ward Alderwoman Smith account. She was first elected in a 1994 special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of Alderwoman Joanne Wayne. She served until 1997, when Mayor Clarence Harmon appointed her to the Municipal Court. Harmon then received a paltry 5% in the March 2001 election won by then Board Prez Francis Slay. Smith was also on the ballot, for her old alderman seat. She (60% 1,559 votes) beat incumbent Parrie L. May (40% 1,035 votes). May was then appointed City Register (City's version of county clerk) by Mayor Slay. The former Vote Irene J. Smith Mayor was the committee established for her 2005 mayoral bid. Slay (65.74% 24,952 votes) beat Smith (30.93% 11,741 votes), with perennial candidate Bill Haas (3.33% 1,264 votes) third.

Previous Irene Smith stories here and here.

Committee to Elect Watson-Wesley Coleman for Mayor, Democrat, filed a pitiful report: $362 in monetary receipts ($300 total from her treasurer), $75 loan (from the candidate), $109.95 in-kind, $392.94 expenses ($172.37 for printing), $257.37 on-hand. She went all the way to Oak Park, Michigan for printing.

Her filing address, 414 N. 23rd, doesn't show up in the City's online databases.

Watson-Wesley Coleman takes a swing at Comptroller Darlene Green and Treasurer Larry Williams in the League of Women Voters Questionnaire: I plan to  address and eliminate the audit exceptions documented by Susan Montee State Auditor in the Department of Personnel, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, and Department of Public Service. I will meet with the Comptroller and the Treasurer to discuss ways in which the audit exceptions for their departments can be eliminated.

Under Qualifications (candidates get 50 words for that), she gives a short recitation of her bona fides and then provides some snark: I meet the
qualifications as provided in Section 2 of Article VII of the Charter of the City of St. Louis.

Nexis Lexis Martindale Hubbard sued Watson-Wesley Coleman for breach of contract (0822-AC13649). The Dec 11, 2008 consent judgment was for $12,082.31.

Previous story on her campaign finances here.

The Board of Election Commissioners has Libertarian mayoral candidate Robb E. Cunnigham, finalist in the Last To The Ethics Commission Contest, listed at the wrong address. There is no 6381 Balson in the City. His website says he's at 6819 Balson, built 1900. With a bad address on record, he's not going to get an MEC letter about his failure to file a Committee or Exemption letter.

It wouldn't be the first time MEC has dealt with Cunningham. He filed an Exemption in 2004 as a Libertarian candidate for the City's 63rd Dist. State Rep. seat, running from a St. Ann P.O. Box. He wasn't on the ballot for State Rep. He ran against then 4th Dist. State Rep. Maida Coleman, _now also a mayoral candidate. Coleman won re-election with 91.2% 47,561 votes to his 8.8% 4580 votes. Last year, he ran from St. Ann against 1st Dist. U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, with Clay winning re-election 86.9% 242,570 votes to Cunningham's 13.1% 36,700 votes. The FEC has no campaign finance records from him.

His website is still geared toward the congressional race but, under Platform, you'll find he wants to: Ensure City Programs Employ City Residents. Defend Livelihoods and Backbones Of City Small Business. Privatize Metro-Link In Purchase Compromise. Keep Smokers In City Bars. Sounds like he wants to lock them up.

He's got Click&Pledge on the site, which means he has to have a bank account for campaign deposits, a treasurer (which can be himself), file a committee with MEC instead of Exemption, and add a Paid for By Committee on his site.

Committee to Elect Elston McCowan, Green Party, has filed a Jan Quarter report: $2576 raised, $2,388.26 spent, $40 on-hand. What did he get for the money? Mostly, two parties. 60% of what was raised at his two events went to event costs. 29% went to his campaign manager. The bulk of the funds raised came from Fredric Raines ($1000) and McCowan ($580 total). Other than Raines being identified as retired, employer/occupation for donors is not given. There are a dozen donors itemized. The committee doesn't have names and addresses associated with $346 of the donations because "donor's (sic) wanted to remain anonymous".

McCowan's filing address, 8959 Newby, was built in 1952. His treasurer's landlord has not paid real estate taxes for 2008, 2007.

Nothing to report campaign money-wise on Don Devivo, Green Party, since he's going with the Exemption Statement. But in taxes, now there's a story. Devivo owns a big chunk of City Block 5000. Other than paying the taxes on his filing address, 1522 Hodiamont, built 1909, he owes 2008 taxes for 5967 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive; 2007, 2008 taxes for 5971 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive; 2007, 2008 taxes for 5973-5981 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive; 2007, 2008 taxes for 5983 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.  He also owes for the 2008 taxes on 1940 Damoto Court in Jennings. Previous Don Devivo and Green Party stories here and here.

Slay for Mayor, Democrat, is reporting $225,816 monetary contributions received, $1345 in miscellaneous receipts (bank interest), $17,459.72
(lots from restaurants), $609,183.43 spent, $1,180,771.30 on-hand. The filing is 71 pages but a quick glance shows the committee has sent $3,000 to the 23rd Ward Regular Democratic Organization and $1000 to 13th Ward Alderman Fred Wessels' committee; has paid $20,0289.47 in federal payroll taxes and $814 in earnings taxes this election cycle; campaign manager Jeff Rainford's salary is $9375; and only one donor this report had a City contract.

Geo St. Louis has a link to what should be pics of Slay's new address, 3869 Robert, but they're gone. It's new construction. The images could have been pre-construction. Still, seems a shame to dump the pictorial record.

Independent candidate Maida Coleman's filing address, 2223 S. Jefferson, was built in 1891, which makes it the oldest of the mayoral candidate filing addresses. Sorry. That's all we've got for you on her. Maida Coleman for Mayor hasn't turned in a report yet. Previous stories on her here and here.