Rasheen Aldridge, the Ferguson protestor who became the youngest Ferguson Commission member, will get another chance to unseat Rodney Hubbard Sr. as 5th Ward Democratic committeeman. Judge Julian L. Bush ruled on October 11 that “there were irregularities of sufficient magnitude to cast doubt on the validity” of the August 2 primary election, when Hubbard beat Aldridge with a preponderance of absentee votes, as is common in the 5th Ward. The judge set the Tuesday, November 8 general election as the date to redo the Aldridge-Hubbard race.
Bruce Franks Jr. won a similar court challenge over his August 2 primary defeat by Penny Hubbard (Rodney’s wife) in House District 78 and went on to win the special election for the Democratic nomination. He is on the November 8 ballot unchallenged.
Penny Hubbard’s primary defeat of Megan Betts for 5th Ward Democratic committeewoman was the only absentee-fueled Hubbard win on August 2 that was not challenged and upended in the courts. Betts is a likely challenger for Tammika Hubbard in the March 2017 election for the much more impactful seat of 5th Ward alderwoman.
Absentee ballots have been the path to victory in the 5th Ward since before the Hubbards’ hegemony in the ward and control of Carr Square Village. Before the Hubbards, Louis Ford ran similarly aggressive absentee ballot campaigns with similar results. It remains to be seen whether the Hubbards can reinvent their absentee ballot program (i.e., hustle) in a way that passes legal scrutiny. The Hubbards are likely to better in the 5th Ward than House District 78, which is larger and includes many neighborhoods where they have less pull.
Dueker fails to ‘smear’ consumer advocate
Cara Spencer did nothing unethical in filing legislation concerning payday lenders with the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, the Missouri Ethics Commission ruled on October 11. Spencer is both 20th Ward alderwoman and executive director of Consumers Council of Missouri. Jane Dueker filed an ethics complaint, alleging that Spencer’s job posed a conflict that she needed tuo disclose.
“We are gratified by the decision of the Missouri Ethics Commission and believe they made a proper decision based upon the facts and the law,” Spencer’s attorney Hal Goldsmith told The American. “This complaint appears to have been a not-too-subtle effort to smear the good name and reputation of Alderwoman Cara Spencer, who is simply acting in the best interests of her constituents and all the residents of the City of St. Louis by attempting to pass laws aimed at protecting individuals from predatory lending practices.”
Dueker also was on the losing end of both Hubbards’ attempts to salvage their August 2 primary wins. Donald Trump had a worse week than Jane Dueker, but not many other political players did.
The involvement of Goldsmith – a former federal prosecutor and partner at Bryan Cave – was a real show of legal firepower on behalf of an advocate for all consumers in the state. It’s a good sign for consumer advocates and a bad sign for payday lenders to see him engage on this issue.
McKee wins first round for sales-tax increase
On October 12, a St. Louis aldermanic committee passed two bills that would establish a one-percent sales tax increase in an area where Northside Regeneration developer Paul McKee Jr. is building a grocery store and gas station – near the intersection of Tucker Boulevard and 13th Street.
Board Bill 150, sponsored by Alderwoman Tammika Hubbard (Ward 5), would establish that Community Improvement District (CID) – which would increase the sales tax at the future market and gas station by one percent. The tax will go towards the $20-million project’s infrastructure, site acquisition, demolition and repairs, according to the bill.
The tax revenue will also go towards paying back the TIF Note, which is another bill Hubbard introduced on October 12. Board Bill 149 would approve the GreenLeaf TIF note, which essentially allows McKee to go to a third-party lender and get a loan for the project.
Already in July, the Board of Aldermen approved a bill to release $2.8 million in TIF bond financing for the project’s infrastructure. A TIF note is a financing alternative to TIF bonds. This is the first development that McKee has sought to use any of the $390 million TIF, which was first approved in 2009 for the large-scale Northside Regeneration project in North city.
The Housing and Urban Development and Zoning Committee passed the two bills with a 4-3 vote. Now it will go to the full aldermanic board for a second reading on Friday, October 14.
If the bill passes, the North city gas station will have a 9.68 percent sales tax – making it among the highest sales tax in the country. Chicago is at the top with 10.25 percent, and Seattle sits in sixth place with 9.6 percent, according to the Tax Foundation. The grocery store will have a slightly lower tax but St. Louis Development Corporation representatives could not answer the aldermen’s question of how much lower.
Some North Side residents were appalled to hear about the potential CID and sales tax increase.
“The problem with the CID is that this is not what we were told,” said Jessica Payne, an Old North resident. “The community wasn’t informed that there would be higher sales taxes, above and beyond the standard city taxes. To expect the residents of this neighborhood to pay extra fees for Mr. McKee’s gas station development is just wrong.”
During the meeting, McKee said that people with food-stamp cards will not pay any sales tax. However, that did not quiet the opposition.
“This is a turd wrapped in a bow,” said Alderman Antonio French, who voted in opposition. “The grocery store is a great thing. We need to subsidize grocery stores in this area because they have a slim profit margin. But wrapping this up with a gas station, it puts us in a tough spot.”
Alderwoman Cara Spencer (Ward 20), who also opposed the bills, said that Community Improvement Districts are intended to be tools for communities “to raise tax dollars and administer them hyper-locally.” And community members themselves should sit on the board for the district. However, the person who chairs the proposed CID is McKee himself.
Further, she said McKee’s stated purposes for the CID are basically the exact purposes of the TIF – for infrastructure, site acquisition, etc.
“These should not be redundant,” Spencer said.
Everybody for mayor
The American more or less accidentally broke the news on deadline last week that St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson had filed a campaign committee to raise funds to explore a run for the open mayor seat in March 2017. It was an accident in the sense that Dotson could not possibly have intended The American as the most friendly venue to make this announcement. He should look at the comments on this paper’s Facebook page where his announcement was posted. “No, no, no” was one of the more supportive comments.
Dotson accidentally announcing in the wrong paper started a cascade of misplaced media. The public learned that St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones had filed her own campaign committee on KMOX. Even the Post-Dispatch had the news before The American, which could be expected to be a much friendlier media venue for her. Not to be left out, 21st Ward Alderman Antonio French went to Twitter to announce his mayoral candidacy. Jamilah Nasheed, who is about to enter her mandatory last term as state senator and has been making exploratory calls about running for mayor, held silent.
Previously announced for mayor were Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and 28th Ward Alderwoman Lyda Krewson. Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly also has formed an exploratory committee. Filing for the March 7 primary does not open until November 27.
Mothers of the Movement stump for Hillary
On Thursday, October 14, Mothers of the Movement – women who lost their children due to police-involved incidents – are scheduled to campaign in Cleveland for Hillary Clinton to discuss her plans to reform America’s criminal justice system. Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, and Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, were lined up to stump for Hillary.
