Robin Smith, the Democratic nominee for Missouri secretary of state on the November 8 ballot, grew up in North St. Louis and spent more than four decades in the public eye as a broadcast journalist in the St. Louis metropolitan area. She is widely known here already, so she has been putting in extra work in the state’s other urban Democratic stronghold on the western side of the state.
She was in Kansas City with U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Kansas City) on September 25 to open Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters there, joined by young Democrats from colleges and universities in Missouri.
Smith and Missouri Democrats in general are stumping with students, among other groups, to organize them to vote against Amendment 6, which is also on the November 8 ballot. Amendment 6 – which Smith’s Republican opponent John “Jay” Ashcroft strongly supports – would require Missouri voters to show a state-issued photo ID before they could vote. As a transient population who frequently do not drive, college students are less likely than the average voter to have a state-issued photo ID.
Current Secretary of State Jason Kander – a Democrat running for U.S. Senate on November 8 against Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Roy Blunt – estimates that Amendment 6 would disenfranchise 220,000 voters in Missouri. In addition to college students, low-income people, the disabled and the very elderly are most likely to be without state-issued photo ID. All of these demographics trend Democratic as voters, which is why Republicans all over the nation have pushed voter photo ID proposals for years.
“Rev. Cleaver and I do not have our right to vote guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution,” Smith said in Kansas City. “Rev. Cleaver and I can vote because of the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965 to secure federal equal voting protection for everyone to cast a ballot in the U.S. But, Missouri has a perfect state constitution which protects the right to vote for every qualified resident. Our diverse grassroots movement will protect everyone’s right to cast a ballot. We will not allow anyone to shatter our Missouri Constitution!” Â
Smith also uses her husband as an asset on the Western side of the state. Her husband is former University of Kansas basketball standout Isaac “Bud” Stallworth, who still does KU broadcast work in the Kansas City media market. Smith said that is why she got more votes in the Kansas City Democratic primary on August 2 than Chris Koster, current attorney general who is running for governor as a Democrat, even though Koster is from Kansas City.
Rape allegation roils state HouseÂ
Cora Faith Walker, Democratic nominee for House District 74 running unopposed on November 8, came forward to Tony Messenger of the Post-Dispatch to discuss her rape allegations against someone who was poised to be her future colleague: Steve Roberts Jr., Democratic nominee for House District 77 also running unopposed on November 8. Messenger’s column ran this weekend and generated national news.
Walker also made the claims in a letter to leadership in the Missouri House of Representatives, asking that they not seat Roberts until a criminal investigation of her allegations is complete. Law enforcement officials confirmed to The American that Roberts is being investigated, but he has not been charged with a crime. Roberts maintained his innocence to other media, but did not respond to a request for comment from The American.
Walker said that she came public with her allegations to protect other women, particularly given the social climate in the state capital, where a series of elected officials and lobbyists have been disgraced by incidents of sexual abuse.
Dotson files campaign committeeÂ
St. Louis Police Commissioner Sam Dotson has filed papers with the Missouri Ethics Commission to explore a possible bid for mayor. Incumbent Mayor Francis Slay is not seeking reelection.
In a statement, Slay said he expects Dotson to resign if he decides to campaign for mayor. “I want to be clear to the citizens of St. Louis that I will not condone a part-time police chief,” Slay said.
Lyda Krewson, currently 28th Ward alderwoman, and Gregory F.X. Daly, currently the collector of revenue, also have formed mayoral campaign committees. Lewis Reed, currently aldermanic president, has said he will run, but has not formed a committee. A diverse group is trying to draft Tishaura O. Jones, currently city treasurer, to run for mayor. Antonio French, currently 21st Ward alderman, released an exploratory video with a crowd funding account. Jamilah Nasheed, currently state senator, also has been making exploratory calls.
Clinkscale appointed to SABÂ
Darnetta Clinkscale, a former member of the elected board for the St. Louis Public Schools, was appointed by Slay to the three-member appointed Special Administrative Board that has run the district since 2007. She replaces Melanie Adams, an original member of the SAB who resigned because she has accepted a job in Minneapolis. The other two SAB members who remain are Richard Gaines (also a former elected board member) and Rick Sullivan, SAB president.
Clinkscale has worked at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for more than 35 years. She received a B.A. in biological science from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Respiratory Therapy, and has an MBA from Lindenwood College. As St. Louis Public Radio noted, her appointment does not need confirmation to take effect. It comes as state education officials are discussing when an elected board may resume control over the city schools.
Mini muni court reformsÂ
Last week, Missouri Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge announced that the Supreme Court of Missouri had adopted minimum standards for all Missouri municipal divisions, including requirements to have a judge on duty at all times, a clerk on duty for at least 30 hours per week, a space large enough to accommodate the public, and alternative payment plans for defendants without the ability to pay when assessing fees or fines. These standards took effect immediately.
What she did not do was announce a radical consolidation of municipal courts in St. Louis County, the state’s most fragmented municipal division with the worst abusers of local courts for revenue generation. However, she did announce that two voluntary self-consolidations are underway.
Municipal operations from Charlack, Northwoods and Vinita Park have consolidated into the St. Ann municipal division (now called the St. Ann Consolidated Municipal Courts). And Municipal operations from Bellerive Acres, Cool Valley, Glen Echo Park, Greendale, Pasadena Park and Uplands Park are expected to be consolidated into the Normandy municipal division with support from a State Justice Institute grant.
Ironically, in a purportedly good news release from the Missouri Supreme Court, St. Ann Mayor Michael Corcoran is quoted as saying, “The city of St. Ann has had ongoing relationships with 17 municipalities over several years, providing various police services such as dispatching and holding facilities.”
And, as a matter of fact, they are being sued in federal court for just that. In August, local civil rights firm ArchCity Defenders and Washington, D.C.-based Arnold & Porter filed suit against 13 cities that have used St. Ann’s “holding facilities,” or jail. Charlack, Northwoods and Vinita Park – the new partners in St. Ann’s municipal court – were not named in that suit, but Bel-Ridge, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Beverly Hills, Calverton Park, Cool Valley, Edmundson, Normandy, Pagedale, St. John, Velda City, Velda Village Hills, Wellston and St. Ann itself were.
The suit accuses these municipalities of “terrorizing” plaintiffs and “many hundreds of others through a deliberate and coordinated scheme established and implemented to fill the municipalities’ coffers by extorting money from poor – disproportionately African-American – people in the St. Louis region, creating a modern-day police state and debtors’ prison scheme that has no place in American society today.”Â
The Normandy consolidation was spearheaded by Beyond Housing, which has been working closely with the 24 municipalities in the Normandy School Collaborative footprint in its 24:1 initiative. Beyond Housing began working with elected leaders on effectiveness and efficiencies in 2010. Two are considering merging all their municipal functions – Vinita Park and Vinita Terrace will vote on this potential merger in November, which is poised to be the first municipal merger in St. Louis County Boundary Commission history.
“At Beyond Housing, our mission is to Ask-Align-Act,” said Beyond Housing Chief Executive Officer Chris Krehmeyer. “We ask residents what they would like to see and experience in their community, we align the resources and partners, and we work together to make it happen. This pilot project is the product of several years of asking and aligning, and we are now ready to act.”
