“Oh, I say, and I say again: Ya been had…Ya been took…Ya been hoodwinked…Bamboozled…Led astray…Run amok!”
The words of the late, great Malcolm X appropriately apply to the mayoral race.
In her effort to oust incumbent Mayor Tishaura Jones, Ald. Cara Spencer (8th Ward) has launched a political campaign heavily supported by millionaire donors and misleading rhetoric
It’s all very…well, Trumpian.
Trump convinced voters that President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris were a disaster for the nation. His scheme worked even after the country rebounded from a historic pandemic quicker than most advanced nations.
The U.S. experienced the fastest GDP growth since 1984, and the unemployment rate fell at the fastest pace on record. Yet, Trump convinced the country the Biden/Harris administration was incompetent, corrupt and even racist.
Sound familiar?
Although the Jones’ Administration navigated COVID, implemented more than $2 billion in new market tax credits, business development, revitalization and incentivized projects downtown, in north St. Louis and throughout the city, Spencer characterizes her as “incompetent.”
The alderwoman paints a dim future for St. Louis under Jones, even as its hailed “America’s Next Big Hub for Industry, Tech, and Talent,” according to a Missouri Partnership, a public-private economic development organization focused on attracting new jobs and investment to the state and promoting Missouri’s business strengths.
Trump exposed a very disturbing societal aspect during his run for office. His election solidified the fact that a significant number of white people still have serious hangups with Black people.
It’s no accident that so many voted for a convicted felon who dabbled in misogynistic, xenophobic and racist rhetoric…who vowed to end diversity, equity and inclusion and, thus, “Make America Great Again.”
Spencer’s vow to “Make St. Louis Better” has similar cadence with an expected result.
Spencer’s Trump-inspired verbiage is built on an indoctrinated, outdated mentality that truly needs to believe that somehow things were much better (and can be better again) under an imaginary bygone era.
This mentality is the reason Spencer has pushed political ads with coded words like “incompetent, irresponsible or corrupt” …words that have defined Black people, Black politicians and Black women for centuries.
But voters must ask, ‘who’s paying for this messaging and why?’
Spencer’s biggest and most influential donor is Bob Clark, CEO of Clayco Construction, and also the Bank of Washington that has partnered with controversial and disgraced developer, Paul McKee.
Under the Jones’ administration, the St. Louis Development corporation (SLDC) has instituted an eminent domain process, near the $1.7 billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), that can potentially strip ownership of hundreds of parcels of McKee’s property.
Jones had the audacity to announce she would direct millions of dollars into long neglected northside neighborhoods including those near the NGA area.
As the Trump administration is intent on dismantling diversity and equity programs, Jones has doubled down on the city’s commitment sustain and create “opportunities” for small minority and women-owned enterprises.
She’s made it clear that wealthy, influential developers won’t have a monopoly on major developments like the $650 million St. Louis Lambert International Airport project.
Because of Jones’ meddling with the “good-ole-boy” network, millions in public funds won’t just be doled out to wealthy white developers. Now, under her leadership, less influential developers, potential business and homeowners can invest, build and benefit (with public funds) in potentially lucrative areas, like the NGA site.
This is something Spencer’s wealthy donors seem anxious to halt.
It’s naïve to believe that her abrupt resignation from SLDC’s amid her claims of impropriety just coincidentally started at the same time wealthy developers, Mckee’s bank, his lawyers and powerful “others” started pumping hundreds of thousands into the political action committee (PAC) supporting Spencer’s campaign.
Some of these same deep-pocketed donors are behind the “71 Percent PAC” that’s targeting Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier (7th Ward) with similar racist, sexist and coded language used against Jones.
In endorsing Spencer, the St. Louis Post Dispatch used the word “corrupt” to define the Jones Administration and SLDC. “”More recently, Spencer has sounded the alarm about the city’s fumbling, corrupt handling of a $37 million grant program for North Side economic development, a program that was Jones’ brainchild.”
It was a word it never assigned to McKee or his many government-funded failed projects.
The Trumpian style of politicking can work as well in St. Louis as it has nation-wide. Jones’ only chance of victory depends on progressive, liberal and Black voter’s refusal to succumb to racist messaging via wealthy developers.
It will be inspiring if voters resisted being hoodwinked, led astray or bamboozled.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow. The views in this commentary are not necessarily those of the St. Louis American
Well said! I am glad someone is saying this out loud finally. Seeing the truth for once. Keep writing and telling the truth. Keep it real man.
Virvus Jones is a convicted felon who served time in federal prison, and who is actively involved with his daughter’s administration. Donald Trump is also a convicted felon.
Cara Spencer has not been convicted of any crime, and she has never been to jail. She has my vote.
If Election Day turnout is under 25%, mayor jones is in trouble. Failure to allocate the Ram Windfall to address trash service and snow removal are tangible issue voters can understand.
Exactly, folks in Detroit vote. Folks in St. Louis sit on their asses.
This guy is delusional / Jones is the worst mayor St Louis has ever had
Was waiting for the “race card” to be played and this article didn’t disappoint me.
She (Jones) lost because of performance not race.
Here is a tip you can pass on to the ex-mayor, when you do your job in most cases you keep your job.
Corruption and incompetence have been the hallmarks of Jones’ time as mayor. Spencer looks poised to beat her by a significant margin.. the city is in desperate need of a refresh
Jones got her as# handed to her! Good bye.
This message needed to be talked up, publicly and in other forums at the beginning of the year. Citizens were focusing on the wrong things, not analyzing from a political point of view. Truly is Trumpian
Mayor Jones knew she was going to lose this election. See the dearth of advertising to trumpet her re-election. And, only 28% of voters went to the polls. In Detroit, MI, folks go to the polls. Here, not so much. That is one reason Detroit is booming and St. Louis is sufferin and taking buffrin…
Jones and her father (who did her political fortunes no favors) have been far more “Trumpian” in their attitudes than Spencer has. Like Trump, the Jones administration lacked transparency, humility, and accountability. Anyone who criticized her for anything was judged either a racist or a misogynist. She became mayor not to apply a vision for ALL of St. Louis, but to be applauded, admired, and cut ribbons. The hard work of government was beneath her, so she hired a score of “assistants” to do the actual work of governance. Her tone deaf arrogance was never clearer than during the ice storm in January. With citizens grumbling about her City’s response, she blew town to raise money in Washington D.C. Even supporters were taken aback; it was like she wanted to lose. Rather than that, she had become comfortable with the idea that she had a lock on City Hall with a reliable coalition of black voters and white progressives. She lacked the basic savvy and political instincts to see what everyone else saw. They were abandoning her before the ice storm and her heedless self absorption during and after that fateful event was her undoing.