Guest columnist
Mayor Francis G. Slay deserves a lot of the heat he has taken over the last several months. The mayor’s tamer critics suggest that he is out of touch with the African-American population of St. Louis, who happen to make up the majority of his constituency. Slay’s harsher critics insist that the mayor is a racist dictator, who has intentionally divided the city – perhaps irreparably – with racial politics.
Whatever justification there may be for the criticism, the current recall effort is possibly the most horrendous thing the anti-Slay contingent could have come up with.
The committee will need 43,456 signatures in order to force a ballot referendum. These signatures must come from 18 wards across the city, which will force the recall proponents to seek significant support from wards where the mayor is very popular. Imagine the reception the yellow T-shirt crew will receive in deep South City.
A recall, similar to any other election, is a battle of campaign finance. The pro-Slay contingent will be raising lots of cash to combat the recall. The pro-recall committee doesn’t have the support of an established political base to give enough money to make the recall effort viable. Furthermore, political donations are public record. This will force otherwise-closeted supporters who could give big money to support a recall into the open, which many are not willing to risk.
The Slay for Mayor October 2007 quarterly report shows $318,000 on hand, every penny of which can be lawfully used to battle a recall. Strategically, the pro-recall committee has helped Slay, by giving him a golden opportunity to raise money that will eventually go to his 2009 reelection effort.
By promising that “thousands” would be in attendance at the Oct. 21 kickoff rally at City Hall, the recall committee compromised its legitimacy. The committee’s first public event was therefore a loss, because it did not, and could not have, lived up to the self-generated hype. While some mainstream news sources grossly underreported the magnitude of the event, the committee invited this media spin by setting itself up for failure.
Most importantly, the pro-recall effort will weaken the moral authority and political viability of our most important advocacy group: the St. Louis Clergy Coalition.
Contrary to mainstream media reports, the recall is NOT a Clergy Coalition thing, it is a Rev. Douglas Parham thing. As president of the coalition, Parham had to have known that taking a stand as the face of the recall would paint the entire coalition as being in support. This is not the case. At the Oct. 21 recall rally, coalition members in support included Parham and the Rev. James T. Morris, who as a candidate for the state House can take political stances. Where were the Revs. Sammy Jones, Earl Nance Jr. or E.G. Shields? The recall is not a Clergy Coalition endeavor.
For Parham to allow the coalition name to attach to the recall is disturbing, because it jeopardizes its tax-exempt status as an apolitical 501c3 organization. When the smoke clears from the recall’s imminent demise, the Clergy Coalition will be left in the wake with its legitimacy and moral authority in tatters.
None of these issues were hidden from recall organizers before they embarked upon their well-intentioned mission. In light of the facts, if you were in charge, would you have proceeded with a recall? I would not have done so. I agree that a message of protest should have been sent to Slay, but there is no time or energy to be wasted with symbolic gestures.
Slay deserves and has invited the lion’s share of the criticism coming his way. But his opponents should take the next year and bring their brightest political minds together to analyze the landscape, identify a 2009 mayoral candidate with citywide appeal on a broad spectrum of issues, and zealously organize to raise money and grass-roots support for that candidate. Such is the nature of visionary politics, as opposed to reactionary. A recall is not the way to go.
Don Calloway is an attorney in Downtown St. Louis. He can be reached for comment at dcalloway@gmail.com.