April 20 marked the 20th anniversary of the inauguration of St. Louis’ first black mayor. We asked former Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. to tell his story in his words. This is part two.
I just didn’t wake up one morning and decide that I wanted to run for mayor. It required planning and preparation. It also required a lot of money.
The field of candidates was crowded. Tony Ribaudo wanted it. Tom Villa, president of the Board of Alderman, wanted it. Steve Roberts, former alderman and businessman, threw his hat in the ring also.
I began to go around the community to meet with people and organizational leaders to explore the political waters. I met with a key group of people once a week for a year. We identified every neighborhood group, community organization, union, religious group and business that would allow us to present my candidacy.
We found out that we had the support, but we were short on money. Ribaudo had $1.5 million, Villa had $1 million and Roberts $400,000 on paper. We were lucky if we had $300,000, thanks to the fundraising prowess of Virvus Jones.
Working with Scott Intagliata, we spent $25,000 on a poll that showed I had high name recognition and was within striking distance. My father always told me that what you don’t have in money you can make up in people. My father was right.
The voters in this city created one of the most electric moments we have ever seen. Many thousands of people came out to vote, and I was projected the winner around 11 p.m. The crowd lost its mind. I was inaugurated at noon on April 20, 1993. I was honored and so excited.
‘So many ideas and plans’
I had so many ideas and plans, and we hit the ground running.
Because our city is racially polarized, I appointed the most culturally diverse staff this city has ever seen. I always pushed the issues of racial harmony and cultural diversity. I later found out that no one was listening.
When I took office, the city was broke. We didn’t have $1 million in the bank. In six months we passed a 3/8 and 1/2 cent sales tax that generated an additional $38 million in revenue. When I left office, this city had over $30 million in the bank.
The tax included money for a three-year pay increase for city employees. They haven’t seen anything like it since.
The tax increase included money for all the major parks. The biggest was the Forest Park Master Plan, a $100 million restoration project.
Just when I was getting underway, here comes the flood of 1993. People didn’t want to leave their homes. In order to save their lives, I had to declare an emergency. I shut off their gas and electricity and had the police order them out of their homes. Within 48 hours the flood broke the levee and ruined hundreds of homes. But no one died.
Crime and homicide were at an all-time high. I placed 200 police officers on the street and implemented a gang abatement program that cut homicide by over 50 percent.
When I first came into office, they were building the Dome and didn’t have a football team. I helped organize a group that went and got one.
We built the Northside Shopping Center on Union and Natural Bridge and paved North Kingshighway.
We created the $1.8 billion airport expansion program.
I appointed Ronnie White to be the first African-American city counselor who went on to the Court of Appeals and later became the first African-American Missouri Supreme Court Justice.
I didn’t do everything right. I brought a nationally recognized program to St. Louis called Midnight Basketball. It took young people off the street and gave them opportunities for jobs and hope. It was very successful and raised a lot of money. A few of the people that I trusted stole money from this program. A leader must take responsibility for the actions of his people.
My administration refused to turn over cell phone records when we should have. I made a mountain out of a molehill when I shouldn’t have. But while the Bosley administration served this city for only four years, we did more good than most.
Where we are now
My assessment as to where this community is right now is not too good. Twenty years ago we had leaders like state Sen. Paula Carter, state Sen. Jet Banks, Congressman Bill Clay, state Rep. Tony Ribaudo and Committeeman Francis R. Slay. They would keep their word and work to make things happen. They would insist on accountability and inclusion.
Prejudice and a lack of inclusion have resulted in a dumbing down to where people accept this community the way it is. The black community has failed and in most cases simply refuses to assert itself in an effort to secure jobs and economic opportunity.
Unfortunately, too many black people see politics as a spectator sport. Politics is a participatory sport. You have to empty the bench and fight for your team. If only a few people show up, then we’re sure to lose.
To be a winner, we must run to controversy, not from it. When a person is being attacked unfairly we must step up, not step back.
A few days after I lost my bid for reelection, a young brother saw me at a service station. He said, “Bosley, man, I hate that you lost. They got you, man. They got you.”
I was still healing my wounds. I just looked at him and smiled.
Then I said, “Thanks a lot, bro, but when they got me, they got you.” He stopped smiling in an effort to understand what I said. I’m sure he understands now.
