Black candidate swims upstream in race for aldermanic president
By Chris King
Of the St. Louis American
When Freeman Bosley Jr. heard that Alderman Lewis Reed was running for president of the city’s Board of Alderman, he called the candidate and said, “You are headed out on the deep, where the big ships are.”
The first African-American mayor of St. Louis and veteran of many bitter citywide campaigns, Bosley knows very well that of which he spoke.
Whereas an alderman represents only a portion of the city – in Reed’s case, the diverse 6th Ward, divided between the Central Corridor and the near South Side – the president of the Board of Alderman is a citywide position, elected by the general population.
“Going for a citywide position as an African American in a city that is racially polarized is a humongous political challenge,” Bosley said.
“It’s tantamount to going out on the deep.”
The incumbent, Jim Shrewsbury, is white with a political base in South City.
The president of the Board of Alderman is a very important citywide position, involving much more than setting the agenda for the city’s legislative sessions. The aldermanic president also has a seat on the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment, or E & A.
“The Board of Estimate and Apportionment is the chief fiscal body for the City of St. Louis,” said License Collector Michael McMillan, former alderman of the 19th Ward and co-chair of Reed’s election committee.
“It makes all the city’s major economic decisions.”
Reed’s mounting of a citywide campaign for a major elected position has been seized upon by longtime black political figures like Bosley as a symbol of a sort of “great black hope” of city politics.
“African Americans in St. Louis are very fragmented politically right now,” Bosley said.
“Reed’s candidacy has the ability to reposition us politically. We could start 2007 off in the right direction if African Americans do what is necessary to support him.”
In the “racially polarized” climate described by Bosley, a black citywide candidate like Reed running against a white incumbent like Shrewsbury typically would be expected to garner almost all of the black vote and very little of the white vote. This paradigm could shift for Reed, because of his diverse base in the 6th Ward.
“His base is on the near South Side and the Central Corridor, so he should be able to make a lot of inroads into South City,” Bosley said.
“Normally, a black citywide candidate can expect to get about 10 percent of the white vote. Lewis should be able to do a lot better than that.”
McMillan goes a step further to describe Reed as a “new breed” of candidate who could take the city beyond its entrenched two-tone politics.
“Lewis is what I hope will be a new breed of elected official in St. Louis,” McMillan said.
“He is a dedicated city official who could bridge the racial divide and bring everyone together.”
Reed even bridges this divide at home, as his wife, Mary Entrup, a lawyer and municipal judge, is white.
Given Reed’s crossover potential, Shrewsbury will need to undermine his opponent’s expected support from the black community as a black candidate. Shrewsbury confirmed to the American that his campaign has made polling calls on Reed that attempted to associate Reed with Mayor Francis G. Slay. Most observers of city politics would consider this to be a negative association in the black community. Whether stoked by Shrewsbury and his supporters or not, the Reed campaign has had to contend with rumors of Slay’s alleged involvement in the political fortunes of its candidate.
“The rumor insinuating that Lewis is running for president of the Board of Alderman at the behest of Mayor Slay is absolutely false,” McMillan said.
Reed balked at the idea of supporting the views or policies of anyone in city government – including the mayor – without assessing the merits of those view or policies.
“I look at the mayor like any other elected official or legislator,” Reed said.
“If Slay is pushing something, I look at its merits, and if it’s a good thing for the city I support it. Otherwise, the city loses.”
Reed said he approached the mayor for his support in the campaign, but was told Slay wasn’t taking a position. Reed acknowledged a decorum among elected officials not to campaign against a fellow incumbent within one’s own party. In this connection, Reed’s campaign proudly notes that not one citywide official has openly endorsed Shrewsbury.
As for the mayor’s unstated sympathies, the Reed campaign suggested looking at the endorsement of the mayor’s father, Francis Slay Sr., and the 23rd Ward Organization, where he serves as committeeman. Slay Sr. told the American that the organization had not voted on an endorsement and declined the opportunity to disclose his own sympathies.
“I like Lewis Reed very much, but I also like Jim Shrewsbury,” Slay Sr. said.
The question of Reed’s connection, if any, to the mayor could be considered legitimate, given the logistics of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. Other than the aldermanic president, the other two seats on E & A belong to the mayor and the comptroller, in this case Slay and Darlene Green. Reed praised the give-and-take dynamics of a board that embraces differences of opinion and approach.
“How did we get such a good stadium deal?” Reed asked.
“The original plan was not as good as the final plan. It was driven there because of Darlene.”
Shrewsbury also has confirmed polling on the fact that Reed’s wife was appointed to her part-time position as municipal judge by the mayor. Reed ridiculed that he would have any indebted political allegiance to Slay owed from that appointment.
“I’m going to sell my soul for $7,000 a year?” Reed said. “Come on!”
If Reed beats Shrewsbury on March 6, he and Green would form an African-American majority on E & A. This would be the second time in the city’s history that blacks formed a majority on the city’s chief fiscal board. From 1993 to 1997, Bosley was mayor and Virvus Jones was the city’s first black comptroller.
“Nothing in the city is spent without the approval of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment,” Bosley said. “It decides on the budget and all major contracts.”
Bosley said that minority representation on the board is critical.
“Virvus and I were very mindful of the level of minority participation on projects that involve the expenditure of public dollars,” Bosley said.
“This issue tends to go unnoticed, unless an African American raises it. That’s why it’s so important to elect blacks onto the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.”
