On April 17 Alvin Parks Jr. narrowly won the election for mayor of East St. Louis, running on a campaign message with a distinctly gospel flavor, “Life More Abundantly.”
Parks’ political director, it would seem, was Jesus Christ himself and his public relations manager the apostle John, for it is in John 10:10 where Christ is quoted, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have life more abundantly.”
“Life more abundantly” is difficult to quantify, but Parks more specifically has identified cleaning up the city and making it more safe as the two chief priorities of his administration.
Parks is hosting a series of citizen clean-up efforts to pursue the first objective. As for safety, Parks said he is developing partnerships with the federal government to work jointly on crime-fighting initiatives.
On Friday he announced a new police chief, Michael Baxton, who replaced veteran James Mister.
Also on Friday, Parks met with the American in the midst of small staff meetings that he said were scheduled to discuss with people “how important their jobs are and how much we appreciate how well they are doing their jobs,” though several people in City Hall said in the meetings Parks was explaining his decision to replace the police chief.
The news apparently was not well received within the police department. Baxton confirmed with the Belleville News Democrat that on Sunday the entire first shift called in sick and on Saturday about half the shift called in sick.
Baxton and Parks both refused to associate the sick calls with the change in department leadership.
Calling it “a normal day,” Parks told KTVI, “I wouldn’t classify it as blue flu. I’d call it great support from the Illinois State Police.” A number of state troopers were on call in East St. Louis over the weekend.
Though Parks did not specify economic revival or rebuilding credibility in government when listing his top priorities to the American, he acknowledged facing major challenges in both areas.
The Casino Queen, he said, “is an important part of East St. Louis’ economy and the City’s general revenue.” (The Casino Queen pays about $10.5 million annually in taxes to the City of East St. Louis.) The casino faces unprecedented market challenges from Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., which is developing the $495 million Lumiére Place right across the river, as well as a $375 million project in Lemay.
Ameristar recently held a topping-off ceremony on its new $256 million hotel and spa complex on the St. Charles riverfront.
The St. Louis Business Journal reported that in May the Casino Queen’s revenue slipped 4.8 percent, the biggest drop among area casinos, as admission dropped more than 11 percent. For May the casino’s revenue fell to $14.4 million from $15.2 million last year. Its admissions were 163,780, compared with 184,568 in May 2006.
“It’s our responsibility to see that the Casino Queen is primed for competition and can open as early as possible,” Parks said, referring to the casino’s new $60 million development scheduled to open August 2.
Parks recently returned from the June 22-26 Conference of Mayors in Los Angeles, where he said he absorbed valuable advice on leveraging federal funds to develop the city, including HUD grants to help develop the city’s housing stocks.
Parks pointed to a recent $480,000 grant from the Emerson Park Development Corporation that will fund the construction of 12 new houses in the Emerson Park neighborhood.
“We need new construction so the middle class will return to East St. Louis,” Park said.
That would include middle-class employees of the City. Parks acknowledged that though the city has a residency requirement for City employees, “it is not executed.”
Parks said he had been consulting with John Steffen of Pyramid and other developers and that Steffen could “quarterback” important aspects of new development in East St. Louis.
As for public credibility, Parks also acknowledged that he has inherited a major image problem following a rash of federal indictments of East St. Louis elected officials, as chronicled by James T. Ingram in his column in the American.
“We have to rebuild our image,” Parks said. “It has been ransacked. We know. It has been ravaged.”
As Ingram recently reported, Parks has hired his sister, Lauren Parks-Goins, as his executive assistant and his brother-in-law, Rocco Goins, as director of the Emergency Service Disaster Agency – part of his prioritized effort to improve public safety.
