The incumbent mayor of St. Louis, Francis G. Slay, has accepted two invitations to answer questions alongside Maida Coleman and the other candidates for mayor on the Tuesday, April 7 ballot.
They will appear at a candidates’ forum organized by Metropolitan Congregations United 3 p.m. Sunday, March 29 at 2nd Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Westminster and Taylor.
They will appear at another forum moderated by the League of Women Voters 7-8:30 p.m. Monday, March 30 at Central Library, 1301 Olive St. This forum is co-sponsored by the Downtown St. Louis Residents Association.
At press time last Wednesday, organizers for both forums said Slay had not confirmed his participation. Slay previously declined an invitation to appear in a candidates’ forum hosted by the Mound City Bar Association, a professional group for black lawyers in the region.
Slay campaign manager and former chief of staff Jeff Rainford has not returned a call to this paper since early January, when he took a call regarding the unexpected filing of Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman in the Democratic primary. He did not return a call last week about Slay’s reluctance to appear in a public forum.
Through a Slay spokesman, at last week’s deadline Rainford said the mayor was unlikely to accept an invitation to debate “because he – and most voters – would rather have more direct and personal contact than debates provide.”
The mayor’s participation in the two upcoming forums does not necessarily contradict this, since neither forum will be a genuine debate. And both forums will in a sense offer “direct and personal contact” with voters, in that the questions posed to the candidates will be chosen from questions provided by the audience.
To help audience members and organizers prepare for the forums, the American asked a number of people with intimate knowledge of city politics for good questions to ask the incumbent, Mayor Slay. These are some of their suggested questions.
Questions for the incumbent
What were you doing in St. Louis on Friday, Feb. 20 when mayors of 80 other cities were meeting in The White House with President Obama and members of his cabinet regarding how cities can benefit from the multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus package?
What is the current projected deficit of the City for this fiscal year ending June 2009 and for 2010? If there is a deficit on your watch, what services will be cut?
During your service on the board as mayor, a judge accused the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners of turning a “blind eye” to rampant citizen allegations of police misconduct. Is that fair? Why or why not?
Would you say you turned “a blind eye” to evidence of corruption in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department under the leadership of former Police Chief Joe Mokwa? If not, what did you do to hold Mokwa accountable?
Mokwa has testified under oath to meeting regularly at the offices of S&H Towing with manager Greg Shepard, a former cop. He also testified under oath to calling Shepard personally regarding individual towed vehicles. Were you aware of the closeness of Mokwa and Shepard’s relationship? What did you know about it?
Since health care is a requirement of the City Charter, what are your plans to address the explosive growth of HIV infections and other rampant health issues in the city? In North St. Louis specifically?
Did you or your staff have anything to do with Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman getting a piece of the red camera light contracts (with American Traffic Solutions) for the City? She received $160,000 from a contract signed on June 7, 2006 that is still in effect. (See Political EYE, page A8.)
Since the mayor now has an appointee to the board that currently oversees St. Louis Public Schools (Melanie Adams), why are you still paying the Democratic Central Committee Chairman’s wife, Robbyn Wahby, nearly $100,000 per year as your education liaison?
Did your administration live up to levying the legal penalties that were originally set forth in the Ballpark Village legislation for the non-compliance of Cordish and the Cardinals in construction of the retail/housing components?
Why hasn’t Director of Public Safety Charles Bryson appointed a building commissioner, as per the City Charter? The City Charter requires a building commissioner. In 2005 you removed Ron Smith as building commissioner to become director of Operations in your administration. Since then there hasn’t been a duly qualified building commissioner.
Frank Oswald, the acting building commissioner, is not licensed. Why does the City have an acting building commissioner who has failed the Code Enforcement official exam twice?
How many of the past eight years under your leadership has the City had a deficit and laid off employees? What services were cut then as a result?
What has been the result of the investigation regarding the nepotism and inappropriate granting of City contracts by Information Technology Director Michael Wise, who was brought aboard after the Mayor’s Office took over the IT Department?
What have you done to support the public school system and when was the last time you visited a public school?
Why do you feel that the large majority of the black community does not support you regardless of your public relations campaigns to improve your image in the black community? Do you think their concerns are legitimate?
Did your administration do everything that it could have to avoid having a surface parking lot and a softball field across from Busch Stadium for the All Star game? For example?
Do you support a minority- and women-owned business inclusion ordinance (not just executive order) for the City? What have you done to ensure minority- and women-owned business inclusion?
What will you do to improve openness and transparency in city government?
Your family friend Sam Simon, as director of Public Safety, threatened the city’s first African-American fire chief with disciplinary action and then resigned. The person you promoted – who immediately said he would enforce Simon’s deadline, and ultimately did demote Chief George – is a black man, Charles Bryson. It is widely assumed in the black community that you promoted a black man to demote a black man, as a racially divisive move. If that is wrong, why is it wrong?
Note that organizers of both forums forbid campaign paraphernalia and protesting for or against any candidate. They also will favor questions based on issues, not personalities.
In addition to Slay (Democrat) and Maida Coleman (Independent), Robb Cunningham (Libertarian) and Elston McCowan (Green Party) have confirmed they will attend both forums.
Coleman decided to file as an Independent after Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman – who signed her contract with the City red light camera program as “Denise Watson-Wesley,” with no “Coleman” in her name – filed as a Democrat on the last day of filing for the primary.