Last week Alphonso Jackson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, backed out of appearing as guest speaker at a celebration by the St. Louis Civil Rights Enforcement of Fair Housing Month. The reason Jackson gave for backing out was a possible conflict of interest because of a complaint filed by a citizens’ group that accused the City of St. Louis of discrimination in its allocation of HUD funds.
Based upon the events of this past Monday, when Jackson announced his resignation as HUD secretary, allegedly due to personal reasons, it looks like the real reason Jackson decided to pass on a commitment to be guest speaker was the realization that he would be speaking as the former HUD secretary. Surely, he did not want to face an inquiring press corps about the reasons he felt compelled to resign.
Jackson had been pressured by the White House, concerned about the housing market crisis, which happened on his watch at HUD. According to press reports, Jackson also is being investigated by the FBI and a number of other governmental entities on charges of cronyism and favoritism in the awarding of contracts at HUD. Not even Jackson’s close personal relationship with President George W. Bush could save him from myriad ethical questions raised during his two-year tenure at HUD.
Jackson’s St. Louis history began when he graduated from Washington University School of Law. He subsequently served as director of Public Safety for the City and executive director of the St. Louis Housing Authority. Earlier in his career, he had a solid reputation as a reformer in affordable housing.
An interesting side note to Jackson’s tenure as Public Safety director: When the current director Charles Bryson was appointed by Mayor Francis G. “The Divider” Slay, Bryson was asked if he would be the first black to hold that position. He replied, proudly, “No – Al Jackson!” It was as if Bryson had already imagined (and, perhaps, been encouraged to imagine) himself as following Jackson’s footsteps into more and more powerful positions, if he would just step up and do one dirty deed for the team.
Unfortunately for St. Louis, the only similarity between Bryson and Jackson’s tenures was that they are both black. It was on Jackson’s watch that a consent decree settled the discrimination lawsuit filed by F.I.R.E and the U.S. Justice Department. Jackson helped to craft (and get supported by then-Mayor Jim Conway) an agreement that called for 50 percent of all new Fire Department hires and one-third of all promotions to captain to go to black persons. As for Bryson, he will be known forever as the house Negro who helped to douse the fire of equal opportunity in the St. Louis Fire Department by stepping in for the mayor’s cousin Sam Simon to demote the City’s first black fire chief – and smooth the way to promotions from the 2004 list, which have whitewashed the leadership of the Fire Department for at least a generation.
3 blacks for the 5th
Unless you have been asleep under a rock, you know by now that state Rep. Tom Villa did not file for the open 5th Senatorial District seat, but state Rep. Connie Johnson did, joining state Rep. Rodney Hubbard, state Rep. Robin Wright Jones and a Libertarian candidate. Connie told the EYE she had the Secretary of State’s office staked out on the last day of closing, prepared to file only if Villa didn’t, with press releases prepared for both events (a hilarious image in itself), though others say she was determined to get in the race either way.
Villa almost certainly could have won with the black vote split two or three ways. He told the EYE long ago that he would not stay out of the race for the good of the Democratic Party or to ensure that the city has a black senator in the state Senate. If the party offered Villa an enticement, we were not told. One white guy in shoes somewhat similar to Villa’s thinks the shout-down of Mayor Slay on MLK Day turned Villa’s stomach.
So, some black person will get state Sen. Maida Coleman’s job. Robin and her campaign advisor Jim Ross had been saying Robin would win a three-way race with Rodney and Villa, as the only candidate who is female and progressive. If they meant what they were saying, they now would have to place Hubbard as the front-runner, since Robin and Connie are both women with progressive voting records. This, in turn, makes Connie’s getting in the race look like a favor to Rodney.
However, the motives in this race have looked mixed and mostly self-serving from the get-go. Connie Johnson, in particular, has been running around, getting in line for every job in Jefferson City and reportedly turning down a few of them that looked pretty good. The announcement of her Senate Kick-Off Event (5:30 p.m. Friday, April 4 at Diversity Gallery Culture Café, 6161 Delmar Blvd.) contains effusive praise for Diversity owner Leslie Jeffries (“her cosmopolitan gallery … features eclectic jewelry, fashions, natural hair styling and the very popular Carol’s Daughters Products”) but no mention of event co-chairs or endorsements.
Slay’s folks for Hubbard
In what may be related news, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce and Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly – two staunch allies of the mayor – announced their support of Hubbard last week. Most of us are waiting for some other shoes to fall in the aftermath of the mayor signing on in rare public support of the perennial “local control of City police” bill, which is being quarterbacked this year by Hubbard and state Rep. T.D. El-Amin.
Joyce and Daly’s support of Hubbard may form part of some yet-unknown package deal between Hubbard and Slay that also included the mayor’s support of local control. Or it may not. Maybe Joyce and Daly went with the likely winner once they knew Villa was sitting this one out. This is all worth watching.
Of course, Hubbard also lined up a lot of powerhouse black support early on, including U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and License Collector Michael McMillan. His proven ability to form unseemly and unlikely alliances with Republicans and conservative white Democrats – and his conservative voting record, which has been harped on here so many times – have not done much to hamper his efforts to claim the brass ring as a new Jet Banks.
Arnie tells, doesn’t show
Two weeks ago the EYE reported a letter from a reader, who seems to have inside dope about the lack of black talent in key positions at the Post-Dispatch. It is amazing that this item evoked a letter to the American from Post Managing Editor Arnie Robbins, printed this week on A4. We are one of many local publications that beat up on the Post in almost every issue, like Davids on Goliath, and until now the Post has ignored all of us. This particular rock seems to have made the giant flinch.
It also is amazing that, in accusing us of bad journalism, Robbins fails on the most basic grounds of good journalism: He tells, rather than shows; and he provides no evidence for what he tells us. Read his response and look for any evidence for any of his claims.
The American wrote back to him (through the middle-man community-outreach guy Robbins was using, for reasons only he knows), “This seems very deficient in the very evidence that our source was supposed to be lacking. Could we have the names and positions of the blacks in specific editorial positions whose existence our source overlooked? Those to whom these claims were ‘news’?”
We asked Robbins to refute the following specific claims, naming names and citing positions. Our source had claimed the Post has:
* No African Americans in senior editor positions.
* No assistant Metro editors of color
* No assistant editors of color in any department.
* No blacks covering the city; the only black reporter on the Metro staff covers North County
* No blacks writing editorials
* No blacks on the copy desk (copy desk chief Courtney Barrett is black, but his is an administrative job, although he reads some copy)
* No blacks on the national or foreign desk
* No black page designers
* No blacks in the research department.
We said to Robbins, “We would need those names and positions before we (or our readers) would be persuaded.” He has not responded. So we are not persuaded.
Also, notice that our source was talking only about a black exodus from the Post and the absence of black talent at the paper, so Arnie’s bits about “people of color” and women are beside the point.
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King guns for Gunn’s seat
King L. Taylor Jr., age 51, a public high school teacher and entrepreneur, is on the April 8 ballot for trustee for St. Louis Community College District 1. He is running for the seat of past SLCC Board President Dr. Dolores Gunn and said he has earned her support. He also reports endorsements from U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, County Executive Charlie A. Dooley, state Sen. Timothy Green and County Councilwoman Hazel Erby.
He said his goals are keeping the system affordable and expanding mentoring programs.
District 1 includes the school districts of Hazelwood, Riverview, Ferguson-Florissant, Jennings, University City, Ladue, Clayton, Pattonville, Ritenour, Wellston and Normandy.
Taylor teaches personal finance and entrepreneurship in the Normandy School District. For nine years he taught at Roosevelt High School as well. He is CEO, president and owner of Chemstar Holding, Inc., a motor vehicle supplier and new parts merchant wholesaler. His mother is Gloria Taylor, the visionary behind Community Women Against Hardship.