We knew these aldermanic contests would get nasty. We predicted the ensuing personal attacks from a mile away, and now, that time is upon us. Aldergeddon is here.
This election is one of the most consequential in our city’s recent history. Not only is every single alderperson up for election on April 4, but we are reducing the number of representatives to the Board of Aldermen by half. These fourteen ward races will undoubtedly help determine the future of our beautiful city. Here’s what we know going into this Tuesday’s General Municipal Election Day:
The March 7 primary election turnout was abysmally low across the city at only slightly more than 12.5% of registered voters. Wards with higher voter turnout were the ones that had races with three or more candidates. Conversely, ward races that had only two candidates had lower turnouts. The 3rd Ward, where incumbent Alderman Shane Cohn is unopposed, had less than a 5% turnout. We expect turnout in these races on April 4 to be much higher across the city.
Proposition C is also on the April 4 ballot, asking city voters to decide whether to create a 9-member commission tasked with meeting every ten years to review the City Charter. Currently, voters can amend the City Charter through the initiative petition process, but there is no regular review mechanism. The new City Charter Commission would evaluate the charter each decade and draft any proposed changes that would then go back to voters for approval. This ballot initiative is pivotal for our city.
Check out the latest EYE drops as you prepare to vote on Tuesday!
We would first like to acknowledge 1st Ward aldermanic candidate Tony Kirchner’s apparent lack of understanding of how newspapers work. In a public Facebook post, this grown adult who is allowed to carry a badge and a gun attempted to blame incumbent Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer for this column sharing relevant details with voters. Rather than addressing the issues raised, the deputy sheriff has instead turned to petty personal attacks against Schweitzer – demonstrating further that he has no business serving on the Board of Aldermen. Who expected this deputy sheriff to be so thin-skinned?
Alderwoman Schweitzer learned of the sordid details of Kirchner’s personal life along with the rest of the 1st Ward. Voters have the right to be aware of this information because it raises questions about Kirchner’s fitness to serve and his capability to represent tens of thousands of diverse residents. These aren’t “rumors;” this isn’t “dirty;” these are public records.
His largest individual donation was $1,000 from multiply and credibly-accused state Senator Steve Roberts whose father Steve Sr. is deputy sheriff. But remove the uniform, see beyond the credentials, and Kirchner lacks the substance or understanding of policy to be an effective leader at the Board of Aldermen.
In the 2nd Ward, incumbent Alderman Tom Oldenburg also faces an emboldened cop seeking to bring an unpopular MAGA agenda to the Board. Given Oldenburg’s numbers from the March 7 primary, we’re confident that the incumbent will join the newly configured Board later in April.
The 4th Ward has two incumbents vying for one seat – Alderman Bret Narayan, who previously represented the 24th Ward, faces Alderman Joe “Car Wash Daddy” Vaccaro of the old 23rd Ward. Narayan represents a working class-focused, grassroots movement in South City that has seen a surge in support over the last decade. Vaccaro is one of the few remaining members of the “old guard” on the Board of Aldermen.
The other Joe on the Board – incumbent Alderman Joe Vollmer – also represents the St. Louis of the past, counting support from former mayors Lyda Krewson and Vince Schoemehl and the St. Louis Police Officers Association. Small business owner Helen Petty has the support of outgoing alderpersons Christine Ingrassia, Dan Guenther,Bill Stephens, and Treasurer Adam Layne. Petty has a significant deficit of votes to overcome but she has a mighty grassroots team backed by organizations like Pro-Choice Missouri, Sierra Club, SEIU Missouri/Kansas, and United Auto Workers.
The aldermanic race of the 6th Ward has been relatively unexciting – for us and, apparently, voters. Public relations professional Daniela Velazquez faces former Tower Grove South alderwoman Jennifer Florida, who hasn’t done much of anything since the last time she ran for office. While the handful of 6th ward voters we’ve asked seemed to support Velazquez – who has the support of Mayor Jones, Board President Green, and outgoing Alderwoman Annie Rice – the general tone across the Shaw and Tower Grove South neighborhoods has been lackluster. We would still love to see Velazquez work harder to energize and encourage more than 12% of the ward’s registered voters to show up on Election Day.
The 7th Ward will see a match-up between current SLPS Board of Education member Alisha Sonnier and St. Louis County private school staffer J.P. Mitchom. Sonnier is a mental advocate by day and, outside of her bread-and-butter, she serves as a school board member. In her brief time on the board, Sonnier has helped to push through higher wages across the SLPS and organize Proposition S, delivering much-needed funding to upgrade city public schools. Mitchom, on the other hand, has attempted to re-brand himself as a therapist at a southside health clinic, although he is employed full-time by Priory Catholic School in Creve Coeur. With the effort that Mitchom has made to hide his employment from voters, we can’t help but wonder whether he believes in the city – or our SLPS schools.
But his day job isn’t the only role Mitchom has tried to distance himself from publicly. In a recent candidate forum, Mitchom stated that while he served as the president of the Tiffany Community Association, he did not support the development of a new QuikTrip location at Lafayette and Grand. However, a review of QT’s public development application shows that Mitchom did, in fact, sign a letter backing the project, and we only recently learned that Mitchom did not consult with the affected neighbors in Tiffany before pledging the neighborhood’s support. Sonnier has been transparent about her political stances and her commitment to quit her job to serve as a full-time alderperson. Mitchom has parroted Sonnier’s platform points or delivered a nonsensical word salad when asked about substantive policy. Only one candidate has demonstrated preparedness for the office and its demands.
We’ll admit that we’ve also been rather ambivalent about the outcome in the 8th Ward, where incumbent Alderwoman Cara Spencer faces former alderman Ken Ortmann. Spencer declined to say whether she would step down from her cushy vice president role at St. Louis Bank if re-elected, and she’s also criticized her own vote for a city-wide traffic study, understood to be the first step to addressing the dire conditions of city streets. Maybe Spencer should choose a lane – public service or banking – and stick with it.
Ortmann is not a serious candidate, and even if he could pick up all of Shedrick Kelley’s votes from the March 7 primary, Ortmann would still lose to Spencer. The political game isn’t what it used to be, Ken!
Our paper’s endorsement for 9th Ward candidate Michael Browning has raised some questions from some folks we respect and value. Incumbent Alderwoman Tina Pihl has impressive academic qualifications as an urban planner, but academic achievement does not always translate to effective political leadership or policymaking. In her short time on the Board, Pihl became known for not returning phone calls or emails from constituents, colleagues, the Board President, or Mayor Jones in a timely manner. This surfaced during Pihl’s conflict with the St. Louis Development Corporation last fall when her public feud with SLDC Director Neil Richardson ultimately had to force other alderpersons to sponsor development projects in her ward. Pihl also claimed to have passed the first community benefits agreement, or “CBA,” on the Board. This repeated talking point is totally untrue. Then-Alderwoman Megan Green passed the first CBA for the Morgan Ford neighborhood in 2017, years before Pihl joined the Board.
On the other hand, Browning supports a comprehensive platform that includes practical ways to move the city forward and beyond buzzwords. Throughout the campaign, Browning has demonstrated a willingness to listen and learn, while Pihl called for more funding for police during a candidate forum and blindly committed to supporting legislation drafted by an advocacy organization without reviewing it. Some of Pihl’s policy positions no longer align with our values for this development-rich ward. Browning’s platform does. That accounts for our decision to support Browning.
The 10th Ward doesn’t present a difficult choice between its two candidates. Incumbent Alderwoman Shameem Clark-Hubbard faces new ward resident Emmett Coleman. Clark-Hubbard has a strong base and enters the race with a legislative record that includes our current Civilian Oversight Board and the Reproductive Justice Equity Fund. She also joins Sonnier in collecting all three “ShE & A” Committee endorsements by Mayor Jones, Comptroller Darlene Green, and Board President Green. Coleman was a resident of the Shaw neighborhood until not too long ago, from what we can determine. We haven’t seen any evidence of community ties to his new ward. Clark-Hubbard has been a bright ray of sunshine on the Board of Aldermen, and we look forward to seeing her continue to shine for the next four years. To her credit she is not taking anything for granted and is actively campaigning.
The 11th Ward, on the other hand, has been muddy – to put it kindly. Incumbent Alderwoman Laura Keys filed a lawsuit on March 16, challenging opponent Carla “Coffee” Wright’s residency in the ward. Keys’ suit includes Wright’s FEC statement of candidacy from her August 2022 run for U.S. Senate and two emails from MSD. These documents indicate that Wright does not receive water service at the two addresses she has claimed as a political candidate – one address in the 11th Ward and the other (in the FEC statement) in the 12th Ward. Wright also claims to be “natural” and collects rainwater for her household plumbing. Despite the absurdity of these statements, Keys’ lawyer does not seem to be aggressively pursuing this case in the St. Louis City Circuit Court.
Tashara Earl, challenger for the 12th Ward, has redefined collaborative leadership for the aldermanic role. Earl faces incumbent Alderwoman Sharon Tyus, who has only recently started to host community meetings. We have a feeling that Earl’s aggressive grassroots organizing had something to do with Tyus’ sudden interest in showing up in her ward beyond her own block. Nearly 1,600 voters cast 2,384 ballots under the “approval voting” system, meaning that the outcome on April 4 really could reward either candidate.
Earl has the support of Mayor Jones and Board President Green, and that includes at least one of her former opponents, community advocate Darron Collins-Bey, who has publicly supported her. Tyus draws her support from former board president Reed’s political action committee, “the LOU PAC.” The bulk of her campaign donations have gone to pay down an inexplicable debt on Tyus’ financial disclosures for nearly two years. Tyus hosted a meeting in February in Earl’s home neighborhood of Baden. However, attendance at that event paled compared to Earl’s recent small business town hall, which both Mayor Jones and Board President Green attended.
We couldn’t tell you too much about what’s been happening in the 13th Ward race, where incumbent Alderwomen Norma Walker and Pamela Boyd are fighting for one seat. The 9% voter turnout indicates that the candidates did not effectively communicate with their constituents. Boyd did appear for the previously-mentioned event with Tyus, but the impact of this meeting is unclear.
The aldermanic race for the 14th Ward has been one of the messiest – and most petty – during Aldergeddon. State Representative Rasheen Aldridge faces Hubbard family member Ebony Washington, who has some questionable residency issues of her own. Outgoing Alderman Brandon Bosley broke family tradition and announced his support for Washington, but apparently because his sister, State Representative LaKeySha Bosley, had some silly little quarrel with Aldridge. These endorsements aren’t apparently based on respective merit of the candidates.
Aldridge has faced a Hubbard before. In 2016, along with then-community activist Bruce Franks, Aldridge challenged election results from his committeeman race against Rodney Hubbard, Sr., Washington’s grandfather. Aldridge and Franks lost in their first elections, but they sued the Hubbards – for lack of a better word – for cheating.
In Aldridge’s lawsuit, just like Franks’ against Penny Hubbard, the court found “irregularities” in absentee ballots collected and questionably handled by the Hubbard family. Republicans like to call this “ballot harvesting.” When the court awarded Aldridge and Franks each a new election, the Hubbards were under public scrutiny and unable to run their trademark absentee ballot con. Because the Hubbards couldn’t use their historically “reliable” tactic, Rodney Sr. and Penny lost overwhelmingly to Aldridge and Franks.
This is basically a repeat rematch between Aldridge and the Hubbards. But only one candidate is running to serve the public. Washington has shown herself as a pawn promoting her family’s self-interest rather than what’s best for the ward.
We hope this week’s column helps enlighten you as you decide who to support on April 4! We’ll see you on the other side of Aldergeddon. But first you must exercise your right as a citizen and vote to make your voice heard