As we’ve learned in the last week, St. Louis’ Aldergeddon won’t only be fought in the polling booths — some battles will take place in the St. Louis City Circuit Court, as well. The outcome of at least one ward may come down to a court order and could potentially shift power on the Board of Aldermen.
On Thursday of last week, incumbent Alderwoman Laura Keys filed a lawsuit against her opponent for the new 11th Ward aldermanic seat, Carla “Coffee” Wright. In Keys’ request to boot Wright from the April 4 ballot, the alderwoman alleges that Wright doesn’t meet residency requirements to run for office in the ward. Keys bases her allegations on the lack of city water service to the address that Wright claimed in filing for the 11th ward, as well as Wright’s voter registration address in another ward until December 2022 and Wright’s April 2022 federal candidate registration for last year’s U.S. Senate race.
Keys’ lawsuit is straightforward: based on Wright’s own filings with the FEC last year, she does not meet the one-year residency requirement to run for the ward alderperson.
State representative and current 14th Ward aldermanic candidate Rasheen Aldridge filed his own lawsuit against opponent Ebony Washington of the Hubbard political family last Friday that seemed equally as straightforward as Keys’. In the brief, three-page lawsuit, Aldridge challenged Washington’s eligibility to run for office on the basis of her “assessed city taxpayer ” status – or lack thereof. The city charter requires candidates running for alderperson to be assessed for two years prior to running for office. Since Washington filed to run in 2022, she should have paid personal property taxes or obtained a waiver for the years 2020 and 2021.
Washington was seen at City Hall on Monday, reopening her personal property tax account and trying to pay at least two years of back taxes owed on her vehicle.
According to the Post-Dispatch, Aldridge’s lawsuit “is now moot” and Aldridge’s lawyer said on Tuesday he withdrew the lawsuit after Washington paid the tax bills she owed from 2020 and 2021.
The southside isn’t without its own messy situation. Although the court isn’t involved, 1st Ward candidate, deputy sheriff Tony Kirchner, has found himself in uncharted territory. Kirchner, who has obtained some questionable restraining orders against his ex-wife, has been a very vocal opponent of a new shelter proposed for the Carondelet neighborhood. One of those restraining orders is currently in effect until August of this year and the judge who entered the order in favor of the deputy is St. Louis City Judge Scott Milikan, former police attorney and the brother of current police attorney and St. Louis County municipal judge Brian Milikan. “Help for me and not for thee,” apparently is this deputy’s motto. Kirchner has also publicly supported the Attorney General’s attempt to overturn St. Louis City voters’ overwhelming choice by removing Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from office, and he grossly tried to use a teenager’s tragic accident to amass political support.
Kirchner, whose personal life seems to play out like a “Jerry Springer” episode, is challenging incumbent AlderwomanAnne Schweitzer, and he’s relying on a MAGA-heavy platform in his effort to join the Board. There’s no question who the right – and sane – choice is for the ward. We just hope the voters can see past Kirchner’s selfish charade on April 4.
While we’re on the subject of police in St. Louis, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ administration has taken a strong stance against the Missouri General Assembly’s legislative insurrection to undermine the city’s elected government. Mayor Jones recently appeared on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes,” where she reminded the state legislature that its attempt to regain its control over St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department would cost Missouri taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Under the proposed legislation, the state would have to purchase from the city all of its assets like police headquarters and precincts, vehicles, and equipment. The state would also be financially liable for health insurance and pension costs, as well as salaries and lawsuit settlements.
As Mayor Jones also pointed out, another state takeover of the SLMPD will not make St. Louis safer. Under state control of the police department, from the Civil War until 2012, crime was higher than it is currently. You wouldn’t know it from the way local television stations cover the subject, but violent crime has actually seen some decline since the city regained control of the police department in 2013. But this fact is not helpful to Missouri Republicans’ narrative.
The General Assembly’s bigger obstacles to taking over the SLMPD are linked to constitutional issues, namely the violations of the Hancock Amendment and Article VI, Section 22, which bars the state legislature from passing laws that impose any duties or obligations onto municipal employees. We discussed those legal issues more in-depth in last week’s Political Eye.
To be clear, the General Assembly’s legislative assault on St. Louis and Kansas City is part of the larger “culture war” that state Republicans are waging against Missouri cities. Especially cities with Black elected leadership.
Motivated by white grievance, extremists in the Missouri GOP believe that what makes their voters angry also gets them out to vote. They have once again wasted at least half of the current legislative session focused on “wokeness”, removing history from public school curriculum, pulling books that foster inclusion and diversity from library shelves, and banning health and mental care for children understanding their gender identities. There are certainly more pressing issues, such as rising gun violence in public spaces and the growing housing crisis, but basic human needs like safety and shelter appear to be of little importance to state Republicans.
Un-elected Attorney General Andrew Bailey has regularly overstepped his legal authority since he was appointed to office, making the fight to save the SLMPD from a state takeover so much more critical to the well-being of our city. The General Assembly’s power grab is akin to what Missouri’s pro-slavery governor, Claiborne Jackson, did the first time local control of the SLMPD was revoked. The intent in 1862 was to try to prevent St. Louis from defending itself from the incoming Confederate army, clearing a path to take over the city and to re-enslave the thousands of free Black residents who lived here. That same white supremacy lives on today through illegal “emergency regulations” denying healthcare to children, lawsuits against public school districts, and the non-stop “culture wars” against “wokeness.” Whatever that actually means – we have yet to see one of these racist ideologues actually define the term.
The EYE sees “wokeness” as standard human decency – the awareness of racial and social issues and paying attention to how they intersect with other issues like policing, access to housing, access to healthcare, and quality public education. We have a difficult time understanding what is objectionable to this simple definition, or why any person would oppose “wokeness” when the term calls for basic kindness toward other people.
What the extremists in Jefferson City do accept is the notion that there is more energy against “wokeness” than other policy issues, session after session, which is the humanity of all Missourians, not just the select few deemed worthy by the majority-white male legislature. Every year, millions of Missouri residents are left behind by elected officials who don’t represent their constituents’ interests but instead spend their time pushing a Reagan-era “culture war” that, for decades, has been code for racism and sexism. Look no further than the current loosening of gun laws to encourage more chaos and violence in our cities, or the banning of abortion and attempts to ban birth control. In addition there is the emphasis on transgender issues and kids where there is not simply support from their base but also some Democrats and independents.
Nevertheless, we are facing a state legislature that acts as if they want to see St. Louis fail in every way. Enough is enough, and we applaud Mayor Jones, County Executive Sam Page, and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas for fighting back against this power grab on behalf of their residents.
