We have a new President…wait, I’m going to start over. We have a new president (capitalization is reserved for proper nouns and this guy is anything but proper). I didn’t watch it, I am not following along on social media. It’s not that I don’t care, but I will admit that I’ve checked-out. No amount of my reading of his insane tweets or racist bullshit is going to help us out of the situation we find ourselves now. We’ll get through this together but no matter how many women marched this weekend we cannot change that over half of the white women who voted went for the president. Today our fate, as it relates to him, is tied to our Congressional Representatives and whether or not they try to impeach him before his first term is up. So today, let us focus instead on a fate that we can change.
During the Inauguration, I was attending a meeting of the St. Louis Food Policy Coalition. We were all blissfully not-paying-attention-to the big event in Washington. Our discussion focused on the region, and more specifically the City. The meeting was packed, standing-room only as so many organizations have signed on to push local food policy forward. This same thing is happening in many spaces as we speak. The tone of the meeting was optimistic, if cautiously so. The group’s efforts are really aligned around food justice so our focus is on the region’s most at-risk populations, largely Black, largely on the north side of the city and county. Where there is the most risk, there is the most opportunity. That can be said about all things in life. As we reviewed results from our urban agriculture survey last year, which had community input from every ward in the city, the discussion briefly turned to local ward politics and that our first attempt at legislating food-policy reform had failed. Even in the face of our survey results, disaggregated by ward, some of our local politicians refused to listen to what their constituents had told us.
This is simply one example, but one that illustrates an important point. Whatever the issue that our city faces, and there are many, there remain elected officials in power that are not interested in anything but the status-quo and who seem to operate as if they are not accountable to their constituents. If they believe that they aren’t accountable to their constituents then they certainly aren’t accountable to our most at-risk residents. If we want our city to move forward, to be a better place for everyone, to attract and retain residents, and to finally stop this endless cycle of marginal gains followed by larger losses then we must hold our city leadership accountable. We must take all of our collective anger and fear that we’re rightfully feeling and laser-focus it on our local affairs where we can have the most impact. We will have that opportunity this Spring.
Half of our 28 aldermen are up for re-election in April and there is a special election in the 16th ward, bringing the total ballot count to 15. There are challengers to incumbents in many of those wards, and 5 are not seeking reelection, which is exciting. I would like to focus on three wards that will have significant influence over how our city’s resources are distributed in the next 4 years: Ward 9, Ward 17, and Ward 19. I will also make a mention of Ward 15 and in full-disclosure I personally know each of the four candidates I am endorsing here.
Ward 9.
A south-side classic, the ninth ward encompasses parts of Soulard, Benton Park, Benton Park West, Marine Villa, and Kosciusko. Think Cherokee Street, east of Jefferson; Cherokee Street (north side) west of Jefferson; Off Broadway Music Venue; STL-STyLe; the brewery (that big one). As development continues along Cherokee Street, it will be critical for the alderman here to proceed always with the community in mind. The four neighborhoods that touch Cherokee Street represent some of the most at-risk of our south-side residents, and therefore the most opportunity to make the most positive change. Cara Spencer, Alderman of the 20th Ward has been doing a great job in Gravois Park the past two years and because she and the alderman of the 9th ward share a border in Cherokee Street, it is critical that they can act together with all of their neighborhood residents in mind.
Dan Guenther is the 9th ward challenger and he can do that. Dan has been an active community member in the ward for several years and has been working in the city’s Office of Sustainability in recent years. In every conversation I’ve had with him, he has demonstrated his grasp of neighborhood-level community development as well as an understanding of the larger picture. I have full confidence that he will move this ward forward with every resident in mind and work with Cara Spencer to ensure the best for all of their representative neighborhoods. If you live in the 9th ward, Dan is your candidate. It’s time for a change and it’s been a long-time coming.
Ward 17.
Ah, the Central Corridor. Home of IKEA, BJC, Wash U Med School, Cortex, The Grove, some of the Central West End and some of Botanical Heights; the 17th ward is currently where much of our city’s tax incentives reside. As a Central Corridian myself, this election is close to my heart. I briefly considered running myself, but haven’t been back in the ward long enough to have filed. Forest Park Southeast has been my home at two different times in the past 6 years so I’ve have had a front-row seat for all the development along Manchester in the Grove as well as in Cortex. I’ve been working in Cortex for the past two years now. I enjoy living here and enjoy all that is nearby but it is by no means accessible to everyone. My partner and I are quite privileged to be living in a newly rehabbed house in the neighborhood and working five minutes away. The neighborhood has changed a lot but has it changed for the better? Well, for some. I’m not sure everyone would have that same opinion though. More importantly the city, it seems, is betting quite a bit of its future on the really big-ticket developments that are happening here and that should be a bit concerning to all of us. Big developments can be good, yes; and much like a diversified portfolio, investing in many communities (especially once again, those most at-risk), is a better bet every single time.
The first thing our 17th ward challenger, Joe Diekemper (we’ll call him new Joe), said to me was something like “We’re not an island. The 17th ward is just one piece of this great city. If we really want to make this place better for everyone then all of the aldermen need to work together and keep the big picture in mind.” From there our conversation zig-zagged from TIF distribution and racial equity to his nursing career and trauma-informed care and finally to campaign strategy. After our relatively quick lunch meeting, I pledged my support of his campaign. Anything I can do to help. New Joe, keyword being new, is our candidate for the 17th ward. He understands that the positive developments happening in this ward can and should be spread outward from the central corridor, and especially to the north. Did I mention he’s been a resident of the neighborhood for 10 years and was part of the founding of City Garden Montessori and that his kids go to St. Louis Public Schools now? He understands what it is to be a resident and parent in St. Louis City and he understands how the allocation of resources makes that experience very different for people across our city’s wards.
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Ward 19.
A very strangely-shaped piece of the STL ward puzzle, the 19th ward stretches from Cass Avenue on the north to Botanical Heights on the south with a dip into Compton Heights and an arm in Midtown and Downtown West as well. If only one positive thing comes out of the Board of Alderman reduction in 2020, may it be some sane and equitable redistricting. That our wards do not line up with our neighborhoods or generally make much sense at all is not only inefficient as hell but more importantly a matter of racial and social inequity. Gerrymander anyone?
Because the 19th ward stretches the way it does and crosses many lines both racially and economically it is a microcosm of our region and a huge opportunity to apply a racial equity lens to our policy-making. If Wash U is the power behind the throne of the 17th, then SLU is the same in the 19th. These two neighboring wards recently received a very large blighting designation through SLU, which will enable more tax incentives to flow to the central corridor and ultimately displace more residents. The next alderman of the 19th needs to understand the big picture, and fight for their residents as much as their job-creators.
Lindsay Pattan is our 19th ward challenger and she gets that. At the core of her campaign is racial equity.
From her campaign’s Facebook page:
“I am running for alderman to help make St. Louis a place where every resident thrives, where racial equity is considered in every policy decision and public safety and the city’s progress don’t suffer in the name of special interests.”
I have known Lindsay to be a compassionate and strong person, who has always championed her city. I believe she is an important part of growing new leadership in St. Louis and we will do well to have her on the Board of Alderman. If you live in the 19th ward, Lindsay is your candidate!
A Special Mention of Ward 15.
Though an incumbent, Megan Ellyia Green has been a critical part of the city’s new leadership and has been an important ally in racial equity work, in food justice policy, and in development incentive policy. Megan, along with a growing number of alderman, has intentionally and explicitly put the city’s needs as a whole front and center. If you live in the 15th, Megan is still your candidate.
There are some other elections that have the possibility of shaking things up in a positive way (looking at you, 5th ward!), but I don’t have enough knowledge or understanding to properly comment. I’ll leave it at this — if you are a resident of St. Louis City you have no excuse not to give serious consideration to the challenger of a long-time incumbent, and if there isn’t a suitable candidate, go out and find one.
The March and April elections could have significant impact on our ability as a city to move beyond the status-quo. Our politics, from the national level on down are in bad shape but we’ve arrived at this point together. We are all responsible for it. We are also capable of turning it around, or at least giving it a shot. St. Louis gets its next shot in a few months. We can choose status-quo or choose change in many of our wards as well as in the Mayor’s office and I’m not even going there just yet. It’s up to each of us to take on some of this, to turn our grief into something positive.
So please St. Louis, don’t throw away your shot.
