15thWardSTL.org

This Monday come on down to the Carpenter branch of the St. Louis library (on Grand across from Schnucks) and check out the candidates forum.

Candidates for the Missouri Senate’s 5th district, the Missouri House’s 59th and 67th districts, and the 15th ward committeeman/comitteewoman candidates.

It’s Monday April 14th at 7:00 pm.

Bring your questions!

Missouri, along with 21 other states, will hold it's 2008 presidential primary election on Tuesday, February 5th. On this day, the majority of the electoral votes will be committed. This doesn't mean that the party nominees will necessarily be finally selected at that time, but it is likely that a leader will have at least emerged.

Despite growing up in Iowa, I will participate in my first caucus a month earlier on January 3. I moved down to Missouri in 1993, and voted in my first election in St. Louis.

I am PROUD that the Democratic field includes viable candidates of color and a woman. I am comfortable enough with the field of potential nominees that I will be able to back any one of them. But one candidate has emerged as a favorite. Based on the recent Black and Brown Presidential Forum held several days ago at North High School in Des Moines, Iowa, I intend to caucus for John Edwards. Second place goes to Biden. Obama comes in a very close third.

The 2007 local general election was held today and I'm not sure anyone actually noticed.

Here are the citywide results for issues and candidates on the 15th Ward ballot:

• Lewis Reed won against nobody and managed 93% of the vote (7% tried to stage a massive write-in campaign - perhaps Shrewsbury holdouts?)
  
• Prop P passed with 69% in favor (needed 60%)
  
• Wessling and Jackson won the school board election overwhelmingly, each taking in over 30% of the vote.
  
• Does anyone know who Joann Ordinachev is? She continues to represent us on the Junior College board with 56% of the votes.

The Arch City Chronicle reports that Michael Colona has organized a committee and filed to run for Missouri 67th District spot set to be termed out by Mike Daus. The Democratic primary for this seat will be in August of 2008 - there's still a lot of time left for others to file. As with all elections, I'd love to see this one contested.

Mike Daus will be term limited after eight years of serving as our representative in the State Legislature.

Jake Wagman of the Post Dispatch reports that Board President-elect Lewis Reed is receiving resumes for positions on staff. Rumors have been circulating for months from a variety of sources that 15th Ward Alderwoman Jennifer Florida might be tapped as his Chief of Staff.

If she is offered and accepts the position, she would have to resign her spot on the Board of Aldermen. The 15th Ward Democratic Committeeman and Committeewoman (of the closed organization) would then nominate a Democratic candidate for a special election. This nomination may have to be approved by the Central Committee - anyone out there know for sure?

The March primaries came and went with a whimper, not a bang. When it comes to local contests in the City of St. Louis, the democratic primaries usually ARE the big election - rarely do Republican or third party candidates mount a credible challenge at the April ballot. Lewis Reed defeated incumbent Jim Shrewsbury in the city-wide election. Kacie Starr Triplet [15thWardSTL says: sorry for the misspelling - it should be "Triplett"] took over the 6th (Reed's former ward) in a three-way race. Schmid bested Gondolfi in the 20th - the steady hand over an untested and relatively unfamiliar newcomer (who did manage a sizable percentage of the vote).

Galen Gondolfi, candidate for 20th Ward Alderman, has started a campaign blog at http://gondolfi.wordpress.com/. Whatever the outcome of the election, I hope that he continues to comment on issues he is working on. He is seems to be a grassroots activist at heart and I'm sure has some interesting ideas and approaches to urban redevelopment.

While he has just started communicating with potential constituents via this mode, I hope that he fleshes out his "Goals" section.

The 20th Ward includes most of the Gravois Park neighborhood, a corner of which is also in the 15th Ward. The 20th Ward will be instrumental in developing a coordinated redevelopment plan for South Grand.

In the 20th Ward, newcomer Galen Gondolfi is challenging incumbent Craig Schmid for his seat. Each candidate returned a brief questionnaire to 15thWardSTL.org - their responses can be found here:

• Craig Schmid
  
• Galen Gondolfi

On February 15, 2007, Benton Park West Neighborhood Association will host the 20th Ward Candidates Forum.

On January 20, 2007, Jennifer Florida filed a "Statement of Limited Activity" report with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Basically, it states that there were not expenditures or contributions in excess of $500 for the time period.

The ongoing "Citizens to Elect Jennifer Florida" committee is set up to accept donations and spend money on behalf of Florida for the 2009 Aldermanic Election. The previous quarterly report indicated cash on hand of slightly over $19,000.

In its most recent edition, the South Side Journal published an article on the recent Candidate Forum hosted by the 15th Ward Democrats.

Immediately following the forum, the 15th Ward Democrats convened in a closed meeting and voted to endorse challenger Lewis Reed. In response, incumbent Jim Shrewsbury is quoted in the South Side Journal article calling the 15th Ward Democrats a "rump" organization. I think that adjective is intended to be pejorative, but it mustly just sounds funny.