Friday, March 5, 2021

April 2021 Muni General Ballot



Finish the Job!
With the new Approval Voting system in STL City, we now have a run-off between two Mayoral Candidates set for April 6th. That might be the top of the ticket, but that's not all we'll be voting on.
• Mayoral Run-off
• Comptroller 
• 3 At Large SLPS School Board seats
• Prop E (City Earnings Tax)
• Prop Y (MSD Rate Commission) 
• Prop 1 -5 (Amendments to the Plan [Charter] of MSD)


Scroll down to learn more about these candidates/issues you'll see on your Tuesday, April 6th ballot.
(click on image to enlarge)







You can also view the full ballot for your address at VOTE411.org brought to you by the League of Women Voters Education Fund.


Mayor Run-off Election

Ward 24 March Primary Results

STL Citywide March Primary Results



You can read more about the candidates on their websites, but no matter who wins this runoff election, it's clear that the voters of St. Louis have made it clear that they want new leadership. 




"Spencer and Jones, together, knocked off the city’s old guard, which was lining up behind Lewis Reed, president of the Board of Aldermen, who has now lost three races for mayor. Reed has reached his political ceiling, while Jones and Spencer are breaking through one of their own." - Tony Messenger

Cara Spencer website

Curious about how the maps looked for the Primary vote?
Here is a visualzation by Andrew Arkills - citywide shades reveal vote breakdown
Visualization by Walter Jenkins - citywide dot visualization of candidate support

Mayoral Events/Surveys:

Watch video from Mayoral Forum Hosted by Missouri Growth Association, St. Louis Realtors and ULI St. Louis or View live-tweet of ULI St. Louis Forum from 3/9/21 here


Landmarks Association of St. Louis Candidate Surveys from  Cara Spencer and Tishaura Jones


Watch the Mayoral Debate on Fox2 and KPLR11 (3-23-21)


The Community Justice Coalition virtual candidates' forum (3/27/21) [video to come]

Watch the SLACO Youth-Centric Debate (3-29-21)


Wednesday, March 31 at 6:30pm Virtual Mayoral Forum Hosted by Omicron Eta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated  

You can find many video links from Primary season Mayoral Forums/Debates on my previous Blog "Our Next STL City Mayor"

Comptroller 

Darlene Green (unopposed) - Give her a vote, Ms. Green does a fantastic job for the City of STL.




SLPS School Board

SLPS Foundation and the American Federation of Teachers St. Louis, Local 420, AFLCIO candidate forum (3/11/21) watch recorded forum here or You can read the live-tweet of the forum here

STL Young Dems host SLPS Candidate Endorsement Forum (3/16/21) watch video here or you can
Read STL Young Dems candidate surveys here. Through a vote of the membership, the STL Young Dems have endorsed: Sonnier, Davis, Vowell

Coalition of Black Trade Unionists - CBTU Saint Louis Chapter has endorsed: Davis, Merideth, Vowell
Ecumenical Council has endorsed: Davis, Merideth, Vowell




AFT St. Louis Committee on Political Education have endorsed the following candidates for St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education: Natalie V Vowell, Matt Davis, and David Meredith


 
Solidarity With SLPS has provided both the candidate survey responses and the grading rubric here

Their stated mission is "We are a group of St. Louis City residents working to support, defend, and help improve our Saint Louis Public Schools. We fight against privatization efforts of our children's education, including the proliferation of charter schools & defunding SLPS"

"Points were docked for failures to commit on questions 1-7 and answers that repeated privateer talking points around the union, school closures, or in-person learning. The scorecard does not represent formal endorsements in the Saint Louis Public Schools Board of Education race."


Solidarity with SLPS Candidate Survey Report Card 







Read about candidates supported by our 24th Ward Committeeman, Matthew Sisul: Daffney Moore and Toni Cousins. You can also watch their interview on Morning Blend Saint Louis. 

Here are the candidates in ballot order,
click on a candidate name for a link to candidate websites:

[10 candidates, vote for up to 3]


(WILLIAM (BILL) HAAS - will appear on the ballot, but Mr. Haas passed away on 3-31-21)

DAVID L. JACKSON, JR. - former School Board Member, Board President and VP (2007-15)

NATALIE VOWELL - current School Board Member and Board Secretary, Elected in 2017

J. L. MENDOZA QUINONES - (no website found)

DAFFNEY MOORE - running in partnership with Toni Cousins

ANTOINETTE (TONI) COUSINS - running in partnership with Daffney Moore (email: antioncousins@gmail.com)

EMILY HUBBARD - Lots of great info on her website, FB, Twitter and Instagram campaign accounts

DAVID MERIDETH - Yes, that same Merideth family, in 2019 was just short of getting that 3rd open seat

ALISHA SONNIER - "Student Advocate. Student Activist."

MATT DAVIS - "I believe it’s essential that parents have a voice in running the school district"


(Check back as I'll be adding more info/links for candidates as I can find them)


Prop E (Earnings Tax) 

We need a 60% majority vote to keep the Earnings Tax (because a billionaire asked the whole state to make us keep reauthorizing it to try and eliminate it because it takes an equal 1% from rich people, too and he doesn't like that) VOTE YES ON PROP E!

Both the Committeeman and I have endorsed YES on Prop E.

Listen to Collector of Revenue, Gregory FX Daly on St. Louis Public Radio make the case to keep the Earnings Tax


Watch STL TV interview with Gregory FX Daly on Yes on E

Watch STL TV Prop E information Video



Graphic: Action STL Power Project
Graphic: Action STL Power Project
Graphic: Action STL Power Project



For clarity, each of these MSD Propositions stands alone. Each may pass/fail not affecting the others.
For example Prop Y passes and Props 1-5 fail  = Prop Y still passes. 

Prop Y (MSD Rate Commission)

Wastewater work is happening no matter what, the question in Prop Y is how we pay for it.

A YES Vote on Y will allow MSD to use Bond Financing to pay for this work, your bill will increase at a gradual rate over time.  A NO Vote will mean that your MSD bill will increase at a more rapid rate, but overall the project will cost less. 



Provided by MSD Project Clear



This short video gives a great explanation: Watch 2:00 Video "Understanding Proposition Y" Here


Fact Sheet provided by MSD


Propositions 1-5

All 5 of these Propositions refer to amendments to the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District. This will be voted on by both STL City Voters AND St. Louis County voters on April 6. You will vote YES if you agree to the change stated in the Proposition, NO if you do not want the amendment.

Read Tom Sullivan's Editorial in the Post-Dispatch on MSD Ballot Issues

St. Louis Public Radio "St. Louis Region’s Sewer Utility Looks To Sell Bonds For Service Improvements" Ballot issue overview


Plan Amendment Summaries provided by Plan Amendment Commission website

PROPOSITION 1  (Ballot Language)

Shall the Plan (Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to remove obsolete provisions, modernize certain provisions, references and language and change certain provisions to align with current practices of the District, including but not limited to (a) removing obsolete positions and titles, (b) replacing “city workhouse” with “jail or detention facility”, (c) requiring that the District present annually to the City and County only upon request, (d) adding gender, sexual orientation, familial status, ancestry or national origin and disability to the list of protected classes, (e) providing that notice of proposed rate changes can be given by posting on the District’s website and other digital media, (f) replacing “affiliated with” with “a member of’ with respect to the current requirement that no two Trustees appointed from the City or County be “affiliated with” the same political party, (g) clarifying that documents submitted to the Board of Trustees in connection with an annexation also be made available to the public (h) and recognizing, in accordance with Missouri’s Sunshine Law, that hearings before the Civil Service Commission are not public hearings.

Proposition 1 Summary
⦁ Removes obsolete provisions, modernizes certain provisions, references and languages.

PROPOSITION 2 (Ballot Language)

Shall Article 5 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District relating to the passage of ordinances be amended to provide that ( a) an affirmative vote by two members of the Board of Trustees appointed from the City of St. Louis and two members appointed from St. Louis County shall be necessary to pass any ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule or order, except that with at least five Board members present and unanimous consent of all Board members present, an affirmative vote of any four Board members shall be sufficient for passage. and ( b) ordinances shall take effect immediately upon enactment unless a later date is specified therein?

Proposition 2 Summary
⦁ Current Charter requires yes votes from a minimum of 2 Board Members from each appointing authority, the City and County, to pass any ordinance, rule, etc.
a. New rule: If 5 present and with unanimous consent, any 4 yes votes will suffice for passage
⦁ Ordinances shall take effect immediately

 
Screencap from MSD Charter 6/5/12

PROPOSITION 3 (Ballot Language)

Shall Article 7 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District relating to the Rate Commission be amended to provide that ( a) a Rate Commission Representative Organization shall only have one voting Delegate, ( b) the Rate Commission Report shall be issued to the Board of Trustees no later than 165 days after receipt of a Rate Change Notice, ( c) the Board of Trustees is deemed to have accepted a Rate Commission Report if not rejected by resolution of the Board of Trustees within 100 days from the date the Rate Commission Report is issued, and ( d) a clarification be made to the criteria governing rates so that the financial impact on all classes of ratepayers is considered in determining a fair and reasonable burden?

Proposition 3 Summary
⦁ Clarifies Rate Commission voting delegates and timeline.
⦁ Requires consideration of financial impact on all classes of ratepayers to determine a fair and reasonable burden.


Screencap from MSD Charter 6/5/12


Screencap from MSD Charter 6/5/12


PROPOSITION 4 (Ballot Language)

Shall Articles 5 and 8 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to provide that ( a) compensation of a Trustee shall be $ 25 for each day of attendance at a public meeting of the Board and ( b) compensation of a member of the Civil Service Commission shall be $ 25 for each day of attendance at a meeting of the Commission, not exceeding $ 625 in any one fiscal year?

Proposition 4 Summary
⦁ Changes compensation for Trustees and members of Civil Service Commission to $25 for all public meetings.
⦁ Average annual Board compensation changes from $300/year to $600/year

Screencap from MSD Charter 6/5/12

Screencap from MSD Charter 6/5/12



PROPOSITION 5 (Ballot Language)

Shall Article 7 of the Plan ( Charter) of The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District be amended to permit the District to engage the same independent auditing firm for a period in excess of five consecutive years if the District lets a competitive bid for auditing services and the lead audit partner or concurring partner does not perform auditing services for the District in excess of 5 consecutive years?

Proposition 5 Summary
⦁ Permits the District to engage the same independent auditing firm in excess of five consecutive years.
⦁ Only if District holds competitive bid for auditing services and the lead audit partner/concurring partner is changed.

Screencap from MSD Charter 6/5/12


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