One week from today, I fully expect to begin this newsletter telling you who made it out of the primary for St. Louis mayor—but until then, Ryan Krull presents some interesting tea leaves to read. One is early voting totals; another is campaign finance (don’t miss his longer story with details on both). Money-wise, it looks like a two-person race, but could there still be a wild card? Only time will tell.
Other news: We have the story-behind-the-story on a local photo essay that got a lot of attention on Monday, as well as the scoop on a trio of bills in Jefferson City that could make a big difference for downtown St. Louis. And did I mention the weather? This week is glorious. Please do whatever you can to take full advantage!
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How can Missouri curb crime? What is the future of the state's Democratic Party? Jay Nixon shares his ideas on The 314 Podcast. Tune in on Apple Podcasts and Spotify »
Some early signs look positive for Cara Spencer, but it's anyone's race until March 4. Courtesy of Nine PBS
THIS JUST IN
South City dominates early voting in St. Louis mayor’s race
After one week of in-person early voting in the city’s mayoral primary, the Southside is walloping the north. As of Monday, more than two-thirds of the 1,900 ballots cast came from South City, more than the Central Corridor and North City combined.
Ben Borgmeyer, the Democratic director of the Board of Election Commissioners for St. Louis City, described turnout in an email Friday as “really low.” At least the trend has been upward: On the first day of early voting, 142 city residents cast ballots in person. By Monday, that number was 554.
While the South’s higher numbers seemingly favor Alderwoman Cara Spencer, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ campaign says they’re not particularly worried. “This early voting is still very new to our voters and the state of Missouri and we had some COLD weather last week,” spokesperson Rosetta Okohson-Reb says. “So no cause for concern yet!”
Perhaps more worrisome for the incumbent: Spencer’s campaign along with an associated PAC outraised Jones' campaign and its PAC by more than $500,000 in the past month and has twice as much cash on hand. —Ryan Krull
A rehab of the Railway Exchange building could be boosted by an incentive plan being discussed in Jefferson City. Photography by Warren LeMay via Flickr
DEEP DIVE
Plan that would benefit downtown buildings finds broad backing
As the mammoth Railway Exchange building and AT&T tower continue to sit vacant downtown, a bipartisan trio of St. Louis-area state legislators is winning cross-sector support in Jefferson City for a plan they say would make redeveloping those structures easier.
At a Missouri House hearing on Tuesday, supporters came out in force to back the effort by Rep. Travis Wilson (R-St. Charles) and Rep. Marty Joe Murray (D-St. Louis) to pass “office conversion” legislation. The idea is to create a 25 percent tax credit for converting office space to residential, retail, or other commercial uses. The bill would allow for up to $50 million in state tax credits for converting buildings over 750,000 square feet. To be eligible, buildings must have served as office space for at least 25 years. They need not be certified as historic, but if they are, the new credits may be “stacked” atop state historic preservation tax credits, which were reformed last year.
A few weeks ago, an office-conversion bill by Sen. Steve Roberts (D-St. Louis) got a committee hearing and enjoyed a similar level of support. (You can see who testified here.)
Why It Matters: Less than a year ago, the Wall Street Journaldescribed St. Louis' central business district as being stuck in a “doom loop” and “real-estate nightmare.” The office vacancy rate in downtown St. Louis, now several years out from the pandemic, sits at 22.7 percent, compared to Clayton’s 15.4 percent. Credits could help move empty office buildings into more productive use.
What’s Next: While the House’s economic development committee has yet to vote on Wilson and Murray’s bills, Roberts’ bill was passed out of the Senate committee and has been put on the calendar for a floor debate. Plans would need to pass both House and Senate before the session ends in May—and meet muster with Gov. Mike Kehoe—to become law. —Nicholas Phillips
SSM Health’s Laura Kaiser recognized as a top business leader
President and CEO Laura S. Kaiser, FACHE, leads SSM Health’s $10.5 billion Catholic, not-for-profit, integrated health system and is named among Modern Healthcare magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.”
Federal Medicaid cuts could leave Missouri with gaping budget hole (Missouri Independent): Proposals currently being debated in Congress could have a big impact on the state.
St. Louis farmers fight to protect their hens (stltoday): Bird flu is confirmed in four Missouri counties, but not the St. Louis area. Farmers say they aim to keep chickens safe by keeping them indoors and keeping them from wild birds.
City refuse truck drivers have their pay docked for failing to report after snow days (KSDK): The city of St. Louis has taken action against workers who refused to work after the January 5 snowstorm gave everyone two unexpected snow days.
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign: Developer Jason Deem's essay walking people through City Hall's absurd user experience drew a big response earlier this week. Photography by Jason Deem, courtesy of NextSTL.com
Around Town
🗓️ ON THIS DATE
Fifty years ago today, St. Louis and Jefferson County got into a fight over trash, with the state senator from Ladue saying that in JeffCo, people used their front lawns as landfills. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” A. Clifford Jones claimed in 1975. Jefferson County’s Judge Walter N. Steinburk fired back, saying that his county was only trashy because St. Louisans were using it as a garbage dump. “It's because people in St. Louis County haul their trash to Jefferson County … it's a proven fact." The filthy feud concerned a proposal to loosen local governments’ responsibilities for picking up trash. Jones agreed the state’s trash laws were onerous, but necessary for “places like Jefferson County,” according to Post-Dispatch coverage of the trashy tiff. A few months later, the mandate for many counties and municipalities to operate trash collection was indeed removed. A proposed amendment banning St. Louis County trash from being dumped in landfills in Jefferson County was proposed, but ultimately failed to make it into the final legislation. —Ryan Krull
💻 MEDIA WATCH
The buzziest story to break in St. Louis so far this week came not from a journalist, but a developer. Jason Deem, who’s made his name renovating historic buildings in and around Cherokee Street, also owns NextSTL.com. His byline made a rare appearance Monday on a photo-heavy chronicle of his journey through City Hall from “a user experience perspective”—a story that detailed the absurd dysfunction on display throughout the building (and beyond) through a plethora of strange and frustrating signs. One example: “One of the most ubiquitous printed signs at City Hall are the ones telling you there’s an ATM on the first floor,” Deem writes. “As more people want to pay by credit or debit card, City Hall fights back with more paper signs redirecting them to an ATM. City Hall appears to be winning the battle, as there are about 37 of these signs taped to the walls and zero people paying by credit card.”
Deem says he’d been thinking about writing about the situation for a long time now but was finally prodded into action during a trip last week to City Hall’s Excise Division (he also owns Thursdays-only favorite Clements Bar). “I'm stuck there waiting for them for half an hour, and I'm like, ‘I'm just going to do this now. It's ridiculous,’” Deem says. “That's where I took the first photo. I'm like, ‘Well, I got stuck here, you know?’” He says the hardest part proved to be narrowing down which photos to use (he started with 300). And should any actual journalists feel inspired to write a sequel, he knows just where to send them, pointing out another city building that apparently also has a big sign problem. “1520 Market is just as ridiculous,” he reports. “You go in there and it’s every bit the same.” —S.F.
📽️ THE FILM SCENE
This Saturday is Bosnian Independence Day, and if you want to keep the celebration going a few days after that, Affton High School will host a special screening open to the public on March 3. Filmmaker Ryan Sidhoo’s documentary The Track plans to follow its debut at this weekend’s True/False Festival in Columbia with the Affton event. The film follows three Olympic hopefuls training on the luge track built for the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo—which still bears the scars of the Bosnian War. “As someone who is a documentarian and also a sports lover, it really stuck with me,” Sidhoo tellsSLM’s Max Havey. “How could it not, to see this concrete track that is covered in graffiti and bullet holes, and then you hear some guys are going to go down it at 120 KPH with no protection.” Sidhoo worked with Affton teacher Brian Jennings to set up the screening, saying, “I want people from the region to see the film because I think the film is uplifting and hopeful, looking toward the future and not the past.” More in Havey’s online story. —S.F.
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