A favorite coworker used to talk about âmudhousing,â a term heâd coined in honor of the Mud House in South City. He explained that the coffee shopâs owners had made small changes that, over time, improved the experienceâand urged us to look for little improvements that might someday add up.
I think about that idea a lot, and staff writer Ryan Krullâs story below, about a seemingly small change to the St. Louis city charter, seems like a great example. May it inspire more mudhousing!
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The City of St. Louis may soon have a bigger stick to combat nuisance properties. A bill removing the $500 limit on fines that the city can levy on people who violate property ordinances passed out of committee yesterday. That cap was set in 1970, when $500 equaled about $4,000 in todayâs money, and baked into the city charter. As the city continues updating its charter, Ward 6 Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez proposed removing the cap altogether. She says vacant properties blight even the cityâs hottest neighborhoods. Irresponsible owners consider the fines a cost of doing business and donât mind racking them up.
ArchCity Defenders initially raised concerns about granting the city more power to levy fines. Those concerns were assuaged when the proposal was narrowed to apply specifically to properties that arenât owner-occupied.
Velazquezâs bill still needs to pass the full board. After that, it will be sent to voters for their approval. âRyan Krull
Photography by rarrarorro / iStock / Getty Images Plus
DEEP DIVE
MO conservatives may be hoisted on their own petard
How much do some Missouri conservatives hate ranked-choice voting? They placed a constitutional amendment on this fallâs ballot to preemptively block municipalities from giving such novel systems a try. (St. Louis City, which switched to approval voting in 2020, would be grandfathered in.) But Dave Roland, director of litigation at the Freedom Center of Missouri, couldnât help but notice something in Tuesdayâs election results: Conservative Republicans would almost certainly have fared much better under a ranked-choice system. After all, the more centrist Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe likely won the gubernatorial primary because the flame-throwing conservatives Jay Ashcroft and Bill Eigel cut into each otherâs support. (Kehoe won 40 percent to their combined 56 percent.) âIt seems clear from yesterday's result that a significant majority of Republican voters wanted a conservative candidate to be the party's nominee,â Roland says. âThey just couldn't agree on which one!â
As practiced by Utah Republicans (among others), ranked choice would have allowed right-leaning voters to rank their favorite candidate first and the next second. When the third-place candidate was eliminated (in this case, likely Ashcroft), his votes could have instead gone to Eigel, putting him over the edge.
Why It Matters: As Roland observes, lots of data suggests that Missouri voters like pugnacious pols in the mold of Donald Trump. But after six years of the folksy Mike Parson as governorâwho was appointed to the job after Eric Greitens flamed out in a pyre of scandalâtheyâre looking at either Kehoe or Democrat Crystal Quade, both of whom would have likely struggled to make the runoff under a ranked-choice or approval-based system.
Whatâs Next: This November, voters will consider the Republican-supported ban on alternative voting systems. Democrats may hope that no one shows them this news item. âS.F.
A MESSAGE FROM JAMES S. MCDONNELL FOUNDATION
Answer the JSMF open call today
The James S. McDonnell Foundation is thrilled to announce the availability of $2 million in grants, in the areas of civic infrastructure and wealth building. The deadline to apply for these grants is August 30, 2024.
Ameristar St. Charles plans major expansion (stltoday): Saying theyâre booked every weekend and sometimes even need to turn away business, the owners of Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles say they plan to triple the convention center space on offer by fall 2025. Theyâre also working on a refresh of the property.
Parents fret about SLPSâ transportation plans (KSDK): Despite turnover at the top, the Board of Education says St. Louis Public Schools are ready for classes to begin on August 19. Some students will get Metro passes or taxi rides this year instead of a school bus pickup. Parents say they donât trust the cobbled-together system and the result may be more kids missing school.
Nelly gets busted at Hollywood Casino (NY Post): The pop star was apprehended by the Missouri State Highway Patrolâs gaming division at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday for failing to appear in court on a 2018 warrant issued for lack of auto insurance. He also reportedly had four ecstasy pills on him Wednesday.
St. Louis Sheriff-elect Alfred Montgomery
Around Town
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EYES OF THE NATION
Valentina Gomez didnât just get trounced in the GOP primary for Missouri secretary of state this week, finishing a distant sixth; the book-burning, wannabe pol also apparently cost her brother his job. After Gomezâs series of angry campaign videos ordering people not to be âweak and gayâ went viral, the St. Louis resident quit her job at Nestle Purina rather than tone down her anti-gay rhetoric (which included, among other things, calling being gay âjust disgustingâ and using a slur for gay men). Then, earlier this week, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop apparently realized that Jonathan Gomez-Noriega was serving on the cityâs LGBTQ task force even while donating to his sisterâs campaign. Fulop reportedly ordered Gomez-Noriega to choose sidesâand somehow the audio was leaked to Gomez, who posted it and promised a lawsuit. âItâs illegal to threaten your employees,â she intoned. Replied Fulop on X, âFirst, your brother WAS an at-will employee for the cityâas of tomorrow he no longer works there b/c he doesnât reflect the values of the city.â âS.F.
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THE POLITICAL TEA
After eking out an upset victory on Tuesday, St. Louis Sheriff-elect Alfred Montgomery (pictured above) wasted no time getting to work, meeting with Judge Christopher McGraugh on Wednesday morning to discuss what judges in the 22nd Circuit want from him. âPriority No. 1 was courthouse security,â Montgomery says. Specifically, the judges want a deputy in every courtroom, a request that current Sheriff Vernon Betts previously said was difficult because of staffing shortages. Montgomery expressed confidence that he could handle it, however, saying that he has a list of at least 50 former deputies who left under Betts and are willing to return. Montgomery wonât assume his new position until January 1, leaving some courthouse watchers to wonder what Betts will do in the interim. One potential clue as to how a lame-duck Betts might move forward: Because he lost by just 1 percent, he is entitled to a recount; all he needs to do is file a petition in court asking within five days. âR.K.
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ERRATA
In yesterdayâs newsletter, we wrote that St. Louis County Executive Sam Pageâs âchosen candidate,â Nicole Greer, lost the Democratic primary for County Council District 2. Mea culpa: Officially, Page had no chosen candidate in District 2, and in fact contributed to the campaigns of both Greer and the winner, Gretchen Bangert. But while we regret suggesting otherwise, we canât help but return to a larger point: Bangert is no Page allyâthe state representative not only shared audio of a private conversation with Page to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch but also asked federal prosecutors to investigate whether Page broke the law in dangling a job to get her out of the race. Even so, Page spokesman Doug Moore professes not to be worried: âDr. Page is confident that with the new makeup of the council, weâll be able to work with them.â Even with someone who tried to sic the feds on him? âSheâs the presumptive nominee, and weâre committed to working with whoeverâs elected.â âS.F.
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