urbanSTL

^ hi. Current city board of adjustment member here and former zoning employee for the city.
Only time a biz owner would go to an alderman is if they want incentives or their biz needs a hearing, even if it goes to a hearing the alderman usually just care about hours of operation and parking. That’s about it. Nobody is reviewing any biz plans

Actually I would disagree with the previous statement. Successful wards have Alderman that proactively promote their neighborhoods to businesses or steer development. Its the ones that just sit at home answering emails or phone calls that struggle.

olvidarte wrote: ↑

Feb 16, 2018

throatybeard wrote: ↑

Feb 15, 2018

I'd vote for Rice for mayor in 2021. I mean, there's no way she'd win given how racist most white people are in this town and given that she runs on an anti-racist, pro-BLM platform. But I'd be happy to support her.

So the only reason she'd lose is because everyone who doesn't support her is a racist? Not because people don't think she's the best candidate for the job? Cool.

I didn't say that at all. There's no need to be snide.

A young white woman running on an anti-racism platform in Saint Louis--which has a way way above-average problem with white supremacy--probably a nonstarter for higher office. Rice would get some AfAm votes but not enough to win, and she'd get crushed in the SW City wards that went heavily for Krewson, an establishment Democrat. Oh, and now she's pissed off the democratic power structure by positioning as an I.

You quite literally said there is no way she would win given how racist people are in this town. You are saying the defining characteristic of a person who does not vote for her is racism. Which is just outrageous.

Progressive caucus loves hating on Krewson but she put two black men in charge of the police force in this city replacing two white people.

I think Rice is fine, I didn't vote for her, but I'd like to see what she actually does before I decide to vote for her for another office.

Is Jamilah Nasheed expected to run? Anyone else?

Megan Ellyia Green@MeganEllyia

Let's Elect a New President this President's Day #BoldlyForward

Why does she prefer $27 donations?

quincunx wrote: ↑

Feb 19, 2018

Is Jamilah Nasheed expected to run? Anyone else?

Megan Ellyia Green@MeganEllyia

Let's Elect a New President this President's Day #BoldlyForward

Yes, Nasheed is running. As far as I know it is only Reed, Nasheed, and Green. Havn't heard of anyone else.

Never in a million years thought I would be voting for Lewis Reed for President of the BoA but here we are. Hopefully he runs a more visible and substantial campaign than he did for Mayor last year.

mjbais1489 wrote: ↑

Feb 19, 2018

Why does she prefer $27 donations?

A big talking point during Bernie's 2016 campaign was his average donation amount of $27. Something of a "Man of the people" angle.

I've become increasingly annoyed watching drivers ignore traffic laws, stop signs, etc., knowing full well that the cops won't do anything about it (don't get me started on how many expired "temporary" license tags I see every day). Turns out some of these clowns are serving on the Board of Alderman:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 7ee4f.html

framer wrote: ↑

Mar 14, 2018

I've become increasingly annoyed watching drivers ignore traffic laws, stop signs, etc., knowing full well that the cops won't do anything about it (don't get me started on how many expired "temporary" license tags I see every day). Turns out some of these clowns are serving on the Board of Alderman:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 7ee4f.html

That's when you don't see cars with no license plate at all!

^At some point when you stop being angry about it and accept the chi of it all the world becomes a better place. And then someone with no insurance rear ends you and you start all over again. Breathe in. Breathe out. Blinker on. Horn off. Breathe in. Breathe out. Blinker on. Horn off. Easy to say, I know. Hard to do. But . . . there is some truth to it, I think. All of it.

chaifetz10 wrote: ↑

Mar 14, 2018

symphonicpoet wrote: ↑

Mar 14, 2018

^At some point when you stop being angry about it and accept the chi of it all the world becomes a better place. And then someone with no insurance rear ends you and you start all over again. Breathe in. Breathe out. Blinker on. Horn off. Breathe in. Breathe out. Blinker on. Horn off. Easy to say, I know. Hard to do. But . . . there is some truth to it, I think. All of it.

Seriously. It's one of the more aggravating aspects of St. Louis. The sheer amount of cars with expired temporary plates (sometimes years old) or no plates who are on the road is absolutely scary. I would love to see targeted enforcement on this.

Similar to the crackdown on graffiti on subway cars in NYC, didn't that have a net positive on the the overall crime rate in the early/mid-90s?

ricke002 wrote: ↑

Mar 14, 2018

chaifetz10 wrote: ↑

Mar 14, 2018

symphonicpoet wrote: ↑

Mar 14, 2018

^At some point when you stop being angry about it and accept the chi of it all the world becomes a better place. And then someone with no insurance rear ends you and you start all over again. Breathe in. Breathe out. Blinker on. Horn off. Breathe in. Breathe out. Blinker on. Horn off. Easy to say, I know. Hard to do. But . . . there is some truth to it, I think. All of it.

Seriously. It's one of the more aggravating aspects of St. Louis. The sheer amount of cars with expired temporary plates (sometimes years old) or no plates who are on the road is absolutely scary. I would love to see targeted enforcement on this.

Similar to the crackdown on graffiti on subway cars in NYC, didn't that have a net positive on the the overall crime rate in the early/mid-90s?

That was part of the broader broken windows approach whose effectiveness is still under debate. Most empirical research points towards it being effective in NYC, but it is still not clear if it causally led to the large decline in crime or if it was just correlation, i.e. it was enforced at a time when other factors were starting to drive crime rates down. Especially because some more recent NYC studies (2014 I think) showed that non-enforcement of minor laws can lead to a reduction in crime. This latter argument has a lot of caveats: it starts from an initial condition where crime rates are already very low, and assumes that a lot of other types of policing are simultaneously in place (i.e. several forms of community policing). International evidence from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Finland finds a lot of support for the causal effect of the broken windows approach in reducing crime. It should be said though that the overall composition of crime and law violations in these countries' major cities is very different than that of St Louis (mostly property crime, very little violent and person crime).
Since: (i) crime rates are through the roof, (ii) there is an overall sense of impunity regarding minor violations as the expired/temp/no license plate discussion shows, (iii) there really does not seem to be a significant effort towards community policing, I think that it is likely that St Louis would benefit from a broken windows style approach. I don't think it will happen anytime soon though as I doubt the SLMPD has the resources to do it (or rather, they probably have the resources, but as I have complained many times in other threads, they don't seem to be able to manage them very effectively).

^I don't mean to say that the police should simply let traffic violations slide. Some of them are potentially quite dangerous. However, there's mostly nothing I can do about it personally. And I feel better and healthier when I simply ignore it and try to drive safely and sensibly. Breathe in. Signal. Breathe out. Change lanes. Breathe in. Let him pass. Breathe out. Watch him wait at the next light. (Assuming he actually stops at the red light. Or even pauses briefly.) The whole Zen approach tends to fall apart under the stress of getting rear ended, mind, but it's worth a try when you can. Helps us keep our own blood pressure in check. This is all I meant.

You got to wonder how much sales tax revenue we are missing from city coffers over the temp tag issue. An argument could be made that perhaps taxes are too oppressive, however if that's the case then stop supporting politicians who want to raise them.

Would cracking down on expired temporary tags reduce the number of violations and increase revenue? or, would it just mean giving more tickets to people who cannot afford to pay fines, who will fail to appear at hearings, and who will continue to drive (even on a revoked license) because they have no other way to get to work or the grocery store?

cngrant wrote:Would cracking down on expired temporary tags reduce the number of violations and increase revenue? or, would it just mean giving more tickets to people who cannot afford to pay fines, who will fail to appear at hearings, and who will continue to drive (even on a revoked license) because they have no other way to get to work or the grocery store?

You’re assuming that everyone that has temp tags can’t afford it which is baloney.


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I thought the Board of Alderman had voted to reduce themselves by half, from 28 to 14, effective following the 2020 census.

KansasCitian wrote: ↑

Mar 18, 2018

I thought the Board of Alderman had voted to reduce themselves by half, from 28 to 14, effective following the 2020 census.

Yes, 2020 Census won't be certified til 2021 so the first election with these reduced Board will be 2023

KansasCitian wrote: ↑

Mar 18, 2018

I thought the Board of Alderman had voted to reduce themselves by half, from 28 to 14, effective following the 2020 census.

Voters passed Prop R in Nov 2012 to shrink the BoA