The mayoral endorsement: Is Francis Slay mayor for life?
A rare photo of Mayor Slay not wearing a blue suit.
There may come a day when Francis G. Slay loses a race for mayor of St. Louis. Absent a tragedy or a miracle, it won’t be in the Democratic primary March 3 or in the general election April 7.
It may not be in 2013 either, when Mr. Slay could run for a fourth term. Seven days into a fourth term, he’d become the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history, which might be a record that interests him.
Mr. Slay, 53, always is in full campaign mode. His staff always is on full political alert. Decisions are made in full consideration of political repercussions. He raises huge amounts of campaign money — probably more than $3 million by the time the campaign ends.
And even though the City Charter is designed specifically to create a weak mayor by diffusing political power, Mr. Slay — by trading favors, building alliances and always being several steps ahead of everyone else at City Hall — has become the most powerful mayor in the city’s history.
This gives him a huge advantage at reelection time. Neither of Mr. Slay’s opponents for the Democratic nomination — Irene J. Smith and Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman — is a serious threat. Mr. Slay has raised 150 times more money than Ms. Smith and 1,500 times more than Ms. Watson-Wesley Coleman.
City politics always have a racial tinge; Mr. Slay is white and his two challengers are African-American. But Mr. Slay has the endorsements of 21 of the 28 ward organizations, including five of the 12 wards represented by black aldermen. Nobody really wants to get on Mr. Slay’s enemies list. Though he is a lawyer by training and a conciliator by nature, he grew up playing hardball ward politics. The Slays have a big family and long memories.
So Ms. Smith, 54, a lawyer and former 1st Ward alderwoman, and Ms. Watson-Wesley Coleman, 62, a lawyer who has worked in several city departments, have their work cut out for them.
In some segments of the African-American community, the disenchantment with Mr. Slay is very deep, but it does not appear to be particularly wide.
Mr. Slay took actions in 2007 that led to the resignation of Sherman George, the city’s first black fire chief, leading some black political activists to mount a desultory recall effort against him. The effort actually helped Mr. Slay; he recently transferred $89,000 raised to fight the recall to his campaign fund.
The challengers: Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman (left) and Irene J. Smith.
Ms. Smith, who got 31 percent of the vote against Mr. Slay in a three-way Democrat primary in 2005, is not stressing race in her campaign, but rather what she says are Mr. Slay’s “failures of leadership.” Specifically, she challenges his support for charter schools and other alternatives to the St. Louis Public Schools and says he is “missing in action” in the fight against crime.
Ms. Watson-Wesley Coleman is earnest, but her campaign is nearly invisible. She says she’s counting on “grass roots” support.
Francis Slay is clearly the best choice in the Democratic primary. Under his leadership, the city added population for the first time since 1950. Since 2001, it added 6 percent more jobs. Data from the St. Louis Association of Realtors show 27,000 new or substantially rehabilitated housing units have been added.
Under the leadership of Barbara Geisman, Mr. Slay’s deputy mayor for development, the city’s reputation as a hostile place to do business has been turned around. City services have improved under a computerized accountability system.
Yes, there have been disappointments. Lambert Airport handles only 60 percent of the flights it once did. Headquarters companies have been lost. The convention business has been a disappointment. While most crime is down, homicides are up again this year. The public schools remain a major problem, and Mr. Slay has focused his attention on finding alternatives to the traditional public school model. All of these are regional, national and international problems. It’s hard to lay them at Mr. Slay’s feet.
The city, landlocked and with a heavily poor and service-dependent population, has chronic revenue problems. The solutions to those are regional, and Mr. Slay has worked hard to make the city a reliable regional partner.
He will be mayor as long as he wants to be. As long as he stays engaged, the city and the region are the better for it.
“…has become the most powerful mayor in the city’s history.”
Who has done almost nothing.
“…the city and the region are the better for it.”
No, the mayor and his political allies are, not this city.
Same methods, same results. Three more Democratic duds up for bid here. When will the voters of this city wake up? Wonder where we’ll rank in the crime poll this year under Slay’s leadership?
If Slay had any serious opposition he might have to worry. I guess his “failures” have insured he
doesn’t have to worry about any.
It’s better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.
Has anyone else but me ever wondered why no major city in the U.S., including St. Louis, has a Republican mayor and why they are all bankrupt and failing? (Bloomberg is an Independent, but Rudy, an R saved NYCity) Unfortunately, the cities are filled with Democrats who are too “partisan” to look beyond the letter after a candidate’s name rather than their qualifications and ability?
As a Republican, I will readily admit that Mayor Slay is the best that the City of St. Louis can hope for. He’s better than the alternatives and better than the previous few mayors they had.
What is really sad, along what Centrist stated, is that every region that is dominated by Democrats (as defined by Democrat control of every level of government by a huge majority) is an economic basket case. They are so beholden to unions and special interest that once they have unchecked control, the special interests start to call all the shots, enact anti-business regulation and become extremely prone to corruption. They also are poverty stricken, crime-infested messes which explains why they are Democrat controlled. On the other hand, regions which have all Republican government are generally nice places to live in. While they can also occassionally go to extremes, such as Orange county in California, but generally self correct.
This is the same reason why states like California (Arnold is just a RINO) and New Jersey are such basket cases and why Illinois is quickly becoming one. If Washington continues at its current rate, I guess it’s just a matter of time before the whole country ends up that way.
Finally, to finish my rant, why does the PD generally always support Democrats and then later lament when the special interests call all the shots and the situation spins out of control. For example, it always suppports Democrats and then wonders why there aren’t Republicans in the city of St. Louis. Then it starts promoting the merger of the city and county without a hint of irony why so many people left the city in the first place.
I think that whenever you publish an editorial like this, you really ought to acknowledge the existence of the Post-Dispatch’s Community Advisory Board, which includes Slay and several of his political allies like Rainford, McKee, and Mokwa: http://www.articlearchives.com/humanities-social-science/journalism/821791-1.html . I mean, even if you include some statement like, “the CAB was not involved in this decision,” this is important information that people deserve to know, especially when your editorials read like Slay press releases.
The City of St Louis is a perfect example of what the Post’s editorial board effectively advocates when you read their general election recommendations: a land ruled exclusively by one party.
City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level
1. Detroit , MI
32.5%
2. Buffalo , NY
29.9%
3. Cincinnati , OH
27.8%
4. Cleveland , OH
27.0%
5. Miami , FL
26.9%
5. St. Louis , MO
26.8%
7. El Paso , TX
26.4%
8. Milwaukee , WI
26.2%
9. Philadelphia , PA
25.1%
10. Newark , NJ
24.2%
U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey, August 2007
What do the top ten cities (over 250,000) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?
Detroit, MI (1st on the poverty rate list) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1961;
Buffalo, NY (2nd) hasn’t elected one since 1954;
Cincinnati , OH (3rd)…since 1984;
Cleveland , OH (4th)…since 1989;
Miami , FL (5th) has never had a Republican mayor;
St. Louis , MO (6th)….since 1949;
El Paso , TX (7th) has never had a Republican mayor;
Milwaukee , WI (8th)…since 1908;
Philadelphia , PA (9th)…since 1952;
Newark , NJ (10th)…since 1907.
Einstein once said, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’
It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats—yet they are still ……………….
POOR
“You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.”
Abraham Lincoln
This article is scary. “He will be mayor as long as he wants to be.” Wake up people. There is something VERY wrong with this picture. I know bs when I read it. I’m not interested in living under Slay’s rulership. He is abusing his power and this article makes it loud and clear.
I can only echo the majority of comments already posted. The Post-Dispatch rails against every Republican or conservative candidate for everything and yet they complain that the city of Saint Louis is a one-party (or one-candidate) system.
Sheesh! If you don’t like it, quit endorsing him. You are getting exactly what you want. My only worry is that Saint Louis County is quickly becoming just like the city. Which I am sure the Post-Dispatch is perfectly fine with. However, what are you going to do when all your subscribers move away???
Interesting to notice that the postings from “Yes We Can” were removed from this thread. I realize his/her last post probably was too close (or maybe over) the edge regarding racial stereotypes. I also realize that the PD has a policy that comments shouldn’t be offensive. However, I do find it ironic in light of Attorney General Holder’s recent comment that Americans are “cowards” when it comes to discussions of race. This is another example of why most Americans are probably leery of even getting near the subject. If something is posted or stated that is too close to the edge, they are deleted or designated racist. However, it is probably difficult to discuss the subject openly without causing some people to become uncomfortable.