Archive for September 2020

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. She joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann to talk about the November general election and long-term solutions to crime. It’s the first time the Democrat has had a Republican opponent for circuit attorney. You can find the podcast with her challenger, Daniel Zdrodowski, here.

Here’s what Gardner discussed on the show:

• How her plans for the office, which focus on addressing the causes of crime like poverty and trauma, will make a city reeling from nearly 200 homicides safer in the short term. “Most violent cases in the city of St. Louis are unsolved because of two things: lack of victim and witness participation, and lack of evidence,” Gardner said. “These programs I’m talking about build trust and confidence in the system to make people come forward.”
• What she would have wanted to see addressed in a legislative special session in violent crime. Lawmakers eliminated the residency requirement for St. Louis first responders and passed an unfunded witness protection fund. Gardner says they should have approved new gun restrictions and boosted funding for social services.
• That she expects to get as much, or more, national attention than she did during the August primary. “Reform-minded prosecutors like myself are under attack by many federal actors, as we see, led by President Donald Trump and many other people who want to political pander their failed leadership to deal with this COVID-19 crisis,” she said.

Gardner beat her Democratic opponent, Mary Pat Carl, 61% to 39% in August.

Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Kim Gardner on Twitter: @StLouisCityCA

Music: “Unstoppable,” by Koryn Hawthorne, featuring Lecrae

State Rep. Raychel Proudie joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll to talk about the jarring end to the 2020 special session on violent crime, which saw some of Gov. Mike Parson’s policy priorities fall by the wayside.

Proudie is a Ferguson Democrat who represents the 73rd District, which includes parts of Ferguson, Berkeley, Kinloch, St. Ann and Hazelwood. She was first elected in 2018 and is unopposed for re-election in November.

Here’s what Proudie had to say on the show:

• Her reaction to the end of the special session last week. Her House colleagues declined to take up several initiatives that Parson championed, most notably a bill that would have allowed the attorney general to intervene in St. Louis homicide cases under certain circumstances.
• Her opposition to an early childhood education sales tax that was the subject of a committee hearing in Jefferson City. St. Louis County Council Chairwoman Lisa Clancy, who sponsored that proposal, talked about that issue on last week’s episode of Politically Speaking.
• Alternative ideas to allocate more funds for early childhood education, including examining whether to use excess money from the Special School District of St. Louis or the Children’s Services Fund. She also talked about whether state lawmakers could help in developing an alternative plan.
• Proudie recently organized a cleanup effort in Kinloch that attracted prominent Missouri elected officials from both political parties. She discussed a need to put pressure on public property owners, including the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County, to clean up the historical Black community.

Proudie is a Ferguson native who received her undergraduate degree in elementary education from Grambling State University and her master’s degree in mental-health counseling from Southern University and A&M College. She also is a doctoral candidate at Grambling State.

She spent some of her classroom-teaching career in Louisiana and also served as a school counselor in the Riverview Gardens School District. She earned teaching certifications in Missouri, Illinois, Louisiana and Texas.

Proudie is the chairwoman of the House Urban Issues Committee. She also serves on the House committees dealing with elementary and secondary education and higher education.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Raychel Proudie on Twitter: @rcproudie

Music: “Back That Thang Up” by Juvenile

Former state Rep. Vicki Englund is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where she spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll about her campaign for state treasurer.

Englund is squaring off against Republican state Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, who recorded an episode of Politically Speaking earlier this month.

Here’s what Englund discussed on the show:

• How Englund, who worked in various capacities within the small business community, wants to use the state treasurer’s office to spur entrepreneurship.
• How she would infuse racial diversity into the treasurer’s office by partnering with historically Black colleges and universities — such as Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
• The 2017 decision to freeze the incentive that provides housing for poor, elderly and disabled Missourians. The state treasurer has a seat on the Missouri Housing Development Commission, which is poised to restart the state low-income housing credit.
• Why her competitive state legislative contests from 2008 to 2016 prepared her well to run for statewide office. She also discussed how during the primary campaign, in which she was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, she supported a ballot item expanding Medicaid — a measure that Fitzpatrick opposed.

Englund is a south St. Louis County native, a graduate of Lindbergh High School and of American University in Washington, D.C. She ventured back to St. Louis County in 2001 to work for the county’s economic development department.

From 2008 to 2016, Englund ran against Republican Cloria Brown for a seat representing portions of south St. Louis County in the Missouri House. Englund prevailed in 2008 and 2012, while Brown won in 2010, 2014 and 2016.

In 2011, between House terms, Englund was elected to the Lindbergh School Board. During her last legislative term from 2013 to 2015, Englund joined a handful of legislators around the state who simultaneously served on their school board.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Vicki Englund on Twitter: @venlund

Music: “Love Has Lead Us Astray” by Thursday

Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick returns to Politically Speaking to talk with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll about his bid for a full four-year term.

The Republican statewide officeholder is squaring off against Democrat Vicki Englund in November. Englund’s episode of Politically Speaking will be posted later this week.

Here’s what Fitzpatrick had to say on the show:

• He went through some of the highlights of his partial term, including partnering with the Department of Social Services to have unclaimed property used to pay outstanding child support.
• His role in heading up a task force recommending where federal coronavirus funds should go, as well as efforts to make sure that some of that money went directly to county health departments.
• A draft plan to restart the state low-income housing tax credit, which could get final approval later this month. During his last appearance on Politically Speaking, Fitzpatrick talked in depth about his efforts to overhaul the incentive to develop housing for low-income, disabled and elderly Missourians.
• During the primary season, Fitzpatrick spoke out against a ballot initiative expanding the state’s Medicaid program. He explained why he opposed that measure and why he thinks it’s not a good policy for the state.

Fitzpatrick served three full terms in the Missouri House, including two years as the chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee. Gov. Mike Parson appointed the Barry County Republican to be treasurer in early 2019 after Eric Schmitt was picked to be attorney general.

Fitzpatrick is a native of Shell Knob, a community about 40 miles from Branson. He started a dock-repair business while he was in high school, a company that grew dramatically while he was in college.

After state Rep. David Sater term-limited out of the House, Fitzpatrick won a Republican primary for his seat – the real contest in the heavily GOP district. He became House Budget chairman in 2017, which gave him a major say over how to craft Missouri’s spending priorities.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Scott Fitzpatrick: @MOTreasurer

Music: “Tell the Truth” by Derek and the Dominos

St. Louis County Councilwoman Lisa Clancy is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where she joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum to talk about efforts to drum up more money for early childhood education programs.

Clancy is a Maplewood Democrat who was elected to represent the St. Louis County Council’s 5th District in 2018. She currently serves as the chairwoman of the council.

Here’s what Clancy discussed during the program:

• A proposal to raise sales taxes to fund early childhood education programs. That measure was shelved after it ran into a wave of bipartisan criticism, including from Councilwoman Rita Days, D-Bel Nor.
• How Page is managing the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the council’s decision to give the Democratic chief executive spending authority over federal coronavirus funds.
• Some big changes to Page’s administration, including the departures of Hazel Erby as the county’s diversity, equity and inclusion director and Raul Banasco as head of the agency that runs the county’s jail.
• With the county council’s alliances and membership shifting, whether the council is about to become more hostile to Page in the coming months.

Clancy has a master’s degree in social work and has worked for about a decade with nonprofit groups. In 2018, Clancy successfully challenged incumbent Pat Dolan, who at the time was then-St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger’s lone ally on the county council.

She was elected as the chairwoman of the council in 2020, and for most of the year has held together a four-member coalition of the council’s four Democratic members. But that coalition is becoming less stable, especially as Days has become more critical of Page’s major initiatives.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Lisa Clancy on Twitter: @lisadclancy

Music: “Better Man” by Pearl Jam