Archive for November 2022

When Missouri lawmakers convene in Jefferson City for the 2023 legislative session, new leadership will be in place for both chambers. That includes the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, which recently announced Rep. Marlene Terry, D-St. Louis County, as its new chairwoman.

On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, Terry talks about why she decided to run for chairwoman of the Black Caucus, as well as some of her goals for the upcoming session.

Here are some other things Terry talked about on the show.

• Her background, including why she decided to run to be a state representative.
• The impression she has of the legislature after serving her first full term.
• What she hopes to achieve as chairwoman of the Black Caucus, including how she plans on making an impact in a Republican-dominated legislature, when most of the caucus consists of Democrats.
• The initiative petition process and whether she thinks changes are necessary.
• Education policy that she wants to further investigate, such as charter schools and the state control of existing public schools

Before serving as a legislator, Terry worked in accounting for BJC Healthcare for more than 20 years. Additionally, she served on the Riverview Gardens School Board for nine years.

Terry is from St. Louis and attended the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

When Missouri lawmakers return to Jefferson City in January for the upcoming legislative session, House Democrats will see their largest number of members in years.

Though they remain in the super-minority, Democrats held on to almost all their existing seats and picked up three more in the House.

On this week’s episode of the Politically Speaking podcast, Rep. Emily Weber, D-Kansas City, talked about the work the party is doing to build its bench of candidates to capture even more seats in the future.

Here’s what else Weber discussed on the show:

• Her impressions on how Democrats did not only in the Missouri House, but also on a country-wide basis.
• Why House Democrats were able to pick up the seats they did. Weber believes both a new district map and the overturning of Roe v. Wade played a part.
• The passage of Amendment 4, which forces Kansas City to allocate more funding to its police department.
• What House Democrats plan to prioritize during the upcoming 2023 legislative session, including laws on gun control and abortion rights.

Weber was first elected to the Missouri House in 2020. She represents the 24th District. Beginning this session, she will serve as the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Outside of government, Weber is a graphic designer. She grew up in rural Kansas and attended Butler Community College and the Kansas City Art Institute.

St. Louis County Councilman-elect Dennis Hancock is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. The Fenton Republican talked about his win in this month’s 3rd District County Council race and his expectations for when he takes office in 2023.

Hancock will represent a district that includes municipalities like Fenton, Kirkwood, Valley Park and Manchester. He defeated Democrat Vicki Englund in what was the most competitive county council race of 2022.

Hancock will succeed Tim Fitch, a Republican who chose not to run for another term after his residence was drawn out of the 3rd District.

Here’s what Hancock talked about on the show:

• How his win means that St. Louis County Executive Sam Page won’t have four reliable allies on the council. That leaves the Democratic chief executive with less leeway to pass some of his priorities that don’t have broad consensus.
• Budgetary issues, which he said will be top of mind when he joins the council in 2023. Hancock said he’s not in favor of tax increases.
• An idea to use money from the settlement over the Rams’ departure from St. Louis for projects of regional concern.
• Whether GOP hopes of winning countywide office in St. Louis County were finally dashed with Page’s victory over Mark Mantovani. 

Hancock served as mayor of Fenton from 2003 to 2013. He ran for county council in 2006 but lost in the GOP primary to Kathleen Wasinger.

Ultimately, Hancock filed to run in the 3rd District, which has gotten increasingly competitive through redistricting and political changes in St. Louis County. Even though Englund had more money than Hancock, he ended up prevailing by a little more than 3,000 votes.

Hancock is slated to be sworn into office in January.

Today’s “Lights, Audio, Action!” table read Script is “The City of the Blues”. It’s a gritty noir television pilot screenplay about the interwoven fabric of crime, politics, music, business and sports on the waterfront in late 1950s Saint Louis. The story was created by Peter Mayer and the script was written by Scott Phillips, John Pierson, Peter Mayer and Joe Leonard. The table read today is directed by yours truly, Scott McIntyre, and produced by Lori Ann Potts with the sound engineered and designed by Sean Kilker.

The talented group of actors you’ll hear today are in order of appearance:

Julianne King, Keith Nussbaum, Todd Micali, Adam Dean Hopkins, Skully Shemwell, Kaitlin Gant, Eric Wolfgang Nelson, Don Mcclendon, Cliff Mirabella, Zachary Scott Clark and Ashley Santana. All of our actors play multiple roles. We truly hope you enjoyed our table read version of “The City of the Blues”.

Now, Quiet on the Set…Lights, Audio, ACTION!!