Say No to More Corporate Welfare for Anheuser-Busch

Last Updated 8:17 pm January 30, 2025

It’s not that a $85.55 Billion company like Anheuser-Busch needs corporate welfare. It just wants it.

For the third time in six years, I’m not digging back further, the Soulard based brewery since 1852, is asking for favors from the St. Louis City Board of Alders.

They are inclined to do so because they like the company’s lobbyists, the co-dependent unions , the campaign money. Good v. Bad public policy never enters the picture.

Board Bill 161, by Alder Cara Spencer, who is running for Mayor, gives the company
💰$41 Million in industrial revenue bonds for equipment purchase
💰10 years of 50% personal property tax abatement on the equipment and other
personal property

Per the Community Benefits Scorecard by St. Louis Development Corporation, the City’s corporate welfare umbrella agency, the brewery is located “in an area of high need and opportunity.” Soulard and adjacent Benton Park are affluent neighborhoods.

The company doesn’t need the help. It just wants it and feckless Alders will likely vote to give it to them, just like they always do for corporate welfare proposals.

The latest corporate welfare for the company will likely have its first vote at Board of Alders, the Perfection vote, on Friday, January 31st. Contact Board President Megan Green and your Alder and urge them to vote No on Board Bill 161.

The last meeting of the Board before Election break is currently February 7th.

Prior to the July 2008 InBev takeover of Anheuser-Busch, the brewery had 5,000 employees in the St. Louis area. By 2010, InBev had laid off thousands. A next door neighbor in Soulard was one of them. He was a third-generation brewery employee. Like his father and grandfather, he walked to work. Unlike them, he graduated from college and went to work for the brewery in a white-collar job. Our neighbor ended up moving to St. Charles for work.

In March 2019, Alders rewarded Anheuser-Busch with
💰$75 Million in industrial revenue bonds for equipment
💰 Two 5 years of 75%personal property tax abatement

The votes on Board Bill 177 are missing from the Board of Alders Votes on 2018-2019 bills. Sponsor of the bill was Alder Dan Guenther. He now works as Legislative Assistant to Alder Cara Spencer, candidate for Mayor.

In December 2019, Alders gave the company
💰$100 Million in industrial revenue bonds for, mostly, equipment purchase but also some real estate improvements
💰5 years of 50% real property tax abatement
💰5 years of 75% personal property tax abatement
💰Sales and Use Tax exemption on the purchase of construction materials

Sponsor of that bill was, again, Alder Guenther, who now works for Alder Spencer. The vote on Board Bill 155 was 22 Aye, 0 No, 5 Absent, 2 did not vote.

Alders still on the Board who voted for this 2019 corporate welfare: now Board President Megan Green, Pam Boyd, Brett Narayan, Cara Spencer, Tom Oldenburg, Joe Vollmer, Sharon Tyus.

Aside from Spencer running for higher office, none of these Alders is on the March or April ballot because it’s an odd numbered ward election and they represent even numbered wards or, in the case of Vollmer, not seeking re-election.

Aye votes no longer Alders but now working at the Board, in addition to Guenther: Marlene Davis, now Legislative Assistant to Alder Laura Keyes, and Christine Ingrassia, now Director of Operations for Board President Green.

Anheuser-Busch is located in Soulard but not a part of the neighborhood’s Special Business District (property tax funding private police and surveillance cameras) or Community Improvement District (sales tax for traffic calming, dog poo bags, trash pick-up…). Soulard CID recently sought inclusion of the brewery during its expansion petition drive but the brewery declined.

The company received a liquor license from the City for its Biergarten and now competes with Soulard and Benton Park bars and restaurants for customers. It contributes to neighborhood litter and safety issues but does not contribute to the neighborhood’s tax districts charged with providing additional services for such concerns.

In August 2024, Anheuser-Busch requested a $262,000 Missouri Sales Tax Refund.

In 2012, the City of Arnold and Jefferson County gave 20 years property tax abatement to Anheuser-Busch’s Metal Container Corp over objections by the local school district dependent on property taxes.

Anheuser-Busch doesn’t like paying taxes. But taxes pay for public services and it’s not the responsibility of everyone else to pick up the tab for public services used by a $85.55 Billion company

Tell Alders to make Anheuser-Busch pay their share.

Below: text of Gerry “Sunshine Gerry” Connolly’s letter to St. Louis City Board of Estimate and Apportionment (Mayor Tishaura Jones, Comptroller Darelene Green, Board President Megan Green) asking them to vote No on Board Bill 161. The Board of E&A voted 3-0 to support the corporate welfare.

Honorable Members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment,

Request to vote NO on Board Bill 161. 1/29/25 Board of E and A meeting (agenda Item 2; bonds for Anheuser-Busch project)

Please vote no on Board Bill no. 161. The proposed incentive (Net Present Value = $1.19 Million fails the “but for” test. Anheuser-Busch simply doesn’t require the incentive to implement its project. At the HUDZ hearing on BB 161, Anheuser-Busch’s lobbyist constructed a flimsy narrative that A-B could select an existing A-B facility in another city for the project.

The procedure defined in Ordinance no. 71620 for SLPS to review the project was not properly documented in SLDC’s Developer Proposal Report (DPR) contained in BB 161. The DPR was not available to the public before the HUDZ Public Hearing; members of the HUDZ committee received the DPR via email from SLDC 13 minutes before the hearing started. The BOA has not been able to conduct robust due-diligence on BB 161.

A study cited by the Post-Dispatch estimated that a 30 second ad in the Superbowl costs $7M. The value of the tax break in BB 161 equates to 5 seconds of advertising time at the Superbowl.

Who loses out if BB 161 is approved? St. Louis Public Schools, the City of St. Louis (General Revenue) and multiple taxing districts.

Anheuser-Busch should pay its fair share in taxes, just like the majority of St. Louis residents and businesses.

I urge you to vote no on BB 161.

Thanks for your consideration.

Gerry Connolly

Updated Content- Candidate Qualifications Page

The Missouri & St. Louis City Candidate Age & Residency Qualifications page has been updated with current and future election cycle filing information.

If you see anything that needs editing, let me know at stlouisstate@gmail.com.

Alders Still Using Personal Email Accounts

When I worked at St. Louis City Hall in the Recorder of Deeds office, our employee manual prohibited use of personal email accounts on our City computers and use of our City email accounts for personal purposes. Both were fireable offenses because of security concerns and highly problematic for Sunshine Law purposes. It is hard for me to imagine that isn’t the case in all government offices. But here we are.

Wednesdays by 5 pm, when the St. Louis City Board of Alders meets on Friday, a Calendar Letter goes out from Board staff to an email list of currently 141 addresses. The Calendar Letter includes the Tentative Agenda for Friday’s Full Board meeting and committee meeting schedule.

The Calendar Letter is mandated by Board of Alders Rule 11. “Sunshine Gerry” Connolly and I have worked for years, since Lewis Reed was Board President, to get the Board to comply with their own Rules as well as improve upon them.

The Board has made some progress on transparency this year under Board President Megan Green but they still do not prohibit use of personal email accounts by Alders for public business. I count Board President as an Alder because the position sponsors and votes on legislation. Board President Green, unfortunately, is one of the electeds still using a personal email account for public business.

9 of 15 voting members of the Board of Alders on the Calendar Letter email list use only their official City accounts with an @stlouis-mo.gov address.

Three Alders use both their City accounts and personal accounts. If you’re going to Sunshine records from them, make sure to include their personal email: Alder Michael Browning uses michael.james.browning@gmail.com, Alder Joseph Vollmer uses vollmerjoe@att.net, Alder Daniela Velazquez uses dv@danielavelazquez.com.

Board President Green and two Alders only use personal email accounts. Again, if you’re Sunshining records, make sure to include these accounts: Board President Green megan.ellyia@gmail.com, Alder Pam Boyd boydstuff@aol.com, Alder Tom Oldenburg thomas.oldenburg676@gmail.com.

Use of personal email accounts for public business is highly problematic in the same way use of personal social media accounts for public business is a bad idea. “Using a personal account does not nullify state records law. If public records are generated they must be maintained per their retention times, are subject to Missouri’s Sunshine Law, and are considered discoverable information in case of litigation.”

Two former Alders have City email accounts by virtue of their post-Alder employment with the City. “Marlene (Alderwoman) Davis,” as she is still identified on the list, is Legislative Assistant to Alder Laura Keys, who she endorsed for the seat. Former Alder Craig Schmidt works at the City Health Department.

Eight former Alders still have City email accounts but are not on City payroll. Why do Jack Coatar, Steve Conway, Dionne Flowers, Carol Howard, Heather Navarro, Joe Roddy, Jesse Todd, and Joe Vaccaro still have City email accounts?

27 Board of Alders staff, Alders and Board President Office combined, are on the Calendar list using City accounts. So are four former staffers. Mary Ries, Mary Cullins, and Tom Shepard worked for former Board President Reed. Saida Cornejo-Zuniga was Legislative Assistant to Alder Velázquez for less than a year and now works for WePower, a public school privatization advocate. Why do they still have City email accounts?

Five staff for the Mayor and two for Comptroller are on the Calendar list. So is former Deputy Comptroller James Garavaglia. Why?

The City Treasurer and Circuit Attorney each have someone on the list. No one from the other county offices- Collector of Revenue, License Collector, Recorder of Deeds, or Sheriff- participates, best I can tell. I guess they really don’t care about the legislative body of City since they are unfortunately still not organized under City Charter.

16 current Mayor’s Cabinet and Department related City accounts get the Calendar letter using City email accounts. Former employees, including the late Todd Waeltermann (former Streets & Trash Commissioner), former Personnel Director Richard Frank, former Traffic Commissioner Jamie Wilson are still on the list with City email accounts. Why?

When I retired from the City, I had no idea that I could keep my official City email account. It’s apparently forever. Or so I guess since Leonard Johnson, previously with St. Louis Development Corporation, was found guilty of embezzlement in East St. Louis but is still on the list with a City account. At least Kevin Huntspon uses a personal account to receive the Calendar Letter. He pled guilty to bribery during his job as a City health inspector in 2016.

Back to the use of personal email accounts for public business. If you’re going to Sunshine records relating to the Community Mobility Committtee (all on its own a Transparency Fail), make sure to add Scott Ogilvie at gsogilvie@yahoo.com to your request. The Calendar Letter list shows Ogivilie, Program Manager for the City’s Complete Streets program, uses both a City email account and a personal account.

The Calendar Letter is inside baseball. Anyone can ask to be added to the email list via Board Clerk Terry Kennedy (boaclerk@stlouis-mo.gov) but the Board doesn’t promote it. Subsequently, of the 141 email addresses on the list, the largest group of participants after Alders and staff is lobbyists and corporate welfare attorneys. There are only four active media persons on the list.

Will STL E&A, Tax Districts Go To AG Sunshine School?

Pleased to share that there has been a Transparency Win regarding St. Louis City’s Board of Estimate & Apportionment. On June 24th, E&A began publishing Exhibits with Agendas on City’s website.
——————–

An interesting development in enforcement of Missouri’s Sunshine Law happened last week in a city of 6,344 in southwest Missouri. It could impact government entities in St. Louis City, including the powerful Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E&A: Mayor, Comptroller, Board of Alders President).

The City of Willard has ben slapped on the wrist by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and told they have to attend Sunshine School. At issue was the use of the generic Agenda topic “Unfinished Business” by Willard’s Board of Aldermen. (paywall) The AG’s Office says it should also include sub-topics detailing points of discussion.

That’s potentially huge because many St. Louis City special tax districts, agencies, and even the Board of E&A routinely use generic categories for Agendas.

As examples, Soulard Special Business District, a taxing district to fund private police and surveillance, and Soulard Community Improvement District, a taxing district to fund improvements with $1.8 Million dollars banked, both use skeleton agendas. They also have an atrocious record of posting late notices or wrong meeting location to the City’s online public meetings calendar.

The significance of E&A failing to provide specifics in their Agendas was highlighted recently when E&A approved more funding for the controversial ShotSpotter contract without public notice.

ShotSpotter is a surveillance product by SoundThinking. While cities have been turning down contract renewals and Chicago may soon dump the program, as promised by its mayor, St. Louis City’s E&A gave the contract a fourth amendment. And it was done, as is most E&A business, without the public notice.

For twenty years, it has been standard practice of E&A to post meeting notices and agendas to the City’s Public Meetings Calendar. The Agenda for the December 20, 2023 E&A Meeting, like most meetings, included:

“Request from the Comptroller’s Office for approval of contracts and leases for various
City departments as listed on Exhibit A.”

“Request from the Comptroller’s Office for approval of intradepartmental and
interdepartmental transfers from various City departments as listed on Exhibit B.”

“Request from the Comptroller’s Office for approval of transfers between projects for
Capital Improvement Funds listed on Exhibit C.”

But no Exhibits, the meat and potatoes of what they’re voting on, is available online for public inspection.

In the case of the December 20 Agenda, ShotSpotter was in Exhibit A, Item 17, hidden from the public. There was no opportunity for the public to contact E&A with concerns.

Item 17, Exhibit A, St. Louis Board of Estimate and Apportionment Agenda, December 20, 2023: ShotSpotter amendment

There was no debate on the ShotSpotter amendment. It was adopted on a 2-1 vote. Mayor Tishaura Jones and Comptroller Darlene Green voted yes; Board President Megan Green voted no.

No E&A Exhibits to Agendas or Meeting Minutes are posted online. How do we know the amendment happened and that the vote was? E&A meetings, usually very short, can be watched via Zoom or City’s YouTube channel.

Screenshot of Tweet by St. Louis Board of Alders President Megan Green regarding her vote against Shotspotter contract amendment

We can see from the YouTube video that Board President Green made a motion to separate ShotSpotter from the rest of the Agenda for the vote. She gave no reason why at the meeting. But, as the meeting ended, 7 minutes after starting, Green Tweeted about her vote against ShotSpotter. A graphic had been prepared in advance.

Why didn’t Green share the ShotSpotter Exhibit item with the public, Privacy Watch STL coalition, etc. before the meeting? That’s a good question.

The next meeting of E&A is 3 pm Wednesday, January 17th. Exhibits A, B, C missing. Again. The secret business is anyone’s guess.

People also Sunshine E&A Exhibits.

“Sunshine Gerry” Connolly usually makes a request as soon as the E&A Agenda is posted online. It can take a day to a month for the documents to show up in the City’s Sunshine Portal.

Screenshot of error message from St. Louis City Sunshine Portal, Public Records Archives

Public access to the Portal’s Public Records Archives is limited to when it is functioning, which is often not the case. It’s been down most of today while I’ve been trying to write this. You have to be persistent when filing a Sunshine request. Try in the morning. Try again in the afternoon. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Big question is why aren’t E&A Exhibits posted with the Agendas? Why the secrecy?

Maybe it’s time for the AG to look at how government entities in St. Louis City comply (or don’t) with Missouri’s Sunshine Law.

It’s definitely time for St. Louis City to have a strong municipal Sunshine Law in the Charter (via amendment by Charter Commission or otherwise) or via ordinance by Board of Alders.

Ward Profiles Now Have Election Results

Old black and white photo of St. Louis City Hall

All New Ward Profiles have been updated with both Primary Election Results and campaign finance information for Board President and Alder candidates. There’s info toward the top of each page as well as each candidate’s profile.

I chose to not use percentage of votes because Tuesday the Election Board changed percentages to the Approval Rating percentages. Those do not add up to 100% because voters may “approve” of more than one candidate in the Primary. It’s too big a hassle to explain what it all means.

Under the City’s Approval Voting system, the top two candidates from the Primary advance to the General Election.

Under a 50% +1 to avoid run off system, 5 of 14 Alder races would not need a General Election. Shane Cohn would be the winner in 3rd Ward; Joe Vollmer in 5th Ward; Daniela Velázquez in 6th Ward; Shameem Clark-Hubbard in 10th Ward; and Laura Keys in 11th Ward.

Campaign Finance Info Added to Ward Profiles

St. Louis City New Ward Profiles have been updated with 8 Days Before Primary Reports, Amended Reports, and 24 Hour Later Expenditure Reports for Board President, Alders and Alder candidates, School Board Members and School Board candidates, Candidate PACs, Ward PACs, Political Party Committeepeople, other elected officials, former elected officials who still have accounts.

Next up, I will add Primary Election Results.

New campaign finance information will be added as it comes in and I have time or inclination to do so. No one really cares about campaign money unless it is damaging to an opponent, which really blows.

Future campaign finance reports due/may be due:

8 Day Before General Election Report. Close: 3/23/2023. Due: 3/27/2023. Required if Committee made Expenditures (paid or incurred) or made Contributions for the election. Noon Friday, Missouri Ethics Commission will conduct a webinar on how to complete this report.

30 Day After Primary Election Report. Close: 4/1/2023. Due: Due: 4/6/2023. Required if Committee made Expenditures (paid or incurred) or made Contributions for the election. If debt exceeds $1,000, Committee may not file Limited Activity for this report.

Mandatory April Quarterly Report. Close: 3/31/2023. Due: 4/17/2023.

30 Day After Election Report. Close: 4/29/2023. Due: 5/4/2023. Required if Committee made Expenditures (paid or incurred) or made Contributions for the election. If this report is required, it must be filed prior to taking office. If debt exceeds $1,000, Committee may not file Limited Activity for this report.

Additional Campaign Finance Reporting

48 Hour Report of Contribution over $5,000: Due within 48 Hours after receipt.
24 Hour Notice of Late Contribution Over $250 Received Less Than 12 Days Before Election: Due within 24 Hours after receipt.
24 Hour Late Expenditure Report by Continuing Committees (PACs including ward committees): Due within 24 Hours after paid or incurred.

Your $72,000 Future Alders Side Gigs

St. Louis Alders are about to raise their salaries from $37,000 to $72,000. Most will continue secondary employment, running businesses and working at other jobs for paychecks, unless very specific wording is added to the City Charter by public vote.

Alders and Board President should be required to devote all their time to the elected job, same as Charter requires the Mayor: “The mayor shall devote his entire time to the duties of his office.”

Without a “devote entire time” Charter Amendment, St. Louisans will end up paying $72,000 salaries to municipal legislators who split their time between being Alders and other occupations, other jobs that bring conflicts of interest.

Current candidates for Alder and Board President include a leasing manager for The Hubbards, bar owners and other small business owners, practicing attorneys, a facial recognition tech salesman, a VP for Corporate Reputation at FleishmanHillard, bank vice presidents, developers, landlords, consultants.

New 1st Ward
Candidate and Current 13th Ward Alder Anne Schweitzer: campaign consultant at Public Eye
Candidate for 1st Ward Alder Matt E. Kotraba: works at Barnes Jewish Hospital
Candidate for 1st Ward Alder Tony Kirchner: deputy sheriff

New 2nd Ward
Candidate and Current 16th Ward Alder Tom Oldenburg: vice president for Community Development |at US Bancorp Community Development Corp
Candidate for 2nd Ward Alder Phill Menendez: CEO of JTEKE LLC- manufacturer of the U-Stripe It & Design Tool; owner of La Casa Developer’s; account exec at Blue Line Technology facial recognition; retired Detective Sergeant from St. Louis Police Dept
Candidate for 2nd Ward Alder Katie Bellis: Quality Improvement Coordinator at St. Louis County

New 3rd Ward
Candidate and Current 25th Ward Alder Shane Cohn: owner of 4664 Tennessee LLC investment and redevelopment of real estate

New 4th Ward
Candidate and Current 23rd Ward Alder Joe Vaccaro: former owner of car wash
Candidate and Current 24th Ward Alder Bret Narayan: attorney, private practice
Candidate for 4th Ward Alder Casey Otto: owner of photography studio

New 5th Ward
Current 10th Ward Alder & Acting Board President Joseph Vollmer: owner of Milo’s Bocce Garden; co-owner TLJ Investments (funeral home); owner of TLSJ (commercial real estate); landlord
Candidate for 5th Ward Alder Helen Petty: owner of The Chop Shop, stylist

New 6th Ward
Candidate for 6th Ward Alder Daniela Velázquez: vice president for Corporate Reputation at FleishmanHillard; owner of Mavend Media LLC; former Senior Public Relations Strategist at Elasticity; former communications director at Missouri ACLU
Candidate and former Recorder of Deeds/15th Ward Alder Jennifer Florida: realtor

New 7th Ward
Candidate for 7th Ward Alder Alisha Sonnier: mental health advocate at Cigna
Candidate for 7th Ward Alder Jon-Pierre Mitchom: director of Equity and Inclusion at STL Priory School
Candidate for 7th Ward Alder Cedric “C-Sharp” Redmon: musician

New 8th Ward
Candidate and Current 20th Ward Alder Cara Spencer: senior vice president for Community and Economic Development at St. Louis Bank
Candidate for 8th Ward Alder Shedrick “Nato Caliph” Kelley: owner of Cipher Music Group; co-owner Kelley Dispatch & Logistics
Candidate and former 9th Ward Alder Ken Ortmann: owner of Cat’s Meow bar; I think they also have rental property

New 9th Ward
Candidate and Current 17th Ward Alder Tina Pihl: landlord
Candidate and Current 28th Ward Alder Michael Gras: attorney; assistant prosecutor for Florissant Mo
Candidate for 9th Ward Alder Michael Browning: senior grant specialist at Washington University School of Medicine

New 10th Ward
Candidate and Current 26th Ward Alder Shameem Clark Hubbard: former salon owner
Candidate for 10th Ward Alder Emmett Coleman: realtor; owner of URBINCORE construction (former 8th Ward Alder Steve Conway agent of record)

New 11th Ward
Candidate and Current 21st Ward Alder Laura Keys: clinical data coordinator at Biomedical Systems; landlord
Candidate for 11th Ward Alder Carla “Coffee” Wright: CEO at St. Louis Inner City Culture Center Enterprise; owner of Coffee Wright Consulting; owner of I Am Independent Action Media

New 12th Ward
Candidate and Current 1st Ward Alder Sharon Tyus: attorney; landlord
Candidate and Current 4th Ward Alder Dwinderlin Evans: landlord; owner of Great Scott Enterprises
Candidate for 12th Ward Alder Darron M. Collins-Bey: owner of Elshaddai Consulting LLC; owner of Bey-El Industries Inc.
Candidate for 12th Ward Alder Tashara T Earl: owner of Shades of Color beauty supplies
Candidate and Current 1st Ward Democratic Committeewoman Yolanda Brown:
Candidate for 12th Ward Alder Walter L. Rush: dba Johnny Mac Striders expired; founder of Ten Clubs Kicking nonprofit
Candidate for 12th Ward Alder Darron Heggs: owner of Creating Leaders Of Tomorrow

New 13th Ward
Candidate and Current 2nd Ward Alder Lisa Middlebrook: manager of Hope Home Healthy Care
Candidate and Current 22nd Ward Alder Norma Walker: owner of Belt Loop Trucking; landlord
Current 27th Ward Alder Pam Boyd: certified dietary manager at The Valley Stonebridge Community skilled nursing facility

New 14th Ward
Candidate and Current 3rd Ward Alder Brandon Bosley: owner of New Black Wall Street 314 LLC; hip hop/rap artist/producer at Bawsomemusic; Focused on Family Entertainment (create family engagement through innovative gaming and fun activities)
Candidate and Current 5th Ward Alder James Page: executive director for Downtown St. Louis Neighborhood Association; retired from U.S. Post Office
Candidate and Current State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge: owner of RA5 Organizing LLC
Candidate for 14th Ward Alder Ebony M. Washington: leasing manager at Carr Square Tenant Management Corp (run by Hubbard Family); realtor at Wood Brothers Realty; owner of EMW Midwest Logistics (freight broker); owner of Washington Sisters Consultant Group; owner of Financial Powerhouse & Development Corp; former founder of Carr Square Neighborhood Association (administratively dissolved); PPP Loan recipient for janitorial services

Board President
Candidate and Current Board President Megan Green: was or is Adjunct Professor at Washington University; owner of MEG Consulting (consulting, strategic planning, grant writing services)

Ward Profiles here

St. Louis City War Chests Update

Updated 1/14/2023. Includes municipal and county citywide offices, Board of Alders, State Senators, State Representatives. Does not include School Board.

#1 $458,051.44 on hand, $1,112.99 debt: City Collector of Revenue Gregg F.X. Daly

#2 $337,460.92 on hand, $0 debt: former Mayor Lyda Krewson

#3 $85,200.13 on hand, $0 debt: City Mayor Tishaura Jones + $105.239.35 on hand, $0 debt: 314 Forward PAC affiliated with Jones

#4 $168,641.65 on hand, $0 debt: former State Senator Joe Keaveny

#5 $137,451.18 on hand, $0 debt: City Comptroller Darlene Green

#6 $98,263.29 on hand, $0 debt: City Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner

#7 $65,542.77 on hand, $32,500 debt: State Rep. Steve Butz

#8 $63,683.94 on hand, $0 debt: State Rep. Donna Baringer

#9 $48,254.47 on hand, $1,291 debt: State Senator Karla May

#10 $35,967.89 on hand, $0 debt: 13th Ward Alder Anne Schweitzer (New 1st Ward Alder candidate)

#11 $32,626.48 on hand, $0 debt: State Rep. Peter Meredith

#12 $31,787.12 on hand, $0 debt: 16th Ward Alder Tom Oldenburg (New 2nd Ward Alder candidate)

#13 $31,070.27 on hand, $0 debt: State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge (New 14th Ward Alder candidate)

#14 $20,584.46 on hand, $0 debt: 7th Ward Alder Jack Coater (former Board President candidate) + $5,266.34 on hand, $0 debt: Jack PAC affiliated with Jack Coatar

#15 $24,014.17 on hand, $0 debt: City Treasurer Adam Layne

#16 $21,745.06 on hand, $0 debt: the late 12th Ward Alder Larry Arnowitz (no reports for two years)

#17 $21,257 on hand, $24,978.41 debt: 1st Ward Alder Sharon Tyus

#18 $20,657.21 on hand, $0 debt: former 28th Ward Alder Heather Navarro

#19 $19,560.85 on hand, $0 debt: 10th Ward Alder Joe Vollmer (New 5th Ward Alder candidate)

#20 $15,569.88 on hand, $0 debt: State Rep. Kimberly Ann Collins

#21 $13,566.65 on hand, $540.39 debt: 23rd Ward Alder Joe Vaccaro (New 4th Ward Alder candidate)

#22 $13,504.89 on hand, $0 debt on hand, $0 debt: former 17th Ward Alder Joe Roddy

#23 $13,440 on hand, $0 debt: 19th Ward Alder Marlene Davis

#24 $11,711.43 on hand, $20,000 debt: accused rapist State Rep. Steven Roberts

#25 $11,376.876 on hand, $0 debt: State Rep. LaKeySha Bosley

#26 $10,988.18 on hand, $23,000 debt: Board President Megan Green + $938.37 on hand, $0 debt: Progress PAC affiliated with Green

#27 $8,668.92 on hand, $1,831.33 debt: City License Collector Mavis Thompson

#28 $8,586.50 on hand, $0 debt: 9th Ward Alder Dan Guenther

#29 $8,400.82 on hand, $0 debt: 20th Ward Alder Cara Spencer (New 8th Ward Alder candidate)

#30 $6,934.07 on hand, $0 debt: former 6th Ward Alder candidate Debra Carnahan (she still has running for 6th Ward Alder in 2023 on her MEC account)

#31 $5,953.72 on hand, $0 debt: City Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler

#32 $5,857.89 on hand, $0 debt: 24th Ward Alder Bret Narayan (New 4th Ward Alder candidate)

#33 $4,574 on hand, $150.76 debt: former 11th Ward Alder Sarah Martin

#34 $4,002.21 on hand, $0 debt: 27th Ward Alder Pam Boyd (New 13th Ward Alder candidate)

#35 $3,448.49 on hand, $7952.66 debt: 26th Ward Alder Shameem Clark-Hubbard (New 10th Ward Alder candidate)

#36 $3,483.09 on hand, $0 debt: 25th Ward Alder Shane Cohn (New 3rd Ward Alder candidate)

#37 $2,515.84 on hand, $5,108 debt: 1st Ward Alder Bill Stephens (ran for State Rep. 2022)

#38 $2,474.33 on hand, $5,800 debt: 6th Ward Alder Christine Ingrassia

#39 2,326.65 on hand, $1,000 debt: 5th Ward Alder James Page (New 14th Ward Alder candidate)

#40 $1,908 on hand, $0 debt: 8th Ward Alder Annie Rice

#41 $1,799.37 on hand, $2,000 debt: 22nd Ward Alder Norma Walker (New 13th Ward Alder candidate)

#42 $1,478.79 on hand, $0 debt: 11th Ward Alder Jimmy Lappe

#43 $229.53 on hand, $0 debt: 21st Ward Alder Laura Keys (New 11th Ward Alder candidate) + $1,248.58 on hand, $0 debt: 21st Ward Organization PAC affiliated with Keys (this committee is filed with MEC as a candidate PAC, not a ward PAC)

#44 $1,346.88 on hand, $86.72 on hand: 17th Ward Alder Tina Pihl (New 9th Ward Alder candidate)

#45 $1,271.18 on hand, $55,025.69 debt: State Rep. Del Taylor

#46 $1,077 on hand, $0 debt: 4th Ward Alder Dwinderlin Evans

#47 $980.75 on hand, $0 debt: 1st Ward Democratic Committeewoman Yolanda Brown (New 12th Ward Alder candidate)

#48 $316.76 on hand, $830.15 dent: 28th Ward Alder Michael Gras (New 9th Ward Alder candidate)

#49 $100 on hand, $0 debt: 3rd Ward Alder Brandon Bosley (New 14th Ward Alder candidate)

#50 $100 on hand, $0 debt: 2nd Ward Alder Lisa Middlebrook (New 13th Ward Alder candidate)

#51 $42.57 on hand, $0 debt: 18th Ward Alder Jesse Todd

#52 $0 on hand, $0 debt: City Sheriff Vernon Betts (does not maintain a campaign committee between elections)

Board Prez, Alder Candidate Deadline Next Friday

The Deadline in St. Louis City to file for Board President or Alder is 5 pm Friday, January 6th.

Here are the qualifications and requirements.

A candidate for Board of Alder President must be at least 30 years of age, a U.S. citizen for at least 5 years, St. Louis City resident for at least 5 years, an assessed City taxpayer for at least 2 years, and must not have been convicted of malfeasance in office, bribery or other corrupt practice or crime.

A candidate for Alder must be at least 25 years of age, a U.S. citizen for at least 5 years, St. Louis City resident for at least 3 years, a resident of the ward from which elected for at least one year, an assessed City taxpayer for at least 2 years, and must not have been convicted of malfeasance in office, bribery or other corrupt practice or crime.

✔️ All candidates for City office will need petition signatures for Certificate of Nomination.

✔️ All candidates must obtain a receipt from City Treasurer for payment of a filing fee equal to 1% of the salary of the office sought.

✔️ All candidates must obtain a Statement of Tax Clearance– confirmation the candidate is not delinquent in the payment of city taxes and water and refuse bills- from City Collector of Revenue.

Candidates must take their Certificate of Nomination, receipt for payment of filing fee, and Statement of Tax Clearance to the Board of Election to file by the deadline.

✔️ Candidates must also file campaign finance reports with Missouri Ethics Commission.

Also see Board of Election Candidate Filing Information.

Check out the fourteen New Ward Profiles- current officeholders, candidates, a much more, here.

City Election Candidate Filing Opens Nov 28

Candidates for Board of Alder President and all 14 Ward Alder seats begin filing 8 am Monday, November 28. Filing ends 5 pm January 6. The Primary is March 7 and General Election is April 4.

For those of you interested in running and not part of a slate, or running on your own, and already collecting nominating signatures, here are the qualifications and requirements.

✔️ All candidates for City office will need petition signatures for Certificate of Nomination.

✔️ All candidates must obtain a receipt from City Treasurer for payment of a filing fee equal to 1% of the salary of the office sought.

Candidates must take their Certificate of Nomination, receipt for payment of filing fee, and Statement of Tax Clearance to the Board of Election to file by the deadline.

✔️ Candidates must also file campaign finance reports with Missouri Ethics Commission.

Also see Board of Election Candidate Filing Information.