Bring Back the Kick Ass Donkey

The symbol of the Democratic Party was once the donkey.

Today, no donkey on the DNC website.

You won’t find one on the Missouri Democratic Party’s website but you will find… cows.

No donkey on the St. Louis City Dems website, not much of anything on there. There is a donkey on the Jackson County Democrats logo tho.

Why isn’t every Democratic Party organization from national committee to township/ward organization using the donkey? Put aside, for the moment, the history of the donkey as symbol of Democrats, why is it that Democrats are now represented by a boring corporate logo D in a circle?

Democrats should return to the donkey. Not a cute donkey. A kick ass donkey.

Real donkeys fiercely defend themselves and their own. Donkeys will adopt other animals and defend them, will beat and drag a predator hunting an animal under their protection. That’s the inspirational symbol needed by the Democratic Party.

Sure. Sure. Sure. I know there are issues with donkeys as guard animals and you need to keep the family dog away unless it was reared with a baby donkey. But no one denies they defend territory by any means necessary.

We need Democrats to be guardians of the people, not corporations loyal only to profit.

The country does not need an uninspiring status quo Democratic Party. If you want to lean to the right, join MAGA.

I don’t care that rebranding the Democratic Party with the donkey is symbolic. Rebuilding a party has to start somewhere and there should be a consensus by now that D in a circle is not selling like MAGA does for Trump Family & Friends Grift Inc.

Bring back the Democratic Party donkey. Let the party be fierce, once again.

Michael Butler, Defendant

You may notice people gathering signatures at the polls Tuesday to nominate Michael Butler for Mayor of St. Louis City. They are Butler’s indentured servants at the Recorder of Deeds Office or their family, or people wanting a job at Recorder Office. Support for his election is a condition of employment at the Recorder’s.

Butler, in violation of the Recorder of Deeds Employee Manual, fired employees who had not supported his 2018 campaign, beginning with his first day in office. I worked as a public records archivist at the Recorder’s and put in my retirement paperwork before getting fired. Georgie Simmons, et al v. Michael Butler, Defendent (Case No. 4:19CV10HEA, U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of Missouri, Eastern Division) dragged out for years and was eventually settled for a six figure amount to Plaintiffs paid by St. Louis City taxpayers. Butler was represented by the City Counselor’s Office.

As Recorder, Butler fired additional employees or caused them to retire or otherwise leave and very few employees, if any, hired prior to January 2, 2019, are still employed in that office. The lack of institutional wisdom is probably why big mistakes happen in the office.

In 2021, Butler was Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party when the National Labor Relations Board moved forward on a case against MDC, settled a few months later in favor of Plaintiff.

Receipts from Georgie Simmons, et al v. Michael Butler, Defendant.

On August 7, 2018, Defendant Michael Butler (“Butler”) defeated the incumbent Recorder of Deeds for the City of St. Louisin the primary election for that office. On November 6, 2018, Butler won the general election. Plaintiffs Georgie Simmons (“Simmons”), Johnetta Sherrod (“Sherrod”), Robert Dillard (“Dillard”), and Julie Ellison (“Ellison”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) were employees of the City of St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Office (the “Office”) until they were terminated on January 2, 2019, Butler’s first day in office.

None of the Plaintiffs openly supported Butler during his political campaign. In March 2018, Butler had met with Simmons and Sherrod and asked them for their support in his political campaign. Simmons and Sherrod declined to become involved with any campaign, which caused Butler to become upset. Dillard actively campaigned for Butler’s opponent, the previous Recorder of Deeds. On August 7, 2018, Butler told Dillard that he could not “guarantee” his position if he did not support Butler’s campaign.

Between August 7, 2018, and January 2, 2019, Butler appeared in the Office on no fewer than four occasions, including September 7, November 16, December 10, and December 28. On these visits, he spoke with staff and provided assurances that no one would be fired for political retaliation for failing to support his candidacy. During the same time period, Butler’s alleged agents, including paid campaign staffer George Poole, appeared in the Office to threaten long-term employees’positions in the Office. These agents, including Poole, said that the Plaintiffs would be terminated for not supporting Butler’s political campaign. Poole appeared in the Office no fewer than five times between August 7 and December 28, 2018.

On December 17, 2018, Denise Starks, an Office employee who was also a political supporter of Butler, filed a false sexual harassment complaint against Simmons and another employee. Plaintiffs allege that this complaint was “part of Defendant Butler’s crusade against Plaintiffs to force them out of theirpositions,” filed at the behest of Butler. Butler allegedly assumed that the outgoing Recorder of Deeds would not be able to process the complaint before Butler took office. Butler then would be the one to handle the complaintand have reason to terminate Simmons for cause. In fact, the outgoing Recorder of Deeds investigated the complaint and found it to be unsubstantiated. Plaintiffs allege that Butler “took advantage of Ms. Starks by conspiring with her to file a false, frivolous complaint against Plaintiff Simmons.”

On January 2, 2019, Butler delivered letters of termination to Simmons and Sherrod. In essence, these letters offered Simmons and Sherrod two weeks’ pay if they gave up their right to sue Butler and the City of St. Louis. Neither Simmons nor Sherrod would sign, and Butler terminated them. Butler included non-managerial employees in the termination meetings, which Plaintiffs claim violated Simmons’ and Sherrod’s right to privacy. As Sherrod was leaving City Hall, George Poole physically confronted Sherrod in front of dozens of onlookers, causing Sherrod significant emotional distress and embarrassment.

Butler replaced Simmons and Sherrod with political associates who had no previous experience in the Recorder of Deeds Office. Plaintiffs aver that the replacements lacked requisite professional experience for the positions to which they were assigned.

The Recorder of Deeds Employee Policy & Benefit manual expressly states that an employee’s “position in the Recorder’s Office is no way impacted negatively or positively by [her or his] participation in the political process.” Defendant issued a “status” form letter for each terminated employee that did not include the reason for termination as required by policy. Additionally, Butler dated the status letters for January 7, 2019, but did not send them until January 15, 2019. This “backdating” was allegedly done in an effort to prevent Plaintiffs from requesting a disciplinary hearing within the 10-day time limit required by policy.

Plaintiffs allege that they were wrongfully terminated in violation of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments as retaliation for not supporting Butler in his political campaign for the office of Recorder of Deeds. Plaintiffs allege that Butler’s conduct was willful and intentional and that he intentionally caused Plaintiffs emotional distress, pain and suffering, and health problems including elevated blood pressure, severe anxiety, and depression. Plaintiffs also allege loss of income and loss of potential employment opportunities due to the history of “firing” in their employment record.

Plaintiff’s Complaint alleges: violation of their First Amendmentrights (Count I); violation of their Fifth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rightsto due process (Count IIand Count III, respectively); that they are entitled to declaratory judgment (Count IV); civil conspiracy (Count V); wrongful termination (Count VI).

Mo Dem Party Blows Off 27 Rural Counties

Missouri Democratic Party Map of Election Polling Places

The Missouri Democratic Party’s party-only funded and managed Presidential Preference Primary took an odd turn recently when the Party posted its March 23rd Election Polling Places to their website. There’s a map of locations and an alphabetical list with addresses, oddly broken into four sets.

Missouri has 115 counties: 114 regular counties plus St. Louis City, a city and its own county.

Votes may be cast in person at a polling place in the voter's county of residence from 8:00a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on the date of the primary. Each county will have a polling place and the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas will have multiple polling places.

Per State Party’s Delegate Selection Plan, each county will have at least one polling place. It turns out, however, that MDP failed to secure polling places for 27 counties with small populations in rural Missouri. These include:

Audrain
Atchison
Bates
Bollinger
Caldwell
Chariton
Clark
DeKalb
Harrison
Henry
Hickory
Holt
Knox
Lewis
Mercer
Mississippi
Monroe
New Madrid
Nodaway
Ozark
Pemiscot
Putnam
Ralls
Randolph
Reynolds
Schuyler
Scotland
Stone
Sullivan

MDP hired Merriman River Group to run the election but I don’t know who is to blame here given the dumpster fire that State Party has been for a very, very, very long time.

Is it possible that Missouri Democrats are still working on finding polling places. Sure. They have to be accessible, smoke free, available that Saturday morning, and probably have reliable internet/cell signal, a hard thing to find in small population rural counties in Missouri.

But that’s not what is going in here. According to Missourinet, “Most Missouri counties will have one polling place each, though some rural counties won’t have any in-person voting places.”

The only option for voters in 27 Missouri counties to vote in the Missouri Democratic Party Presidential Preference Primary is a) drive to the nearest county that has a polling place or b) vote by mail-in ballot. Deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Tuesday, March 12th.

I don’t know about the other counties, but there’s been no notice about this party-managed election in the weekly paper in Hickory County, The Index.

Someone paid for an ad in Thye Index, without “Paid for by,” for the Republican Caucus a couple of weeks before the March 2nd event. It was buried with legal notices for small town RFPs. People are still griping about not knowing about the Caucus and blaming it on unnamed RINO’s and, of course, Democrats. Imagine a facepalm emoji here.

This was a bad idea from the start. Democrats could have gone with a Caucus system. But Rusty Carnahan et al at MDP wanted Ranked Choice dark money to pay for the election but Democratic National Committee said no. See previous blog post on how this all started.

Blowing off 27 counties is just the latest in Missouri Democrats not getting it.

Please Vote for the re-election of President Joe Biden on November 5th (or earlier if you have the opportunity) and get your friends and family to vote… for democracy’s sake.

Is There a Missouri Prez Primary Election?

Photo from White House website of U.S. President Joe Biden

There is no 2024 Presidential Preference Primary Election paid for by, regulated by, or conducted by the State of Missouri and county election authorities.

The answer to whether there is a Presidential Preference Primary Election is more complicated. The answer: Yes, sorta, Maybe, and No.

If you are only looking for MDP Presidential Preference Primary Timeline, go to the end.

In 2022, the Republican super majority of the Missouri General Assembly passed, and Republican Governor Mike Parson signed into law, House Bill 1878 as amended, a seven page bill which grew to 82 pages. Among the many, many, many provisions, this election-related measure repealed State-run, State paid for Presidential Preference Primaries. They have been replaced with a series of political party caucuses (Delegate Selection), to be funded by the parties, to nominate a candidate for President before the national conventions and send delegates to the conventions.

For Republicans, Missouri is a caucus-only state. The placeholder webpage (or finally updated, depending on when you read this) for March 3rd Missouri GOP Presidential Caucuses is here.

Missouri Democrats are also having caucuses but also sorta having a Presidential Preference Primary Election.

If you go to the Missouri Democratic Party (MDP) website, and I’m not suggesting you should because it will hurt your head, nothing will jump out at you about a Presidential Preference Primary. Wander around long enough on the site and you MAY find the MDP Delegate Selection Plan dated October 31, 2023. It’s a 72 page pdf of legalese written for party insiders, not voters.

That Delegate Selection Plan is the MDP Caucus Plan with a side of Sorta Presidential Primary Election to be held on March 23rd. The Plan calls for Mail-In Voting run by MDP and MAY include an In-Person Election run by MDP and County Central Committees. As a former St. Louis City Democratic Committeewoman, I hear your collective moans and “great, just great” about City Dems running an election.

The MDP Presidential Preference Primary is open to all registered voters whose “registration reflects Democrat or Unaffiliated status,” per the MDP Plan.

Screenshot of October 31, 2023 letter from Missouri Democratic Party to Democratic National Committee regarding DNC's rejection of MDP's plan to conduct their Presidential Preference Primary with Ranked-Choice Voting

Per the MDP Plan, their election will be conducted by a contractor. December 31st was their fundraising deadline for $175,000 for the Party-run election. I don’t know if that was met. Without raising that money, the MDP reserved the right to cancel the In-Person Voting and just have Vote-By-Mail. They have put out no information on the election, so it’s reasonable to assume they may not have raised the money.

If the MDP did not reach the fundraising goal and have to cancel the In-Person Election, MDP Chair Rusty Carnahan is ready to blame the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The MDP wanted Ranked-Choice Voting for the Party-run election, which the DNC rejected. It appears that Carnahan was planning on raising money for the election from pro-Ranked-Choice sources. See October 31, 2023 letter from Carnahan.

Per The Plan, the MDP will send a mailer to registered Democrats by February 1st with information on how to vote in their Party-run Primary. You will not get the mailer, however, if you have not changed your voter registration to signify you are a Democrat (a very new thing in Missouri), OR did add party affiliation but it’s not showing on Secretary of State Jay “I Will Kick Biden Off The November Ballot” Ashcroft’s statewide database as of January 22, 2024. You may still vote in the election, you just won’t get the mailer.

Also, per The Plan, the MDP will work with the contractor to provide a Vote-By-Mail package that includes: “a copy-proof ballot, a ballot envelope, a return envelope, and an outer mail envelope complete with return postage indicia. Materials will be coded with voter-specific identifiers.” You will have to contact MDP to get the packet. Please do not call your County Clerk or Election Board for information or complaints. They have nothing to do with this election.

If the MDP Presidential Preference Primary In-Person Election is held, each Missouri County will have one polling place, except “St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas will have multiple polling places.” It’s a crappy plan. 61 of 115 Counties in Missouri have smaller populations than the smallest ward in St. Louis City and people in rural counties may have to drive a very long way to their polling place.

Also

St. Louis City 6th Ward Alder Daniela Velazquez and St. Louis County Meramec Township Democratic Committeeman Brian Wingbermuehle serve on MDP’s Delegate Selection and Affirmative Action Committee.

Links to Political Parties in St. Louis City recognized by State of Missouri
Democratic Central Committee (not a secure site)
Republican Central Committee
Libertarian Party

News articles about Missouri Democrats Presidential Primary. I have found very few and not posting the press release from SOS Ashcroft some are using as news.

September 20, 2023. St. Louis Public Radio. Missouri GOP and Democrats to take different paths in selecting presidential delegates

September 7, 2023. Missouri Independent. Mail-in ballots, ranked-choice voting part of Missouri Democrat plan for presidential primary. Party Chairman Russ Carnahan says cash-poor party has donors ready to underwrite heavy cost of holding election with polling sites in every county

August 31, 2023. Spectrum News. ‘Lemonade out of lemons’: Political parties scramble on new rules for 2024 presidential race in Missouri

August 30, 2023. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Missouri Democrats to allow 17-year-olds to vote in party-run presidential primary

MDP Presidential Primary Timeline

Sunday, December 31, 2023: MDP Fundraising deadline for $175,000 in election administration funds

Tuesday, January 2, 2023: Presidential candidate filing opens with MDP

Monday, January 22, 2024: Presidential candidate deadline for certifying the name(s) of their authorized representative(s) to MDP, filling a statement of candidacy, submitting an affirmative action plan, and paying the necessary filing fee

Monday, January 22, 2024: MDP pulls Voter List from Missouri Secretary of State for all registered Democrats in Missouri

Thursday, February 1, 2024: MDP mails Voter List of registered Democrats with instructions on how to participate in the Presidential Preference Primary. Advertising campaign begins.

Monday, February 12, 2024: MDP begins Mail-In Ballot distribution

February 21*, 2024: Deadline to Register to Vote in MDP Presidential Preference Primary. If you are registered to vote but have not declared party affiliation yet, you will still be allowed to vote in this Party-run election. Open to voters who are Democrats or Unaffiliated. That’s the date in MDP Delegate Selection Plan. Springfield News-Leader says February 26th.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024: Deadline to request Mail-In Ballot from MDP

8 am to Noon Saturday, March 23, 2024: MDP Presidential Preference Primary In-Person Election (if held)

10 am Saturday, March 23, 2024: Deadline for MDP to receive your Mail-In Ballot

Monday, March 25, 2024: Deadline for MDP Primary results to be announced

Where’s Bosley’s Money?

UPDATED

Found the money. Alder Brandon Bosley’s campaign is using a political action committee not yet filed with Missouri Ethics Commission.

Literature and yard signs promoting his candidacy have been printed and are in use with a “Paid for by the 14th Ward Democratic Organization.”

But the only 14th Ward organization active in MEC database is the one serving pre-ward reduction 14th Ward in Bevo, Princeton Heights, and Southampton neighborhoods.

Money has been spent or debt created on Bosley’s behalf without reporting it to MEC in a timely fashion. The Treasurer is Linda Primer, who is also the Deputy Treasurer for Citizens for Brandon Bosley. There is no arms length between the two entities. Definitely collaboration between the two.

Lots more details below.

Original Post

New 14th Ward Profile is updated with 40 Days Before Alder Election reports.

3rd Ward Alder Brandon Bosley did not make a January Report or a 40 Days Out Report. His October 2022 Report was Limited Activity. His last report with any activity was April 2021 when he had $100 on hand. It’s not the sign of someone running a legit campaign.

January Reports were optional and 40 Days Out Reports were due only if committee 1) accepted contributions (money or in-kind) or 2) had expenses (paid or incurred).

The Bosley Family political action committee- 3rd Ward Regular Democratic Organization- hasn’t reported activity since April 2021 when it had $20.21 on hand.

Alder Bosley’s mother and Treasurer- 3rd Ward Committeewoman Lucinda Frazier- registered a new 14th Ward Democratic Organization as a nonprofit with Missouri Secretary of State, but not MEC. Very curious.

Alder Bosley’s Deputy Treasurer- Linda Primer- is also Treasurer for 3rd Ward Regular Democratic Organization and Civil PAC, as well as Deputy Treasurer for Bosley’s sister- State Rep. LaKeySha Bosley

Civil PAC hasn’t reported any activity since July 2022. It paid the 3rd Ward organization $2,500 for a lit drop in 2020. State Rep. Bosley last reported activity in December 2022, including $800 to political consultant Tim Person.

Some of Person’s previous clients include Jack Coatar’s disastrous run for Board President, former Mayor Lyda Krewson, former Board President Lewis Reed, former County Executive candidate Mark Montovani, former State Rep. Wiley Price, Heartland Action PAC, and Civil PAC.

Tim Person isn’t just a political consultant. He is Human Resources Director for St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler. Person replaced a Recorder employee of many years who was fired by Butler without cause the day he was sworn into office. She and other employees, also fired for not working for his election, sued and taxpayers paid out a six figure settlement.

We’re also talking about the same Michael Butler who chairs the Missouri Democratic Party (also sued by former employee and Party donors had to pay a settlement) and hired Person to do fundraising. Same Michael Butler who owns an all you can drink for one price bar, same bar State Rep. Bosley has worked at or still does. Same bar she held a re-election fundraiser at last year.

Butler also serves on the Board for Communities First, a nonprofit founded by Lucinda Frazier (Alder Bosley’s mother), who is also Butler’s Chief of Staff. The nonprofit’s address is used by State Rep. Bosley on her campaign finance reports and her last candidate filing at Secretary of State. It’s also been used as a default address for 3rd Ward/Bosley Family related campaign workers.

It’s a good guess that Person will be trying to help elect Alder Bosley to the new 14th Ward seat, if Bosley is actively running. It’s also a good guess that money to help that effort might come via Civil PAC.

More intrigue- State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, one of four candidates for the 14th Ward seat, is a former employee of Michael Butler’s Recorder of Deeds office and he donated $2,600 last year to Communities First.

St. Louis, biggest small town in America.

Con Con Update

I wasn’t surprised to finally find a pro-Constitutional Convention website. I was surprised, however, to find it wasn’t run by Republican operatives or a hate group and surprised to find out Winston Apple, former Democratic National Committeeman, supported passage.

“Democracy has a great many false friends and a few true enemies” says the website whose leaders then bizarrely pivot to believing they will elect a pro-democracy majority of the 68 senatorial district delegates and 15 statewide delegates at large to the Con Con. That would be miraculous considering millions and millions of dollars buy legislative seats and statewide offices here without most voters caring. No reason to think the Con Con will go any better.

“Some of the proposed amendments are certain to be good and some bad.” Awesome selling point.

One of the priorities of this Con Con support group is to “Ensure that every citizen in Missouri is represented in the General Assembly by legislators who will vote the way they would vote.” We are currently in Governor Mike Parsons birthplace where no Democrats filed for county office other than a judge. The Republicans elected to represent Hickory County are never going to vote the way we would.

The group believes money has corrupted our political system and both major political parties have been corrupted. Both true, in my opinion. But it’s pure fantasy to believe a constitutional convention controlled by the major parties and, in the end, a Republican Governor filling delegate vacancies, will bring about positive change.

They are ignoring the reality that a majority of delegates will be chosen by political party insiders. They don’t seem to want to accept the fact that running for statewide elected delegate would take lots of money- money that people like Rex Sinquefield and David Humphreys have and they don’t.

As you wander around their website, you may finally find the key to their plan: Libertarian Party delegates and Independent delegates at large. It’s like they are counting on a more moderate Missouri Libertarian Party and for Sinquefield and Humphreys to do the right thing.

There’s no information on who runs this group on their website. Always a bad sign. But Missouri Ethics Commission has a political action committee named Say Yes To Democracy that filed in August. The treasurer is Annette LePique, a Kansas City realtor. The deputy treasurer is Bryan Struebig, Eldon, chair of Miller County Democrat Committee and former Democratic candidate for state senator and state representative.

No campaign finance reports yet. Will check back October 17th when quarterly reports due.

Missouri Democratic Party State Committee voted to oppose the Con Con. But there’s nothing posted about it on their website.

Vote No on Con Con

Further Reading