School Privatizers Want Another STL Sales Tax for Child Care

Some people would like to raise the sales tax in City of St. Louis for early childhood education (ECE) in the City. Again. Don’t be fooled. Again.

Unlike in Boliver, where there is a $3 Million expansion underway for their ECE center on the public schools campus, this sales tax campaign is not for St. Louis Public Schools ECE. Again. It’s not for free ECE. Again.

Instead, it’s another sketchy way to publicly fund charter schools, church day care, for profit child care, and a jobs creator for the nonprofit industrial complex. A lot of staffing positions with important titles will be created using the bloated bureaucracy role model of City’s Mental Health Board.

Like MHB, which manages the current ECE tax fund called Community Children’s Services Fund, that pays for ECE consultants, not ECE, the new tax would be managed by another mayoral appointed board independent from the City of St. Louis, unaccountable to the Board of Alders, or anyone else really.

Read the proposal here, not just the ballot language, read the whole thing.

Note that Stephen Westbrooks, Mayor Cara Spencer’s new director of St. Louis Development Corporation, City corporate welfare umbrella agency, and a charter school supporter, is one of the ballot issue petitioners.

Note that the proposed sales tax is enabled by 67.547 RSMO and is a county sales tax, not a municipal sales tax. That’s because Best Start for Kids also wants a tax in St. Louis County. I don’t have any idea how the campaign it’s going in the County. I do know that when MAGA eventually bankrupts St. Louis City, sells off assets, forces annexation of City into County, the folks running this scam will still be well funded.

Best Start for Kids campaign makes a lot of promises not backed up with the petition they are circulating. Again. It’s not about funding free ECE at public schools.

“Increase wages and benefits for early educators” and “Improve quality of care” are just campaign sales pitches. There is no guarantee that will happen. AND there is no sunset provision so that later down the road voters could decide to end the experiment and start over.

Best Start for Kids filed with Missouri Ethics Commission last August as a ballot issue campaign committee for November 3rd, 2026, election in the City.

A lot of preachers think their churches are getting a piece of the pie but most of the money is coming from school privatizers.

The committee filed Limited Activity for August and October 2025 reports but then received $10,000 on November 10th from Robert Fox. He is the husband of Maxine Clark, founder of Build A Bear (a corporate welfare recipient) and queen mother of school privatization in St. Louis based at her Delmar Divine development.

Fox’s contribution appeared in the January 2026 Report with others including:

$5,000 (11/17/2025) Tony Thompson, Kwame Building Group CEO, St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioner, and charter school supporter

$5,000 (12/02/2025) Laura Horwitz, JF Roblee Foundation and Board member for WePower, the main proponent for Best Start for Kids sales tax hike campaign

$1,000 (12/07/2025) Hank Webber, part of the group seeking a Midtown Infrastructure TIF, former Vice Chancellor for Washington University, former chair of Cortex, charter school advocate, and Board member of Maxine Clark’s Delmar Divine. He also serves on

Starting in January, Best Starts for Kids started receiving donations requiring “48 Hour Report of Contribution Received Over $5000” and which will not appear on a quarterly Report until April. These contributions include:

$8,000 (01/21/2026) Anne Miller, education consultant, a charter school founder (North Side Community School)

$50,000 (01/30/2026) Missouri Action for Kids, same address as Kids Win Missouri (which receives public funding)

$25,000 (02/03/2026) Elizabeth Mannen Berges, Mannen Financial Group, and Jim Berges, former President of Emerson Electric. Berges Family Foundation supports the Opportunity Trust, St. Louis Police Foundation, Greater St. Louis, and charter schools.

$10,000 (02/10/2026) Child Care Aware of Missouri, a child care referral nonprofit and member of Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Missouri

$17,500 (03/05/2026) + $30,000 (03/12/2026) + $12,000 (03/20/2026) WePower, school privatization nonprofit, driving force behind the previous Proposition R for a St. Louis sales tax to fund early childhood education consultants, the fund managed by St. Louis Mental Health Board.

WePower is represented by a stable of lobbyists including David Sweeney, everyone’s friend at Board of Alders, and Nexus Group. WePower is located in Cortex Innovation District.

In 2020, The City’s Board of Alders passed an ordinance to send voters a tax hike to fund ECE. The BOA vote was 25-0 with two absent and one vacancy.

Unfortunately, it did not really fund ECE as in subsidizing costs to parents. It was money for training and marketing consultants and creating a large staff to award grants.

Like Alders, not many bothered to read the proposal. It was approved 56.26% (72,745) to 43.74% (56,554).

Proponents of the previous ballot issue like to say the issue drove voters to the polls but it was a Presidential and statewide office and ballot issues election. 6,170 fewer ballots were cast for Proposition R than the total votes cast for US President in that 66% turnout election.

Deputy Treasurer for Best Start for Kids is Mike Pridmore, who serves as treasurer or deputy treasurer for numerous campaign accounts including Mayor Spencer, City and State ballot issues, and political action committees (legal money laundries in Missouri).

There was previously a Best Starts for Kids, STL committee, not run by Pridmore, for a 2024 St. Louis County Charter Amendment to increase sales tax by for early childhood education. That ballot measure did not end up on the ballot.

Board President Megan Green and Alders Pam Boyd, Shameem Clark-Hubbard, Tom Oldenburg, and Daniela Velázquez have endorsed the ballot issue.

Board President Green unsuccessfully tried to organize a charter school before she was an Alder.

Saida Cornejo-Zuniga worked briefly as Legislative Assistant to Alder Velázquez before taking a position at WePower.

Rodney Hubbard, Alder Clark-Hubbard’s husband, is a lobbyist for Steven R. Carroll & Associates, which is lobbyist for St. Louis Public Schools, tho Hubbard is not registered to represent that client.

During the 2024-2025 session of the Board of Alders, Alder Clark-Hubbard sponsored Board Bill 7 for a second sales tax ballot issue, an additional one-half of one percent to go to the Mental Health Board’s Early Childhood Education Fund.

Board Bill 7 was very oddly assigned to the Transportation and Commerce Committee.

The St. Louis City Board of Education unanimously opposed the measure, saying the bill “directs taxpayer dollars to non-public entities with no oversight or accountability measures in place.”

Debate was cut off an hour into the hearing and Board Bill 7 advanced no further.

The major proponent for that bill was WePower, which seemed to be complaining that their previous tax hike that they wrote and won was flawed, basically the same argument this time.

We’ll talk later about how irresponsible it is for anyone to propose a new sales tax in Missouri as MAGA General Assmbly and Governor pushes to eliminate income tax and replace with sales taxes.

St. Louis Hires Murder Suspect’s Company for Demo Contract

Illinois Secretary of State document showing agent change for Shafer Excavating

St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority Resolution authorizing contract with Shafer Excavating

This story has an update here dated January 11, 2026

This story has an update here dated January 5, 2026.

Portia Louise Rowland was murdered shortly after 6:06 am on January 21, 2025, in the driveway of her home in Collinsville, Illinois. She died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Sarah Shafer, her girlfriend, was in the home at the time of the murder.

The alleged murder getaway vehicle was found in St. Louis County, Missouri. The alleged driver, Marty D. Shaw, 33, Collinsville, was charged in Illinois with two counts of First Degree Murder as an accomplice in the killing.

Next, Gary D. Johnson, 44, East St. Louis, was arrested as the shooter, two counts of First Degree Murder as well as one count of Felon in possession of a Weapon. After the shooting, he allegedly changed clothes and went to a casino. Johnson had previously been convicted of a murder in 1997.

On January 25th, Sammy J. Shafer Jr., 36, Caseyville, was arrested outside his home and charged with two counts of First Degree Murder and two counts of Solicitation/Murder for Hire in the death of Rowland. It’s alleged that he paid $10,000 for the hit.

Shafer Jr., it is alleged, hired Johnson to kill Rowland, whom he considered a romantic rival. Sarah Shafer, Shafer’s wife, divorce pending, and Portia Rowland had planned to marry, according to prosecutors.

Shafer Jr. is President of S. Shafer Excavating and Demolition, a company based in Pontoon Beach, Illinois, registered with Illinois Secretary of State, File #73632633. His father, Sammy J Shafer Sr., also of Caseyville, is Secretary of the company.

On April 17, 2025, the company changed its registered agent from Shafer Jr. to Tammy Shafer, his mother.

The company is also registered with Missouri Secretary of State as S. Shafer Excavating Inc.

Shafer Jr. is scheduled to go to trial on April 27, 2026.

On December 16, 2025, the Board for St. Louis City’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority spent less than ten minutes rubberstamping a $3,692,000 contract with S. Shafer Excavating Inc for environmental remediation and demolition services at 4690 and 4700 Goodfellow Blvd, a 16.45-acre former ammunition plant site.

The murder case never came up at the meeting (YouTube video of meeting, Shafer contract starts at 6:55).

Three LCRA Board members voted for the contract: Sean Spencer, executive director for Tower Grove Community Development Corporation; attorney Kennard Jones; and business consultant Lori Koenig. Two Board members were absent: attorney Matthew McBride, who runs Nexus PAC, and Lindsey Evans, a senior project manager at PGAV Planners.

LCRA is one of ten boards appointed by St. Louis City’s mayor to facilitate the mayor’s economic development agenda via blighting, corporate welfare, sale of land owned by the city, under the umbrella organization St. Louis Development Corporation. The director of SLDC is also appointed by the mayor.

The Goodfellow industrial site will be cleaned up at public expense for a redevelopment. Mayor Cara Spencer and her SLDC director Otis Williams have not announced what that development will be.

I know what you’re thinking, “Innocent until proven guilty.”

Correct.

But Plot Twist. Shafer Jr. is not the only alleged connection between the murder of Portia Rowland and S. Shafer Excavating and Demolition.

The getaway vehicle was registered to Tammy Shafer, Shafer Jr.’s mother, now agent for the company. She is not a suspect.

However, suspect Marty D. Shaw, alleged driver of the vehicle, was or still is employed by the company. Shaw is also the cousin of suspect Gary D. Johnson, the alleged shooter.

Shafer Jr. allegedly provided the gun used in the murder and left the $10,000 payment in an excavator at his home.

While not a concern for Mayor Spencer, SLDC Director Williams, or the LCRA Board, it was a concern in Springfield, Illinois, which already had a contract with the company.

Either SLDC did not perform a records check on Shafer Jr. and his company or it was ignored. Here’s what I found in fifteen minutes. Some articles are now stored at Internet Archive Machine because of paywall and desire to have sources available to all.

November 19, 2025 Belleville News-Democrat: Nearly 150 on witness list for metro-east husband’s murder-for-hire trial

June 16, 2025, Belleville News-Democrat: Attorneys debate if Caseyville husband who allegedly hired hitman can get fair trial“

February 14, 2025, KTVI TV: Alleged orchestrator in Collinsville murder-for-hire set for court appearance

February 5, 2025 KMOV TV: Man at center of murder-for-hire plot denied pre-trial release

February 5, 2025 Belleville News-Democrat: Prosecutor: Caseyville businessman planned murder-for-hire for months, provided the gun

January 29, 2025, Belleville News-Democrat: High-profile attorney represents man charged in Collinsville murder-for-hire case

January 28, 2025 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Victim’s girlfriend’s husband charged in murder-for-hire scheme in Collinsville

January 27, 2025, Belleville News-Democrat: Caseyville businessman accused of hiring hitman to kill wife’s girlfriend in Collinsville

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

STL City Budget Hearing Fail, Public Denied Opportunity to Speak

Old black and white photo of St. Louis City Hall

The Budget Committee of the Board of Alders (BOA) had a public hearing today, June 5th, 2024, on the 2025 Budget for the City of St. Louis. The hearing, per its City Calendar Notice, was to include public testimony both in person at City Hall and by Zoom. At least two Alders participated by Zoom.

6th Ward resident and local government transparency advocate Gerry Connolly planned to testify by Zoom. He confirmed his participation with BOA staff. He wrote his notes. He logged on to the hearing.

The hearing began with Mayor Tishaura Jones presenting on her office’s budget. Then it was time for public testimony. But Budget Chair Cara Spencer announced a recess. People who had taken time off from work to make their voice heard were told they would have to wait 39 minutes.

When the Budget Committee reconvened, Alders heard in person public testimony. Then it was time for testimony by Zoom. It was Gerry’s turn. I’m not sure how many others had planned to testify via Zoom.

But Gerry was not allowed to speak. No Zoom testimony was taken. No explanation was given. It was yet another Sunshine Fail, Transparency Fail at City Hall.

Gerry was told he could submit comments by email. He was angry, and rightfully so, but he hurridly transformed his notes for three minutes of testimony into written, expanded comments.

Since Gerry’s testimony is not available as a part of the online public record, and while the Budget Committee Chair may not be interested in what he has to say, others may be interested. I asked him if I could publish his testimony on my blog and he agreed. I have made a few edits for formatting purposes and add links.

Below is Gerry’s testimony on 2025 Budget for City of St. Louis which he submitted by email.

———-

Gerry Connolly.
6th Ward resident
38xx Botanical Ave
St. Louis, MO 63110

June 5, 2024

Honorable members of the Budget and Public Employees Committee,

I had planned to provide this testimony via Zoom at today’s Budget Committee meeting. However, due to the fact the committee failed to take any public testimony today via Zoom, I am submitting my comments in writing.

Public Testimony in opposition to Board Bill 1

I am testifying against Board Bill 1. The City should allocate financial resources from within the budget as recommended by the Board of E and A necessary to implement the policy recommendations described in items 1 through 7 below.

1) Fix the City’s “Sunshine portal, The Public Records Center, which hasn’t been consistently functional for 6 months. Make the responsive records of all city government bodies available in the Public Records Archive. The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) and St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) currently do not make records available to the general public in the Public Records Archive. Only requesters may view responsive records via their portal user accounts.There may be additional City entities that do not make records available to the general public.
2) Open government and transparency must be consistent across city government. The Board of Aldermen (BOA) must update the decade old transparency ordinance:
1. Post meeting recordings to Youtube for government entities currently missing. These include the Airport Commission, Affordable Housing Commission, Mental Health Board and Senior Fund.
2. Standardization of meeting notices, both physical and online. The official agenda (not just the text) must include the resolutions to be voted upon. The meeting packet must include the draft minutes of prior meetings, if applicable. All other documents utilized during a meeting should be posted online. The BOA’s posting of many budget presentations on the BB 1 webpage should serve as a model for all departments.
3. The following city bodies do not operate consistently in a transparent manner: Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E and A); Charter Commission, Reparations Commission and Detention Facilities Oversight Board. The persistent violation of Missouri Sunshine Law by the Board of E and A is cause for alarm. The Board of Aldermen’s silence on the Sunshine violations by the Board of E and A has been noted.
3) Continue to reform of how development incentives are awarded. Ordinance 71620 was a step forward in the system for awarding tax breaks to development projects. However Ordinance 71620 (BB 64 in the 2022-23 BOA session) had major flaws that subsequent legislation has only addressed in part (See BB 98 and BB 236 in the 2023-24 BOA session). More changes to the ordinance are needed. All provisions in Ordinance 71620 must be enforced by the BOA. SLDC did not follow the mandated procedures for the 15 projects, with development costs over $10 Million, that were approved in the 2023-24 BOA session. The non-compliance included a failure to consult St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) and affected tax districts. Every effort must be made to shield SLPS from the impact of tax breaks.
4) All development incentives must be authorized by an ordinance approved by the BOA. Incentives that presently do not require approval by ordinance include, but are not limited to:

1. Bond issuances authorized by the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA), Planned Industrial Expansion Authority (PIEA), Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and Port Authority.

2. Certain tax abatements authorized by the Port Authority Commission (PA) and Enhanced Enterprise Zone Board (EEZB).

3. New Markets Tax Credit (NTMC) program, currently authorized by the SLDC board of directors.
5) The Land Reutilization Authority’s lot sales policy must be modified. In 2023, the Land Reutilization Authority adopted new sales policies for LRA-owned property, per the recommendation of SLDC staff. In the category of sale of lots for the purpose of building one home, a lot whose area is less than 4,000 sq. ft. is ineligible for sale under the new policy. LRA eliminated the opportunity to provide housing, strengthen the fabric of a neighborhood and grow the city’s tax base.

The LRA sales policy must be modified in order to restore the ability of homebuilders to purchase lots under 4,000 sq. ft. and construct much-needed housing.

The Jones administration, SLDC and the Community Development Agency (CDA) frequently cite the Economic Justice Action Plan (EJAP) as a guide for City policy and program spending. SLDC included citations from the Economic Justice Action Plan (EJAP) in the LRA board resolution adopting the new sales policies.

It is noteworthy that the EJAP planning process, conducted by consultants to SLDC, did not include the participation of the general public or Board of Aldermen. Only narrowly focussed public outreach was performed.

I have not heard an explanation of the rationale behind the new sales policy in any setting- SLDC website, development board meetings or at BOA committee meetings. The BOA should investigate this matter.
6) All fee revenues from SLDC’s Sales Tax Exemption Fund should be transferred to the City’s General Fund and included in the annual appropriation to the Affordable Housing Commission
7) Eight reforms for the BOA to enact for Local Taxing Districts (LTDs). It is possible that changes to Missouri law will be necessary in order to accomplish some of the recommendations.

1. The budgets of the 100 plus LTDs in the City likely exceed $50 Million with taxes and/or special assessments imposed on the public. The vast majority of LTDs operate routinely in violation of Missouri Sunshine law. Enact all recommendations of the 2019 Missouri Auditor’s report on LTDs. Read the audit report here (See pages 9 – 18 for recommendations)

2. Place all policing duties funded by LTDs under the command of SLMPD.

3. Extend community oversight of surveillance technology to all LTDs.

4. A representative of the following must be appointed to the board of all single site LTDs: Mayor, Board of Aldermen and Comptroller.

5. Prohibit developers from controlling single site districts.

6. Document all City of St. Louis resources allocated to the LTDs. Such resources include:

(i) City funds expended on projects of the LTDs.
(ii) City staff attending LTD meetings.
(iii) Work performed by City staff to support the activities of LTDs. (Examples of City staff: SLMPD personnel when working for the City; Neighborhood Improvement Specialists).

7. Establish robust Conflicts of Interest regulations for people serving on the boards and committees of LTDs.

8. Establish a limit on the number of LTD boards on which one person can serve. (Some individuals serve at least five LTD boards).

I would be happy to discuss the above recommendations by phone, in-person or at a committee meeting. My contact information is below.

Thank you for your consideration.

Gerry Connolly

cc Honorable members of the Board of Aldermen
President Megan Green
Clerk Terry Kennedy
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones
Comptroller Darlene Green
Budget Director Paul Payne