In the tiny village in New York’s Hudson Valley where I reside, there are 1,135 people. The Village of Kinderhook is just one municipality out of the 16,411 self-governing communities across the U.S. with less than 10,000 residents.

Like other small municipalities, the structure of government is straightforward: a mayor, four trustees, a code-enforcement officer, a village clerk, a deputy village clerk, a department of public works, planning and zoning boards, and a historic preservation commission. In 2014, New York State rolled out a Climate Smart Communities initiative to assist large and small communities in pursuing actions to minimize the risks of climate change, reduce greenhouse gases, and commit to building a resilient, low-emission future.

To the surprise of many residents, the village’s elected officials decided that, unlike some other nearby communities at the time, it was important for the village to participate in the state’s initiative. A small group of concerned and determined Kinderhook residents stepped up. They formed a volunteer task force that would help the village contribute to the state’s ambitious goals.

To date, Kinderhook counts itself as one of 285 New York State communities to have adopted the Climate Smart Communities pledge. Those communities represent more than 8.3 million people – or 43 percent of the state’s population.

Adopting a Climate Crisis Resolution

At the village’s February 2020 board meeting, following discussions about nuts-and-bolts issues like snow removal, stop signs, and building-code violations, Kinderhook’s elected officials went a step further.  They adopted a Climate Crisis Resolution.

Knowing all five of the individuals who took this vote, I imagine that they probably didn’t see their “yes” votes as a moment of personal courage. But I saw the vote in a different light. At this critical juncture, when the environmental policies of the federal government are being driven backwards in the most dangerous and destructive manner, five elected officials—with differing viewpoints on local issues and varying political affiliations—stepped up and voted unanimously and yes, courageously, to adopt a symbolic declaration acknowledging the global climate emergency. Residents in attendance raised no objections. The moment seemed almost offhand– like a foregone conclusion. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

If one were to look back at the arc of the four-decade-long struggle for consensus on the reality of the cause-and-effect relationship between carbon emissions and global climate change, nothing in this struggle for the future has been—or still is—a foregone conclusion. In some quarters, even acknowledging the problem is still a difficult political and philosophical road to travel.

The Village of Kinderhook is only the fourth governing body in New York State (New York City, the Town of Saugerties, and Ulster County) and the seventy-eighth governing body in the U.S. to have officially passed a declaration of climate emergency. The reality is that only eight percent of Americans live in a community that has affirmed the seriousness of the climate task we’re facing.

If it is true that recognizing a problem is the first step in solving it, then the record of the world beyond our borders is more reassuring than the current record of where Americans land on the issue of climate change. Across the globe, more than 1,300 governing bodies in 25 countries—representing 809 million people—have declared a climate emergency and dedicated themselves and their governments to climate mobilization and driving down emissions to protect humanity and the natural world. The Village of Kinderhook should take pride in being counted among them.

Village of Kinderhook’s 2020 Climate Crisis Resolution

Whereas, climate change poses a real and increasing threat to our community and our way of life.

Whereas, adoption of the New York State Climate Smart Communities Pledge included a commitment to engage in an ongoing process of climate action.

Whereas, the ability to access potential funding and other resources for rapid mobilization to mitigate climate change can result in economic, environmental, and social benefit to our community.

We therefore hereby declare that a state of climate emergency exists.

[Image: Governing bodies, worldwide, that have declared a Climate Emergency. Searchable image at https://www.theclimatemobilization.org/world-map]

The post Tiny New York Village joins worldwide Climate Mobilization, passes Climate Crisis Resolution appeared first on Occasional Planet.

In 1971 after graduating college, I left Ireland. The zeitgeist and personal choice led me to the US, first to Ohio and then to Boston before I settled for a good long stretch of years in New York City. Eventually I was drawn to the more tranquil life of Columbia County in upstate New York; at least until the effort of shoveling snow for at times 6 months of the year finally persuaded me to move to the warmer climes of Florida. But I was never a happy camper in Florida, the absence of snow and snow shovels notwithstanding. And so, looking for further change, I began to make investigative trips to Mexico and Peru. By happenstance, two discount airlines just then began to offer service from Florida to Bogotá, Colombia. The fares were less than $200 round-trip, and before long I was back and forth to Colombia for long weekends and semester breaks from my teaching job in Florida. I had a summer semester free and decided I would spend it in Bogotá teaching English. That was mid-May of 2010. By June, I had decided to move to Colombia.

My first commitment was to live here for a year. I would teach some English classes, do some writing and continue my work as a cartoonist. And I did that. I packed my Florida essentials and had them shipped to Bogotá. And as often happens, one year became two, and then two became three. And three has just now become nine. Colombia’s tourism slogan the year I arrived was the only risk is wanting to stay. And there might be just some truth to that.

Over the years, I’ve learned a thing of two about Colombia. Here are the nine most important things I’ve learned in nine years living in Colombia.

1. Patience is a virtue.

In my first year in Colombia, I befriended a psychic; we worked at the same real-estate development company. It’s so strange to me that I’m living in Colombia, I said to Mariana over lunch one day. You do know why you’re here, don’t you, she added immediately. The reason you’re in Colombia is to learn patience, she said without missing a beat. Well, she was the psychic, not me. But being in Colombia to learn patience made perfect and immediate sense to me. If there was anything I needed in my life, it was patience. New York and my own personality had instilled in me a need to go go go, and perhaps the time had come to change to slow slow slow, or at least to slow, slow, slower.

In Colombia, the opportunities for learning patience are multiple. People jump lines constantly, on the pretense that they just have a simple question to ask that will take at most a couple of seconds to answer. This is rarely the case. Not only do people jump lines, but they also interrupt your conversation when you’re with any customer service representative in any situation. Una preguntita, señorita, someone will say over your shoulder while you are earnestly and intensely trying to understand, for instance in my case, why $3000 had disappeared from my bank account. (It happened!) The common response to this type of interruption in other areas of the world might be Please Ma’am, I’m with a customer, take a place in line. In Colombia, the immediate response is for the customer service person in question to begin to interact with the reprobate who is trying to jump turn. How can I help? What happened? Let me take your details. Trust me, your patience will have many opportunities to the taxed in Colombia.

2. Buenos días, Buenas tardes

Politeness reigns supreme. Colombian Spanish is somewhat formal; its reach goes back centuries. Usted is often used instead of the more relaxed day-to-day tú. Boarding an Iberia flight from Bogotá to Madrid a couple of years ago, I was surprised to be greeted by the flight attendants by a simple Hola. Bogotanos are exceedingly polite, and there is a protocol of niceties that is followed at all times. The morning greeting is Buenos días. The response is Buenos días. In the afternoon, Buenas tardes is answered by Buenas tardes. My flight was an afternoon flight, and Hola just sounded wrong to my ear. In Lima, Perú, I walked into a bookstore and the woman working there greeted me with Que tal? (What’s up?) I literally looked around to see if she was addressing a friend of hers behind me. She wasn’t; she was greeting me. And again coming from Bogotá, I was surprised by the familiarity.

3. Con mucho gusto

Con mucho gusto are three words that define Bogotá, and in fact all of Colombia. With great pleasure! You will hear Con mucho gusto daily in all kinds of contexts. Paying for a coffee costing 70¢ at the phenomenally successful coffee chain Tostao, you say Thanks/ Gracias. The response is Con mucho gusto. And this is the Colombian part; the communication of Con mucho gusto is heartfelt. To me, more than With great pleasure, I always hear We’re all in this together. Leaving my orthopedist’s office this afternoon, I thanked him again for a very successful surgery. He responded with Con mucho gusto. And then getting out of the taxi that brought me home, I paid my taxi driver the amount on his meter (taxis are ridiculously cheap in Bogotá!) I said Thank you. And with a sincerity that’s hard to communicate in writing he told me Con mucho gusto.

4. Su merced

Addressing someone as Su merced goes back centuries. It has long gone out of use in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. Su merced basically translates as Your Grace. The expression communicates respect on the part of the addressee for the person being addressed. It’s an extremely formal and old-fashioned choice of words. But here’s the thing; Su merced is commonplace in Bogotá. You will hear strangers addressing one another as Su merced, but you will also hear couples addressing each other with Su merced as a token of respect. I mentioned this to a friend in Peru some years ago and his immediate response was I want to live in Bogotá!

5. Family is close to the heart.

To understand the closeness of family in Colombia, I always think of the mothers that I see daily on the streets and public transportation of Bogotá, and yes fathers at times too, bundling their newborn in handheld blankets. Strollers and baby buggies are generally for the wealthy few and perhaps even then optional. Touch with newborns is essential and closeness to one’s blood here is physical. Colombians carry their babies close to their hearts. I can’t tell you how many times Colombians have told me I could never live outside Colombia because I need to be close to my family. Of course the truth is that as a result of the history of violence in the country, thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Colombians have been forced to do exactly that, to abandon their families and seek refuge elsewhere. The resulting pain is hard to quantify.

6. Getting from point A to point B is challenging.

There is no metro or subway system here. Getting around town, you are going to have to use the same major and minor thoroughfares of the city as everyone else. Technically, there are requirements for getting a driver’s license in Colombia that include a knowledge and understanding of the basic responsibilities of being a driver in a country of just about 50 million people. And yet, all of that understanding seems to go out the open car window for 95% of Colombian drivers once they get behind the wheel of their vehicle. In other countries, as drivers, we put the rights of pedestrians above all else. Not here. As a pedestrian in Bogotá, when a car slows to a stop, and this is never the case with a taxi (so watch out for taxis!) to allow you to cross the street at a legally designated crosswalk, you may just feel that you have to express a gratitudinal bow, a tip of a hat, a thumbs up, a wow am I lucky moment to the car driver in question.

Why as a driver when you pass your exit or turn-off should you continue on to the next exit to get back to where you wanted to be when you can just back up against traffic for a block (or 2) even on a freeway? Stop signs are generally understood as mere suggestions, compliance optional. The best advice when confronted with traffic, whether as a pedestrian, passenger or driver in Bogotá, is simply to keep your wits about you.

Bicycles have become more and more popular in recent years. In Bogotá, there are some bike-designated lanes. There are other sort-of-suggested bike lanes. And there are places in Bogotá now where with bike lanes, official bus stop waiting areas and age-old trees there is literally very little room left for pedestrians to walk.

The latest addition to street congestion here is scooters. Pick-up, drop-off electric scooters are everywhere. Pay by credit card; pick up your scooter and go. Drop off wherever. Wherever literally means wherever; this is often once again in the middle of a pedestrian sidewalk. On the way to your drop-off point, use the congested roadways mentioned above, helmet optional. Zip here and there through pedestrian traffic, or take your chances weaving in and out along the roadways of the city already crowded with motorcycles, buses, taxis, delivery and private vehicles trying to get from here or there. Oh and remember what I was saying about driver education. Scooter users get to play just by having a credit card, no knowledge of rules of the road required. Living here, you are going to have to interact with all of the above getting around Bogotá on a daily basis, like it or not.

7. Colombia has strata.

Colombia has a rare 6-tier stratified economic system that’s hard to get your head around. Looking for an apartment, you will be told that it’s estrato 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. The designation is mainly based on the neighborhood; the appearance of surrounding buildings and the materials used in the construction of the building you might live in suggest to a government scout the estrato of your district. The estrato of your apartment is a small but important detail in choosing where to live. Living in an estrato 6 building means your utilities will be billed at a higher rate than anyone living in any other estrato in the city. Essentially those living in estrato 5 and 6 neighborhoods pitch in to help those living in estrato 1 and 2 areas. The bottom line in terms of taxes and monthly bills is that the rich pay more, the poor pay less. The system was designed to try to balance things out. Does it? That’s hard to say. As with any system, there are abuses and ways to circumvent the original intent. UN-Habitat, a United Nations group dedicated to better urban living worldwide, believes that the Colombian system of strata over time has come to divide rather than define the glue that holds us all together. And there’s some truth to that. On dating apps, you will at times find people looking for someone in a specific estrato, 2, 4 or 6 wanting to connect only to someone in their own estrato.

8. Your cédula (national identity card) is everything.

Want to know how having a national identity works day to day? Come to Colombia. Your cédula keeps track of you wherever you go, whatever you do. Buying underwear a few years back, I was asked for my cédula. I gave it. Did Colombia really need to know my choice in underwear? I doubt it. Buying paint when I was redoing my apartment, the same thing. The government now knows that I bought white paint to renovate my apartment. The first question you will be asked at any bank, clinic, government agency, airline, pharmacy or supermarket is Numero de Cédula? The country is trying to track the use of drug money; I understand that. Did I buy three private jets within the last month? That might raise an alarm. No, I didn’t. But did I really repaint my apartment with the white paint I bought? Nobody knows that but me.

9. Gentrification. What gentrification?

I just read a post on a Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY website bemoaning the flight of essential services from a long established, but now happening, NY city neighborhood. A supermarket that had served the neighborhood for years has given up the ghost: likewise, a local hardware store. I have seen gentrification at work in various cities in Europe and the United States. Step back in time. Gentrification, per se, doesn’t exist in Bogotá. There are hardware stores, ferreterías, on practically every block. Whatever you need in terms of the maintenance or upgrade of your home or apartment is available close to where you live. Likewise, sasterías. Sasterías are tailors’ shops where you can have any modification, repair, change or enhancement done to any garment that you own within hours. There are shoe-repair shops every couple of blocks. There is a Cigarrería, where you can buy anything from wine to an onion, on practically every corner of the city. Panaderías, bakeries with in-house ovens are yours for the asking. The sense of neighborhood and the services that neighborhoods provide are very much alive and completely at the service of their communities in Bogotá. Would I trade this for Carroll Gardens, New York, or Google’s Seattle, or any neighborhood in San Francisco right now? No way. In Bogotá, I’m doing fine: all the services that I need are just a stone’s throw away. And my peace of mind, as MasterCard might say, is priceless.

The post 9 things I’ve learned in 9 years in Colombia appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Visiting Montgomery, Alabama to see the civil rights sites, we walked over to the old train station along the riverfront. Inside what appears to have once been the baggage room, we learned that it is now the site of a guitar shop. As we entered, we encountered a group of about 10 men, sitting in a circle, pleasantly jamming together on an assortment of guitars, mandolins and banjos. Although we began to retreat, feeling that we were intruders, the string players motioned for us to come in and listen. So, we did.

They tuned up, and the leader suggested a song — the name of which we couldn’t hear — and a key. As they began playing, I recognized the tune: “The Darktown Strutters Ball.”

I know. It’s just a song. An old song. A remnant from a very different time. But I couldn’t stop thinking about where we were, and how the song fit in. Right where we were standing was the center of the domestic slave trade of the 19th century — the very railroad station where black people had once been transported and put up for sale. Despite what I thought was historic irony, I reflexively tapped my feet, swayed to the rhythm, and began remembering the words.

Just to jog your memory — or to introduce you to a classic, written in 1915 and performed by just about every ragtime, Dixieland and jazz band on earth since then, plus Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald and Fats Domino — below is an antique [early 20th century] recording of it, along with some very interesting video.

Is the title considered a racial slur? Am I over-reacting? The word “darktown” sure sounds pejorative to me. But according to some historians, at the time the song was published, the title referred to a section of Chicago where black people lived. That designation presumably was okay in that era — but perhaps a reflection of the baked-in racism that was prevalent then. [Today, of course, using skin color as a way of defining a neighborhood would be completely unacceptable, and that is probably what I am responding to.]

In “A Short History of ‘Darktown Strutters’ Ball,” author Matt Macucci further explains that “…the song was inspired by an annual ball in Chicago, Illinois, that was ‘a kind of modern equivalent of the medieval carnivals of misrule, financed by wealthy society folk but with a guest list of pimps and prostitutes.’

“The “Darktown Ball” was, in fact, a real event:

…but it did not start out as being for the higher classes. It was originated by the ladies of the evening in the Darktown area of Chicago. They decided to create the ball as their way of showing that, for at least 1 night per year, they were just as good as everyone else. It was by invitation only and, over time, became THE most sought after ticket. Even the Major of Chicago could not attend without an invitation.

The composer was Shelton Brooks, a black man who was celebrating the event and the fact that it had become such an important part of the city’s history.

So, singing that song in the Montgomery railroad station — is that insensitive, ironic and further evidence of racism so inbred into our culture that we don’t even see — or hear — it?  Or is it just an innocent celebration of a very popular song from the early jazz era? It’s a complicated question, for which I have no answer.

Enjoy the song. Read the lyrics. Cringe at the imagery.

The post On hearing “The Darktown Strutters’ Ball” in Montgomery, Alabama appeared first on Occasional Planet.

The “Better Together” plan for the re-consolidation of St. Louis City and St. Louis County is being released, and the initiative drive is about to begin. These are my thoughts about it. (There are ten points, but they are not inscribed on two tablets.)

1.  I definitely support some kind of merger or consolidation of St. Louis City and County. I don’t need to be convinced that something must be done. I understand that many people like their local governments and are worried about losing that connection, but at the minimum, the city and county must somehow be brought together.
2.  I am open to ideas on the best way to do this— form of government(s), taxation and financing, timetable, etc.— I will consider all options. I don’t have any preconceived notions.
3.  I am determined to ignore County residents saying they don’t want any part of the city and its crime, bad schools, etc. I will also look beyond City residents worried that this is all just a power grab. And I am happy to pay no attention to government officials who are just protecting their own fiefdoms. (I do understand that many in the black community are concerned that any kind of consolidation will weaken their political clout, but I don’t think that is automatically true.
4. I am not going to be swayed by “We’re stuck in 1904 (or 1876) and we must move forward” kind of slick PR slogans. I know we must do something. What is the best way to do it?
5.   I am not going to be swayed by arguments along the lines of “we have to do something now and this is the proposal that’s out there so it is this or nothing.” We are talking about taking steps that will have a huge impact on the region for the next century or two. As frustrating as the current situation is, I’m not going to vote for a bad plan just for the sake of doing something. I’d rather wait and do it right.
6.  I will not support anything that opens the door to privatization of government services.
7.  I will not support any plans, proposals, or campaigns that in any way limit full public disclosure of discussions, information, decisions, etc.
8.  I am not convinced that this is something the whole state must vote on—at least not before city and county residents come to an agreement.
9.   Nothing against the five people who developed the plan, but there is already one strike against this because there was no public discussion of the plan before it was released and presented to the public. (I know they had hearings and public sessions, but the plan was developed behind closed doors.) The Better Together campaign has gotten off on the wrong foot.
10.   The fact that Rex Sinquefield is investing massive amounts of money in this means the proposal already has two strikes. Sin-Q has proven that he does not care about the well-being of our region’s residents. He only cares about protecting his own wealth and forcing his libertarian philosophy on everyone. It is very tempting to oppose the plan on this basis alone. His involvement puts a very negative cover over this whole thing.

So— the Better Together plan has two strikes against it. It has a lot of work to do to not strike out. And in the mean time, I am open to competing ideas.

What do you think?

The post Proposed St. Louis City – County merger: Better together? appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Awakened recently at four and then six in the morning by the clanking and booming of salt trucks and snow plows lumbering outside my windows,  my restless mind wondered how previous generations in the Northeast, where I now live, coped with keeping their lives on track and the roads and byways open during the snowy, bone-chilling days of winters past.

Life was different then—slower and shorter. But not so different that we wouldn’t recognize the same daily challenges of winter, like stocking up on fuel to heat homes, traveling to work, putting food on the table, getting the kids off to school.

Those early-morning, cold-weather musings led me to consider the history of some of the inventions and innovations we often ignore and take for granted, like snow plows and snow clearing.

From historic accounts we know that early settlers of the New World encountered winters that were far more extreme than the winters they’d left behind. Many didn’t survive, but those that did adapted and, ultimately, thrived. The story of coping with snow and its effects on daily living—and even on survival—is the story of the recognition of interdependence, cooperative effort, planning, adaptation, and slow but steady technical innovation.

Adaptation and innovation

In late February and early March in the second decade of the eighteenth century, the New England snowstorm that became known as the Great Snow of 1717 dumped four to six feet of snow, with drifts reaching twenty-five feet high. Historic accounts document how townspeople labored collectively to dig tunnels between their homes—tunnels that ultimately lasted until spring melt. Mail delivery, the lifeblood of communities at the time, was nearly halted but resumed when young boys, sloshing over the snow on snowshoes, doggedly made their way through the snow-covered landscape. Life and commerce continued through grit and determination. Shovels, manual labor, and the strength and endurance of sturdy bodies working together were the engines that conquered the snow.

In the era of horse-drawn vehicles and the acceleration of town and city dwelling, snow cover became an asset rather than an obstacle, as horse-drawn wagons and carriages were fitted with ski-like runners. Like today’s annual ritual of the changing of regular tires to snow tires, in those days it was off with the wheels and on with the runners. This clever adaptation led to one of the first major mechanical innovations—the horse-drawn snow roller, which flattened the snow to enable the runners to glide more smoothly over the surface.

The 1840s saw the first snow-plow patents for horse-drawn plows, the first of which was deployed In Milwaukee in 1862. In larger cities, like New York and Chicago, city planners were slow to understand the effects of snow removal on daily living and commerce. They failed to realize that as snow was plowed and removed from major thoroughfares, the smaller streets and shops were blocked by the resulting mountains of snow. It was only when lawsuits were brought by disgruntled business owners and residents that city planners were forced to deploy horse-drawn carts and hire legions of workers to hand shovel the mounds into the carts for removal.

The blizzard of 1888 encouraged the development of more comprehensive snow-removal plans, foreshadowing the nearly military-like strategic planning and deployment of equipment and personnel of modern times. It was around that time that it finally dawned on officials in towns and cities that plowing couldn’t be delayed until the storms had passed but needed to start as the storms began.

The twentieth century saw accelerated experimentation and greater strides in snow removal—experiments such as the failed attempts to attach plows to electric trolleys.

More successful strategies, however, were on the way. In 1913, New York City developed the first motorized dump truck. In the 1920s, Chicago introduced a snow loader that was equipped with a giant scoop and conveyor belt.

In the second half of the twentieth century, with the innovations of space travel snow removal was transformed with the advent of satellites that allowed for more accurate forecasting that encouraged better and earlier planning.

Today, the next generation of innovation is already here with driverless, remotely operated snow plows for clearing airport runways, and under-pavement electric, hydraulic, and solar-powered systems for melting snow and ice on driveways, bridges, walkways, parking garages, loading ramps and stairways.

The post Conquering snow, old-style appeared first on Occasional Planet.

It’s official. Six years and two lawsuits after then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg first proposed a ban on plastic-foam products, New York City is now a polystyrene- (or Styrofoam- as it’s more commonly called) free zone. New York City’s ban includes all single-use Styrofoam coffee cups, soup bowls, plates, trays, and clamshell-style take-out cartons, as well as packing peanuts.

If you’re in the camp that thinks that a Styrofoam ban is nothing more than a tree hugger’s dream come true, think again. For New York City, which generates more than 14 million tons of trash each year with a tab of more than $2.3 billion for trash collection and disposal, the ban is an economic imperative.

It’s not just New York

As of 2019, the Big Apple joins a group of environmentally committed and financially challenged municipalities and counties across the country where Styrofoam already is officially banned—among them, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Miami Beach, Minneapolis, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. In California, more than eighty cities, towns, and counties are full in on the ban, with more to come. And that’s not all. A host of other major cities, like Chicago, Boston, Honolulu, and Philadelphia, as well as smaller cities and towns in red, blue, and purple states, currently are considering bans.

If you’re thinking this sounds like a movement that’s gathering momentum, you wouldn’t be far off the mark. You’d also be correct to assume that the road to Styrofoam-free zones has generated considerable pushback, particularly in the food industry.  After all, a ban on Styrofoam packaging will dramatically alter how restaurants and street food vendors serve food to the public. In places where the ban is in place, food purveyors will now be required to use biodegradable, environmentally friendly containers. And although biodegradable take-out containers are cheaper than ever, they’re still more costly than containers manufactured from traditional Styrofoam.

Costs

How much more costly is the question. Let’s look at the facts. On average, Styrofoam cups cost $25 per 1,000. Biodegradable cups cost approximately $100 for 1,000. For a business that uses 1,000 cups per year, the additional cost is $75 per year. For green take-out containers, the additional cost to businesses is approximately $140 per year on a count of 1,000.

On the other side of the spreadsheet are some troubling facts. First, there’s the issue of disposal.  Styrofoam products, manufactured from non-renewable fossil fuels and toxic chemicals, take a minimum of 500 years to biodegrade. Think about that. Then there’s the fact that 99.8% of Styrofoam products end up either in landfills or in the oceans where they sicken or poison wildlife. And did you know that Styrofoam products now account for an astonishing 30% of all of the waste in U.S. landfills? One estimate captures the scale of the problem on the micro level: One individual purchasing a disposable cup of coffee every day generates approximately 23 pounds of waste per year.

Health issues

Second, there are potentially harmful health issues that have flown under the radar for far too long.  It’s been known for many years that as polystyrene comes into contact with hot, greasy, or acidic foods, the chemicals and toxins used in the plastics’ manufacture can leach into the food we ingest and the hot beverages we drink. Five years ago, in 2014, the National Research Council stepped up and sounded the alarm by signing off on the National Toxicology Program’s conclusion that polystyrene should be listed as a human carcinogen.

Economics, health, and the environment. All will be positively impacted by the commitment of communities—large and small—across the country to ban single-use Styrofoam products. And in case we’ve forgotten, this is what commonsense, fact-based, and responsible governance looks like.

If you’re interested in learning more about the health issues concerning polystyrene, a good place to start is to take a look at the information provided by Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, a coalition representing 450 organizations and businesses and more than eleven million parents and professionals who share the goal of educating the public about health issues related to toxic chemicals.

The post Why New York City has gone Styrofoam-free appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Too lazy to compost? Yeah, me too. But with an emerging service, known as curbside food-waste pickup, people like us can feel less guilty and do some good, without doing much extra work.

It’s not available everywhere—yet—but some startup experiments and ongoing, city-funded programs may be demonstrating both the planet-friendly value of food-waste pickup and its workability.

Last week, in a suburban subdivision not very far away from mine, a waste hauler began offering free, curbside food-waste pickup as a pilot program. Homeowners who sign up receive a bright yellow bin in which to place food and yard waste. Republic Services will pick up the waste once a week and take it Total Organics Recycling, which also makes compost out of waste from restaurants, hospitals and local colleges.

Our area is a bit late to the composting party. People more enlightened than me have been composting yard and food waste for years, to fertilize their vegetable gardens, upgrade their flower gardens, or to nourish their lawns. But they are not in the majority: According recent studies, most household food waste goes from the kitchen to the garbage can and then to the landfill. Americans throw away an estimated 25% of the food we buy. And those compostable organics represent over 37% of residential waste, which is now the single largest component of what is thrown away in many landfills.

So what? It’s just garbage, right?

Actually, it’s much more. According to a recent report,

…when compostable materials break down in the landfill, they become powerful contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. They decompose without oxygen, in a landfill, producing methane, which is a major contributor to global warming.

In fact, landfills account for 34 percent of all methane emissions in the U.S. In addition to the production of methane, landfill contaminates soil, ground water, and pollutes debris in surrounding areas.

It’s a start

So, composting makes sense. But until recently, it was an individual household preference, quite prevalent in rural areas, but not very popular in cities. Starting around 2005, some areas began offering centralized food-waste disposal centers, where residents could drop off their compostable stuff. [New York City has been operating drop-off sites at more than 50 farmers markets for a number of years. More recently, drop-off locations were opened at subway stations, public libraries and other heavily trafficked areas.]

The drop-off centers have generally been successful in terms of local enthusiasm, but often on a scale too small to make a meaningful difference That’s when some counties and solid-waste districts starting investigating government-funded food-waste pickups—mostly motivated by a need to divert material from the shrinking space available for landfills, and to save money on trash collection—but also as an ecologically responsible service that could have long-term benefits.

Where are we now?

Government-supported food-waste collection is on the rise—although it’s far from standard operating procedure in most areas. In 2017, one nationwide study found curbside programs in 20 states, offering 5.1 million households access to curbside collection, a growth of 2.4 million since the previous study in 2014.

Drilling down a bit, the study reveals the variety of ways in which cities, counties and trash-collection districts conduct their food-waste pickup programs:

• Some offer their programs as “standard,” meaning organics collection is offered alongside trash and recycling, with no extra steps needed for residents to participate.
• “Opt-in” programs, require residents to sign up to receive food waste collection service.
• Mandatory programs, require all residents to participate. There are eight mandatory programs, half of which are in California.

And, exactly what qualifies, in these programs, as compostable? The 2017 study found that:

• All programs take fruit and vegetable scraps
• Over 90 percent accept meat, fish and dairy
• The majority take paper bags and uncoated, food-soiled paper [such as pizza boxes].
• Less than half accept compostable plastic products, such as compostable plastic bags, compostable plastic-coated paper products, and compostable plastic packaging and foodservice items
• Less than 25% of programs accept molded fiber containers
• About 7 percent take conventional plastic-coated paper

How to make it work

Food-waste pickup sounds logical and responsible, but is it doable? A 2017 study by M.I.T. looked at factors that push governments toward trying it out. The main incentive for starting a program, said the researchers, is being told that you have to do it. You need “an ambitious waste-diversion mandate at the state or county level.” [Example: Connecticut has set a statewide goal of 60 percent waste diversion by 2024, which has motivated West Hartford to initiate a pilot program of food-waste pickup.]

Obviously, it also helps—a lot—to have “a nearby processing facility that can handle the area’s food waste…and a pre-existing infrastructure for collecting and processing yard waste.”

Once a city or county has decided to give curbside pickup a try, getting it off the ground requires getting your trash hauler to buy in. That’s easier if your city or county already provides trash hauling or contracts with a single hauler, say the M.I.T. researchers. It’s also important to appeal to a trash hauler’s bottom line: They want efficiency—”maximum tonnage collected with minimum distance traveled.” So municipalities need to make it work for the trash hauler even before they can make it work for their residents and their own budgetary needs.

What makes people participate or drop out? In a study of their pilot program, Milwaukee’s Department of Public Works reported:

• Of the individuals not interested in participating, 67% of respondents said that the cost was too high, 27% already compost, 15% do not think they have enough material to justify participating, 14% do not have space for a third cart, 11% are not eligible due to the current geographic boundaries, and 2% had other reasons.
• No one identified that there was not enough of an environmental benefit to the program, which was a survey option.
•  Reducing costs to $5 per month would likely increase participation 38%.

As to getting households to participate, the best way is — here we go again — to make composting mandatory, say the M.I.T. researchers. That probably won’t happen in the beginning, as municipalities start with opt-in pilot programs. But, in the long run, it’s going to have to be compulsory if it’s going to work, and, unfortunately, mandates have political implications.

Who’s in?

San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver and New York have composting mandates. West Hartford CT, Milwaukee WI and many other areas have initiated pilot programs. Other cities, while not yet mandating food-waste composting, have established zero-waste goals for themselves. These cities—including Austin, Minneapolis, Oakland, Washington DC, Dallas, Takoma Park MD, Malibu CA, and San Diego—would seem to be moving, inevitably, toward area-wide, government-funded food-waste composting programs.

But wait, there’s more

But as high-minded—and ultimately necessary—as these goals and efforts are, there’s still more to be done. We can’t just rely on governments to get this job done. It’s clear that individual behaviors have to change as well.

The M.I.T. study asserts that success will also depend on motivating “waste generators”—meaning people, corporations and institutions—to participate in food-waste composting at high levels and to separate organic materials properly to minimize contamination.

At an even higher level, we need to figure out how to motivate ourselves to avoid creating wasted food in the first place. We need to to shop smarter, plan our food use more efficiently, and—bottom line — eat  more of the food we buy.

The post Curbside composting: Convenient, eco-friendly, but will it work? appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Ten days before the high-stakes 2018 midterm election in Missouri, Eric Fey, St Louis County’s director of elections, led a group of high-schoolers on a back-stage tour of election headquarters. Three months from now, he’ll be in the warehouse, overseeing the de-tangling and re-rolling of miles of orange extension cords used to power up the Nov. 6 election. The highs of making big-news elections work, and the lows of post-election mop-up are the bookends of a job that few voters understand.

Correction: Fey is actually co-director of St. Louis County’s Board of Elections, and that’s important to know. He’s a Democrat. The other co-director is Rick Stream, a Republican. In St. Louis County, we get two directors, because, by Missouri law, all election administration has to be bi-partisan. Every function requires a Republican and a Democrat: You need an R and a D to open the door to the tabulation room. You need an R and a D to approve every absentee ballot. You need an R and a D to check voters’ IDs at every polling place.

“The only thing you can do here by yourself is go to the bathroom,” says Fey. “Everything else requires a bi-partisan team.”

In the world of election administration in the US, that’s unusual. Across the US, 70 percent of election officials are, themselves, elected, and there’s no requirement for party balance—which can lead to doubt about independence and fairness. “The person counting the votes is, him or herself, on the ballot,” comments Fey. “That doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world.”

That’s just one of the intriguing tidbits Fey shared during the two-hour tour that took us into places most people never get to see: the areas where election workers process voter registration cards, verify signatures on petitions, respond to requests for absentee ballots, sort out mailed-in ballots, electronically count the votes, and service voting machines—among myriad other election-critical tasks.

During the tour, Fey reeled off some key statistics that offer insight into the scope of the St. Louis County election operation. Here’s an annotated rundown:

Polling places in St. Louis County: 411  [The largest election district in Missouri]

Registered voters in St. Louis County:  750,000

Active voters in St. Louis County:  650,000

Workers employed on Election Day:  3,500

The election board is constantly recruiting election day workers—begging, really. The hours are terrible—5 am to 7 pm or later, depending on how things go. The pay is lousy — $125, which covers a separate two-hour training session plus the 14+ hour day. And it’s all one shift.

Election Day payroll:  $600,000  [The largest line item in the election board’s budget]

Petition signatures verified in 2018:  approximately 400,000

The 2018 midterm ballot in St. Louis County includes 4 amendments to the Missouri constitution, 3 statewide propositions, one countywide proposition, and  7 amendments to the St. Louis County charter. It’s the longest ballot ever produced in Missouri history, Fey noted. [His office, though not responsible for the wording on the ballot, had to negotiate with various sponsoring groups to edit the propositions, because, as originally written, they wouldn’t all fit on one piece of 8 1/2 x 19″ paper, which is the largest size that can be read by optical scanners.]

For every petition initiative, county election workers had to review each signature—to verify that the signer was a registered voter in St. Louis County and the signature matched—within reason—their original voter registration.

Early voting days in Missouri:  0

Missouri is one of just 13 states that do not allow early voting, notes Fey. Ninety-percent of voters cast their ballots on Election Day, putting a lot of pressure on Fey’s operation all in a single, 14-hour day.

The only “early voting” option is to vote absentee, either by mail or in person at headquarters or at a satellite location, if the jurisdiction opts to have one.  You have to provide a reason for voting absentee. Disability, being an election worker, or being outside of the voting jurisdiction on Election Day are acceptable reasons, so many people just say they’re going to be out of town. They are not required to show proof. “Our rules make liars out of a lot of voters,” says Fey.

In the cavernous, bare-bones warehouse that looks spookily like a set from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Fey showed our tour the election-day equipment he manages, and explained the limitations of what he has to work with:

Touch-screen voting machines:  1,800

Optical-scanner voting machines:  500

St. Louis County uses touch-screen machines purchased in 2005, at a cost of $10 million. Fey noted that the technology is 20+ years old. The machines operate on the now-antique Windows XP, which is no longer supported. Replacing broken touch-screen machines is not possible, because a) they are no longer manufactured by the supplier, ES&S, and there is no additional inventory. Only about six companies make voting machines in the US, and they haven’t been interested in maintaining their older models as they roll out newer ones.  “It’s a racket,” says Fey; and b) You can’t fill in, incrementally, with newer machines, because they won’t work with Windows XP, which is also the operating system for the equipment that counts the votes.

Also, you can’t borrow replacement machines from other Missouri jurisdictions, because many don’t use this model: In Missouri, each county election board is its own fiefdom. There are no statewide standards for voting equipment, so each county decides, independently of others, which equipment to buy and from which vendor. [On the plus side, notes Fey, it could be argued that this decentralization of the voting process is a positive—a fortuitous defense against widespread tampering.]

A few years ago, Fey learned that the voting district in in Troy, MO experienced an equipment disaster, when the roof of their warehouse caved in in a rainstorm, soaking all of their ES & S voting machines. The district’s insurance policy covered the purchase of new equipment. Fey took in the salvageable machines and cannibalized them for spare parts.

“The dirty secret in election administration is that we hope for a crisis—but not here,” quips Fey. He further explains that the hanging-chad debacle in Florida, during the 2000 presidential election, created a national electoral nightmare—which, in turn, resulted in Congressional legislation and federal funding for more advanced voting equipment. Although Fey is constantly asking for money for better technology, the state legislature and the county council just won’t come up with the funds, citing other, more pressing priorities. As an aside, Fey notes that rural jurisdictions have found it easier to upgrade their equipment, because they need fewer machines, so the overall cost is less.

“Our only hope is that money falls from the sky again, as it did after 2000,” says Fey.

So, with all of this creaky equipment, how does Fey know that votes are being recorded properly?

“We conduct a Logic and Accuracy test,” he explains. “We ‘vote’ on every machine in the warehouse, before they are sent out to polling places. This mock ‘vote’ has a pre-determined pattern that we can check for accuracy. This Thursday—five days before the election—is test day.”

Electronic poll books:  1,200

These i-Pad type tablets recently replaced the cumbersome, paper tomes that contained the names, addresses and precincts of all registered voters in St. Louis County. Election workers had to paw through hundreds of pages to find each voter as they came in to the polling place. Electronic poll books are a good-news, advanced technology update for Fey’s domain that are streamlining voter check-in. But a recent court fight over voter ID forced Fey’s IT department to reprogram the electronic poll books to match the new ruling [details, if you’re interested, here.] “We’re reprogramming 10 days before the election,” says Fey. “It’s a nightmare.”

Metal transport cases for Election Days supplies:  400+

These institutional-gray, banged up cases—an average-sized person could fit inside — look like they’ve been around for 50 years. Election workers stock them with all the standard paper forms and ancillary equipment [chargers, extension cords, pencils, pens, signs, forms and even American flags] needed at every polling place. It takes six days to deliver all of them. It takes three months—as noted before—to untangle the extension cords, clean out leftover materials and trash, and restock them for the next cycle.

“If you’re wondering what the heck we all do after the election, this is a big part of it,” says Fey.

Another stop on our tour was the tabulation room, where the actual votes are counted. Fey says that 98 percent of ballots in the US are counted electronically—as is also the case in St. Louis County. While some voting-rights purists wish that ballots were counted by hand, so that they cannot be electronically hacked, Fey contends that hand-counting itself can be subject to cheating, too.

Fey assured us that his tabulation machines are tamper-resistant, because they are not networked together [they are “air-gapped”] and are not linked to the internet. Nor are the electronic voting machines at polling places linked to each other or to the internet. Each voting machine records its votes separately from all others and stores the votes on a separate storage device. Election supervisors deliver the storage devices—in addition to paper votes recorded on optical scanners—to the tabulation room, where they are catalogued and entered into the tabulation machines.  Results are posted to the internet using what Fey calls a “sneaker net.” Wearing his election day sneakers, he walks the tabulated results to another room, where they are posted to the internet for public viewing.

At the end of our tour, Fey invited the high-school students to participate in an innovative, election-day internship program: While you must be 18 to be an election official, students 16 and older can work at polling places, timing the vote and conducting exit surveys to assess voters’ experiences of the process. Interns can be paid either in community-service hours or in real dollars [$120].  Nearly half of the 25 students on the tour took application forms—an encouraging sign about the next generation of voters.

The big stress test for Fey’s operation will, of course, come on November 6. I came away with the impression that with Fey in charge—equipped with his attitude of openness, fairness, bi-partisanship and transparency—we’re in good hands around here. But I’ll still be staffing a shift outside a polling place, as an Election Protection volunteer.

The post Back-stage tour of election headquarters: numbers tell the story appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Gooey butter cake, the Gateway Arch, the Cardinals, and telling jokes on Halloween. There is no doubt that all of these things remind you of the city of St. Louis, Missouri. But what if, when you thought about St. Louis, you pictured the MetroLink or a MetroBus similar to how we think of the Subway in NYC or the El in Chicago? Well, if St. Louis ever wants public transportation to be as prominent as it is in these two cities, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Currently our Metro system spans a total of 46 miles throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Clair County (Illinois). Within the MetroLink specifically, ridership has declined 11% since June of 2017. Some of the possible reasons for the decline in ridership include the negative security perceptions of the community, the relocation of the Rams lessening traffic downtown, lower gas prices, and the increase in rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft. So far, Lyft has created $15 million in revenue for local drivers in their 16 months of service in STL. Recently, the company struck a deal with Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University to create a designated area for Lyft drivers to pick up customers. Just this past August, Lyft provided around 5,000 rides for people during the PGA tour in St. Louis. Rideshare programs like this are generally more appealing to consumers mainly because of the ease at which one can summon a ride through a simple app on their cell phone.

In St. Louis, feeling safe riding a train to and from work is important if we ever want to have a successful public transit system within this city. It’s a given fact that when people feel unsafe using a specific form of transportation, they are more likely to find other methods of transport to get to and from places. According to the Belleville News Democrat (BND), in 2017 there were “1.4 violent crimes, such as homicide or robbery, per 100,000 boardings” on the MetroLink. By comparison, “8.5 people per 100,000 Illinois residents died in a motor vehicle crash” that same year. So, for all the people who believe that everyone driving their own car to and from work would be safer, that’s not necessarily true.

Currently, our MetroLink stations have no turnstiles on their platforms, which makes it easier for people to sneak onto the trains. Every now and then, there are fare inspectors who will randomly ask riders to show their time stamped ticket as proof that they paid for the ride, but this becomes more of a challenge when trains get super crowded. An additional safety concern is that there are currently no connecting train cars for police or passengers to move between while the train is moving. This means that it is harder for passengers to escape possible danger that arises as the train is in motion.

While many of these concerns can be solved through the reconstruction of trains and stations, there are still safety concerns regarding policing policies throughout the system. For instance, the Metro security guards don’t share a common radio frequency with the local police departments, nor is there a common radio system shared among the three different security jurisdictions of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Clair County. If this did exist, it would make it easier to deploy officers when and where it’s necessary if a train is in motion. Other possible improvements to security include adding turnstiles, fences, or some sort of barrier, putting a guard on each platform, or having just a single access point to platforms instead of multiple entry points.

As a response to this growing uncertainty that St. Louisans have towards the MetroLink, St. Louis County officials have decided to delay the study of further expansion of the MetroLink until they have completed an evaluation of security practices used within the system. Keep in mind that the new Cortex station has been the only new station to open in the past 10 years of the MetroLink system. Going back to the security assessment, it will be carried out by an engineering company named WSP USA. This investigation of the 38 MetroLink stations in MO/IL will include looking at the lack of coordination between local municipalities across the system and reviewing the general policies of each police force. The study is expected to be completed by January 2019.

On the other side of the Mississippi in St. Clair County, they have been actively implementing new measures to increase safety on their trains. An example being that they have a deputy on every train from 5:00PM – 1:00AM in locations where higher crime has been reported. As a result of this, there has been a 7% decrease in crime on the MetroLink in this county. Both STL City and STL County need to take note and recognize that if they want to see more people taking transit, then they better step up their game and patrol more officers.

Throughout all the chaos of trying to increase public transit use, there is one group, Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT), that has been somewhat successful. The purpose of this group is to “…lead efforts for an integrated, affordable, and convenient public transportation system with light rail expansion as the critical component that will drive economic growth to improve quality of life in the St. Louis region. One of their more popular programs is called “Try and Ride” which helps first time riders become more familiar with the Metro system. So far, they have helped over 5,800 people through providing services such as personalized route information, free fare for an entire month, and registration in the Guaranteed Ride Program. This programs allows travelers to use ride-hailing services such as Lyft or Uber in case of sickness, unscheduled overtime at work, other personal emergencies, etc. CMT will provide up to $60 per ride in these instances.

Of course will always be pros and cons to public transportation, but for a city currently in the midst of a battle over public transit, privatizing our local airport may not be the best idea. Currently, there is an active push to privatize St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which falls within St. Louis City jurisdiction. The headliner for this project is Rex Sinquefield, a well-known financial contributor to political campaigns in Missouri. His nonprofit organization, Grow Missouri, helped pay for STL’s approved application sent to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This whole idea of privatizing the airport was introduced in early 2017 when Mayor Slay was still in office, and has now been passed onto Mayor Krewson by default. St. Louis City has selected members for the FLY314 Coalition of Advisors (supported by Grow MO aka Rex) whose job is to work closely with the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to look at ideas from interested investment partners. Supposedly, their job is to also inform the community and airport operations throughout this process, but unfortunately, it is being done under the radar, hidden from public view. Airport privatization needs to be approved by the FAA, Board of Aldermen, Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and a majority of the airlines at Lambert Airport in order to pass.

However, if St. Louis ever hopes to see the day where public transit is a main method of transportation, we have to use a more efficient process than the one used in the whole Loop trolley ordeal, which by the way, is still not in full service! According to the 2018 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report conducted by St. Louis Community College, one of the top five potential barriers to expanding employment is lack of transportation. Thus, if we are able to make using our public transportation system safer, easier, and generally more enjoyable, it’ll benefit our workforce, eventually improving St. Louis as a whole.

Links:
https://custapp.marketvolt.com/cv.aspx?cm=1198762691&x=51036870&cust=427641269

That Guy | Metro St. Louis

https://www.bnd.com/news/local/article210317754.html
https://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/st-louis-county-delays-study-of-future-metrolink-expansion/article_0637637f-f55f-50b8-b133-b2c104ff6239.html
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/metrolink-study-to-focus-on-justifying-project-showing-strong-local/article_013f1546-9cad-57fb-8fa1-c051f7363e4f.html
https://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/efforts-to-improve-security-on-metrolink-move-forward-but-slowly/article_1799c5c7-eacf-5ffa-939d-be41cabd6a0c.html
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/try-try-again-st-louis-county-seeks-firm-to-study/article_cffe1ad1-ad2c-5a2f-8b1d-68cd31c3e09d.html

CMT’s Try & Ride Program

System Maps

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tough-to-gauge-risk-to-metrolink-riders/article_c3e4a153-4446-50a0-b227-f2a83b191aa5.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2018/08/14/expand-metrolink-ridership-falls-as-subsidies-grow.html
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/latest-loop-trolley-opening-guesstimate-mid-autumn-at-the-latest/article_bb26b910-778d-5db3-9d83-7db2674d0398.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/top-city-officials-vote-to-begin-exploration-of-privatizing-lambert/article_14e304e2-9f86-5b11-bdd1-dfc67fc30735.html
https://www.masstransitmag.com/press_release/12429091/metro-transit-invites-region-to-celebrate-stl-car-free-day-on-september-21

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If you live in St. Louis County, Missouri, and you’re planning to vote in next week’s primary election, your August 7 ballot will include three proposed amendments to the County Charter that may come as a surprise. I’m known to be somewhat of a political junkie, but when I looked at the sample ballot that arrived in the mail a few days ago, I saw the three proposals for the first time [printed in the tiniest type possible, thus virtually unreadable.] These are the kind of what-the-hell ballot items that even plugged-in voters know little about, and either ignore or, in protest, vote against.

But you’ll only be voting on two of them, because a judge just ruled that the third one [Proposition 4] is invalid, even though it’s already printed on the ballot.

In a nutshell

Here’s what the three propositions are about. According to the Post-Dispatch,

Charter Amendment Proposition 2 asks voters whether to allow the County Council to hire its own lawyers in certain cases when it is at odds with the county’s executive branch.

Charter Amendment Proposition 3 asks voters to change the definition of “employment” in the county charter to the same test established under state law that distinguishes employees from independent contractors.

Charter Amendment Proposition 4 asks voters to set a $2,600 contribution limit to candidates for county office and restrict contributions from entities competing for county contracts. It would also expand the council’s authority to transfer money. [Invalidated]

 

Arcane, right? It’s really hard to fathom what these propositions are about, and why they’re on the ballot in the first place. From what I can glean from news reports, these proposed amendments are the result of political in-fighting between members of the St. Louis County Council and County Executive Steve Stenger [who faces a Democratic primary challenger on August 7.]  Proposition 2 arises from Council members’ sense that the County’s lawyer is on the “side” of the Stenger administration, and that the Council needs a lawyer to represent its separate interests. Proposition 4 apparently grew out of some Council members’ objections to the way some contracts have been awarded to Stenger donors. It’s designed, they says, to address the issue of “pay to play.” [This proposition was invalidated by a Missouri court on July 25, 2018. So, never mind…]

Proposition 3 is especially hard to understand, so I’ll just quote the Post-Dispatch:

The measure would clear up questions such as the one that threatens to end Councilman Ernie Trakas’ tenure on the council. Last month, a special prosecutor asked a judge to remove Trakas because he performs contract legal work for three outstate school districts.

The crazy back story

Did I mention that these propositions were originally part of a package of five passed by the County Council in May? County Executive Stenger then vetoed them, and then the Council overrode his veto with 6 – 1 votes to get three of them on the ballot.

But wait, there’s more: A St. Louis County resident filed a lawsuit stating the the propositions should not be on the ballot, for a variety of reasons. The propositions are on August 7 ballots, which have already been printed, but a judge appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court invalidated Proposition 4 on July 25. According to the Post-Dispatch, “The wording in the question he struck was unclear because it used the word ‘interdepartmental’ instead of ‘intradepartmental’ when discussing the fund transfers. That was enough to strike it, he ruled.”

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the St. Louis County Circuit Court recused itself from the pending lawsuit and kicked it up to the Supreme Court, because the County Council controls the County court’s budget, and Proposition 2 includes a clause that could affect funding.

Got that? Anyway, you still get to vote on two of the three propositions. That should be fun for election officials to explain.

What’s going on here?

My obviously limited understanding of what’s going on here is that the Aug. 7 ballot is being polluted by obscure measures that drag voters into the political fight between Stenger and his opponents on the Council. The only one of these three politically vindictive proposals that seems to me to have any benefit to the general public was the now-inoperative Proposition 4—but only the part of it that limited campaign contributions to $2,600. But there’s probably a much better way to accomplish campaign finance reform with a more cleanly worded measure on a different ballot. And couldn’t these people have settled these political differences in-house without involving and confusing the rest of us?

Spoiler alert: My first instinct was to protest these obscure proposals by voting no on all of them. I have since learned that they are seen by some as “good-government” propositions. With less than 24 hours to go, I am seriously considering voting YES on all three, er, I mean, two.

The post Two what-the-hell propositions on August 7 ballot—and a third that doesn’t count appeared first on Occasional Planet.