Wednesday October 15, 2014
Jeff Co: The Future for Republican Pick-Ups?
Last night there was a fundraiser at the Arnold Drury Inn for Ken Waller. Waller is the Jefferson County Executive running for re-election. In attendance were Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, Speaker Tim Jones, and Reps. Paul Wieland and Elaine Gannon.
Republicans are looking to Jefferson County as the area in the state most ripe to pick up seats. They believe that it is turning Republican. If their hopes come true, then this area will have the right demographics to help them offset potential losses elsewhere – like inner ring suburbs which are becoming increasingly Democratic.
Missing Person Alert: Billy Long
The Springfield News Leader runs an article in which Congressman Billy Long’s whereabouts are unknown… Read it here.
Springfield-area residents who want to talk to Rep. Billy Long in advance of Election Day might have a hard time finding the Republican congressman. His campaign manager, Royce Reding, declined to say where Long would be this evening, when the congressman's two opponents field questions about key issues at a forum for the 7th District congressional candidates. Reding also refused to give out any details of Long's upcoming campaign schedule… Asked where Long would be tonight during the candidate forum, Reding declined to answer. Reding also said that Long's campaign schedule was too "fluid" for him to disclose any public events that Long will hold over the next two weeks… Asked if he could provide information about one or two specific events, even if they were tentative, Reding said: "I think I've answered (the question)."
Subsidizing St. Ann
The mighty Jason Rosenbaum interview the St. Ann administrator, Matt Conley, and gets an earful. See it here. These tiny St. Louis County municipalities aren’t doing themselves any favors with this kind of PR. Read it here.
Although Conley says he understands the “social justice of people making those claims” he maybe doesn’t quite get it…. “Just because your income is one level doesn’t mean that you don’t have the money,” Conley said. “I could make a million dollars a year and spend all my money on travel. And then get pulled over and not have the money to pay a fine. Or I could be of more modest means and choose to buy the NFL package on my cable TV and then claim I don’t have any money to pay for my speeding ticket…”
And then Conley says that the new abundance of speeding tickets on St. Ann’s stretch I-70 pays for the police detail to enforce that area. Yes it does, and a bit more…
“Yes, we’ve pulled over a lot of people. We’ve written quite a few tickets,” Conley said. “The speeders pay for the detail that goes out there and does that. It’s not taking resources away from the rest of the city. So we welcome the state auditor to come in.”
The numbers: In 2009 St. Ann took in approximately $950,000 in fines, and their policing expenses were approximately $2.7 million. By 2013, they’d pumped up their ticketing fines, taking in $3,609,972 in fines, while their policing expenses only increased $3,663,138. In other words, it looks like the cost for policing that oh-so-dangerous stretch of I-70 that they like to trumpet has risen $870k in 4 years, while the amount taken in through fines has ballooned by $2.65M. They could pay for their I-70 detail several times over with the fines they collect, but don't appear to be doing so at all. Hello general budget….
Schweich Ad
Auditor Tom Schweich, unopposed, released his first re-election advertisement. “There’s a new sheriff in town…” the ad starts with Old West imagery before doing a bio refresher and ending with the tag: I Like Schweich. See it here.
Schmitt Follow-Up
I goofed in extrapolating that Sen. Eric Schmitt will be nearing $2 million cash on-hand. I took this recent 8-Day report cash on-hand, rather than his July quarter. Accordingly, while he still had a $700K-ish quarter, his on-hand number will be nearer to $1.5 million still an impressive stash two years out.
Reader: Schmitt should consider a $100K independent expenditure in House 47 with an eye to knocking out Rep. John Wright…
Quarter Previews
In Senate 34, Sen. Rob Schaaf will show $137K on-hand. The recent $25K pop from Missouri Club for Growth was after the October deadline and will be seen on the 8-Day Report.
In House 94, Rep. Vicki Englund will show $87K on-hand.
WSJ/NBC Poll: Good, Not Great, Midterms for GOP
The GOP advantage is narrower than the 50%-to-43% edge the Republicans enjoyed at this point before the 2010 wave that gave them a majority in the House. The poll finds that half of all voters have negative impressions of the GOP—a level substantially higher than in September and close to the record registered during last fall’s government shutdown. See it here.
Jami and Slay Announce “Ban the Box”
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed and Mayor Francis Slay announced that the City of St. Louis will no longer ask about past felonies when hiring. Read it here. Nasheed said she will seek state legislation to widen the initiative.
“Millions of Americans have been convicted of felonies. Many of them have paid their debt to society and are willing to earn a second chance,” Slay said at a press conference. Some jobs are subject to regulations and the city is legally required to do background checks, such as at the airport or police department. Those checks will still take place, officials said. Slay said the city will do such screenings on a case-by-case basis but that job applications no longer will face a check-box asking them about their criminal history. “We would not hire a child molester for recreational programs,” Slay said. “We would not hire an embezzler to handle money.” The announcement comes as regional leaders grapple with the unrest in Ferguson after the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown… Slay made the announcement while standing next to Jamilah Nasheed, a state senator who has appeared on the front lines of many of the Ferguson protests. “This is how you fight crime,” Nasheed said. “You fight crime with jobs.”
How Many Workers Does It Take To Change a Vessel Head?
Ameren replacing the “vessel head” at Calloway. I don’t know what that means exactly, but the article says it will take over 1,000 workers to do it…. Read it here.
Slay Donated Against Former Babysitter
Really Francis? Where’s the loyalty? Post-Dispatch reports that Mayor Francis Slay donated to the Independent candidate challenging the woman who used to babysit him… Read it here.
Lobbyist Registrations
From the Gate Way Group website:
Jennifer Durham added Hunt Midwest Enterprises Inc.
Shawn D`Abreu added Pfizer Inc.
Fundraising Calendar
Powered by Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed Birthday Party – Barnett on Washington, St. Louis – 5:30-8:30 p.m.
$5K+ Contributions
Bill Kidd for State Representative - $30,013 from House Republican House Committee Inc. Friends of Diehl - $25,000 from Lewis & Clark Ozarks Mountain Forum.
Friends of Rob Vescovo - $8,902 from House Republican House Committee Inc.
Schaaf for Senate - $25,000 from Missouri Club for Growth.
MO Democratic State Committee - $15,000 from Committee to Elect Bill Otto.
MO Democratic State Committee - $6,500 from United Food and Commercial Workers ABC.
Pietzman for the People - $15,324 from House Republican House Committee Inc.
Michael McGirl for St Rep Dist 118 - $25,126 from House Republican House Committee Inc.
Committee to Elect Becky Ruth - $13,477 from House Republican Campaign Committee.
Committee to Elect Becky Ruth - $10,040 from House Republican Campaign Committee.
Dempsey for Missouri - $12,500 from RightCHOICE Managed Care Inc.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthdays to Rep. Chrissy Sommer and Dean Morgan.