MOScout Daily Update: Krewson To Exit Room 200 - Bad Jobs Report - Drebes Guesses Senate Chairs - Fitz' Future - Meridith to Ranking Budget - GOP Party Chair Names and more...
Krewson Won’t Run Again
Mayor Lyda Krewson announced that she won’t seek another term. The last four years were not easy times to govern. She faced a series of crises. There was unrest surrounding police misconduct, a pandemic, and an economic collapse. Yet Krewson never seemed overwhelmed. In some respects, Krewson was perfect for the turbulent times: a serious public service who exuded a calming demeanor while pursuing concrete, if measured, solutions.
But in other ways, she was out-of-step with the times. Her aversion to grandstanding gestures, bombastic rhetoric, or grandiose plans left her hectored but the city’s progressive activists as too timid and conservative.
Next up: a free-for-all mayoral race without an incumbent…
What It Means
One astute observer of St. Louis City politics steps back and offers the big picture.
· Only two mayors in the City of St. Louis have been re-elected in the last half century.
· The Charter diffuses power. The mayor doesn’t control the budget, the personnel director, the neighborhood capital fund, the chief financial officer, the tax collector and scores of other operations. Technically, neither the fire nor the police chief report to her and she can’t spend more than $5,000 unless she gets approval from one other elected official. In other words, you have all the responsibility and accountability with only a fraction of the authority.
· It takes EXTRAORDINARY political skills to succeed.
Driving the Day
Governor Mike Parson’s weekly press conference takes place this morning at 9AM. If the past is any indication there will be talk of monitoring the data and nothing new in terms of policy to deal with the latest surge of COVID cases. We’ll see.
Republican MOScouter: I recognize that liberals, hospital executives and some people in St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia want Governor Parson to adopt a statewide mask mandate or shut down, but the Governor’s approach of allowing local leaders to make decisions has worked. More importantly, Governor Parson is proving he is a conservative by resisting efforts to have the government restrict what people can do, to say which businesses can stay open and which ones must close. Conservatives do not believe it is the role of the government to be heavy handed like Sam Page, California Governor Newsom or New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Another Bad Jobs Report
I won’t be surprised if Governor Mike Parson brags about the unemployment rate falling today. That’s what he did last time. But just like last time, it’s nothing to be happy about.
The October employment report was full of bad news. See it here.
Missouri’s total employment dropped by 10,284 from September. And to give you some sense of the impact of the COVID recession, total employment in Missouri is down by 150,545 from a year ago.
The unemployment rate dipped to 4.6% from 4.8%. That’s because even with fewer people working, more people quit trying to find work and aren’t counted. 16,367 Missourians left the labor pool in October.
Not to be all gloom and doom, but… these are numbers from last month. I have to believe the current spike in COVID cases and new round of restrictions aren’t helping reverse the trend right now.
Senate Committee Chairs
And now for something reckless… I’m taking an early stab at guessing who will chair Senate Committees in January. As far as I know these decisions haven’t even been made yet, so this is really more speculation than gossip. Find my spreadsheet here.
· I’m leaving most senators chairing their current committees: Bernskoetter (Agriculture), Crawford (Local Government) Eigel (General Laws), Hegeman (Appropriations), Koenig (Way and Means), Luetkemeyer (Judiciary) O’Laughlin (Education), Onder (Health),and Wieland (Insurance)
· I have Sen. Denny Hoskins keeping Small Business and Industry, but adding Public Safety to it from Transportation.
· I have Sen. Bill White keeping Veterans, but combining it with Seniors, Families and Children (Sater termed) to broaden his portfolio.
· Moving Sen. Jeanie Riddle to Economic Development, with Sen. Eric Burlison getting her Professional Registration Committee. Burlison chaired that in the House.
· Moving Sen. Mike Cierpiot (who was at EcoDevo) to Commerce (Wallingford was termed).
· I have Sen. Lincoln Hough picking up Fiscal Oversight (and I’m adding Government Reform to that committee’s mandate; Emery termed).
· Sen. Justin Brown chairing Transportation (Libla termed).
Tell me where I’m wrong. It only takes one piece of the puzzle to be off, and the whole things crumbles.
And… the bonus question: who will get the committee to work on congressional redistricting? I have it going to the steady hands of Sen. Mike Bernskoetter on my spreadsheet.
GOP Party Chair Talk
With Kay Hoflander stepping down as the Missouri Republican Party chair, there’s talk about who will take her spot. The job seems to oscillate between figurehead and power-player depending on personality and the environment. Some of the more influential chairs of the past include: Ann Wagner, David Cole, and John Hancock. With contribution limits in place, the party could be an important vehicle to coordinate and direct resources.
Four folks on a starter list from one Republican watching the situation:
· JeffCo’s Derrick Good.
· SWMO’s Nick Myers.
· Former Rep. Kathy Swan.
· Former Speaker Todd Richardson.
Fitz’ Future
I’m told that I can scratch Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick’s name off my GOP auditor primary scorecard. He won’t be entering that fray. Instead, the more likely path forward for him will be hopping over to another statewide office in 2024. Presumably, that would be secretary of state (Ashcroft) or lieutenant governor (Kehoe) as one of those positions gets vacated for a gubernatorial run.
Merideth Will Become Ranking Member on Budget
With Kip Kenderick resigning to staff Sen-elect Greg Razer, Rep. Peter Merideth will be elevated to become the Democrats’ ranking member on the Budget Committee. Merideth is entering his third term, and has been an engaged and vocal member of that committee.
eMailbag COVID Leadership
· On COVID messaging: We should also acknowledge the role of rank hypocrisy in local rules. In Kansas City, 22,000 people can attend a Chiefs game. But 11 people cannot get together outdoors to worship. Its either serious or its not.
$5K+ Contributions
House Democratic Campaign Committee - $35,000 from Communications Workers of America-Cope PAC (Washington DC).
Lobbyists Registrations
Jeffrey Altmann added DJA Distribution; and deleted Four Corners Development.
MOScout Schedule
No weekend editions this week. No Weekender or Sunday6.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Kenny Jones, Fred Dreiling, Brianna Lennon, and Tom Crawford.
Condolences
To Scott Charton on the passing of his mother, Jimmie Dean “Honey” Charton. She was 96. See her life advice (on her 94th birthday) here.