Lots going on with five days ’til the election. A few glimpses:
:: The campaign manager for the committee pushing Amendment 7 — the proposed 3/4 cent transportation sales tax — must be sitting in a bank vault, throwing $100 bills in the air and giddily saying, “It’s all mine; it’s all mine!”
That’s because two consulting companies run by the campaign manager, Jewell Patek, a former Republican state representative from Chillicothe, have been paid at least $160,175 by a campaign committee called Missourians for Safer Transportation and New Jobs.
That’s more than six times the $25,000 that our opposing campaign committee, Missourians for Better Transportation Solutions, has raised altogether.
To me, it just shows what a special interest slush fund Amendment 7 would be, if voters approved the new 3/4 cent sales tax next Tuesday. The “New Jobs” committee has raised more than $4 million, with much of it coming from the construction, heavy equipment and concrete and asphalt industries. The investment is chump change, however, for industries that would reap hundreds of millions, or billions, of dollars from transportation projects throughout the state.
I have the strong feeling that the Missouri General Assembly and lobbyists for the “concrete cartel” got together over bourbons and big steaks, and somebody said, “Let’s just go for broke — throw out the biggest tax increase ever, put a few million bucks into TV ads and mailers and see if we can sneak it past the voters.”
And the first thing they did was to hire a former legislator — Patek — to be their front man. I heard the guy on the radio yesterday, and he’s not very impressive. Not a hint of passion in his voice. Of course, it’s pretty hard to sound convincing when you’re trying to sell a bag of horse turds at the farmer’s market.
:: I’ve been on the sidelines as far as Question A, the proposed streetcar-district expansion, is concerned, but it just doesn’t seem to be catching people’s imaginations. I think too many questions loom about funding.
A lot of people don’t understand the deal between the state and the city, which calls for $124 million of new state-sales-tax revenue to go for the streetcar expansion, if Missouri voters approve Amendment 7 and streetcar district voters approve broader streetcar district boundaries.
Under the terms of the deal, residents within the expanded district would pay only one cent per dollar more in sales taxes, instead of 1 and 3/4 cents more, if both the state and streetcar tax increases somehow passed.
There are two other complicating factors: 1) the actual vote on the sales-tax increase within the streetcar district wouldn’t take place until November, and 2) another tax proposal — the proposed 20-year extension of a half-cent-sales tax for firefighters — is also on Tuesday’s ballot.
I think many voters, when they start reading the various propositions, are going to feel like the sales-tax cavalry is charging at them. Then, they will do what confused voters always do: Vote “no.”
:: The Star did a great job on its “Voter’s Guide,” published in today’s “816” Missouri-side neighborhood section. It contained 14 full pages of election coverage — almost everything readers and prospective voters would need to be able to go into the polling places and understand the issues and know something about the various candidates.
But you know what was shocking? It contained only one political ad. That was a four-column, top-to-bottom ad against Question A, the streetcar proposition.
In years past, candidates and campaign committees working both sides of issues viewed the Election Guide as a golden opportunity to get the attention of frequent voters at reasonable ad rates. But obviously the section seems to have lost its lustre as an advertising vehicle. Instead of making good money on the section, The Star almost surely lost money on it this time around.
Ah, my old paper…it just seems to be fadin’ into the gloaming.
Jewell Patek is part of the conservative Northwest Missouri political mafia that includes Congressman Sam Graves, his advisor and political consultant Jeff Roe and numerous elected officials. They are known for playing dirty – really dirty. About a decade ago, The Pitch had an article about these guys. It led with an account of Patek showing up unannounced to the home of a guy who was considering a run of an elected seat held by one of their stooges and warning him of all the consequences that would ensue if he did run. I suspect that these guys not only have their hands in very deep on this campaign but the “Right-to-Farm” amendment which is as equally outrageous as Qt. 7. I’m thinking that voting no across the board on Tuesday might not be a bad idea.
I’m working for the Election Board on Tuesday and voted absentee. I voted a “straight ticket:” “NO” on every issue. The Missouri General Assembly is a total disgrace and not even pretending to bring forth serious, sensible proposals.
Also, some of us_ myself included_ really poured our heart and soul into those Election Guides. Working in the bureaus, we reported on every single election _ even tax levy proposals in hinterland fire and water districts. I can’t imagine anything like that being done now with the downsizing that has cut at the bones and muscle of The Star. I haven’t seen the latest election guide but are the state house races being covered?
Yes, indeed.
People aren’t going to buy ads on a page no one reads, or cares about. For years the Star’s endorsements and commentary has been so predictable that many don’t even check to see what they say anymore.
Worse yet, I understand that one of the unions took a poll and found that a Star endorsement was actually a negative. That also seems to hold for some of the candidates who unexpectedly receive a Star recommendation. I’ve seen several who instantly come out and repudiate the endorsement stating they don’t know why they would have received it in the first place.
All of that’s understandable when you follow them and realize that they’ve endorsed convicted felons, drunken judges and slates of candidates that the Star’s own reporters tell me are corrupt.
The editorial page at The Star is a disgrace and has been since Rich Hood left. Parrish could give the paper an instant boost in reputation simply by firing the lot and putting the money into solid reporting.