67th State Candidate Questionnaire

So there is a race in the 67th. That is this here part of the state of Missouri, south central city STL. There are five candidates, and four of them are actively campaigning. There have been no polls, only yard signs. But as we know, yard signs do not go to the polls. That is for damn sure.

All of them have come in and I have talked to them. It is always hard to figure out anything substantive in casual bar conversation. I wanted to know more. There are already a lot of ways to find out information, but I have been unable to do all the research I wanted.

So I sent the candidates Chad Beffa, Mike Colona, Joan Landmann and Rob Stelzer each a Questionnaire.


This is Steven Smith from the Royale.

We never got a chance to talk much about the issues in our state. I have not made a decision on who to vote for in this election.

Here are some questions I have of the field of candidates for the 67th. I am sending these questions to each candidate. I really need to know a bit more before I vote. I know this is a lot to ask when you are running tight to the election, but I want to make an informed opinion.

Most questions I see you being asked in the press, neighborhood groups, special interest groups etc have to do with health, education, abortion and taxes. I have a few different ones. Don't feel you have to go into great detail. A sentence or two maybe three is enough per question. I hope that you can take the time to answer. I would like to publish the answers on my blog. Thanks.

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What are your thoughts on undocumented immigrants? Illegal Aliens? Is there a difference in the definition between the two?

Should Saint Louis City Police Department/State Police assist the Federal Agencies on "roundups" of undocumented workers? Would you support legislation that would bar city or state law enforcement from assisting Federal agencies in "roundups"?

What do you believe are the best assets in the 67th?

Would you support legislation to make Missouri smoke free state wide?

Why have we failed in the past to retain young people in Saint Louis/Missouri? What can we do to change this?

What can be done to improve economic opportunity in Saint Louis/Missouri? And for young people?

How can we increase tax revenues in our city/state?

What can we do to save money in our state budget?

What are your thoughts on biofuels? Corn being used as biofuel? Government subsides that drive corn as a biofuel?

Do you support charter reform in the city of Saint Louis?

Do you support the merging of the city and county? Would you support statewide legislation mandating the merger?

Do you support any change in Missouri's transportation policies? If so, what change would you like to see?

What sort of business/personal recycling policies would you like to see the state become involved in?

What are a few things a citizen of the 67th can do bridge the racial divide in this city?

What are your thoughts on the public funding of ballparks? Downtown parking garages? Stadiums? Hotels?

What is your thought on the use of TIFs? Would you support change? What change?

What are your thoughts on the Blairmount wholesale purchasing of properties?

Steven Fitzpatrick Smith
Proprietor
The Royale Food & Spirits
3132 South Kingshighway
STL, MO 63139
314-772-3600

www.theroyale.com
www.stlstreets.com

Video of the Obama Royale!

Click To Play

Here is the video of installation of the painted Shepherd Fairey designs on the side of the Royale. We interview Richard Rodriguez, the creator/painter of the pieces that are now on the side of the Royale.

Here is the invite once again to Saturday's party:



Young Democrats of Greater St. Louis invite you to the unveiling party for three Obama Campaign Billboard sized paintings on the exterior of the Royale Food and Spirits Saturday July 19th from 4p-10pm.

Richard Rodriguez has created a series of 9 foot by 6 foot paintings based on the print artist Shepherd Fairey's renderings of the Barack Obama presidential campaign posters: Hope, Change and Progress. See the set here.

Here is more about Shepherd Fairey from the Washington Post's article on the guerilla nature of his work:
Who knows how many do-it-yourself reproductions of Fairey's Obama have been scanned off the Internet. "I have no idea. I think a lot," says the artist, who put the image on the Web in a downloadable file. "I've seen it on stencils, fliers, shirts, Web sites, places we had nothing to do with." Copyright infringement? No, no, no. "This is exactly what I wanted to happen." This isn't a limited-edition print. It's unlimited. He charged $25 to $45 for the first runs of 950 posters, to pay for the printing of the all the rest, which were free. Fairey says he hasn't made a dime off Obama nor does he think he has unfairly glommed onto the candidate.

Richard Rodriguez created these paintings "to do my small part to get Obama elected president...."

What: Obama Royale!
Where: The Royale Food and Spirits
3132 South Kingshighway
Saint Louis, MO 63139
www.theroyale.com
314-772-3600
When: Saturday July 19 4pm-10pm

New content

Okay, I got regular stlstreets.com content coming, but here is some stuff I have embedded from my MTV gig. I actually really like these pieces. I hope you do too. They are fun. They take a while to produce, so I haven't been able to blog all regular like I want to. So check these out till I get my really funny regular blog out soon.



This is the best edit so far and the content is pretty strong as well. I am still working on everything. Let me know what you think. This is an interview with Scott Ritter, a former USMC Intelligence Officer and UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq, the former Soviet Union and Mid-East. He is a really interesting cat and has a real straight take. I got to make these interviews short, so it doesn't quite do justice.




So this is the interview with Pamela Merrit of Angryblackbitch.com. She also came along to the convention and gave some really great insight to just how screwy the whole deal was.