February 2019 Perspecitve

Friends,

I hope you were all able to handle the crazy cold weather of the last few weeks. St. Louis is known for having four solid seasons, but this is a bit extreme.

The CCBA held its last full membership meeting on January 10th of this year. The meeting was graciously hosted by our friends at Maryland Walk and was very welll attended. We were fortunate to have Michelle Harris, Clayton Mayoral Candidate, come to meet our members and answer questions about her goals and objectives for Clayton. Since our meeting, the candidate filing deadline has come and gone with no one else filing to run for the Mayor of Clayton. Thus, we are pleased to offer our congratulations to Michelle Harris. We very much look forward to working with her.

During the discussion with Michelle, the CCBA board revealed that we have two primary objectives for 2019. First we want to encourage the City to take a hard look at the processes employed to approve major projects within the city including major development projects. We are lobbying for a process that is much more transparent than it has been and one that offers the opportunity for more citizen participation in the debate. We believe this will allow project plans to evolve before formal Aldermanic approval to a level that has broader Citizen acceptance.

An example of a project approved this past year that demonstrates why we are lobbying for this change if the Maryland Avenue Repaving Project. This project ultimately involved not only repaving but significant changes to lanes to support the addition of bike paths. The exisitng project approval process resulted in a high level of angst among many of our members and we believe improved transparency and citizen involvement would have resulted in a more widely accepted outcome.

The second area of focus for the CCBA this year is improving the economic vibrancy within Clayton. Specifically, we are lobbying for a more formal and effective approach to retail development within Clayton. The City has maintained an office and various programs to address this area for many years. But, judging by the number of boarded up, empty retail spaces in the downtown area, this effort has not been effective. Several of our members spoke to this issue during the meeting and I believe Michelle walked away from our meeting with a new sense of urgency for this issue. We will continue to push the subject in ongoing discussion with City’s elected officials and staff.

While there is officially only one candidate for mayor we all need to get out on April 2nd and vote. There are also many other issues on the ballot including the School Board election. Your board has met with two of the candidates and is preparing to invite all the candidates to our next meeting which we will plan for the evening of March 28th, just before the election. This will offer all of you the opportunity to hear directly from the candidates. Additionally, we would encourage our member condo associations to consider hosting a meeting with the candidates in your buildings to allow for all owners to better understand the options. Also, included in the upcoming elections is a ballot item voting on a tax levy for the Clayton School District. It behooves each of you to know more about this issue before Election Day. A meeting with the School Board Candidates will facilitate this.

I will communicate with you later this quarter about the next meeting so that you have time to plan to attend and meet the candidates. In the interim, please accept my best wishes for the remainder of your 2019 winter experience.

Best regards,

Brian Kinman, CCBA President