Holidays Begin

Well the holidays are upon us. It's earlier every year thanks to the commercialization of Christmas. Peeved I was to see the holiday lights and chachkis out just a few days BEFORE Halloween.

Halloween is a very underrated holiday in my opinion. Some of my best parties were Halloween parties. For some reason though a lot of conservative college-age women think it's merely a chance to dress in slutty outfits. (See pic of Lindsay Lohan at left.) I know this from the time I worked at SLU and personal experience.

Regardless, the Mayor's Mansion will be empty this Thursday as we will be traveling all the way to Webster Groves for the traditional meal. We hope that you enjoy some time off.

Of note this week...

While voting I noticed that Rogers Middle School has begun work on construction of new, permanent classrooms to replace the "temporary" trailers in the yard. Way to go!

Buck Collier had a good piece in the Journal detailing how St. Louis' numerous governmental bodies hinder regional planning efforts. So true. There are upsides, however to a large number of governments. Primarily that there is excellent representation of citizens opinions. At 31.7 government units per 100,000 residents in the area, I'm amazed the reps don't visit each resident personally just to see if there's anything they could do. The study in in progress is on the East-West Gateway's web site.

This begs the ever-lingering question of "should Affton incorporate?" Even though it's nearly impossible thanks to the recent rule changes by the Boundary Commission, here's a few pros and cons:

Lower Taxes...while one of the big arguments against incorporation is that taxes would increase, it may be a wash. I conversation I had with folks from Shrewsbury (who have a map proposal in place to annex much of Affton) said that they can provide fire protection at a substantially reduced rate.

Increased Representation...since we would have an actual election for...AHEM...an actual mayor and other positions, the response to local citizenry and opportunity for citizen involvement would increase. We may lose some of our regional oversight and planning help from the County though.

What do you think?
Sound off in the comments section.

Time For Action!

Folks, this is why it all started...The Mayor's Office...I...er, well truth be told, it was started as a funny joke, then a mock campaign....but involvement! INVOLVEMENT!! Civic engagement!! Being able to make a difference!! Now I've never asked you for anything, but I continue to give and post things for you, the Afftonians. I'm calling in the favor. Just passed to me from Beth in the County office: This invitation for you to participate in creating the next evolution of Affton's history.

Affton Community Betterment Association is Hosting a Community Forum
When: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 At 7:00 PM *Refreshments will be served. *
Who: All Affton Residents
Where: Affton High School Cafeteria 8309 Mackenzie Road
Why:
Ø Hear ACBA’s plans for action
Ø Find Out What is Going on in Affton
Ø Discover How You Can Get Involved

Bring questions, your urban planning hat, and I'll see you there.

Elections Over...Phone Stops Ringing

The Mayor's Mansion has been full of "potty mouth" lately due to the incessant robo-calls from tape recorders looking to get elected. Thankfully that mess is behind us now and I hope you voted and your candidates did well.

Sadly, Kurt Odenwald was unseated from his County Council post by Barbara Fraser. Now it's not like Kurt and I were friends, but he was smart enough to email me information for the people of Affton and his assistant, David was good-spirited enough to actually address me as "the Mayor" at the ACBA meetings. These things make me laugh, and also make me think that this blog is worth continuing. With this in mind, I'd like to announce that I will soon be moving to a proper domain and hopefully an improved blog system in the next week or so.

And with that in mind, I invite Barbara Fraser and her staff to the next ACBA meeting on Nov. 16th. I know U. City is a long way to come, but hopefully you can make it.