Editorial / CommEntary ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • NOVEMBER 21 - 27, 2013 A4 Better together, but how to get there? We wish the very best for the stated intentions of Missouri Council for a Better Economy and its Better Together project that was announced on Tuesday. The public was told that this putative “grassroots project” will systematically study how government services are provided in St. Louis city and county and compare those results to best practices in government. These studies will be conducted in succession and in the following order: Public Finance; Economic Development; Public Health; Public Safety; Parks, Recreation and Infrastructure; and Administration. Early in 2015 we are to expect “a very clear picture of current practices,” organizers said in a statement, which can be compared to best practices. We are told that “groups and organizations,” rather than Missouri Council for a Better Economy (MCBE) itself, will then be in a more informed position “to craft proposals for how St. Louis city and county move forward in the future.” MCBE Chairman of the Board Ambassador George Herbert (Bert) Walker III and Better Together Executive Director Nancy Rice both deny that this “grassroots project” is a Trojan horse for a city/county merger proposal. St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley, who supports the effort, says he is looking forward to the research data with an open mind. Only Mayor Francis G. Slay, who also supports the effort, came right out and said what was on everybody’s mind: “It has long been a goal of mine to reunify the city and county,” Slay said. Slay added a caveat, adding, “But we are not prejudging anything in this process.” Of course, no one believes these studies will conclude that a tiny St. Louis city should remain isolated politically from a sprawling and fragmented St. Louis County with 91 municipalities and 23 fire districts. Of course, we will be told we should streamline political entities and consolidate government services, both to eliminate waste and to create a more unified and competitive region, politically and economically. The problem, as always, will be in finding enough grassroots support for these big-picture changes to overcome the varied, entrenched vested interests in the city and county that oppose it. Slay acknowledged this when he said the research will show “what the people of the city and county are willing to support.” This new effort has been designed to woo the public. The staff and volunteers at Better Together will organize members of the community to work together to develop information about the performance of local governments, we are told. These community members will work with subject-matter experts to develop “readily understood reports,” we are told. Rather than rely solely on consultants to drive the data collection, St. Louis residents will be invited to participate in dozens of sponsored discussions and forums. Truly, we want this effort to succeed. If Board owes us an explanation By Redditt Hudson and Doris Graham Guest Columnists The Ferguson-Florissant school board’s decision to place Superintendent Art McCoy on administrative leave raises questions to which the parents in the district are owed more than a vague answer; we are owed a full explanation of why the decision was made. The board itself acknowledges Redditt that McCoy has Hudson done nothing Ambassador George Herbert (Bert) Walker III, chairman of Missouri Council for a Better Economy, announced its Better Together project on Tuesday. Photo by Wiley Price enough people in St. Louis city and county can be convinced that we are stronger, safer and more competitive as a more unified region, we would support a creative and inclusive political process that unified our fragmented government structures and consolidated services. But, without “prejudging anything,” as the mayor said, we feel compelled to urge some caution on our good friend Ambassador Walker, an honorable civic leader who has tirelessly pursued change for the greater good. A great many people will be suspicious of any effort led by an employee of Rex Sinquefield’s primary political shop, Pelopidas, like Nancy Rice. Sinquefield’s emphasis on defunding public schools and destroying the state’s tax base brings suspicion to this effort in advance through the appointment of Rice as executive director. We also fault this effort for failing to pull together a more inclusive team before they announced their intentions to the public. Dooley was the only black leader who participated in the rollout, and even Dooley does not have broad connections to the black community. Further, years of attacks by his enemies on the County Council and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch have publicly weakened Dooley to the point where he does not speak from a position of strength. So, while we embrace the goals of this effort to create a more cohesive, efficient, competitive region, we have doubts about some of its leadership and its ability to manage this extremely difficult process in an inclusive manner that will persuade the public it needs to do something that everyone fears: change. Commentary Contrite, but resolute It was a necessary retreat, but President Obama made clear last Thursday that his bottom line remains unchanged: “I’m not going to walk away from 40 million people who have the chance to get health insurance for the first time.” The president’s Columnist pledge should Eugene be the nation’s Robinson bottom line as well. It came as Obama surrendered to overwhelming pressure, much of it from fellow Democrats, and allowed individuals to keep their bare-bones insurance policies that do not meet the Affordable Care Act’s standards – at least for a year. The change was meant to correct an imbalance that cannot long be tolerated: More people are being annoyed and inconvenienced by the new law than are being helped. It should be the other way around, and Obama accepted the blame. The only semidodge was when Obama apologized, kind of, for his repeated assertion that Americans who were satisfied with the health insurance coverage they already have would be able to keep it. “There is no doubt that the way I put that forward, unequivocally, ended up not being accurate,” he said. Overall, however, Obama was as contrite as I’ve ever seen him, and also as resolute. We screwed up, he effectively said, but we’re not backing down. As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues The president went out of his way to apologize to Democrats in Congress who voted for the Affordable Care Act, told their constituents how great it would be and now find themselves in political peril. “I feel deeply responsible for making it harder for them, rather than easier for them, to continue to promote the core values that I think led them to support this thing in the first place, “Obama said. Some House and Senate Democrats might still feel the need to go on record as voting to allow people to keep the individual insurance policies they have, even if the coverage they have is substandard. But Obama probably eliminated any threat that much more sweeping Republican legislation, sponsored in the House by Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, would pass both chambers and force the president to exercise his veto. The GOP has made clear that it wants to destroy Obamacare, not fix it. Obama’s move last Thursday is an inelegant solution that keeps the Affordable Care Act intact – and suggests that the program will have not just a rocky first month but a bumpy first year. Obama took full responsibility for the many failings of the HealthCare.gov website, which has made it absurdly difficult to shop and buy on the new federal health insurance exchanges. Despite accepting blame, he said he had been unaware of how bad things would be until after the launch. “I was not informed directly that the website would not be working,” Obama said. “I’m accused of a lot of things, but I don’t think I’m stupid enough to go around saying this is going to be like shopping on Amazon ... if I thought that it wasn’t going to work.” Largely because of the impenetrable website, only 106,185 people actually signed up for insurance through the federal and state exchanges in October. Officials had hoped that at least 500,000 would sign up during the program’s first month. Even if HealthCare. gov is fixed or functional by Nov. 30, as the administration promises, the painfully slow start may mean that firstyear enrollment won’t reach projected levels. Obama’s keep-yourinsurance concession may further depress enrollment, as some people choose to stick with their cheap, no-frills coverage rather than upgrade to more comprehensive care through the exchanges. Lobbyists for the insurance industry warned that if fewer young, healthy adults buy policies than originally projected, rates will have to increase for everyone else. So this tempest-tossed launch could be just prelude to a turbulent flight. In the long term or even the medium term, however, I’m much less pessimistic than a lot of folks seem to be. Transforming the health care system was never going to be easy. Obamacare realigns the incentives in the system toward wider coverage, cheaper insurance, regular doctor visits and preventive care. Given a bit of time and space, I’m confident it will work. wrong. The given answer from the Board at this point cites differences in “focus and philosophy” with the superintendent. But what are Doris they? The Graham board’s mission statement is right there on the district website. Its mission statement presumably is shaped by its focus and philosophy. At no time and in no way has McCoy ever departed from this mission in his role as superintendent. What McCoy has done is work with parents, black and white, to ensure the best educational outcomes for the district. How has he done? There are eight Bill Gates Scholars from the FergusonFlorissant School District. The graduation rate for the district is over 90 percent, an almost unheard of rate for a majority minority district anywhere in the country. Before becoming superintendent, McCoy raised more than $7 million in the last seven years in grants and donations for the district. In February, Ferguson-Florissant received $289,800 from Harvard University’s Pathways to Prosperity Innovative High Schools Initiative to offer students the opportunity to participate in an apprenticeship program and earn college credits. He’s done still more than this paper will allow room for, and done it all in a down economy that has left district budgets strained. He’s connected with the district’s students, many of whom have expressed disillusionment with his dismissal and uncertainty about their future. Why would the board make what appears to be an arbitrary decision to disrupt the district in the heart of the semester? We believe the decision was irresponsible. As citizens in the community, we are even more concerned by what is known than what is not. We know that all of the members of the board are white and McCoy is black. We know the board has no evidence of wrongdoing and that McCoy’s work as superintendent has Letters to the editor Clean up West Lake Landfill We will not have this opportunity again in St. Louis to remove West Lake Landfill Superfund from our city. Although the Army Corps of Engineers’ FUSRAP cleanup of other STL radioactive sites is ongoing, West Lake will never be cleaned up if we don’t demand it as a city and state. A solution needs to be found for its routes of contamination. It is the slow and continuous diagnoses of cancer and genetic damage over the years that add up, and the deaths which are not counted by the statisticians. Our legislators who have fought for this removal are told that removal will be as dangerous to the public as leaving it to erode for thousands of years, and the past and current fires in it unacknowledged by the EPA. A Resolution currently in the Missouri House and Senate can be passed to request a Federal act of Congress. It has become a concern that the federal funds being spent to leave WLL’s risks in place outweigh the financial cost for its cleanup. Thousands of years of risks from radioactive contamination has no price tag that we estimate. Nationally recognized nuclear waste expert, Robert Alvarez, will speak at West Lake Landfill Community Group meeting, Thursday, November 21, 6:30 p.m. at International Union of Operating Engineers Local 513 at 3449 Hollenberg Dr., Hazelwood. Please get involved at www.stlradwastelegacy. Agnes C. Uhls STL Manhattan Waste Project St. Louis Embrace the Affordable Care Act “Anything worth having is worth working for.” These words were spoken by renowned singer Betty Wright during the recording of the song “No pain, No gain.” And with this thought in mind, I hope every American will silence the resisters of the Affordable been consistent with the board’s stated mission for the district. We know that former board member Charles Henson has said he has heard at least one current board member say that he doesn’t “trust” McCoy, a statement which should also be explained, and asked Henson not to vote for McCoy when the decision to hire a new superintendent was being made. We expect that will be denied. We know that the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP is likely to reach out to the U.S. Department of Justice for a Title VI investigation into the board’s decision. We believe it is warranted. People from all races, religions and ages are rallying to McCoy because of his integrity, ability and commitment. At a time when school districts are struggling all around us, we must come together as a community to demand an answer from this board for the removal of McCoy. No priority is higher than the education of our children. Whether you’re black , white, Hispanic, or Asian, it is in our collective interests that our district continues to perform well. The decision by the board to remove McCoy without cause threatens that. Redditt Hudson is a parent in the Ferguson-Florissant School District Parent and plans to run for St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees. Doris Graham is a trustee of the St. Louis Community College. All letters are edited for length and style. Care Act, by working through the technology problems and purposing to have a healthier country. When it comes to national security, there is not a more important issue, within our power, than our health. Many people know from life experience, as my Bishop, Dr. Luther J. Blackwell Jr., puts it, “Health is better than wealth any day.” And since we understand having a healthier body is a huge asset, it would be wise to work for it. Let’s resist making complaints and get to work. Patiently waiting for computer glitches to be worked out, getting registered, making appointments, getting diagnosis, beginning treatments and most importantly learning and practicing preventive medicine are critical objectives. These efforts will ultimately result in better health and a better quality of life for all who truly embrace this program. Minister Allif H. Dove St. Louis Make quality preschool available The early learning bill reflects a growing, bipartisan understanding that to ensure our nation’s children have the educational and economic opportunities they deserve, we must act early. It’s long been clear that high-quality early learning opportunities produce lasting benefits, including higher high school graduation rates and lower incarceration rates. Now, a broad coalition is calling for action on President Obama’s plan to make quality preschool available to every 4-year-old in America, drawing on the example of leading states. Democrats and Republicans, including Sen. Harkin, Rep. Miller, and Rep. Hanna, stood with leaders from law enforcement, business, the military and early childhood education advocates to call for action – and to invite others to join this vital effort. This is the most important single step we can take for the future of our young people. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Washington, D.C. The largest weekly newspaper in Missouri 70,000 copies - CAC Audited 100% Independently owned & operated Continuously published, without interruption since 1928 Donald M. Suggs Publisher & Executive Editor Kevin Jones - Sr. Vice Pres. & COO Dina M. 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