League of Women Voters of St Louis Information Service
	Saint Louis City, MO March 3, 2009 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Mayor; City of Saint Louis; Democratic Party

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Saint Louis and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Qualification, Priorities Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit) Answer from Irene J. Smith: Served in all branches of Government. Former Administrative Judge of City Courts, former City Director of Welfare and 1st Ward Alderwoman. Union attorney for City, County and MSD employees. Law Degree, community development specialist, attorney for St. Louis County Police Department and former municipal prosecutor. Answer from Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman: I served the Citizens of St. Louis as an attorney since 1985 as Law Clerk, Assistant Public Defender, Assistant Circuit Attorney, legal counsel in the Comptroller's Office, for the Collector of Revenue, Missouri Senate, Board of Aldermen, and Hearing Officer for Nuisance Properties. I have twelve years' teaching experience and in 1979 assisted in the opening of Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School. I meet the qualifications as provided in Section 2 of Article VII of the Charter of the City of St. Louis. Answer from Francis Slay: St. Louis is better under Mayor Slay. He forced landlords to fix their properties and added jail space to keep criminals off the streets. He expanded pre-school programs, reduced lead poisoning, and created a jobs program for teens. He increased funding for heating assistance, and helped domestic violence victims. 2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (50 word limit) Answer from Francis Slay: Nothing is more important to parents than providing their children with a quality education. Right now, wealthy and middle class parents make choices for their kids. I believe it is immoral to force low-income parents to send their children to substandard schools. So, as mayor, I will continue to demand improvement from the St. Louis Public Schools. I will also continue to push for the creation of high quality public charter schools to give all parents choices for their children. I will support our parochial schools as well. Answer from Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman: I plan to address and eliminate the audit exceptions documented by Susan Montee State Auditor in the Department of Personnel, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, and Department of Public Service. I will meet with the Comptroller and the Treasurer to discuss ways in which the audit exceptions for their departments can be eliminated. The City is in need of an updated computer system. Addressing these deficiencies will increase the efficiency of the City, save millions of dollars and bring the technology of the City to the 21st century. I plan to meet with the superintendent, school board members, area principals and state education officials to share with them my vision for a great teacher for every student, high graduation initiative and a science education initiative. I plan to visit the schools to address the students to let them know that their Mayor cares about their success. I will keep an open door policy on a monthly basis to hear from the community. Concentrated poverty and family instability are conditions that lead to student dropout rate and crime. There needs to be a comprehensive effort to develop teen after school programs and incentives developed to encourage parent participation. These ideas will be discussed with the school community. I will engage the corporate community to assist with motivational incentives for the parents. I will work to enlarge the mentor program to include high school students as well. While addressing the educational crisis, the crime crisis will simultaneously be addressed. If students are in school and in after school programs, crime will decrease. I will meet with the police chief to discuss ways in which we can improve public safety and decrease crime. Answer from Irene J. Smith: 1.Leverage governmental, private, not for profit and public school resources to provide social services and other functions, after school recreation and training for our children. Restore the Division of Youth Services as a viable agency. 2. Use our development resources and green/solar technology to create new jobs. Develop a homestead program that will include training in housing rehab, beautification, solar energy and home maintenance. 3. Leverage governmental resources, develop a service driven approach to providing City services and working with the Police, other agencies and the community to create a community approach to reducing crime. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.