League of Women Voters of St Louis Information Service
	Saint Louis City, MO April 7, 2009 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Mayor; City of Saint Louis

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 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. Answer from Maida Coleman: During my tenure as State Senator and Representative, I've also served as Minority Floor Leader. I've worked as Director within the Secretary of State and at the St. Louis Housing Authority. My legislative background includes successful passage of bills in education, crime prevention and control, healthcare and the economy. 2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (50 word limit) Answer from Maida Coleman: 1. My first initiative is to work on our local economy and bring jobs to St. Louis by investing in infrastructure and working with private and public partnerships in redevelopment. I will invest in infrastructure, increasing performance and administration of our schools and will work to help small businesses grow and flourish + all of which will directly contribute in creating jobs. In an increasingly competitive economy, St. Louis's ability to stimulate growth will take a detail-specific, comprehensive plan. 2. Our city ranks in the top 5 most dangerous cities in the country. Assaults, robberies, murders and violent crime surged 20% between 2004 and 2005, and the national perception of St. Louis as a dangerous city is negatively impacting tourism, companies locating here, and threatening our safety. I will increase the number of officers and increase their salaries. I'll establish a collaboration between police safety workshops and crime alert bulletins. 3. I will develop and implement a sound, accountable educational system. My plan will invest in education at all levels, yielding dividends to our city. Charter schools can be a promising alternative to our current public education struggles, but there must be a balance. I will create a thorough and accountable educational system best utilizing our tax dollars. It is critical that we work together as citizens, parents and with the board of education to improve and maintain our public schools. 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. 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.