Through the F.I.R.E.
by Lucas Hudson
01-24-2008

Mayor Francis Slay: “If Chief George had made the promotions, he would still be the chief.”

The city’s sweltering racial thermometer portends an all-out political meltdown as Mayor Francis Slay was booed right out of the Old Courthouse by supporters of the city’s ousted first black fire chief, Sherman George, as he gave a speech Jan. 21 honoring Martin Luther King Jr. This humiliating show of resentment demonstrates that Slay’s legacy is in danger of being permanently branded with the scarlet R of racial unrest. African-American displeasure with his administration did not start with the political game of chicken that resulted in the public demotion of George, but that event lit the match in an environment already filled with the fumes of African-American distrust, suspicion and anger at what some have described as Slay’s “racial politics.” In a Jan. 11 interview with the Vital VOICE, Mayor Slay speaks to these issues, and also outlines African-American progress that has taken place under his administration, declaring that “There isn’t enough coverage of positive news.”

The Vital Voice: We both know that some of the city’s African-American leaders are up in arms over what many have described as your “racial politics.” With racial tension inflamed in the wake of Fire Chief Sherman George’s removal, The National Society of Black Engineers has threatened to move its 2011 conference scheduled to take place in St. Louis unless the situation changes. In addition, a citizen’s group primarily made up of African-Americans called the Citizens to Recall Mayor Slay has started an effort to recall you from office.

Consultant and blogger Antonio French’s site (www.PubDef.net) lists major gripes the black community has with your administration, which I have paraphrased. They include:

1. Disassembling the city’s largest black voting ward (the former 20th).
2. Removal of the city’s only ever black fire chief and the subsequent 4-to-1 promotion of whites over blacks.
3. The closing of more than a dozen schools (neighborhood anchors) in North St. Louis.
4. The disproportionate investing of hundreds of millions of tax dollars in downtown and white neighborhoods, while northern black neighborhoods continue to suffer.

Mayor Slay, if you don’t agree with African-American disillusionment regarding your administration, can you at least understand it?

Mayor Slay: I am very aware of some racial unrest in the City of St. Louis. I am very aware of some of the reaction to what happened in the Fire Department. I will also tell you that if Chief George had made the promotions, he would still be the chief. I talked to civic, political and clergy leaders throughout the community during the process before any decisions were made. I want you and the community to know that I did everything I could to try and get the promotions done without confrontation or controversy. I respect Sherman George as a man of principle, but ultimately, we disagreed how to handle that situation.

There isn’t anybody in St. Louis that agrees with every decision I have made, but there are some people that want to divide the city. However… I don’t think anybody can argue with the fact that St. Louis is much better today than it was seven years ago. We were losing jobs and people faster than virtually any other city in America. Now, our job base has stabilized, our population is on the increase, and we’re getting national and international recognition for our successes. Chief Mokwa and I just announced that crime in the city has dropped 16 percent from last year. Crime is now at a 35-year low. That is something that impacts everybody positively.

Have we solved all the issues? We have not. And some of those allegations like disassembling the largest black ward in the city…Well, the people are still there. If that was the largest black voting ward the city, it is still the largest black voting ward in the city, but it just has a different number on it.

Most people only hear the negatives, and there is no balanced view. For example, the affordable housing initiative that I helped pass is spending $5 million a year, with much of that money impacting people of color. When I took office in the year 2000, 31 percent of the kids tested were positive for lead, and now it is only six percent. The neighborhoods with high incidences of lead poisoning are in predominately African-American areas. I am not suggesting there are no more challenges and everything is fine, but there isn’t enough coverage of positive news.

VV: What specifically have you done, and what more can you do to defuse the current racial tension in the city?

MS: I have been working hard to call upon fair-minded people who are very interested, regardless of what they think of my decision or how it was done—to pull together, begin the healing process and move the city forward. I believe that is going to take some time, but I have been very encouraged by conversations with a number of black leaders. I believe I realize how deep this issue goes, and I am not taking this tension for granted. It is going to take a lot of work and leadership from me and my office.

VV: African-American economic inclusion in this revitalizing phase is critical to maintaining racial harmony. As you know, contracts and purchases that use St. Louis city subsidies must set aside 25 percent of the work to majority minority-owned businesses, and 5 percent towards majority female-owned businesses. The Rosa Parks Minority Inclusion Initiative, spearheaded by Eric Vickers, is pushing for 25 percent minority inclusion on contracts and 35 percent minority workforce participation.

Though your administration did not make these rules, do you support the idea, intent and execution of these set-asides, and do you support an additional set-aside of 35 percent minority workforce participation on contracts that use city subsidies?

MS: I have been a strong advocate of affirmative action goals that have been set by previous administrations. I have abided by those, and have been aggressive in enforcing them. I spoke at the St. Louis Business Journal’s annual breakfast this morning, and one of the things I said to the crowd is that we have to oppose this effort to outlaw affirmative action programs in Missouri. It is destructive to the fabric of our community and destructive to our ability to compete as a region. We have been aggressive towards pursuing those goals, and we have also been working toward establishing workforce goals with labor unions, the development community, and even Eric Vickers and his organization. I am in favor of workforce goals, and if 35 percent is something that is realistic, I am all for it.

Here is the other thing—Eric Vickers (and I got a letter from Eric as well), he will agree that the City of St. Louis has probably done as good a job as nearly any (region) in terms of advancing opportunities for African-Americans. However, embracing diversity and inclusion can’t just be the city’s responsibility. It is going to take other jurisdictions as well as the private sector stepping up in a major way—not just talking about it, but doing it. We are doing it. If we have female-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses that are able to participate in the successes we are achieving, we will be stronger as a region.

VV: How do you promote African-American inclusion in labor unions?

MS: This is a strong union town. I generally support labor unions, and we can’t tell people that you can’t do a project because you don’t have organized labor. The other end of it is (and I think labor unions would admit this), that there has historically been a paucity of African-Americans in labor unions. Labor has been at the table in the sense that we have talked to them about those things, but to be very effective, to say “Hey look, we want to have a project built by organized labor, but we need minority participation at a certain level…” That is a big challenge.

VV: Why do you think there aren’t more minorities in labor unions?

MS: That’s a good question, and it depends who you talk to. I think there is responsibility to go around, but ultimately, labor unions need to reach out in a more meaningful way (to the African-American community).

VV: When people discuss race in St. Louis, the discussion is often too simplistic because blacks are always the have-nots and whites are always the haves. Obviously, there are historical, and sociological reasons for this, but in order to broaden the discussion, the city must do more to attract a visible black middle class. The city is growing again, but it is largely a progressive, young, moneyed white demographic that is moving back, and, using the example of old McRee Town, is displacing low-income African-Americans and threatening to gentrify entire neighborhoods. What do you think can be done to convince professional African-Americans (who typically leave St. Louis or migrate to North County) to plant roots in the city so the process of revitalization (and some may say gentrification) is not perceived as something affluent whites “do” to poorer African-Americans?

MS: I think several things can be done. We have to show there are opportunities—opportunities for jobs, opportunities for business, and opportunities for cultural and social activities in the City of St. Louis. I also don’t think there is enough attention is being paid to the middle class housing being constructed in North St. Louis, for example. Block by block, we have some very diverse neighborhoods. Downtown is becoming more diverse itself, but not as diverse as we would like to see. This is the Show-Me State and we need to show people that we embrace diversity. This commitment can’t just come from the city government; it has to come from the business community as well. I have had conversations with the Regional Business Council, as well as Civic Progress and the Regional Chamber of Commerce about what private businesses can do to attract people of color. They have their initiatives, but not enough is being done.

VV: Frankly, it is frightening to think that the fire and police departments have separate unions divided by race, and the “hanging monkey” incident hasn’t helped the issue. Racially segregated unions are a dangerous anachronism. If the people who we depend on to save our lives cannot bridge the racial divide, how can the rest of the city? How can you help to unite the unions?

MS: We are trying right now to bring those organizations together. Those two organizations need to have the resolve to accomplish it. It can’t just be directed form above. In the fire and police departments, there is racial tension without question, but it is more so in some firehouses than others, but regardless, their main goal is to protect the people of St. Louis. I am not trying to downplay the racial thing, but sometimes when the media covers the situation, the insinuation is there that strife is the only thing going on in the departments. Racial tension is there, it is a serious issue, it’s an important issue, but it is not one that should overshadow all the good things those departments do.

VV: You mentioned that you were “trying” to bring the unions together. Can you be more specific?

MS: I have recently asked my public safety director and the fire chief that was just appointed to work on a process to address that, and that would include F.I.R.E. and Local 73. They are going to come up with an approach to unite them. It’s very important.

VV: Thank you for your time

MS: Thank you.

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