A Green Mayor in St. Louis ?

Tuesday April 7, 2009 could be the first time a major US city elects a Green Party mayor. The candidate is Elston K. McCowan, who is Public Service Director of SEIU, Local 2000, and pastor of Star Grace Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis .

With support for McCowan surging, the major barriers to winning are [1] volunteer workers and [2] money. If you can join the dozens of Green Party workers during the last few days before the election, call 314-727-8554 to let us know you are coming. If you can donate, please visit http://www.mccowan4mayor.com

The Green Party of St. Louis is also running Alderperson candidates Tim Kaminski (Ward 7), Eugene Frison (Ward 9) and Ken Hollenbeck (Ward 13). McCowan and Frison are both black activists who have spent decades struggling for working people. Kaminski is a retired Committee person with United Autoworkers Local 110 and Hollenbeck is a retired Chief Steward of Communication Workers of America Local 6300.

The Greens have been publicizing important issues like lead poisoning since September 2008. The rate of childhood lead poisoning in St. Louis is five times the national average. The current Mayor, is more interested in replacing public schools with charter schools than in protecting children’s health.

Green Party candidate McCowan organized a December 2 picket at Roe to draw public attention to the crisis. His press statement pointed out that at the same time the unelected SAB was claiming that no money was available to remove lead, Francis Slay was caught spending $2 million to “beautify” the Grand Avenue bridge.

Two days after the picket, the SAB suddenly announced that they were looking in earnest for the $4.5 million needed to remove lead from 27 schools. On March 17 they announced they had found funds, something that would not have happened without Green Party pressure.

Elston McCowan is the only candidate for mayor speaking out against a proposed second nuclear reactor in Callaway Missouri . Ameren UE is advocating the repeal of Missouri ’s No CWIP law in order to force taxpayers to cover the cost of constructing a new reactor. CWIP refers to “construction work in progress.” In 1976, by a nearly 2 to 1 margin, Missouri voters approved a law prohibiting ratepayers from being charged for construction of a plant until it is “fully operational and used for service.”

“If Ameren gets its way on this, St. Louis residents could be paying for the nuke forever,” charges McCowan. “A second nuke at Callaway could cost us $9 to $15 billion. The number of people who could not pay their electric bills would skyrocket.”

The Green Party believes that government should encourage new businesses to start solar and wind power rather than bankrupting existing businesses. Renewable energy companies can be started with a relatively small amount of capital. In contrast, power plants require billions. McCowan believes the two are incompatible: “Every dollar you throw at nuclear power is a dollar you take away from renewable energy.”

The Green Party has been quick to link the destruction of St. Louis services like schools, hospitals, homes and mass transit to military spending.

For the full platform of the Green Party of St. Louis, go to http://www.mccowan4mayor.com. Please help us with your time and money. emccowan1@mindspring.com