Here I want to inform you of some
of
my accomplishment’s over the last 8 years 2011-2019 as your
Ward 2 Alderwoman of the City of St Ann.
Before
I got in office in 2010, I assisted Alderwoman Sherry Hoffman in
her fight to prevent Prop S, a street prop that would have had St
Ann residents paying to fix city streets for 20 years, so that by the
time they were paid off…they would need to be fixed again. We
successfully defeated this Prop. It was replaced with a Rock Rd TDD,
ensuring revenue for street maintenance but only on roads leading to
businesses.
2010
Suggested Camera’s in the Parks, structured to
reduce damages caused to our parks like the 2 Pavillion fires, graffiti
and holes cut into slides on the playgrounds, destruction of park benches,
to protect our children.
2011
Assisted in the Creation of our City Animal Adoption
Program. i.e. - Myself
and 2 other Alderman Sponsored and pushed the program through the Board
of Alderman https://www.facebook.com/St.Animal.Pet.Adoptions
2011
– We voted to Eliminate an entire Ward of the city,
so we went from 5 Wards to 4 Wards by 2013. These efforts were to save
dollars and be able to re-establish a Quarterly Newsletter to better
communicate with the residents again.
2011-Present - Analyze and Question the City’s Budget and
Financials monthly.
2011-Present
-Pushed to
bring the cities Technology use up to date. Currently we accept credit
at the Community Center, Pool, Cityhall, with Golf to follow.
2011-Present - Work with neighboring cities
2011 pushed to return the CBD Grant back to
the residents
for use in repairing their homes. See my website @ www.amypoelker.com
front page. Had to reinitiate this fight in April 2019 to keep the money in the residents use.
2011-Present
I Actively Market Businesses & all Community
Events on Email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Peach Jar, Nextdoor App…
to get the word out as far as possible.
2011 Fought to get the street St Gregory Court
properly
named on the St Louis County mapping system, as residents had trouble
receiving mail, packages and even pizza delivery.
2011
reopened the cities swimming pool, summer
camp, St Ann Days and put the Easter Egg Hunt back in place after they
had been stopped due to budget restraints in 2010, which were solved
through fundraising efforts like Trivia, Mouse Races, and Glow Golf. (Thinking
outside the Box)
2011
the
BOA at the Mayor’s
request established the Beautification
Committee – its goals to assist those who have no one to help them
maintain their homes. This committee also reviews housing
March-September and awards per ward - 2 homes and a business based on
exterior maintenance each season.
2011 Active
member of the Economic Development Committee where in 2012 we
successfully gained a Developer for Northwest Plaza now called “The Crossings atNorthwest”. This project was always
intended to be a mix of Business Offices and light Retail, the thought
process being that the Business Offices would create a customer base for
the retail businesses and help attract retail to the city again. Current new businesses are Menards, Rulers, Regions Bank, Raising
Canes-still the busiest
Canes in the St Louis Region, Generation 3 QT, Sprint, Bob’s Discount
Furniture, Starbucks- still the busiest Starbucks in the St Louis Region,
Charter Spectrum and their Training Center, Election Board, Work Force
Mgmt., and a Satellite Assessor’s Office, Cricket, Cardinal Health Care,
3-4 other Call Centers in the 500 Building-plus many other offices, First Watch, Value City
Furniture, American Family Insurance, Save A Lot Corporate Office, Fitness Edge and more
to come ___________
and in other areas of St Ann, IE; Aarons Rent to Own, St Vincent Depaul,
Family Dollar, Bus Loop Burger, Dollar Plus, SABA Pet Store, Brooks
Bible College, Aldi’s, St. Louis Black Belt Academy, ATA Tae Kwando,
Caterer, Vape Shop, Urgent Care, 3-4 Hair/Nail Salons, another Dance
Studio, Dollar General, Waffle House, We Rock the Spectrum-Kids Gym,
Manhattan Auction Marketplace (MAM), New Construction 10687 St Charles
Rk Rd, new business to locate at 3191 Ashby, Market and Laundromat on June, a Senior Day Care, a Mobil on the Run and
a 5 Star Deli & Market.
2012 Aside
from walking the business corridor to inform the businesses of the
existence of the St Ann Business Association, I walk the Business
Corridor to ensure they are informed on major events within the city.
2012 Fought to allow businesses to participate
in St Ann
Days. Parade attendees jumped from 30’s to as high as 52.
2013 Assisted
citizen Maurice Gayden in his fight to Save our St. Ann Quik Trip, at
Wright/St Charles Rk Rd. though we lost this battle originally, I initiated
a whisper campaign to not shop in nearby QT’s and wrote the CEO of QT
and found a replacement business, in the end we won when our Quik
Trip returned August 2014.
2013 Burn Ordinance 2857
2013 Pushed and improved communication between
the City and its
residents. By Re Establishing the St Ann Newsletter, Pushing
information out to the residents through self-paid articles in the
Localite Newspaper since 2011, which hits every household in St Ann,
engaging in Facebook, Nextdoor App, Instagram & Twitter with the
residents and maintaining an Email list where I send out to residents
information who are not on Social Media, Post Cards to the 70+, pushed
and continue to push for City Website improvements, pushed successfully
to get the city to create or improve use of Facebook Pages to reach
out to residents for better communication with them i.e. - St Ann
Neighborhood Watch, St Ann Parks and Recreation, St Ann Golf Course.
2014 Assisted my partner Aldermen, to push through the
repairs of the
Livingston & Wright Park Playground.
2014
Requested and Held a Public Forum on the Westlake
Pipeline built thru our
cities along St. Charles Rock Road. https://youtu.be/dXfiy7Fn6g4
and introduced my Airport Township Committeeman to the topic which in
turn brought Senator Roy Blunts participation and a Bill before the
Senate s2306 which passed. Also, informed Dawn Chapman that Maria
Chappelle Nadal was one of Bridgeton’s Senators and would be a good
source for bringing attention to the issues of the Westlake Landfill. These
actions led to action by the EPA to remove the
waste from Westlake Landfill, on March 6, 2018 I spoke
before the EPA, to remove all the waste to ensure the safety of future
ground waters as there were 2 Semi Trucks buried in the 70’s about 50’
down. I initiated the investigation in St Ann on this topic. The
landfill in 2018 is under direct authority of the head of the
EPA, currently
there is a plan to Remove the waste up to 20’ and cap. The fight now
lies in the Ground Water
contamination issues.
2014 Assisted
the St Ann Business Association in establishing their “Food Truck
Events”. Most recently 2016, attained City Sponsorship for
the Event. and here in 2017 the Parks Department has adopted the
Event to combine it with their Party in the Park Events in Tiemeyer Park
for a Grander event plus of course Combining it with their Halloween
Event in October. https://www.facebook.com/events/474164286127957/
2014
assisted a resident with a Christmas Caroling
project, about 25 residents sang on 2 evenings.
YEARLY
- Very active member of our Neighborhood Watch Program.
2014 After forcing bids for trash service, I
Negotiated a 2.5% SAVINGS for the City of St Ann SENIORS on their
Trash bill above their 10% Senior Discount, for years 2015-2020.
Fought successfully to add a Hamm Radio system to our
community Emergency response systems. Because as of 3/1/16 after 2
tornadoes we still had NONE.
Assisted my partner Alderman in her fight for a
Sidewalk along Wright Ave for public safety. Yet to be installed, but on
the list for Federal Grant Streets.
2016 assisted in securing the future of our Parks
Dept. thru Prop R the results of which may also be tracked through
the Parks Board notes and the City Budgets. http://stannmo.org/130/Parks-Recreation
2016
Attained the Businesses Benefits
through use of our Community Center, Golf Course and Swimming
Pool as a Corporate Membership
2016 Result the Missouri Supreme Court ruled it was
unconstitutional
for St Louis County to enforce their standards over municipalities.
2016
As a result of SB5
& SB572 and especially the new court mandates set by the courts,
a million-dollar loss in revenue to the city, made it clear that if we
are to maintain our current level of policing we would have to be
willing to pay for it, just as then Senator Schmitt had intended when he
wrote and passed SB5. The BOA voted to put that question to you the
voters in April 2017. The result
of that vote was 61% yes. Thank you for supporting our Police
Dept.
2016 Assigned to the Mayors Golf Course Task
Force, to determine its future and/or its needs. Result- Course operates
at a deficit.
Sept
10th of 2016 the First Dog Swim at our Pool
took place, this satisfied 3 years of pushing.
2016 Moved to have the residents view the Entire Agenda
Packet for our
meetings so they could see expenses, revenues and bids etc. just as the
BOA sees them.
2017
City
received an A2 Moody Rating, praising the
cities sound financial management.
2017 Resolution of the City of St Ann against
a Statewide
vote on a City/County Merger.
In 2017 the
residents decided NOT to do a City-wide TDD to solve all the Street,
Sidewalk, Trees maintenance issues into the future. We must seek
alternative methods to fix our roads.
2017 Suggested
and BOA agreed to Create a Street Committee to review our Budget
for areas to cut, to move towards street work. I was given Lead on
this, requested 2 residents per ward. 8/28/17 On April 23rd, 2018
we had our 1st meeting. After 3 meetings the Committee
established that there was not money in the Budget to repair and
maintain streets and that no cuts, we could make would be enough to get
the work done, so some sort of tax would be necessary. After speaking
with residents in their prospective Wards the Committee determined a
Property Tax would not pass but a quarter cent Sales Tax was preferred,
through this method everyone who shops in St Ann would assist in a
Dedicated Street Fund for the next 40 years. Outcome-see 2018/2019
Reduced unemployment in St Ann from 9.2% in 2012 to
6% in 2016 to 3.02% in 2017.
2017 Solved a Street Light issue on St Francis,
through
Ameren Rep.
2017Reduction
in
Resident Rates at Tiemeyer Pool from $6A/$5C Seniors $3 to $4A/$3C
and Seniors FREE, this
resulted in an 15% increase in use from $86,000/yr. to $102,000 in 2018.
2017 Updates to the Animal Code esp. ADA.
2017Established
- You Tube Meetings so those who could not attend our Alderman
Meetings can still see them.
2018 an Animal Control Board was established
2018 Outsourcing of Grass Cutting of residential
violations, which allows city to accomplish the cutting faster and at
the Bid Price vs a $500 fine, so the residents win as well by paying the
bid cost of cutting only.
2018Trashreceptacle responsibility converted
to Owner of property vs resident of occupancy. 3120
2018 City use of Blip Advertising – Electric
Bill Boards
2018 Lake Renovation and 2019 Fall Fishing Derby’s reinstated
2018 Solved a 10 Yr hole issue on St Francis.
2018- Present, Playground replacements through
grants.
Beginning with Tiemeyer by Pavillion 1,2,3 in Fall 2019.
Fought for but lost the battle to allow residents to
have chickens in the city-14/15. In 2018
assisted Alderman Murphy with a re-initiative on the Chicken Ordinance.
On 8/6/18 the Chicken Ordinance
passed with a 4-4 vote and the Mayor saying yes. It was signed into law
on 8/30/18.
9/4/18 worked with residents to maintain our Private Property Rights- when
the Chicken Ordinance suddenly took a turn that would have required your
neighbors to decide if you could have chickens on your private property
or not. Outcome- It was sent
back to committee where it was decided to not bring it back for a vote.
2018 – Figured out American Water Co is
responsible for
painting Fire Hydrants and
checking them, located contact person and began the process of getting
our Hydrants painted in St Ann. November 2018 painting began.
2018
November
- With use of the
media, successfully sped up the repair work of the Water Co. on Ashby,
St Gregory & St. Richard/St. Williams long over due from the water
lateral repairs and sewer lateral damage on Ashby.
November 2018
created a Budget Spending and
Revenue Chart for the citizens to better be able to understand how
their monies are spent.
2018, December – Employee Job Descriptions
begun for
creation.
2018 November – You Tube to be used in
Planning and
Zoning Meetings to protect the city from he said she said etc.
8/2018
When County Councilman Sam Page stopped our Sav A
Lot Corporate Office from coming to St Ann, simply because he did not
get a copy of their Private Lease with the Crossings Developer, our
Board of Alderman stepped in to ensure we did not lose this Corporate
Office. This project was begun by the Mo. Economic Dev Dept., and Mr
Page thought it had begun by the St Louis County Econo Dev Dept. he
played politics with 328 Million Dollars of our Economic Development,
for his own purposes. He believes that when he passed the County
Election Board to come to St Ann that he was duped on the cost. To me
this tells me two things: 1. He must not have read his paperwork. 2. As
he did not have a concern till 2yrs later, this is simply a political
move to remove Stenger during his election year.
2018 Achieved
ground testing within the city.
2018 After
a year of working with a Citizens Street
Committee, achieved an 8-0 vote from the BOA on Dec. 3rd to
attempt a Citywide TDD to end the cities infrastructure needs. Outcome
to be determined by a Vote of the People in November 2019.
Other -
Fundraisers for citizens in need i.e.;
2014 Women whose wrist was broken in a robbery on Ashby, 2015
Christmas Eve Fire on St Ann Ln, 2015 Family run over on the
sidewalk by the Heroin overdose driver, 2016 St Damian Fire, 2017
another Ward 3 Fire. 2018 a Tablet for the 9-yr. old bit by the
Pit Bull. 2019- assisted with fundraising and items of need replacement for the Family Fire on St
Christopher that totaled the home.
2012
to Present - Continue to Fight
Against the City/County Merger push...They are pushing for One
School District like Chicago's which is 70 million in the RED, One
Police Dept., One Fire Department, One Parks Department, One Streets
Dept., One Executive Office/Mayor. They expect us to believe this will
be less expensive but have left out information that differs from their
agenda as seen here. http://citiesstrong.com/studies/where 589
Million was left out of their study of Indianapolis versus St. Louis.
Have you seen the condition of St Louis Cities infrastructure? Many of
the muni’s have Services that St Louis County does not offer those would
be lost. Your Government is only as good as the people in place. Current
leadership would suggest that costs are unlikely to reduce/remain
reduced. When the city took over their police dept. from the State of
Missouri they claimed the citizens would see a 6 Million Dollar
Savings…Current leadership is also NOT LISTENING to the people, as a
matter of fact in one ST Louis County Council meeting they told a
gentleman that speaking before the Council was only to be heard…NOT for
them to answer his questions. Currently
the fight is moving to eliminate the municipal police departments,
eliminate zoning from municipal powers, eliminate the 1% city earnings
tax, the B Sales Tax Pool and all sales taxes the munis collect. But
leave the munis in place and combine the city and county unincorporated
residents with all government offices to move to the city of st louis’
downtown region and a provisional government for 15 months while they
set up a election to run what they establish during those 15 months. All
signs look to include the SCHOOLS AND FIRE DISTRICTS in round 2 should
they win round 1. This will be done by a statewide vote. http://nocofoshojrvbc.tripod.com/amypoelker/id75.html
Had a poll running on
Facebook throughout St Louis City and St Louis County to determine whether
the citizens of these two regions desire to merge or not. Poll result
was 57% against. Even after Better Together and St Louis Strong
asked their followers to vote in it.
Use of Federal Grants to
Renovate those streets that qualify:
Industrial Drive - 2010
Ashby Rd Bridge - 2011
Breckenridge - 2012/13ish
Adie-2015
Ashby 2019/20
Old St Charles Rock Road - 2019
Federal Grant to apply for is for
Wright Ave and Pear Tree.
These were all typically Million Dollar streets which the Federal Grant pays
for 80% of, leaving the city to pay it's 200,000.00. unused St
Louis County's Grant dollars by homeowner's we
redirected for the renovation of St Leonard, No worries the 2018 dollars are
still available for use by the homeowners, $92,700.00
2019 - In January, Better Together announced
their plan to place a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in November 2020 to create a new Metro City form of government
which would in the end ELIMINATE municipal governments by merging St Louis City and St Louis County. As shown
above I have been involved in this since 2012. When the MML voted to use the Freeholders Method in the current MO. Constitution
I held Petition signings on Feb 9,19 March 19 as well as spoke at meeting in Overland on the Amendment and what it did and
Petitions signed there. I assisted Olivette, in their meetings by sharing my analysis with their residents at their request
and i met with a University Councilwoman at the request of one of their residents, to provide my insight, as well as attend
many other meetings on this subject. On 3/9/19 I attended Better Together's presentation at Des Peres, they didn't come out
so good in this meeting and a few days later when Stenger was indicted they actually used my idea in their 3rd version of
the plan. In total I turned in 22 pages of Petition signatures for the Freeholders Process. Which led to
2 public speaking events at Ritenour High Schools Auditorium on March 15 and April 1st for residents to learn about the amendment
and sign petitions. Have met a ton of resources through this fight and most recently was invited to a Kirkwood Meeting to
assist. Am running Statewide ads on Facebook and Blipboard ads to work to reach outstate MO. with our message of DO NOT MERGE
US.
May 2019 - Had a Senior in crisis, located the information needed and got it to them in time. This may seem like a non
accomplishment to those reading this, however I am just sharing as when most of us run for these offices, a call from someone
in crisis, isn't top of mind.
Learn and know your resources, cause if you are doing this job right - people will
e calling for all sorts of things.
May-Aug 6th 2019 - was asked to run for St Louis County Council
again. Unfortunately lost this race to Bryan Cave Lawyer (Better Together).
August 2019 - City maintains
a A2 Bond Rating and Street TDD process begins
Began this trend in 2016
yardsigns and car magnets/stickers
Created the letter below to attract businesses.
Dear
_______________,
Have
you thought about the benefits of expanding near the
St Louis International Airport?
St
Ann would be a great location in-between both St Charles
County and St Louis City and just across the street from Lambert International
Airport, located within St Louis County.
With
the renovation of our mall, businesses are finding it
has been well worth their time and money to invest here.
Starbucks opened with its
strongest open on June 2017, to date it is their best performing location in St
Louis after only signing a 1 year lease to start, 18 months later they are
still here and running strong and Raising Canes now open 2+ years, still
toting its highest volume restaurant in the region, at The Crossings at Northwest,
which has been renovated to entertain 2/3
business and 1/3 retail. Even Aeneas Williams (Previous Rams Player)
opened his church in the old Toys R Us building and Charter Spectrum
(600ees), the St Louis County Election Board+smaller County offices (300
ees), American Family Insurance 2018 (600 ees), Save A Lot Corporate Office
2018 (450+ees), Cardinal Healthcare plus other call centers are located right
here. First Watch opened in May 2018, I asked the Manager how they were doing
on 7/29/18 and they are quite happy with their location. This model promotes
success as the business employees tend to supply the retail/food businesses, we
have found that our anchor store, Menards-attracts
from a 20-mile radius. The traffic counts on our main strip, St Charles Rock
Road (Mo180) are up, up, up! Just in the immediate trade area we have a pool of
50,000 to attract to your location. We have two great school districts Ritenour
and Pattonville - (Pattonville
is ratedtop 20 in the State). We
have seen interest in our out lying business property’s as well, with a Dollar
General, We Rock the Spectrum-Kids Gym and a Waffle House opening soon as well
and an Aldi’s that opened in 2017, an Urgent Care and the Manhattan Antique
Mall opened Nov. 2018. And an empty lot of some 20 years land owner has begun
construction of a White Box, showing faith to attract a business to our city. Our
State has recognized our increased traffic counts and between 2019-2021 have
scheduled a complete renovation with ADA updates to our main strip St Charles
Rock Road.
St
Ann, is a Gem in a Central Location of the region.
Located just off Highway 70 at Cypress Rd or Lindbergh exits and just 5 min
from the Airport we are literally just 20 minutes from anywhere in the St
Louis/St Charles Region. St Ann was built in the early 40’s right after WWII by
the Vatterott’s and the Schraeder’s. Many of our original home owners still
reside here in St Ann. In 2018, we are celebrating our 70th
Anniversary. Our city hosts many events, including in September the St Ann Days
and Parade. We find the Parade is a great way to promote FREE Advertising for
our Businesses to the residents…
Six Beautiful parks well
maintained,
A strong police force in place to ensure safety
and security with a 2-minute average response time. Here in St Ann you will
often see people walking for exercise or walking their dogs.
Our own St Animal Pets Adoption Program, with
a
large group of volunteers which prides itself in maintaining our no kill
shelter.
Just elected as Missouri’s 4th
POW-MIA city.
Both of our School Districts have strong
teachers doing great work and are seeing an influx of kindergartners at the start
each year, requiring them to get creative in adding classrooms.
Our Board of Alderman
are innovative and
regional thinkers ready to take on your project with an open mind and assist
you through the process quickly.
With the rebuild of our mall, jobs, places to
eat, places to shop are on the rise again within the city and home values have
gone up over the last 2 assessments.
Our residents have proven over and over that
they support their community recently passing a Parks Prop and a Police Prop to
maintain their wonderful services. St Ann takes pride in their community.
St Ann residents understand
that they must keep
their Businesses interests in mind as well, they refused to allow a USE Tax to
be passed within our borders.
St Ann also hosts Food Truck Events in our
Parks for the last 5 years now. We have 9-13 Trucks in May, June, July August,
October and other than a rainy day the Food Trucks are very happy with their
results and typically sell out. One of your employees told me, are the best
event you serve.
A
_________________ addition to this region could also assist
in the Economic Recovery of an area that St Louis has forgotten-it’s Northwest
County, and our residents have fought hard to return to its old glory days when
Northwest Plaza was the biggest mall in the country, the marketing ideas alone
are flowing…
_________________
would be a great fit in this area being in the center of this region yet just 5
minutes from the Airport could be a great advantage for your Company, while ensuring
convenience for your employees in distance to and from work. Your price points
would work well in the area, especially with the number of business employee’s
we have located in the Crossings, with the addition of American Family
Insurance and Sav A Lot’s Corporate Offices we will have close to 3500 jobs up
there and that doesn’t even include the Pattonville Office and Junior High
right across the street. Many of the residents I speak with would like to see a
business like ______________, as they __________________________________________________
I
sincerely hope you consider our beautiful city for your future location. Our
location would benefit many of possible future employees of your company with
our ease of getting to for those with and without transportation due to its
central location.
St
Ann is best described as being like living in a small
town, where your neighbors will say Hi and give you a hand if you ask them, but
located in a larger Suburban Area.
Please
see the link below for our Business Packet.
Listen for yourselves Starting as close as possible at 17:30 min into this Council Meeting. Hear the discussion
that centers around the Election Board moving to the Crossings. If indeed they were duped? It is only because they never
read the Contract. As 2 years later they suddenly decide they need to change their minds.
Then go to 44:00 min to
hear beginning of voting on it.
Our County Councilman Sam Page Stops the Sav A Lot Corporate Office from coming to St Ann. Hear it for yourself
here. https://youtu.be/GT6ol9ps4oc?t=1h17m16s Bill 190
Understand that his problem with this project is that the developer and Sav A Lot will not share their
lease agreement with him, so he can compare it to the County's lease agreement on the Election Board at the Crossings.
Understand that it is NOT OUR GOVERNMENTS JOB, to MANDATE that businesses and developers share their PRIVATE LEASE AGREEMENTS
with them. Understand that SAM PAGE THINKS IT IS WITHIN HIS POWERS TO STOP ECONONMIC DEVELOPMENT, simply because he did
not get his way...….
Better Together has been trying to tell the public that it is the Muni's that slow down the
Economic Process....This attests that the REAL PROBLEM LIES IN BIG GOVERNMENT....as SAM PAGE has STOPPED THIS PROJECT FROM
MOVING FORWARD FOR NOW 8 MONTHS & NOW HE HAS STOPPED IT COMPLETELY FROM HIS END.
AS SEEN IN THIS VIDEO, NONE OF
THE REST OF THE COUNCIL EVEN GOT TO VOTE ON IT....HE TOOK THIS ON HIMSELF.
and yes St Ann BOA will move this forward.
When the Sav A Lot Corp was bought out, a Nationwide Search was put out to relocate the Headquarters from St Louis County
and our Developer provided the deal that kept Sav A Lot in St Louis County.... Sam Page it is not your job to TURN AWAY Economic
Development because you are not privy to the details of a Private Business Contract.
I ask the rest of the Businesses
and Developers out there... Is this what you expect when you are deciding to spend your money here in St Louis County???
Zoo Member, NRA, KCU, St Ann Alderman in 5th Term - Unopposed last 4 runs, USAV, AAU V, Operation Graduation,
Pride & Promise, SAPA, SABA, Ran as a Candidate for St Louis County Council-got 41% of vote. RLAC & Ritenour Parent
Advocacy Committees.
Paid for by
Citizens for Amy Poelker, Rebecca (Becky) Buwalda Treasurer.
