On Thursday, November 20, 2008, Rev. Elston K. McCowan, longtime community organizer and Baptist Minister, declared he would run for Mayor of the City of St. Louis, in the Spring 2009 City Elections.  He is running on the ticket of the Green Party of St. Louis, which tends to be a more radical version of the Green Party nationally.  McCowan sees the need to end the disgusting racial divide in St. Louis, which has led to it earning the title, "the most dangerous city in the U.S." 

The current St. Louis Mayor is Francis G. Slay, who has been known for his racist and anti-labor policies.  For example, in 2004, when North City Fire Chief Sherman George refused to administer a culturally biased test, Mayor Slay demoted him; because Slay has refused to reinstate him, the demotion has essentially been the same as firing Sherman George.  Slay has been pushing schools to be privatized, chartered, and further taken out of the public hands.  He fired the democratically elected school board and supported the move for Missouri undemocratically instate a State-Appointed Board.  Last summer, Slay broke countless promises to City workers, which he made to get re-elected in 2005. 

St. Louisians became so concerned that they began the Campaign to Recall Francis G. Slay, which collected 26,000 signatures to recall the St. Louis Mayor. 
   
Elston K. McCowan is a labor leader and board member of the Walbridge Community Education Center, a Service Employees Union International labor union organizer, and Baptist minister, has been a community organizer for more than 23 years, and now, he is running for Mayor of the City of St. Louis under the banner of the Green Party of St. Louis.

McCowan proposes real alternative political change for St. Louis - to end the discontent and lack of hope in the City. An example of that hopelessness in the City's political machine was exhibited when the Campaign to Recall Francis G. Slay (the current Mayor of St. Louis) collected 26,000 signatures in less than a year, which means that more people were willing to sign a petition to kick out the ruling City authority, than those who actually voted for the Democratic Mayor Slay.
Elston McCowan said, "The 26,000 people who signed those petitions, and many others I've spoken to, are ready to end the ‘Slay-ride' that has been racial division and further deterioration of the St. Louis Public Schools," says McCowan."The firing of Fire Chief Sherman George and Slay's refusal to make lead-based paint abatement in our schools a priority sends a clear message that this mayor is not interested in the will of the people. It's time for the dawning of ‘A New Day for St. Louis.'"
The City said the total was insufficient.  In the 2005 City Election, the Green Party of St. Louis ran Willie Marshall against Slay, and received 21% of the City's votes (See "Tribute to Willie Marshall" at bottom). 

This dissatisfaction lead McCowan to believe that St. Louis's Green Party can pose itself as a real alternative to shake up the and eliminate the pro-business, racist patronage system in St. Louis politics. 

- We must expand the Metrolink public transportation system! 
- No one should be denied access to health care, and the City should step in to make sure people who cannot afford health care can get it. 
- All city power and telephone lines must be buried underground. 
- McCowan calls for the immediate removal of all lead from St. Louis schools, and that NO MORE SCHOOLS BE CLOSED!  Lead has been used as an excuse to take schools out of the public's democratic control; meanwhile, it has not been treated in many schools, public areas, and homes, specifically those in the North City (predominately African-American). 
- McCowan is the Public Service Director of SEIU Local 2000, and promises to make all public contracts strictly union contracts; McCowan will challenge the legitimacy of traditional anti-union policies, including Taft-Hartley.  This means unionization of the police, firmly standing up for all (including the service-sector) workers' rights to unionize, and defying the tradition in Missouri of a no-strike clause on public sector workers. 
- McCowan promises: "No More School Closings!"
Simultaneously, McCowan promises to properly use the money St. Louis has had for years to safely remove the lead from the City of St. Louis. 
- McCowan promises to reinstate North City's Fire Chief Sherman George, along with back-pay, and that he should be praised, not punished, for standing up for social justice in North City. 
- McCowan promises pay for public-sector workers to equal Slay's current policies of a living wage, along with a cost of living adjustment (COLA) that catches them up with the real cost of living, which outpaces the current attempts to figure real wages.  We will refer to this as COLA+!   McCowan has said he would support workers on strike with the demand of 30 hours labor for 40 hours pay. 
- The McCowan Campaign demands full-employment for all St. Louisians!!!
- The McCowan Campaign demands that hiring halls be set up to train workers to perform "green collar" and other skilled jobs.  These halls will be used to fill employment vacancies for the public-sector, and will first employ people from those wards with the highest unemployment rate.  This should help, along with other policies, to lessen the racial divide in the City of St. Louis. 

Elston K. McCowan is calling for "A New Day in St. Louis," and we hope to make it that! 

Source:

"Tribute to Willie Marshall," Gateway Green Alliance.  Jo Mannies, "Green Party laments death of state chairman," STL-Today, Monday, Jul. 16 2007,