Scoop + Bamboozle = Scamboozle!

What do you get when you take one “Scoop” of Don Corrigan and add it to the “Bamboozle” of a ward proposal for Kirkwood? You get a … “Scamboozle!”

That is exactly what the editor of the Webster-Kirkwood Times tried to perpetrate on the community of Kirkwood with his February 29, 2008 editorial entitled “Lessons From A Class Long-Ago.”

With the certified election results having come in from the St. Louis County election board, I was able to complete the research Scoop Corrigan the journalist and the trainer of journalists failed to do before he wrote his Scamboozle of an editorial saying,

“Karr said her belief that everyone deserves a seat at the table inspired her to fight for a ward system in her city, instead of electing representatives at large. She said she regretted "taking on the fight like gangbusters," instead of taking time to convince voters about the advantages of wards.”

Then Scoop ended the Scamboozle editorial with,

“Folks in Kirkwood and Webster Groves defend at-large elections as appropriate because the towns are too small and close-knit for wards. Maybe. Then are wards wrong for even smaller towns like Des Peres, Crestwood and Sunset Hills?”

If Scoop would have done any research of even his own ward system in Sunset Hills what “advantages of wards” would he find when he compared it to Kirkwood’s at-large system? Do wards really provide everyone “a seat at the table” of democracy?

The St. Louis County Election Board web site posts election results going back to 1996. Here is what the election results show:

Sunset Hills from April 1996 to April 2008:
Mayoral Elections – only 3 out 7 had more than one candidate – 58% of the time the voters of Sunset Hills did not get a choice for Mayor
Overall City Council Elections – only 22 out of 52 had more that one candidate – 58% of the time the voters of Sunset Hills did not get a choice for City Council member
Don Corrigan’s Ward 1 City Council Election – only 5 out of 13 had more than one candidate – 61% of the time Scoop did not get a choice for City Council member
Overall Candidates per City Council seat – only 78 out of 52 – 1.50 per seat
Average Number of Registered Voters: 5,942
Overall Voter Turnout: 26.43% Highest Turnout: 46.43% Lowest Turnout: 12.72%

Kirkwood from April 1996 to April 2008:
Mayoral Elections – 3 out 4 had more than one candidate – only 25% of the time the voters of Kirkwood did not get a choice for Mayor
Overall City Council Elections – 7 out of 8 had more that one candidate – only 13% of the time the voters of Kirkwood did not get a choice for City Council member
Overall Candidates per City Council seat – 34 out of 22 – 1.54 per seat
Average Number of Registered Voters: 19,890
Overall Voter Turnout: 28.99% Highest Turnout: 42.67% Lowest Turnout: 21.97%

With 3.3 times as many voters to reach and serve our Kirkwood at-large system still delivers:
1) More contested Mayoral elections
2) More candidates per City Council seat
3) Greater overall Voter Turnout

In addition, Kirkwoodians get 7 out of 7 City Council members that we directly elect. These City Council members do not have to necessarily agree with us on an issue, but they all do have a vested interest in listening to us, their electorate.

Yet, Sunset Hillites (I hope that is the correct term) only have 3 out of 9 City Council members that they directly elect. The other 6 do not have a vested interest to listen to someone from a different ward with an issue, since they are not a part of their electorate.

These are just a few of the obvious facts or easily found facts that support why Kirkwoodians choose the better at-large system over a ward system.

So, Scoop …

Just how does a journalist ignore going to the polls 8 out of 13 times to vote for only one ward candidate, then write an editorial furthering the “advantages of wards” as a means to getting more people “a seat at the table” and end it by questioning if an at-large system is right kind of representative democracy for another community?

Only one way … Scamboozle!