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New Post: Dec. 31th

Hello! I’m Angie Singler, a St Louis City Democratic Candidate for the 25^th Ward Board of Aldermen. Welcome to my website!

I’ve been proud to call the 25^th Ward my home for 25 years. It’s here that my husband and I raised our three children, we developed long-lasting friendships, and I learned what it takes to be an important part of our community.

We need a change in the Dutchtown and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods now more than ever! And I’m ready to take an active role in restoring what once was the stable 25^th Ward. I will be an Alderwoman who has lots of energy, follows through with citizens concerns, gets the community more involved in decisions, and is active in bringing about the positive changes we really need in our community!

I humbly ask for your vote on Tuesday, March 3^rd, 2009…so we can truly, “reconnect our community!”

There will be free door-prizes, a 50/50 raffle, music, a cash bar, silent-auction/raffle, and bowls of chili, hot dogs, & nachos to warm up from the cold winter weather! I hope to see you there!

January 17th, 2009 from 6-10pm
Special Presentation at 8:30pm

@ Grbic’s Banquet Hall
(Formerly Bailey Farms Dairy)
4071 Keokuk Street, St Louis, MO 63116

Broken Park Swing @ Mt. Pleasant

Barrell Trash Can

Tree Stump in middle of Park @ Mt. Pleasant

Broken Water Fountain @ Amberg

Street Light in the middle of the park @ Mt. Pleasant

Parks, Parks, Parks! The two parks that are located in the 25th Ward are Mount Pleasant Park (located at Michigan Ave. and Dakota St.) and Amberg Park (located at Keokuk St. and Gustine Ave.)

Mt. Pleasant Park

Amberg Park (Photo by Steve Patterson) during a neighborhood association clean-up event.

I believe that both of our parks should be the “jewels” of our neighborhoods. If I receive the honor of being elected Alderman of the 25th Ward, I would listen to what everyone in the community has to say about both parks and help develop a master park development plan for both the short and the long term. For example, fixing the broken swings at Mt. Pleasant, fixing the broken fountain at Amberg Park, installing pedestrian lighting in both parks to help increase visibility and deter crime, placing decorative trash cans instead of ugly barrels, and installing more park benches and picnic tables to increase the parks use are all the types of improvements that I would advocate for if the community supports them. While some of these items are short term fixes, we should develop a long term park development plan so that we as a community have a sense of direction and “guide” to know what improvements to make and how money should be spent more wisely in the future.

As I have been speaking with friends and neighbors in our community throughout this election, there have been many suggestions on ways to improve our parks including creating community gardens, installing family friendly picnic areas/gazebos, and reorganizing the ball fields to make them more usable and attractive to organizations like the St. Louis Kickball and Softball leagues. Increasing park traffic and making them more “usable” will really help reconnect our community. What ideas or suggestions do you have? Feel free to leave a comment below.

To read more about the history of the parks click the link below called “Read the rest of this entry”

If you are interested, here is a little bit of history about both Mount Pleasant Park and Amberg Park from the St. Louis Parks Division:

MOUNT PLEASANT PARK:
Located at Michigan and Dakota. Ordinance Date: 1812. Total Acres: 3.17. The Parks Division lists Mt. Pleasant park as having 1 Basketball Court, 1 Hockey Court, and 1 Playground.

History:
This land from the old Commons was originally known as old Carondelet Park. Its land was then thought to be unadaptable for park use and was kept in a virgin state for many years. In 1894, it was renamed as Dakota Park and acquired some improvement. In 1942, the name was changed to Mount Pleasant Park.

AMBERG (RICHARD H.) PARK:
Located at Keokuk and Gustine. Ordinance Date: 1963. Total Acres: 2.76.

Purchased from the Board of Education for $110,631.50. The Parks Division lists Amberg Park as having 1 Comfort Station, 1 Softball Field, 1 Playground, 1 Soccer Kick Board, and 1 Spray Pool.

History:
The southern half of the park site was purchased by the city in January of 1962 at a cost of $55,250 from the St. Louis Board of Education, who sold the city the northern half of the contiguous site for $55,250 in August, 1963, following a fire which destroyed the Dunnica School building. Funds for the purchase of the site came from the 1944 and 1955 bond issues.

Amberg Park was designed by Landscape Architect, Robert E. Goetz and Associates in 1966 and construction began during January, 1967.

The park was named in honor of Richard H. Amberg (1912-1967) for his personal distinction and his contributions to the parks and playgrounds of the city. He also served as publisher of the Globe Democrat.

Graffiti on vacant Netties Building

Graffiti on vacant Netties Building

Graffiti on vacant Netties Building

Closer Look at Graffiti on vacant Netties Building

Graffiti on Wall Behind old Burger King

Graffiti on South side of Cleveland High School

Graffiti tends to appear in some of the most interesting places in the city…and even around our Ward. Take for example the graffiti that has been plastered all over the old Netties Florist Building (now owned by Walter Knoll Florist and up for sale) at 3801 S Grand Blvd. The building sits at the corner of S. Grand and Chippewa and is one of the first buildings you notice as you begin to leave the 15th Ward and enter into the 25th Ward. When Netties was bought out by Walter Knolls, the building was emptied and a “for sale” sign went up. If you walk past and look in the windows, the place looks abandoned with random items thrown everywhere like someone has raided the place. As the building has sat empty for months, it finally got tagged with massive amounts of graffiti (see pictures below).

Graffiti on vacant Netties building close up

If you drive around the 25th Ward, you can see more graffiti on other prominent and less prominent areas like on the south side door of Cleveland High School at 4352 Louisiana Avenue.

I believe that when people see graffiti and litter and other evidence of “lawlessness” then they jump on the band wagon and are more likely to litter and spray graffiti in the area. It’s like when you drive through a neighborhood where all of the lawns are mowed and it looks like people really care and take care of their property…it creates a certain perception that it is not “OK” to throw garbage on the ground or deface buildings. A supporter sent me an email with a link to an article in the Los Angeles Times on this topic recently which you can read here. The article talks about how the “mere presence of litter” increased theft in an area and explains more about the “broken windows” theory. Very interesting.

Here in the 25th Ward, it is important to call the Citizens Service Bureau and the Neighborhood Stabilization Officer when you see any graffiti. The city coordinates with a program called Operation Brightside, which is a federally funded program through the City of St. Louis that receives complaint’s about graffiti. Operation Brightside will contact the owners of the property to get permission to remove the graffiti (or a city ordinance permits them to act within around 10 days without hearing back from a property owner) to remove the graffiti. However, if the markings are out of reach, or the weather is too cold for a power washer, then the property owner is cited by the building division until removed.

Operation Brightside Headquarters (4646 Shenandoah Ave.)

I am in favor of increasing funding to services that work, like Operation Brightside so that they can have more manpower to address these issues more effectively and efficiently. I am also in favor of advocating property owners and real estate agents to light up vacant buildings at night so that those that choose to commit crimes and tag buildings are less likely to do so. Adressing some of the other big concerns in our Ward (like increased police patrols and investments in beautification) will help get rid of graffiti as well. What are your thoughts? What about creative solutions like temporarily covering graffiti with brick colored tarps in the winter or until the grafitti can be permanently removed?

Senor Pops Logo

Store Front

Lunch Specials

Lunch Menu

A new restaurant just opened in the 25th Ward: Señor Pops at 4101 S. Grand Ave! Señor Pops is the first Puerto Rican Restaurant in St. Louis, which are very popular in both New York City and Chicago. Owned by Anthony Gonzales and Managed by Angie Smock, Señor Pops is currently open for lunch Tuesday and Thursday 11am to 9pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 11pm, and Sunday 11am to 3pm.

Señor Pops: 4101 S. Grand Avenue

Prices Range from $5.50 for “Pop’s Quesadillas” to $8.50 for “Pop’s SUPER Burrito.” Take a look at the current Menu by clicking on the images above.

It is great to see a new type of international restaurant come into our Ward! The restaurant manager, Angie, said that they wanted to stay in the Dutchtown area because they already own and operate another business across the street, Tuba’s Cycle Center (4036 S. Grand Avenue). However, they would like to see drastic improvements for that stretch of S. Grand Avenue. Installing decorative trash cans, pedestrian lighting, white holiday lights on the roof lines of businesses, all are Ward improvements that are missing in our area.

Driving South on Grand from 40/64, you can see the excellent improvements made by the South Grand Community Improvement District around Grand and Aresenal. With the lighting, trash cans, banners across the road for events like the Festival of Nations, it really looks like their is life, energy, and progress going on in that area. And then it just stops at the Grand and Gravois area. If elected Alderwoman, I would focus on implementing ward improvements for the S. Grand area from Grand and Gravois down to the Holly Hills area. I would work with the 15th Ward Alderwoman, currently Jennifer Florida, to help continue that same “feel” that is around the Tower Grove area and help bring it down towards our Ward. Wouldn’t it be great to have S. Grand be a long stretch of unique stores, businesses, international restaurants, and a “place to go” like the Loop in Delmar or Washington Ave. downtown? It’s time to really bring the energy and aggressiveness to address the issue head on…to be proactive and invest in the area so business want to come into our Ward instead of waiting around and hoping that they do.

For Señor Pops, plans are to open for dinner once they recieve their liquor licence (for Margaritas and beer and not pre-packaged alcohol). They need the support of neighbors 350 square yards from the restaurant to get their permit. In the meantime, lets support this new local business! Stop by for lunch sometime, I hear the Fajitas are excellent…and a great price at only $7.50!

Ted Drewes on South Grand (Grand and Meramec)

Christmas Tree Lot

Canadian balsam Fir Christmas Trees from Nova Scotia

Holiday Wreaths

You know it’s the holiday season when Ted Drewes opens up again to sell their frozen custard and live Christmas Trees!

Ted Drewes (4224 S. Grand)

For those that don’t know, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard has become an integral part of St. Louis over the years…and one of their two locations (4224 S Grand Blvd.) is located right here in the 25th Ward!

According to their website, Ted Drewes Sr. first opened Ted Drewes Frozen Custard at the South Grand location in 1931. While only open during the summer hours for ice cream, Ted Drewes lights up again from November 28 to around December 20 to sell the Canadian balsam Fir Christmas Trees that are brought to St. Louis from Nova Scotia. They also have select flavors of custard for sale…and kids get free frozen custard with the purchase of a tree!

I am a firm believer in supporting our local 25th Ward businesses while at the same time working energetically to attract new businesses to our area. It would be great to have a donut/bagel/cofee shop in our Ward. Neighbors have suggested that another local pizza joint and/or a local gym/workout facility would be a nice addition as well. One way an Alderperson can help attract new businesses is through special tax incentives for development. While this certainly helps attract businesses, having an elected official that will be active and aggressive in advertising the area and helping to make a visible impact on how the Ward looks (through beautification efforts) is also another key way to attract new businesses.

What do you think? What businesses would you like to see in our Ward? Contact me with more ideas here, or vote below:

Reporters Waiting Outside

Everyone is briefed by the Board of Electoion Gary Stoff

Reporters Filming Mayor Slay and Alderwoman Young

Waiting in Line to File

Filing for office

Filling out the paperwork

Taking the Oath for Filing for Office

Signing the Final Paperwork

What an exciting morning! Filing opened today for all St. Louis City Alderman positions in odd numbered Wards as well as Mayor and Comptroller. This morning I secured my spot on the top of the Democratic primary ticket to become Alderman of the 25^th Ward! Downtown at the St. Louis Board of Election Office where filing occurs, the office was full of people and anticipation when the doors opened at 8:00am. Mayor Francis Slay, aldermen Phillis Young, Quincy Troupe, Bennice Jones King, Ken Ortmann, and April Ford-Griffin were all present as were many others to officially file for office.

Angie Singler Files for Office!

Today certainly marks an exciting time for our 25^th Ward! On Tuesday, March 3, 2009, voters will have the ability to decide on the best candidate to bring about positive changes for our neighborhoods. I believe that I can be a great Alderwoman, one who has lots of energy, follows through with citizens concerns, gets the community more involved in decisions, and is active in bringing about the positive changes we really need in Dutchtown and Mt. Pleasant. I am thrilled to both listen and share my ideas with the 25^th Ward community in the next three months!

Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, March 3, 2009…change is on the way!

Recently, School President Rev. Mitchell Doyen unveiled the new and exciting development plans for St. Mary’s High School at both the Dutchtown South Community Corporation General Meeting on November 3, 2008 as well as at our local Neighborhood Association meeting in the Resurrection School Building on Tuesday November 11, 2008. There was also a story written about the plans at the St. Louis Business Journal here.

St. Mary's Sports Park (Click Picture to Enlarge)

St. Mary’s acquired the property and 164-unit apartment complex to the West of the school and has plans to construct a baseball field and tennis courts on the property. All of the tenants in the apartments have been relocated and demolition should begin by the end of November once the asbestos abatement has been completed. Demolition should take between 6-8 weeks. Father Mitch announced that by June 30, 2009 the site should start looking like a ball field, and will be available for use once grass starts growing and other improvements are added. Plans also include converting the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys into a “South Side Campus” and creating a Center for Applied Sciences to teach AC Electricity and add HVAC in the Fall of 2009.

St. Mary’s has also acquired Beckerle Park located at Spring and Itaska and plans to make improvements to that area as well! Once construction is complete, local organized community groups will be able to sign-up to use the field!

Go Dragons!