Every week, St. Louis Public Radio and the Beacon's Chris McDaniel joins Jo Mannies and Jason Rosenbaum to talk about the week’s politics.
On this holiday edition of the podcast, Jo Mannies and Jason Rosenbaum welcome St. Louis Alderman Scott Ogilvie, I-24th Ward to the show. Chris McDaniel is on assignment this week.
Ogilvie burst onto the local political scene in 2011 when he easily defeated former Alderman Tom Bauer to represent the southwest St. Louis ward. On the show, Ogilvie discussed Complete Streets legislation in St. Louis County, his bid to cap campaign donations for city elections and his opposition to a statewide transportation sales tax.
During the show, Ogilvie said:
- St. Louis County's version of the "Complete Streets" bill is aimed at curtailing decades of transportation policy direct at "the car driver."
- The state's prior campaign donation limits -- set at $325 for a state representative candidate and $625 for a state Senate candidate as of 2008 -- were too low and led to the "downfall" of the system.
- A proposed sales tax increase for transportation projects should be called a 1 percent "highways sales tax." Even if the money given to local cities and counties were used to expand mass transit, he said, there wouldn't be enough state money to maintain the new infrastructure.
