A couple of years ago, I was on hand when Alderman Freeman Bosley Sr., democrat from the Third Ward, made an impassioned speech to the Board of Aldermen detailing how a $500 million development project he was backing on the Salisbury Strip in Hyde Park would do wonders for his ward. He envisioned it being like Atlantic City’s Boardwalk or Coney Island in New York.
“Imagine being able to get a hot dog or an ice cream cone. Kids and families would be out there,” he trumpeted. I recall thinking that day that Bosley Sr. had lost touch with reality. Hyde Park, to put it mildly, is one of the most dangerous places in the city of St. Louis.
According to figures compiled on the website areavibes.com: The estimated Hyde Park violent crime rate is 49 percent higher than the St. Louis average. The estimated chance of being a victim of a crime in Hyde Park is 1 in 7, and your chance of being a victim of a violent crime there is 1 in 36. This is hardly a place for family strolls and ice cream parlors.
Bosley Sr. recently was awakened by gunshots in his neighborhood and then saw a thief helping himself to a stereo from his son’s automobile. He was going to chase after him, but his wife talked him out of it.
Bosley Sr. seems out of step with the world around him.
He proved as much to an even more incredible level last week, when we learned that Bosley Sr. had sent friends and supporters a letter asking them to help pay for his daughter’s college education. He solicited contributions to cover more than $14,000 in tuition at Saint Xavier University in Chicago—a somewhat pricey private school.
Once the inevitable outcry began, Bosley Sr. announced that he would return any money he received, noting that no one had come to his financial rescue as of last Thursday. He told the Post-Dispatch, “Since you made such a stink out of it, I’ll return any money. You really have blown that thing well out of proportion. I did nothing wrong.”
The 77-year-old Bosley Sr., father of the city’s first black mayor, Freeman Bosley Jr., won re-election earlier this year after winning a Democratic Primary that featured three challengers. He won easily over Jeffrey Hardin, Anthony Bell, and Maxine Johnson with almost 54 percent of the vote.
Barring his resignation or unforeseen circumstances, Bosley Sr. will be around City Hall at least another four years. If all goes well and someone pays tuition, his daughter should be nearing graduation from college when her dad’s ninth term ends.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
