Mayoral candidate Lewis Reed, who also serves as president of the city's Board of Aldermen, might have finally made a wise decision when it comes to hiring a campaign director.
Before we discuss that, though, let’s look at Reed's musical chairs approach to campaign leadership, which must have incumbent Mayor Francis Slay’s backers chuckling.
First, Matt Teter was named campaign director. But Teter had previously resigned his post as executive director of the state Democratic Party, after an incident involving an ex-boyfriend. That story quickly became a campaign issue.
Just as it looked as though Teter might survive that mild controversy, he said on Facebook that leaving New York and returning to St. Louis was like being hauled away to prison. He would later contend that he was referring to a personal relationship, and did not intend to disparage the city.
Then in early January, The St. Louis Beacon reported that Teter was bounced as campaign manager. Teter said Reed refused to listen to his “sound advice.” Reed said Teter was only holding the position for someone to come along later and run the campaign, though Reed didn’t list any names as candidates.
It was then reported at stltoday.com that former state Sen. Robin Wright-Jones’ real-estate firm, Arjen One LLC, had received a payment of $1,500 from the Reed campaign for “community relations consulting.”
Wright-Jones has more baggage than a Greyhound bus.
In 2011, her campaign reports showed a $95,000 discrepancy. Her amended reports drew even more scrutiny, because they disclosed $3,000 in purchases of “campaign clothing” and hundreds of dollars more at retail clothing and accessory shops. She blamed poor bookkeeping, an ill treasurer, and herself. This came after Wright-Jones was sued by the Four Seasons in March 2011 for failing to pay part of a bill for her birthday fundraiser. The hotel alleged she owed more than $3,600 for the January 2010 party. She said lobbyists were supposed to pay the entire bill. The case was settled just prior to a hearing date.
Reed has now settled on former ACORN director Glenn Burleigh to run his campaign. Of course, there is still some confusion. Teter told the Post-Dispatch that he was not fired from the campaign and that he chose to leave. Burleigh said Teter was fired. Burleigh also initially said last week that he and Wright-Jones would be the campaign's co-directors, but later said he was in charge. Reed backed him up by saying, “Robin has no decision-making or leadership role.” There is no word if Wright-Jones will be involved with the campaign at all.
In addition, Burleigh has disavowed his former membership in the Communist Party.
The good news for Reed is that Burleigh has proven to be skilled at getting voters out on election day, with his roots deeply entrenched in the black community through ACORN. The key to defeating Slay's well-financed campaign—and overcoming these early missteps—is voter turnout on the city’s north side.
In fact, it really is Reed’s only hope.
