Names That Profess

Names That Profess

Here's something light-hearted for a Friday.

I noticed recently a contractor we hired had the last name Carpenter.

And I recalled our high school librarian had the last name Reading.

But would you believe there's a professor at UM-Kansas City named Dean who was, for a while anyway, Dean of Libraries there?

And if you search the Missouri "Blue Book" personnel directory you can find some other interesting job-name combinations for state employees, anyway:

A guy named Driver who works for MODOT.

A fella named Cash who is a tax auditor for Revenue.

A P.O. for Corrections named Justice.

Sadly, while there are cooks in state facilities named Baker, and there are bakers too, there are no bakers named Baker nor cooks named Cook. But there's a guy named Butcher who works in food service for Mental Health. That's almost close.

And I'll be on the lookout for somebody named Joe Candlestickmaker. ;-)

I guess my occupation, then, should be as a hot dog.

In Memory: Susan Foulk

In Memory: Susan Foulk

Former CDA housing analyst and former Dutchtown South director Susan Foulk passed away on Tuesday morning.

Services will be private.

I interviewed at one point with Susan for a housing assistant job at Dutchtown; later, at the City, I recall her as an exuberant, funny colleague.

She retired in March 2006; as did her husband Dan, after 23 years with the city, most recently at Lambert Airport.

Following so closely on the heels of the unexpected, tragic passing of John Rataj in August (recognized among others by a moment of silence at the East-West Gateway luncheon last month), this represents another blow to the CDA/SLDC/PDA collegiality.

Back Again!

Back Again!

Hello! Well, after a busy Thanksgiving holiday and an even busier time last week when we had a catastrophic roof leak during the freezing rain/ice storm caused by faulty roofing installation, I'm going to try to get back on the blog again.

Some things:

1) I wholeheartedly support the reelection of my alderman, Craig Schmid. I think his opponent Galen Gondolfi is a great guy, but I don't see a compelling reason to boot out one of the hardest-working, most approachable elected officials around -- Craig Schmid.

2) I also strongly support the reelection of aldermanic president Jim Shrewsbury. I've known Jim for a number of years, having worked directly with him as his computer tutor when I was in college in the late 1990s. Jim really cares about this city, and has dedicated his life to public service. He deserves another term.

3) Over in the 6th Ward, incumbent Lewis Reed is running against Jim for board president, creating an opening that's quite competitive. While
committeeman Cacchione could presumably have a lead, I'd like to see my former SLDC colleague Christian Saller take that one. He'd be a voice for responsible development citywide.

4) In the wake of this storm, aside from my own roofer frustrations, why isn't there more serious discussion about requiring Ameren to develop a five-year plan to put all power lines underground. PSC has the power, if they just utilize it! It would cost money, yes, but it would save lives. It would also help Gov. Blunt show he's really not in the hip pocket of the utilities.

5) As depressing as it is, state-takeover (or "overlay board" takeover) of St Louis Public Schools appears increasingly imminent. Losing local control seems to be an acceptable trade-off for... what exactly?

Further thoughts to come on these and other issues, at a later time.