On July 1, 2012 our new fiscal year begins. This will be FY2013. By that date the City Council is expected to have approved a new budget. The new budget will have an unexpected,  and quite honestly not totally welcome, addition in the public works budget.

On Monday, April 23rd, St. Louis County advised us that it wants to divest itself of Delmar Boulevard from the Lion Gate east to the City limits.  The County does not want to maintain any roadway where the trolley will run.  The County says that this section will no longer be an arterial road – the County does maintain arterial roads throughout the County.

St. Louis County does have the authority to turn over ownership and maintenance of the road to us.

So, we will pick up another stretch of road that we will have to maintain from July 1st onward.  St. Louis County has agreed to maintain the traffic signals at a time and material cost, as it does with three other signals.

I always try to look at the positive.  So, here goes.  As per Public Works and Parks Director Rich Wilson,  ”This will give us the opportunity to permit the trolley and make sure the …

When I came into office in April of 2012 I had a number of goals.

I wanted to work with the City Council to put our City finances on a better financial footing.  We’ve done that.  When we took office there was a projected deficit for FY2013 of about two million dollars.  The draft budget we are now considering has a projected surplus of more than $400,000.
I wanted to work with the Administration to make the changes needed in the structure of our government so that we would not face deficits every year.  We’ve done that.  Some long-overdue reorganization of City Hall and City services has occurred and, barring unforeseen circumstances, we should not be facing deficit budgets as the norm, as was the case for the three years before we arrived.
I wanted to focus attention on rebuilding our City’s infrastructure.  We now have a “true” listing of infrastructure needs – including a surprising $24 million needed to bring our streets, sidewalks and curbs to the level they should be.  Now we have to figure out if and how we can pay for this, and other long-overdue maintenance.   We have a number of committees looking into this – one prioritizing …

As I have looked out the window this weekend, at the torrents of rain; the fitful sun; the puddles in the yards and parks; and the clouds rolling in and out of the area, I find myself hoping that this weekend is not a precursor for spring weekends to come, because I am hoping for GREAT weather next weekend.

On April 21st, the 2012 Movies in the Parks series will be kicked on in Heman Park.  This is a series of seven movies that will be shown once a month from April through October.

A bit of background.  Last year, after one very busy weekend in the Loop, University City resident Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo came to me to ask if I would work with her to organize a series of outdoor movies, to provide a recreational opportunity for our younger residents, at no cost to them.  I was glad to do so and, last year, we were able to raise funds to show two movies.

This year, I asked for community volunteers to organize a series of showings – thinking it would be best if I stepped down from the movie-choosing business.  Five residents stepped up to the challenge – Ms. Toliver-Diallo, Rick Salamon, …

According to Wikipedia, the website that has something to say about almost EVERYTHING, an election is “a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.[1] Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century.[1] Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.”
Now is the time for another goround of that decision-making process. Next Tuesday, April 3rd, is Election Day in University City. There are a number of contested races for City Council; a vote about a no-tax-increase bond issue in St. Louis County; and elections for the St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees.
Mark your calendar now and make sure you make time to head to the polls. And take time, too, to make sure you understand the issues, and candidates, you will consider.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch did an editorial on Proposition S – the no-tax-increase bond issue. Check that out at http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-in-st-louis-county-props-for-prop-s/article_9d6c0d05-2f27-5e33-b342-a1661e52dbbf.html.
Check out this link for details on the candidates running to be Trustees of …

On Monday, March 19th, another public budget meeting will be held. This meeting is designed to give residents the opportunity to provide their feedback and ask questions on the DRAFT FY2013 budget, which was presented to Council on February 25, 2012.

The meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. at the McNair Administration building. Everyone is invited to attend.

You can take a look at the draft budget before the meeting. It is published on-line at the City’s website at www.ucitymo.org.  You can review a hard copy at the University City Public Library.

This year’s budget document is leaner than past budgets – about half the size of last year’s document. Much more explanatory information has been included – organization charts for each department; detailed explanations of what each department does and plans to do in the coming year; and some comparison columns that, at a quick glance, allow you to compare this year’s expenditures with next year’s proposed expenditures; and more.  All in all I believe this budget document takes a huge step in making the City’s finances more understandable.  Still work to be done, but this is a good start.

The budget document begins with a letter from the City manager to …

On Monday, March 5th, I presented my State of the City Address in the Council chamber, at an event sponsored by the Historical Society of University City.  About sixty people came to celebrate the birthday of University City founder E.G. Lewis , and heard a speeches by City Manager Lehman Walker and me as we tried to set forth the state of this community today.

Following is my speech.

_____________________

STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS
Mayor Shelley Welsch
Monday, March 5, 2012
7:00 p.m. • Council Chamber

I would like to thank the Historical Society of University City for the invitation to speak here this evening for the Second Annual State of the City address. I am honored to present this talk to try to convey the positive things that have been happening in our community over the past year. As I mentioned last year, I think this is a good way to honor the birth of E.G. Lewis, the founder of this great city.

Who We Are

I think it is always good to set the stage for a talk such as this. So, I will begin as I began last year, providing a bit of background on our community. …

The City of University City will host a “Celebration of Diversity” from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, March 3, 2012 in the gymnasium at Centennial Commons, 7210 Olive Blvd. This event is designed to recognize the diversity of the City’s residents and their contributions to the community. The event is free and open to the public and will include food, activities, music and more. The City’s new brand identity also will be unveiled at the event.  The unveiling is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Following is a list of organizations scheduled to take part in the Celebration of Diversity event:

Bi-Lingual International Assistant Services
Bible Way Baptist Church
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America
Craft Alliance
University City Bible Chapel
The Folk Dance Association
Sutter-Meyer Society
U City In Bloom
U City Parks Foundation
Penultimate Press
Family of Love Divine Church
Christ Church/The Wayfarer’s Inn
SGI-USA St. Louis Community Center
Trinity Presbyterian Church
Health Protection Education Services
Seafood City
Washington University/Thurtene Carnival
Fitz’s American Grill Bottling Works
Lupus Foundation of America
The Gladys & Henry Crown Center for Senior Living
Cheese-ology
Pure Mind Center
The University City High School Broadcast Club (student journalists)

A strong brand identity is important for communities as they work to attract new residents, businesses and customers. The look and approach for presenting University City, with this new brand, will …

Back in my earlier life I worked in the broadcast news business, the last ten years with ABC Network News. And in that life, my energy was spent covering governments – national and state. I was not involved in any way. In those days you stayed separate – no listener or viewer was supposed to know where you stood on any issue, what you thought about anything. You covered the government. You did not get involved.

When I left the news business, I was living in University City, and for the first time I thought about getting active in the civic life of my town. I well remember the first time I visited City Hall. I spoke with Dory Miller, who was then the City Clerk (and is now a long-time friend of mine) and she suggested I volunteer to work on a City board or commission. I filled out an application, submitted it, and a few weeks later I got a call from Dory asking if I would consider an appointment to the Municipal Commission on Arts & Letters. I said yes. I was appointed. I served for two terms. During those years I completed the transition from not-involved to …

I’m not a real fan of science fiction. For some reason, I find it hard to suspend my disbelief enough to become really engrossed in the story. But there is one part of science fiction that seems a “bit” possible, and those are the stories dealing with time, time travel, time warps – all of that. And I think that’s because in my own life, time seems fluid. It does not seem like the same “thing” every day.

Waiting for a pot of water to boil? Time goes slowly.

Trying to get everything ready before company arrives? Time moves fast.

Standing in line at a grocery store, when you have another appointment in three minutes? Time goes slowly.

Working to spread out peanut brittle candy before it hardens? Time goes fast.

The first weeks of being a mother? Time goes slowly.

Looking at a daughter grown up? Time went fast.

I’ve been thinking about this recently because of an e-mail I recently received from one of my former Girl Scouts.

When our daughter was a student at Delmar-Harvard, I was a Girl Scout leader. And one of my Scouts was a young woman named Jessica Washington – the always smiling, helpful, polite and friendly Jessica. And now (how …

Back when I first ran for City Council, in 2002, one of my promises as a candidate was to communicate regularly with my constituents if I was elected. I won that race. And very soon afterwards I started publishing my Bulletin Board. The Bulletin Board was designed to be a place to share information about University City – not just information I collected but that others wanted to share. I sent the Bulletin Board out as often as I could – via e-mail and hard copy. I used my Council salary (about $187/month) to pay for the hard copies that I distributed around the City through neighborhood associations and interested residents.
As Mayor, I have continued with the Bulletin Board, but now it is a simple website that you can find at www.ucitymo.com. The mission is still the same – to spread news about University City. (And, by the way, it has the best U City-focused weather predictions around, compiled by a former National Weather Service employee who lives in our fair town.) I hope you will check it out.
I especially hope you will check out the website now, because I’ve just posted a short piece on my second UNSUNG HERO …