Jake Zimmerman on Jaco Report: Chip Wood Refuses to Appear!

Democratic candidate for County Assessor Jake Zimmerman was a guest yesterday on the Election Edition of the Jaco Report. His opponent Chip Wood bizarrely refused to appear!

You can watch the report here:

April 5 Election Guide!

There are several important upcoming elections in the St. Louis region, so I thought it might be helpful to compile some of the information I've seen online. I'll start with a few of my own endorsements, and then provide more general resources.

Citywide and Countywide Endorsements

Most important: if you live in the City of St. Louis, make sure to Vote Yes On Prop E. The earnings tax is an absolutely crucial part of the city's revenue, and it's loss would be devastating. Some resources:

• Here's the Post-Dispatch's editorial urging city residents to to Vote Yes on E.
• The St. Louis American makes a similar case.
• The Riverfront Times reported on how the main backer of the repeal, right-wing millionaire Rex Sinquefield, can't actually vote on the referendum since he lives elsewhere.
• You can read all you want to know about the importance of the earnings tax at this link, though keep in mind that it was for a different election and now you need to Vote Yes on E.

Everyone in St. Louis County can vote on an important race for County Assessor between Democrat Jake Zimmerman and Republican L.K. "Chip" Wood. I strongly recommend voting Jake Zimmerman for County Assessor.

• Here's the Post-Dispatch's endorsement of Jake Zimmerman.
• I've written about the race the race in support of Zimmerman here, here, and here.
• Hotflash at Show Me Progress has written in support of Zimmerman here, here and here.
• The St. Louis American endorsed Zimmerman.
• And I'll also just note that the St. Louis Tea Party has been going whole hog for Chip Wood (even hypocritically ignored the fact that he didn't pay his property taxes), which they usually don't do unless they're expecting something in return. I, for one, would not like to see an uber-ideological county assessor who panders to a tea party who thinks they're "at war" with the rest of America and the "ends justify the means."

Local Endorsements

Audrey Hollis is running for Mayor of Bellefontaine Neighbors. I can think of no better person for elected office who can thoughtfully and strategically push for progressive change that makes the St. Louis region better. Audrey knows how to make change happen.

Many people speak highly of Hattie Jackson, running to be a Trustee of St. Louis Community College, including Martin Rafanan, Mayor Slay, and the St. Louis American.

Steve Patterson at UrbanReviewSTL and many other people interested in seeing the city change for the better have endorsed independent candidate Scott Ogilvie in the Ward 24 of St. Louis City.

State Rep. Vicki Englund is a cool person and is running for the Lindbergh School Board. You can read some of her thoughts on how Lindbergh can stay ahead of the curve here.

As documented by FiredUp Missouri, in St. Charles, Sally Faith has been remarkably disingenuous in her campaign for Mayor. As a State Representative, Faith sponsored a bill to repeal the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act and also supported anti-union right-to-work-for-less legislation. While she was running for Mayor, Faith suddenly changed her mind about those things and decided that she really does care about puppies and workers after all. She also supports gutting the minimum wage law supported by 76% of Missouri voters. I recommend Republican incumbent Patti York for Mayor of St. Charles, since she didn't need an election to figure out that she likes people and puppies.

General Election Information

The League of Women Voters, in conjunction with the Post-Dispatch, has put together a pretty comprehensive Voter's Guide for most of the greater St. Louis region.

Steve Patterson at UrbanReviewSTL shared his recommendations.

The Local Patch's have been doing amazing work providing detailed information about local races, candidates, and debates. It's hard to summarize all of it, but here are some general resources (in roughly alphabetical order):

• Articles about Afton-Shrewsberry elections. Note that two aldermanic candidates Dee Wiecher and John Oldenwald are opposed (with Wiecher taking a lead on the issue) to a new plan to bring a Walmart into the area (of course with massive tax giveaways) while incumbent Greg Lauter is supportive.
• Arnold Voter's Guide.
• Articles about Ballwin-Ellsville elections.
• Chesterfield Voter's Guide.
• A Clayton-Richmond Heights Guide.
• Creve Couer Election Guide.
• Articles on Fenton Elections.
• Voter's Guides for Frontenac, Ladue, Huntleigh, and Crystal Lake Park.
• Articles for Kirkwood/Webster Groves elections.
• A Lake St. Louis Election Guide.
• A Maplewood/Brentwood Election Guide and articles.
• Articles about the Maryland Heights elections including the Maryland Heights Election Guide.
• Mehlville Election Guide and assorted articles.
• Articles about Oakville Elections.
• O'Fallon articles about their elections.
• St. Charles Patch articles about their elections.
• Articles about St. Peters' elections.
• Town and Country/Manchester Voters Guide and assorted articles.

• Articles on Wentzville elections.

Did Chip Wood "Forget" Or "Choose Not" To Pay His Website Bill?

Updated: See below.

Uh oh! We know that Republican County Assessor candidate Chip Wood didn't pay his property taxes. He first claimed that he didn't know about them, then he claimed that he chose not to pay them. But now it looks like he might not have paid the bill for his website either! Here's the screenshot from www.chipwoodforassessor.com, which is apparently now suspended!



In stark contrast, the website of Jake Zimmerman, who does pay his taxes, is working just fine.

By the way, aside from this blog and Show Me Progress, no one has reported on Wood's blatantly conflicting statements. Naturally, the mainstream media completely missed it.

Update: Seems like the best answer is that Chip Wood forgot to pay, since his website is now back up. Nice of him to get around to paying his bills.

Chip Wood's Conflicting Stories About Why He Didn't Pay Taxes

Yesterday, I noted how the Republican running to be in charge of property taxes does not even pay his own property taxes. In the original article reporting this, here's what Republican Chip Wood had to say:

The St. Louis City Collector of Revenue confirms that L.K. “Chip” Wood owes $12,458.56 for two years of unpaid property tax, penalties and interest — on the L.K. Wood real estate office at 5600 Hampton Avenue. “I guess the company didn’t have the money to make the payments,” Wood said Tuesday. “I apologize. It’s an oversight. I didn’t know where we stood with that until you just called me."

So he first claimed that he didn't know about it until he was called and that it was "an oversight." However, in the Post-Dispatch story yesterday, his story was quite different:

As for the city bill, Wood said his company had financial problems in December, when he decided to defer the taxes.

"We ran out of cash," Wood said. "Times are tough. We were caught flat-footed and had to make a decision."

Wood promised to pay the total due "in late spring or summer. ... There is no sinister or devious plan here, just an honest business guy trying to get by in hard times."

So he first claims that he didn't know about it, then he claims that he did know about it but decided not to pay. These two claims are not consistent.

Republican Who Wants To Be In Charge Of Property Taxes Doesn't Pay His Property Taxes

Since back taxes are in the news, maybe we should consider something with a little more serious practical implications than Claire McCaskill noticing that her accountant hadn't been listing some personal property taxes and then voluntarily paying them. There's an election coming up on April 5 for St. Louis County Assessor. This election will determine the person in charge of assigning property tax values to county real estate.

The entire function of the job is to deal with property taxes, so you would think it'd be a given that both of the candidates would have made sure that their own property taxes were in order. You'd be wrong. KMOX reported:

The St. Louis City Collector of Revenue confirms that L.K. “Chip” Wood owes $12,458.56 for two years of unpaid property tax, penalties and interest — on the L.K. Wood real estate office at 5600 Hampton Avenue. “I guess the company didn’t have the money to make the payments,” Wood said Tuesday. “I apologize. It’s an oversight. I didn’t know where we stood with that until you just called me.

And that wasn't his only problem:

Last week, Wood blamed a mailing address mix-up after a move for being late paying $2,400 in St. Louis County personal property tax. The county counselor has sent Wood a letter of apology noting that while Wood was late, he did pay his county tax bill before the county sued him for nonpayment.

So, if your job is to be in charge of property taxes, but you don't even pay your own, isn't that a pretty major problem?

Fortunately, Democrats have a great candidate in Jake Zimmerman:

So, if you live in St. Louis County, and you're voting for the guy who's in charge of property taxes, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you should go with the guy who actually pays his own. Or, as the Post-Dispatch puts it:

If there must be an elected assessor, it should be someone professional enough to understand the complications of the job and compassionate enough to care about people with problems. Also, his taxes should be current. We recommend Jake Zimmerman.