Historical October 1994 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
On September 21, Mayor Freeman R. Bosley, Jr., spoke at Grace United Methodist Church as part of their special September series of Wednesday potluck suppers and speakers. Dee Joyce-Hayes, St. Louis’s Circuit Attorney, and a neighborhood resident, introduced Bosley.
She told the audience that they had been law students together at St. Louis University in the 1970s.
The mayor said that one of his most difficult tasks is to put things in perspective for citizens of the city.
He mentioned that the city was spending $17 million for a new jail that would accommodate 220 people.
He said, “The way things are going, people will be standing in line to get in. You can’t deal with the problem on the back end only. You have to move to the front end.” For Bosley, that meant not just more police and more jails but talking about education, jobs, economic opportunity, neighborhood stabilization and housing.
He has to deal with all these things. Mayor Bosley noted that McDonald’s gave $40,000 to begin midnight basketball.
From 9:00 p.m. to 1 or 2:00 a.m., about 160 guys participate.
It gets people off the street and into a structured environment.
They can develop pride and dignity and a feeling of upward mobility.
The Urban League is there to help with jobs.
The Health Dept. is there.
The police department is trying to create relationships with the youth in a nonconfrontational setting. Bosley said there are 300-400 people on Saturday nights at Wohl and the Cherokee center. People are there who might normally be riding around or drinking a 40 oz. or maybe be unfortunate enough to get sucked up into something. Bosley said that his administration had also taken $500,000 to expand the hours of the recreation centers and they are now used by an additional 30,000 people.
He noted that some of our problems are social problems and “that’s how they have to be dealt with.” Bosley mentioned the 50% dropout rate in the public schools.
He said that it is because “we’re continuing to teach kids the same things we were taught, our parents were taught.” But, young people now because of the “glitter and glamour” of television want it all right now.
They want a job but what do they know how to do? Bosley felt that young people had to learn about all the various alternatives available to them and not just be told about college. Bosley also spoke of the need for a neighborhood to have basic goods and services.
He said that the average black person living north of Delmar has to travel 12 miles for shopping and spends thousands outside his neighborhood.
The planned shopping center on Natural Bridge is the first to be built in that area in over 35 years. Bosley was excited about his administration’s new housing initiatives and about the new Community Education Centers, that enhance the old community schools.
He wants them to be open until 11:00 p.m. and would like to have the Dept. of Health provide prenatal care there. Bosley concluded by answering questions.
In that format, he said that the city and county are “inextricably tied together.” He also said there would be increased opportunities to recycle at a number of fire stations in the city. Other speakers in this series have included Gregory Freeman and Dee Joyce-Hayes.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, October 1994.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Page1 jump says page6; actual continuation is page8. Period statistics are attributed to speaker, not independently verified current findings.
Original source: SD_Times1994_10.pdf, printed page(s) 1, 8; PDF page(s) 1, 8.
