St. Louis Cardinals Back Jack Coatar

In case you live under a rock or don't care about one of the great American freedoms, I'm here to inform you of something. Phylllis Young, the longtime 7th Ward Alderwoman, retired in December. Three Democratic candidates are running in the upcoming Democratic Primary to fill her seat. Voters in this ward will elect one person on March 3 out of the field of John (Jack) Coatar, Chelsea Merta and Samuel Cummings III to represent us.. Sure, this is only the Democratic Primary but there's a 99.9% chance the winner of this race is our next 7th Ward Alderman.

All three of these candidates have been civil to each other in the debates and forums I've seen. They've all pledged to work with whomever gets elected to make this ward a better place. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. I'm not here to tell you who to vote for, although I'll say right now I consider Jack Coatar a friend and will be voting for him on Tuesday, March 3. I encourage readers to check out all three candidates and vote for the one they feel will truly make the 7th Ward and St. Louis a better place.

That being said, I'd like to point out something. You see, I generally don't really care which companies contribute to political campaigns. The 7th Ward Independent Democrats think you all should care that Red Brick has donated to the Jack Coatar campaign. Don't be fooled by the Independent part of their name. The blog is awash in pink, the hallmark of Merta's campaign. The blog regularly takes shots at Samuel Cummings III, who apparently was once a member of the organization.

The blog conveniently put out this post condemning Red Brick's contribution to Coatar's campaign at a time when the company's policies during the Mardi Gras season are a hot topic in the neighborhood. On the subject of Red Brick, think about where Soulard would be without the company. How many of these homes occupied by renters now would be vacant? How many businesses would be here? Red Brick isn't perfect, no company is.

We could argue all day about Red Brick as a neighbor, but that's not what this post is about. Should you be holding a contribution of $1,000 by the company against the candidate? If anything, it shows that the candidate is on good terms with whomever controls the purse strings in that company and has their ear. That's a good thing, in case I didn't explain myself well.

However, if we are going to talk about donations from companies, there's an interesting line item in one of Coatar's financial reports. Eight days after he took $1,000 from Red Brick, he received a $2,500 donation from another St. Louis business. This business is the most important business in the 7th Ward; the most important business to St. Louis City and probably the most important business in the St Louis region. It's also beloved in many parts of the country, at least where the sweet sounds of KMOX can be heard in the Spring, Summer and Fall evenings.

That company that donated $2,500 to the Coatar For St. Louis campaign is of course the St. Louis Cardinals.

#IBACKJACK

New Subway at 7th and Geyer Almost Complete

**update** Here's a story posted yesterday about the building on nextSTL

The Subway sandwich shop currently located next to John Donut on Broadway will soon be moving into new digs at the corner of 7th and Geyer. The owner and his architect worked closely with representatives from the Soulard Restoration Group on the design of the building. Make a point to walk by the building sometime this weekend. Maybe grab some ice cream at Soulard Sweet Treats?

The chairs are already in the building so it can't be very long now. The building also has two two-bedroom apartments located above it. No word on what the rent will be.

Google has pictures of the lot from September of 2007 up to 2011. The site didn't get any better until they started building this building. Say what you will about not wanting a "chain restaurant" in Soulard. Feel better? Now please stop and enjoy this great addition to the neighborhood.