Bridges leaps over WSCO

The balance of power at West Side Citizen’s Organization shifted toward Bridges of St. Paul Manager Jerry Trooien at the annual meeting on Monday night. With over 700 people credentialed to vote it was the largest planning council meeting in WSCO history. Attendance is normally 30-50 people at most planning councils in St. Paul.

Many voters stated a concern that WSCO is not intended to be a single issue board  that addresses the Bridges project, while several candidates mentioned that the people who really care about multiple aspects of the West Side will still show up next year. The Bridges project was mostly an elephant in the room; everyone whispered about it but very few candidates mentioned the project by name and most only hinted at it.

Before the votes were tallied Bridges supporters were already excited by the assumed results, with one shouting out, “I think we’ll have a new board – we don’t need to vote!” in regards to a motion to change the bylaws.

more inside, including resultsIt was standing room only in the meeting room, with most spots on the floor taken. Supporters of Bridges of St. Paul developer Jerry Trooien wore yellow stickers saying “WSCO Forward” and carried lists of candidates to vote for, while opponents wore green buttons with “West Siders ALL!” printed on them.

The meeting also drew St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman, who filled out his ballot early on.  Coleman has been an open opponent of the Bridges project, especially the way it has been implemented. Also in attendance was St. Paul Ward Two City Council Member Dave Thune, who brokered a deal which lead to Trooien dropping a request for rezoning before further discussion with the community. To preserve impartiality,  WSCO brought in an outsider to chair the meeting, as well as a parliamentarian and additional people to server as sergeant at arms.

While most people showed up with their votes already cast, there were a few in attendance who arrived undecided and made a decision on the spot. Even before the candidates were finished talking many of the Bridges supporters were seemed pleased with the anticipated results. Voters could only assume the results; nothing was announced at the meeting as tallying was not completed, although votes are now available and prove they were right to be confident.

After a majority of people left once the voting  was completed, an amendment to the bylaws was proposed to allow only residents to vote. The current bylaws allows for “any current organization, resident, business person, volunteer or employee”. There were people both strongly for and against the proposed amendment, including one who offered an amendment “only people named Steve can vote”.  Demi Miller stated that the people who left early weren’t strong stake-holders in the West Side Citizen’s Organization.  The remaining attendees were concerned  that volunteer status could be issued to those who volunteer for any organization, either for-profit or non-profit, and wasn’t certified, allowing participants to abuse the system to bring in additional votes.

The motion to change the bylaws was tabled for a future meeting. 

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