Politics & Government

Paulette Carr to Run for City Council in Ward 2

Paulette Carr said economic development, open government and retaining and attracting residents will be priorities in her campaign.

Paulette Carr, who has been involved in many University City issues in the last several years, is running for City Council in Ward 2.

The seat is currently held by Councilmember Lynn Ricci. No word yet on whether Ricci will run for re-election. She did not file papers on Tuesday, the first day for candidate filling.

In literature accompanying her announcement, Carr points out that she led the drive for the first ever state audit of University City. Carr said that after participating in government as a citizen, she has decided to take the next step and run for City Council.

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“Economic development, open government and retaining and attracting residents will be issues I will be emphasizing in my campaign,” Carr said in a news release.

Carr said she wants a city government that is transparent and accountable to the citizens of University City. She describes herself as an advocate for open government and citizen participation. Carr runs a website—www.ucitycitizen.org —where she publishes open records, stories about the city government and audio of various city meetings, including city council meetings.

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Besides being a fixture at city council meetings, Carr has served as a member of the University City Plan Commission.

"She favors making University City more business and development friendly while providing for the comfort of residential neighborhoods as mixed use projects are added throughout the city," read the news release.

Personal background

Carr has been a U City resident for 25 years. She and her husband have been married for 35 years. They have one son.

Carr worked as both a chemistry teacher and a research scientist at McDonnell Douglas on chemical lasers and Washington University Medical School in cell biology.

She's also an artist, whose sculptures were displayed in the rotunda of the U.S. House of Representatives and in Jefferson City for the first Breast Cancer Awareness month in 1993.

In her down time, Carr loves to garden.

Carr lists her strengths as:

  • Believes strongly in the openness of government, citizen participation and accountability.
  • Independent
  • Analytical
  • My politics have been issue politics, rather than the politics of particular candidates. 
  • Is open to re-evaluation – and always to further discussion.
  • Is tenacious, committed and passionate about good government, good governance and University City.
  •  Understand sthe city budget.
  • Committed to our City Charter and U City's Council-Manager form of government.    

Carr lists some of her accomplishments in relation to University City:

  • In 2008 she successfully worked against a sales tax increase.
  • Last year, she opposed a property tax increase for a bond issue.
  • Her efforts proved successful and voters defeated both measures.

What Carr sees for the future:

  • University City is a pooled-tax city. Lately there has been pressure from some of the cities in the pool that put in a larger amount than they receive to withdraw from the pool. I anticipate that they may be successful at some time, and we will see a much smaller revenue stream. We need to plan for a time when we may move to a point of sale city or a hybrid of the two. In order to maintain our infrastructure and operational expenses we will have to become more friendly to business, actively seeking economic development. 
  • Would like to see development occurr along Olive. That will require a healthier economy, and greater public investment in the form of tax abatements, and TIF-type financing. We can, however, take some immediate approaches following the model of Maplewood, where a representative of the Community Development Department actually contact businesses they are interested in and tell them that when they are ready to relocate, it should be their city. They offer small business loans, grants and other incentives. They have even hired a sales specialist/broker who identifies prospective new businesses and helps them find retail space. The revival in Maplewood could be copied here in University City with an aggressive pro-business mission and the right “sales broker.” 
  •  Some people cite U City schools as being an issue for attracting and retaining residents. A great many residents do use our public schools, and find them to be satisfactory or better. There are also many residents who choose to send their children to parochial or private schools. That is an individual choice based on the school, the goals of the parents, and the needs of the children. The City and School District are separate subdivisions but because they overlay one another, they share mutual interests and will find areas of cooperation.  I fully support exploring and developing those areas of cooperation.

Just this week, Carr and several other University City residents withdrew a lawsuit they filed against the city, claiming violations of the Sunshine Law including improperly closed meetings, failure to provide public records and the questionable manner in which the city manager was selected.

Carr said the suit is suspended while she focuses on her campaign.

To learn more about Paulette Carr visit her website UCityCitizen.org.


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