One first-time attendee introduced himself.

Mike Colona, winner of the primary election for the 67^th district State Representative and unopposed in the general election, gave a talk about some of his priorities for the coming year. The 67^th district is bounded by Tower Grove Park on the North, Delor on the South, Grand on the East and Regal on the West and is a very diverse area.

He is an attorney with experience in civil and criminal law and has served on the Missouri Public Defender panel. Since the State Representative position is a part-time position, he will continue his work as a lawyer. He feels that Jefferson City needs more attorneys since the elected representatives may pass laws that only relate to the crisis of the moment and may even contradict other laws.

He discussed ideas on:

• health care reform
• economic development
• State workers’ pay and the strong competition from private industry for qualified workers
• working cooperatively with the other legislators in Jefferson City to help overcome the sometimes sharp party divisions
• City and sales taxes which can cause problems for the less economically able since they are regressive taxes
• City Police budget control and working with the State Police Board which directs the Police budget
• finding alternatives to property taxes for public school funding such as private business support
• Ameren’s proposed new power plant and whether it should be coal or nuclear

The next legislative session starts on January 7^th and he will be sworn in on January 12^th. His Website www.citizensforcolona.com is available for comments or questions.

President Robert Ashton reminded residents that the Tower Grove Heights t-shirts are still available for $10.

John Papa reminded everyone that the Autumn Fest will be held on Oct. 11^th. The event will be much like the past ones—there will be two open houses on Utah and one on Spring, carriage rides and wine and food sampling. Tickets are available now for $15 (they will be $20 day of the event.) If you want to buy tickets or volunteer to help, contact John. Gary Kushinsky urged everyone to buy at least one ticket to support the event, even if they might not be able to attend, since this is the biggest neighborhood get-together for the year.

Jennifer Florida, the 15^th Ward Alderman, couldn’t attend and Robert shared some information from her. Construction on the Grand Ave. sidewalks between Arsenal and Juniata will be starting in the next three to four weeks. This is a separate effort from the Grand Streets project. Interviews for the Police Chief are starting on September 29^th; the position is required to be filled from within the department. Several businesses in the area have been using chicken-wire barriers in front of their stores and although this is legal, Jennifer has been working with them to find a more attractive alternative.

Robert gave a review of the area crime statistics from August. In general, property crime and larceny are down although burglary and vehicle theft are up. Crimes against persons are down 5% for the year in this area and down 13% overall in the city from last year.

The agenda for the October meeting will be nominations for committee members. The positions to be nominated are President Elect, Secretary, Membership Secretary and Treasurer. Elections for these offices will take place at the November meeting. This year’s President Elect, Mark Froese, will be next year’s President and Robert Ashton will become next year’s Past President.

Robert also mentioned that the Tower Grove Heights Website http://www.towergroveheights.com has been updated with information on the Autumn Fest, minutes from the monthly meetings, and other new items of interest.