John Porter is butting heads with Judy Goodman as both vie to win the Clayton election for Ward 1 alderman.
The election is April 8, while the deadline to register to vote is March 12. Students living on the South 40 can vote at Wydown Middle School.
Francis Kenney, the mayor of Clayton, said that this election will affect Washington University students in several ways.
“WU is in Clayton and the students are considered residents. So obviously [the election] has an impact on them in terms of everything we do,” he said, pointing to issues of parking, zoning, safety, building approval, and the installation of traffic lights. Also in terms of entertainment, he said, “Clayton does provide some sort of environment for students as well.”
Porter agrees that the election should be important to students.
“They deserve a voice,” he said. He does not believe that Goodman and her supporters agree on this issue.
Allison Barrett, chairwoman of the Students for Porter committee, wrote an op-ed in the Jan. 31 edition of Student Life, supporting Porter and encouraging students to vote. In a conversation about this column, a supporter of Porter claimed to have overheard a supporter of Goodman say, “Students shouldn’t be able to vote.”
Goodman said the alleged statement does not represent her campaign.
“I think WU students are registered voters,” she said. “I would encourage [them] to become informed about the issues, meet the candidates. I would be happy to meet with any WU student. My request is if you’re going to get involved, and be a responsible voter, get to know your candidate. Get to know what some of the issues are.”
“I think what we need to focus on is having an independent voice, and not being beholden to any group or institution in a ward,” Goodman said. “There also cannot be a perception of impropriety, and I feel that from where I sit and what my focus is, I can have that independent voice but still be welcoming and friendly and have a balanced view.”
Porter, however, says that Goodman doesn’t have issues of her own. He believes that a majority of her campaign is focused on the fact that Porter’s wife, Sarah Russell, is an associate dean at WU, and that he lives in a building owned by WU.
“I have been called by people who have told me that she is running the same negative campaign using innuendo and conjecture that my opponent did a year ago, but she is doing it in a more subversive way,” said Porter. “She’ll say that she is going to run a positive campaign, but the issue of my having a conflict of interest because of my ties to WU is not going to go away. Her supporters are continuing to talk about this conflict of interest.”
The campaign Porter referred to was run by Beverly Wagner in November 2001. She defeated Porter using what he described as a “completely negative campaign.”
“While I was discussing other issues, all that was said by her was ‘He has a conflict of interest,'” said Porter. “They had no issues of their own; the only thing they talked about was me.”
Wagner did not deny this, but she said, “November of 2001, I ran against John Porter, and I won. That’s water over the dam as far as I’m concerned. The people have spoken.”
The November election was a special election to fill an expired term. Wagner ran again in April of 2002, this time unopposed, and she won the three-year term. Porter chose not to run because of personal reasons. Now he believes Goodman is simply copying Wagner’s campaign.
“My opponent this year is different, but the people in the background are still the same,” he said.
Goodman denies that this is part of her campaign.
“When I decided to run for this office, I decided that conflict of interest was not going to be part of my campaign-that was the last campaign,” she said. “I feel like the voters spoke on that issue. It’s over, it’s done, it’s not my issue. It’s John’s issue, and I don’t want to go there.”
Porter’s son, WU graduate Jonathon Porter, is helping him with his campaign.
He admitted to not knowing as much about Goodman’s campaign but expressed concern that the situation this year might be similar to last year’s.
“The people that ran Wagner’s campaign were very charismatic, but the truth is that they were all nutjobs,” he said. The younger Porter also claimed that Wagner’s campaign sent out fake legal documents.
He also commented on the relevance of the election to WU. In reference to Goodman and Wagner, he said, “I guess all these people have a lot of resentment toward the university,”
Goodman denied this as well.
“Whoever has passed the rumor that I am anti-WU is totally off the mark,” she said. “I love living here because of WU. In no way, shape or form am I anti-WU.”
For senior Emily Carter, whether either candidate is in favor of or against the university is not an issue. In fact, Carter said that she is not even registered to vote in Missouri.
“I’ve just kept my home registration,” she said. “I didn’t even know there was an election. I don’t plan to be here next year anyway, so I don’t really have much input.”
Junior Andrew McKeown, however, said that voting is a civic duty.
“I’m probably going to vote because it’s an obligation, and if [we] can vote, we should,” said McKeown, who recently registered to vote. “It’s important that students vote not only in student government elections but in local elections as well because they live in St. Louis.”