On this edition of Politically Speaking, 漏 2024 外网天堂鈥檚 Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies and Rachel Lippmann welcome Mary Ellen Ponder to the show.
Ponder was recently appointed chief of staff for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, replacing Jeff Rainford. She is the first woman to serve as chief of staff for a St. Louis mayor.
A south St. Louis County native, Ponder worked in various political and governmental capacities for Slay. She helped run Slay鈥檚 successful 2009 and 2013 campaigns and helped change how
As chief of staff, Ponder oversees the city鈥檚 chief of operations 鈥� who in turn monitors all of Slay鈥檚 cabinet members. That means she鈥檚 in charge of 鈥渢he strategy, the vision and the policymakers decisions鈥� for the mayor 鈥� making Ponder one of the most influential figures in the city's government.
During the show, Ponder said:
- She returned to St. Louis in 2008 to work with the AFL-CIO. Political consultant Michael Kelley gave her name to Rainford, who subsequently interviewed her to be deputy campaign manager in Slay鈥檚 2009 re-election campaign.
- Slay is a 鈥渨illing partner鈥� in pushing for policies popular among the young, such as bolstering bicycle infrastructure. Slay "understands that bringing the younger or youngish population to the city is what is going to keep us moving forward,鈥� she said.
- The Board of Aldermen is expected to send Slay legislation 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of ownership and pride in the compromise bill that is there right now,鈥� she said.
- The city needs Losing the facility would mean that the city would lose several million in earnings tax and thousands of jobs, she said.
- Both Gov. Jay Nixon and Slay 鈥淲e have a great team in place that鈥檚 working on this and at a quick pace,鈥� she said.
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Music: "Time to Pretend" by MGMT and "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas
