 "Photo: Carlos Restrepo")
Kirkwood City Council may have signed a mediation agreement on Jan. 21, but residents of the Meacham Park community in Kirkwood don’t see any reason for celebration.
The agreement, which was overseen by Justice Department officials, is currently being met with mixed feelings in the Meacham Park neighborhood.
“This is not the answer. It barely scratches the surface,” said William Thayer, associate professor of mathematics at Meramec.
Meacham Park is located only a few miles from Meramec, hidden primarily behind the Wal-Mart shopping center at Big Bend and Kirkwood Rd., was the primary focus of the mediation, and predominantly African-American.
The mediation came as a response to the disastrous events of Feb. 7, 2008, when Meacham Park resident Charles Lee “Cookie” Thorton gunned down two police officers and three Kirkwood City officials. He also mortally wounding then-Mayor Mike Swoboda, who died later from his injuries.
Thorton, a Meacham Park resident, is perceived by some locals as a victim of racial discrimination, while others, such as Mayor McDonnell, believe he was motivated by “his own personal interests, financially, and his own problems.”
The troubles between Meacham Park and the City of Kirkwood have different roots and causes, depending on who you ask.
According to Ron Hodges, Meacham Park resident and member of the community mediation team, “Race isn’t exactly the problem here. You know, we have racial issues all over the country, and we have tensions and problems, but I don’t think Kirkwood is looking at anything different than most communities.”
Hodges, who endorsed the mediation as “a much more improved way for the community to communicate concerns and problems with the city,” has been met with some resistance from his fellow Meacham Park residents.
“I’ve had people say some unkind things about my ‘loyalties’ with my race. I live here, I know the concerns, I see the problems, and I think this mediation is taking steps in the right direction.”
The mediation gives more power to the Human Rights Advisory and Awareness Commission, or HRC, to be more involved in community relations, according to Hodges.
“We’ve got a new online system that will be up soon. It will allow for people to go online and directly contact the HRC (Human Rights Commission) to get assistance,” said Hodges.
The mediation does give stricter guidelines for the HRC, setting guidelines for meetings and establishing regular reviews of progress. While the HRC will serve as an outlet for concerned citizens, it will not have the power to mediate, and will not operate in an investigatory capacity.
Thayer refers to himself as a “concerned citizen” and has taken action in the Meacham Park community, and said he believes the mediation “doesn’t give enough direction at all. It opens doors, but nothing more.”
Thayer, along with others, established kmhr.us, a website for Meacham Park residents concerned with the development of their neighborhood. The website features Meacham Park proposals for the mediation agreement, and details the process of the mediation debate for residents. Thayer and others are also considering the drafting of a “minority report” to respond directly to the concerns not addressed by the mediation.
Meacham Park residents concerned with the development of their neighborhood. The website features Meacham Park proposals for the mediation agreement, and details the process of the mediation debate for residents. Thayer and others are also considering the drafting of a “minority report” to respond directly to the concerns not addressed by the mediation.
“What the residents of Meacham see here is a cycle. If you shift your focus back ten years or so, you might see [Charles] Cookie Thorton as the victim here,” said Thayer. “I’m not saying what he did was right, it was wrong, it was a crime, but you have to ask yourself ‘Why did this happen? Could we prevent it?’”
Meacham Park Neighborhood Improvement Association President Harriet Patton, said he believes that the main problem is that “racism and discrimination weren’t addressed in the mediation,” according to a recent article in the Webster-Kirkwood Times.
“I see way too much ‘police in your face’ as a result of this mediation,” said Thayer, referring in part to a new satellite police station to be established next month in Meacham Park.
The agreement, along with adding a satellite station, also increases police recruitment of minorities and compels officers to carefully monitor treatment of minorities.
“I saw Mr. Thorton at some [City Council] meetings. I just think if we had a system in place to negotiate, to work with concerns of Meacham residents, such as a full-time Human Rights Community Service staff, we have a better chance of stopping things before they get so bad,” said Thayer.
The mediation process lost support from Meacham Park residents early on, when Harriet Patton resigned from the mediation team in September.
“We weren’t really able to discuss the more serious racial issues that come up in the city,” according to the Webster-Kirkwood Times. “I was disturbed that we couldn’t even mention Cookie Thorton’s name.”
In addition to existing tensions between the two communities, several Meacham Park residents have proposed adding Thorton’s name to the monument currently under construction at city hall, honoring the victims of the shooting.
“That’s not going to happen,” said Mayor McDonnell. “We tried….repeatedly to negotiate with [Thorton] and appease him. He doesn’t belong [on the monument]. He was a murderer and he killed public officials. It’s just not doable.”
While McDonnell doesn’t support the idea of including Thorton to the city monument, he does feel that the mediation has taken positive steps.
“We’ve tried to make comments and complaints easier to communicate. We need to forge relationships as a community.” McDonnell said he admits that there is a race issue, but it’s not the core of the problem in Kirkwood.
“Yes, we have people in the community who have racial issues, and certainly we have some discrimination, but overall, we are not a racist community I don’t think,” McDonnel said.
Residents of both Kirkwood and Meacham Park know that the issues cannot be solved overnight. At a meeting on Feb. 22, Meacham Park residents voiced concerns over the new mediation, and sent a letter to city council rejecting the mediation at the beginning of the month. They have not had a response yet.
Some residents, like Ron Hodges, believe they are working toward a better future, while others, like Harriet Patton and Bill Thayer, believe they are simply running in circles.
Both sides can agree on one thing though: more community involvement.
“For a long time, we’ve been worried about making Kirkwood look better. Now we want to preserve it, to develop it, to make it stronger. This mediation isn’t perfect, it isn’t the total solution, but it starts the process,” said Hodges. “Citizens have to start coming to city council meetings, getting involved, working to make it work rather than just complain that they don’t get anything.”
No matter which side of the debate residents may be on, both sides encourage further involvement in community affairs.
“My recommendation would be to tell the students of Meramec. Get them involved, reach out to Kirkwood, reach out to Meacham, get involved,” said Thayer
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