Great Streets: Controversy for Ballwin, Ellisville & Wildwood

For the second time in recent months, the Great Streets Initiative, an ambitious partnership among several West St. Louis County municipalities with a goal of reinvigorating the Manchester Road corridor, is showing how difficult it can be for the communities to work together thanks to inter and intra-community politics.

West Newsmagazine this week reported that Ballwin Mayor Tim Pogue and Wildwood Mayor Tim Woerther want Ellisville Ward 1 Councilman Matt Pirrello off the steering committee for the endeavor. That committee is made up of representatives of each of the three towns driving the project, along with Manchester and Winchester. Ballwin's Board of Aldermen has suggested that Pirrello's high-profile connection to the impeachment of Ellisville Mayor Adam Paul had the potential to taint the Great Streets process.

In previous interviews with Patch, in a statement released Wednesday and in an email to the other Great Streets representatives Wednesday, Pirrello has said he is a facilitator of the overall process and not Ellisville's representative. His statement, which you can read entirely at the bottom of this story, said in part:

I grew up in Manchester, played ball on the Kmart lot and went to movies at the First Community Credit Union location.  I have witnessed the changes on the corridor both good and bad.  I do remember how great it was.  I wish to see our five cities remain committed to the well being of our businesses on the corridor, their citizenry, and the region. There is no place at the table for Ballwin and Wildwood's politics. For the past four years, we have been working to create a non-political body to oversee the Great Streets Initiative through its' completion.

Pogue, who attended but did not speak at an Ellisville City Council meeting Wednesday where Councilwoman Linda Reel was officially named as one of the city's representative on the steering committee, responded to Pirrello's email with one of his own.

"Your involvement is the issue, regardless of whether you officially represent Ellisville or not.  Your role as a whole leaves a negative perception to Great Streets," he wrote. "Two of the three cities mayors have voted this way and it would be in the best interest of the project for you to step away."

Pirrello called those concerns about perception unfounded and that Pogue didn't provide specifics when the topic was broached at a meeting earlier this week.

The dustup follows a vote last month by the Wildwood City Council rejecting a bill that would have provided $27,000 for marketing and branding under the Great Streets project. Ellisville and Ballwin both passed similar measures. Wildwood Councilwoman opposed the funding, saying it would be "paying to rectify Ballwin’s and Ellisville’s (development planning) mistakes over the last 25 years.”

The marketing side of the project has been put on hold until MoDOT construction on Manchester is finished in 2015.








Matt Pirrello Statement:

Because neither Mayor's could offer any specific examples relating to my role with
the Great Streets Initiative, I don't know how to respond to their concern.  From the beginning, I felt compelled to give back to the community after East West Gateway approached us nearly seven years ago.  I am committed to our communities and the revitalization of the corridor.  With over a year and a half passing without any activity on Great Streets (post plan completion), I took it upon myself to blow the dust off the memorandum of understanding between the five cities and the West County Chamber of Commerce.  As a result of that initiative, we assembled the group that brought us to where we are today.  I don't represent Ellisville in this process.  I volunteered to facilitate meetings, act as a primary contact for outside groups whilst holding this group together 
through difficult times.  Had this group not been organized, we would not have received 5 million dollars from MODot for Great Street enhancements scheduled for next year. 

I grew up in Manchester, played ball on the Kmart lot and went to movies at the First Community Credit Union location.  I have witnessed the changes on the corridor both good and bad.  I do remember how great it was.  I wish to see our five cities remain committed to the well being of our businesses on the corridor, their citizenry, and the region. There is no place at the table for Ballwin and Wildwood's politics.  For the past four years, we have been working to create a non-political body to oversee the Great Streets Initiative through its' completion.