FOX

Embarrassment, Bitterness After Alderman Expresses Herself in Novel Way

St. Louis officials were embarrassed, and a little bitter, Thursday about a recent Board of Alderman meeting that was punctuated by the sound of a female alderman urinating into a trash can.

The aldermen fell into two camps along mostly racial lines: those who blamed the alleged urinater, Alderman Irene Smith, who is black; and those who directed their stream of invective at Acting Aldermanic president James Shrewsbury, who is white.

During an aldermanic meeting Tuesday, four aldermen were filibustering in order to hold up debate over a redistricting plan they considered harmful to blacks in St. Louis.

Filibusters result when a member or members of a legislative body speak as long as they can during a session in order to delay action they're opposed to. Since parliamentary rules usually require that only a high proportion of members can terminate another member's control of the floor, filibusters can be an effective way for a minority of legislators to scuttle legislation that would otherwise be passed on a majority vote.

One of the four St. Louis aldermen, Smith, had control of the floor during Tuesday's meeting and was trying to hold on to it as long as she could. But, responding to a pressing need, Smith asked Shrewsbury, who was running the session, if she could go out for a bathroom break and then return to control of the floor.

Shrewsbury said no.

About 40 minutes later, Smith's aides surrounded her with a sheet, a tablecloth and a quilt. While no other aldermen saw exactly what she did, it appeared that she used a waste basket as a toilet.

"What I did behind that tablecloth is my business," Smith said after the board quit without voting on the issue.

Some aldermen, quoted in Thursday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, were critical of Smith.

"No one was stopping her; she chose not to go to hold control of the floor," said Alderman Kenneth Ortmann. And Alderman Kenneth Jones said Shrewsbury's ruling was proper because filibusters are endurance contests, and "it's a test to see which side can last the longest."

Smith's allies argued that Shrewsbury violated common courtesy.

"This is about sensitivity to people's needs," Alderman Gregory Carter said. "We're talking about a basic bodily function."

Supporters of Smith also complained that female aldermen are at a disadvantage because the closest women's restroom is down the hall, while a men's room is adjacent to the chamber. Shrewsbury, who is white, also was accused of racism by Smith's supporters, most of whom were black.

He denied any racist motive and insisted that he would have ruled the same way regardless of sex or race.

Mayor Francis Slay said Smith's "conduct is unacceptable" and could hurt the city's credibility across the region, state and nation.

The mayor's chief of staff, Jeff Rainford, put it this way: "The people in Butler, Missouri, must think we're a bunch of morons."

A defender of Smith — Alderman Irving Clay — said Tuesday's incident deepened tensions on a board already sharply divided over redistricting. He said it would make it "very difficult" to work together on unrelated matters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

-- Anonymous, July 19, 2001