Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr. (born October 30, 1946 in St. Louis) was the 42nd

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, serving three terms from 1981 to 1993. At the time of his first election, he was one of the city's youngest mayors. In 1992, Schoemehl was defeated in the Democratic primary by lieutenant governor

Mel Carnahan Melvin Eugene Carnahan (February 11, 1934 – October 16, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st Governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in a plane crash in 2000. A Democrat, he was elected posthumously to t ...

in a bid to become

Governor of Missouri A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Personal life

Born in St. Louis in 1946, Schoemehl received a degree in history from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1972. He and his wife, Lois, have two sons. Their son Tim Schoemehl made a run for Missouri State Representative District 64 in 2004.

Political career

Schoemehl was elected to the City of St. Louis board of aldermen as a representative from the 28th ward for six years before being elected mayor in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Schoemehl returned to public office in 2003, winning election as a member of the St. Louis School Board. He resigned from that position in November 2005. He recently retired from his post as president and CEO of Grand Center, Inc.

Real estate and development

Schoemehl is active in the areas of

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

and

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban d ...

. He helped save the Cupples Warehouses from demolition and promoted " public-private partnerships" that led to more than 600 rehabilitation projects. He also launched Operation Brightside, a City beautification program, and Operation Safestreet, a home safety program. In 1991, Schoemehl served as a committee member for the

Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...

. He has expressed regret for the 1980s destruction of downtown historic buildings and disruption of the Gateway Mall by the fifteen story office building now named after

Peabody Energy Peabody Energy is a coal mining and energy company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Its primary business consists of the mining, sale, and distribution of coal, which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Peabody ...

. Opposition to the plan had been prominent, including historic preservationists relocating offices to one of the endangered buildings. CBS Radio vice president Robert Hyland described it as "an absolute aesthetic disaster." The destruction of "Real Estate Row" has been described as "one of the greatest tragedies in St. Louis architectural history." Among the legacies of Schoemehl's tenure as mayor of St. Louis are numerous concrete street blockades nicknamed "Schoemehl pots."

Schoemehlville

Building demolitions and development leading to gentrification were among the causes for homelessness claimed by Reverend Larry Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center when he constructed tent cities named "Schoemehlville" on the City Hall lawn. In several summers during the late 1980s and early 1990s, an estimated 100-150 people lived in the temporary tent cities to raise awareness around housing needs and to protest a lack of city support for homeless people. The encampments often coincided with the annual VP Fair, and in 1987 Rice brought a flock of sheep to City Hall to protest the city "pulling the wool" over the citizen's eyes.

Bi-State Development Agency

In July 2007,

Matt Blunt Matthew Roy Blunt (born November 20, 1970) is an American former naval officer and politician who served as the 54th Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2009. Before his election as governor, Blunt served ten years in the United States Navy, was e ...

nominated Schoemehl to be one of Missouri's five commissioners on the ten person board of commissioners for the Bi-State Development Agency which operates public-transit on both the Illinois and Missouri sides of the Greater St. Louis area. Schoemehl replaced Harvey Harris after the former's confirmation by the Missouri Senate.

Board of Education

Schoemehl was elected to the St. Louis City Board of Education in a slate of candidates with significant financial backing from then mayor

Francis Slay Francis Gerard Slay (born March 18, 1955) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 45th Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri from 2001 to 2017. The first mayor of the city of St. Louis to be elected to the office four consecutive times, Sl ...

and several local corporations. The board's decision to hire a private firm to restructure the school district and close schools resulted in public protests, a lawsuit, and criticism from education reform scholars Jeff Henig and Amy Stuart Wells. Schoemehl compared dissenting parents of students to

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

in a heated school board meeting, winning the title of 2003 "Best Villain" from the

Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo gall ...

References

April 17, 2006: Interview from MayorSlay.com for 25th Anniversary of Mayor Schoemehl's inauguration.
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoemehl, Vincent 1946 births Living people Mayors of St. Louis Missouri Democrats School board members in Missouri University of Missouri–St. Louis alumni