Helen Petty
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Helen Petty ran for election to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to represent Ward 5 in Missouri. She lost in the general election on April 4, 2023.
Petty completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Helen Petty was born in Ukiah, California. Her career experience includes founding a business, serving on the board of CRC and the Ashrei Foundation, and serving as a council member at the JCRC. Petty has been affiliated with the Central Reform Congregation.[1]
Elections
2023
General election
General election for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 5
Incumbent Joseph Vollmer defeated Helen Petty in the general election for St. Louis Board of Aldermen Ward 5 on April 4, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joseph Vollmer (Nonpartisan) | 57.8 | 2,177 |
 | Helen Petty (Nonpartisan)  | 42.0 | 1,580 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 8 | ||
| Total votes: 3,765 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
| St. Louis uses approval voting, where voters may cast ballots for any number of candidates. A candidate's Approval Percentage is the number of votes cast for the candidate as a percentage of all votes cast. Under this system, the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election. | |||
| Candidate | % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Joseph Vollmer (Nonpartisan) | 64.22% | 1,533 |
| |
Helen Petty (Nonpartisan) | 41.47% | 990 |
| Incumbents are bolded and underlined. | Total votes: | 2,523 | |
| Source: St. Louis certified primary results, 2023 The results have been certified. | |||
Endorsements
To view Petty's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Petty in this election.
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Helen Petty completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Petty's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a long time St. Louis city resident, a mother, and a small business owner. I serve on several boards and run the social justice program at my synagogue where we have been focused primarily on refugee resettlement for the past 2 years. I'm running for office because I am passionate about making sure St. Louis is a competitive city and that all of it's residents are thriving. I care deeply about constituent services, education and public safety, infrastructure and public transportation, economic and racial justice, and housing.
- I am committed to being accessible, available, and accountable. My cell phone number is on my website and all my campaign literature.
- I am a long time community advocate. I have marched for racial justice, women's rights, and LGBQTIA equality. I promise to represent every resident of my ward equally no matter who they are or where in the ward they live.
- I will lead with competency, compassion, and empathy. I know how to compromise without compromisisng my values.
Community Question Featured local question
I have always realized that we are in this together and that local government can help support residents and local businesses in times of crisis. Our local mask mandate helped slow the spread in St. Louis and keep our hospitals operating without being overwhelmed.
Community Question Featured local question
Crime rate data is reported on the St. Louis city website and I review it regularly in addition to national crime stats. Property crime rates have steadily decreased up until last year where we saw a spike in car thefts and break-ins specifically, in line with the national trend. Violent crime rates in St. Louis have remained high, partially due to poverty and extremely lax State gun laws. The changes I would add to existing public policy are-mental health crisis workers, poverty prevention measures, addiction counseling, adequate affordable housing access, and removing officers from low level traffic enforcement by utilizing technology.
Community Question Featured local question
My definition of a healthy downtown is one where business are thriving, residence are full, the area is walkable and safe. St. Louis' downtown has some great amenities, but we do have some work to do. Improving public transportation, getting gun violence and violent crime under control, as well as taking care of the unhoused community will increase population and draw more businesses.
Community Question Featured local question
It is very important to involve residents in the government's decision making. We are elected not to enact our own agenda, but to forward the will of the people. I support public board bill hearings, regular communication between elected officials and residents via social media, newsletters, and attendance at neighborhood meetings.
Community Question Featured local question
We need to ensure that Sunshine requests are honored in a timely fashion. To that end we should have specific policy about turn around time for sunshine requests. If we are working for the people they deserve to know exactly what is gong on. My office will always be up front and transparent.
Community Question Featured local question
We need to take a comprehensive approach to public safety. Investing in our schools, creating quality jobs, enacting poverty reduction and violence interruption programs, as well as making sure our officer pay is competitive are all parts of a holistic public safety plan. Additionally, we can look at removing low level traffic enforcement from the police and instead utilize technology to enforce.
Community Question Featured local question
Yes, the needs of the whole community should be considered when new developments are being proposed. We need to make sure we develop responsibly, encouraging growth in our community, while horning the needs and concerns of long standing residents and small businesses.
Community Question Featured local question
I believe in keeping open lines of communication going with my constituents at all time. This would look like regular attendance at neighborhood meetings, having my cell phone number and email readily available on all campaign literature and responding to requests in a timely fashion, sending monthly newsletters to update residents on proposed board bills and neighborhood happenings, and passing legislation to increase transparency and community input on bills and resolutions.
Community Question Featured local question
I think we need to take a comprehensive approach to public safety. Dispatching mental health professionals to mental health crisis instead of armed officers, utilizing technology for low level traffic enforcement, making sure we are providing adequate addiction counseling services, and employing anti poverty and violence interruption programs are all part of a holistic approach to public safety. Additionally,improving infrastructure and shoring up the resources schools are able to offer will help contribute to public safety.
Community Question Featured local question
We need to address our environmental impact and specifically address the issue of environmental racism. An important part of addressing environmental racism is engaging directly with the communities most affected and amplifying and supporting the issues around environmental racism that they have identified in their community. In addition, elected officials need to use the tools they have at hand- specifically permitting, land use plans, and zoning- to stop the perpetuation of these issues in our communities. in general piloting home solar programs, green building standards for new and rehabbed buildings, and expanding public transportation will contribute to our city's environmenatl health.
Community Question Featured local question
St. Louis needs a city wide infrastructure plan that prioritizes pedestrian and cyclist safety. While we are restructuring our streets and enacting traffic calming measures we need to also install public transportation upgrades like bus rapid transit lanes, and extending our Metro Link lines.
Community Question Featured local question
I believe that the scope of police work should be narrowed to focus primarily on violent crime. This can be accomplished by utilizing some of the strategies listed above-mental health crisis workers, poverty prevention, measures, addiction counseling, adequate affordable housing access, and removing officers from low level traffic enforcement will all help remove some of these responsibilities from officers' plates and keep us all safer.
Community Question Featured local question
Universal masking was and is proven to work. Mobile vaccine clinics to educate the public and provide vaccines where they are. These policies are proven to slow the spread and keep our hospital resources available and not overwhelmed.
Economic equality and advancement, housing, education and public safety, and public safety and infrastructure.
I look up to Elizabeth Warren. She is smart, competent, and always has a plan. She's the kind of no nonsense leader we need more of.
I see the role of Alderperson as two equally important parts. First is constituent services. This means addressing the everyday concerns of residents such as trash pick-up, potholes, speed humps, tree planting, etc. by connecting them with the appropriate city departments and escalating concerns that haven’t been addressed in a timely fashion.
Second is policy and budget. Alderpeople are responsible for crafting policy and allocating funds that supports the health of our residents, infrastructure, and city services. It is my belief that although we are 14 separate wards, we must elect Alderpeople who can address these concerns together, for our city as whole, in an equitable way.
Second is policy and budget. Alderpeople are responsible for crafting policy and allocating funds that supports the health of our residents, infrastructure, and city services. It is my belief that although we are 14 separate wards, we must elect Alderpeople who can address these concerns together, for our city as whole, in an equitable way.
I would like to leave St. Louis a more just and equitable city where any person can thrive no matter what their race, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or disability status is. I would like to see us less segregated, our population growing, and young families choosing to stay and build there families here.
The shooting at Montreal's Polytechnique in 1989 where 14 women were murdered. I was almost 9 and it was the first protest march I ever attended.
I started babysitting when I was 11 and I babysat for the same family until I was 16 or so.
There are too many good books to choose from. I love historical fiction, autobiographies and biographies of interesting people, and sometimes just a good well written novel.
I have an uncanny ability to remember song lyrics. I don't know which song was last stuck in my head, but I can guarantee you it was something very random and that I hadn't heard in years.
I believe more people should be aware that the Board of Alderman is responsible for adopting the entire city budget. It is a big job and huge responsibility.
Not necessarily. Everyone has a first time they are elected and sometimes an extended period of time in the same office can lead to corruption or an inability to envision new solutions to problems a city may be facing.
I believe listening skills, compassion, and empathy are all crucial skills for this role. Additionally a good understanding of budgeting and an ability to prioritize are very important to the role of alderperson.
St. Louis Young Dems, Pro-Choice MO, Our Revolution, Sierra Club, SEIU, Rabbi Daniel Bogard, Christine Ingrassia current 6th Ward Alderwoman, Matt Bell current 5th ward committeeman.
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Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 21, 2023
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