Odenwald Wants More Options and New Ideas on Budget Shortfall

John Odenwald, sitting down for an interview with Patch in shorts, a polo and running shoes, said he thinks he’s the man for the job.

“They have their mind set on doing this one thing, and only this one thing to fix the probem,” Odenwald said. “I’d say that 95 percent of my ideas might not work. But there is that 5 percent.”

Odenwald is running for Shrewsbury alderman in Ward 2 against . Also vying for the seat is . This election season, the race for Lauter’s seat has become a proxy for the debate over the planned redevelopment of the blighted Kenrick Plaza, which includes the construction of a new Walmart.

Twenty-four years old, Odenwald was born and raised in Shrewsbury. He comes from a family with a history of political involvement, including his grandfather, who was mayor of Shrewsbury from 1976 to 1986, and his uncle, who was involved in county politics.

“Every Christmas gathering politics is brought up,” Odenwald said. “I enjoy politics. I started following it a lot since 8th grade, when I did a project on the Gore/Bush election.”

After graduating from Webster Groves High School, he went to college at Missouri State University, where he played hockey and got a bachelor’s degree in construction management. He now works at on Watson Road, a job he said he took after he couldn’t find a full-time construction job that fit. He said he sees a good career path for him in eventually managing Dierbergs.

When asked about his qualifications for the board of aldermen, he said that in terms of political experience he is on par with the other two candidates.

“The experience I have is no different than when Greg was appointed or if Dee is elected,” Odenwald said. “(The other board members) have been around longer than me, but they’ve also done the same thing everyone else has done. Some people think we need new blood.”

He also cites his time as president and then treasurer of the hockey club at Missouri State as a core part of his experience. According to Odenwald, the club was $15,000 in debt when he joined, out of a budget of $120,000. He balanced the budget through a combination of belt-tightening, fundraisers and ticket price increases.

“One hundred twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money to have in your hands,” he said.

Odenwald said he now wants to turn that experience to the redevelopment plan at the blighted Kenrick Plaza, which he went to often during his childhood.

“I used to go up there as a kid, hit the Burger King,” he said. “I want to be a part of (the redevelopment). I just feel that by running and being a part of it, I would have my input to make sure that it is something good for Shrewsbury.”

The redevelopment project is being pursued in part to address the growing budget problems that have hit Shrewsbury since the economic downturn. , drawing from the City’s reserves for the second year in a row despite trimming expenditures and a few employees. Members of the board said the redeveloped shopping plaza will to bring significant revenue to Shrewsbury’s coffers through a sales tax.

Odenwald said that the redevelopment, with its controversial inclusion of a Walmart Supercenter, is not the way to address the budget shortfall.

“The City needs to do everything it can to balance the budget without bringing in a development that the majority of the citizens I’ve talked to don’t want,” he said.

Instead, Odenwald proposes cutting services and expenditures to put Shrewsbury back in the black.

“They say the City’s dying, and they are correct. But I spent 10 minutes looking at the budget, and I cut $70,000. And that was 10 minutes. You aren’t going to come in and balance the budget in one year, but would you rather have $180,000 of deficit or $110,000?” he said. “(Belt-tightening) is not a solution, but it’s a way of slowing down the deficit to make our reserves last longer.”

Among the things Odenwald said he would cut were personal expenses for city employees and pay for elected officials. He said he would also like to consider the possibility of consolidating the City’s fire department with another nearby community, such as Maplewood or Webster Groves. He proposed renting out the city’s athletic fields more on weekends and expanding the paid use of the recreation center.

At the very least, Odenwald said, Shrewsbury residents should be given their choice of redevelopment plans and their choice of solutions to the budget difficulties.

“I believe there should be more than one option,” he said. “We’ve been given one option. If you give me one option, I’m going to say ‘no’ every day.”

Though he said he believes Kenrick Plaza should eventually be redeveloped, he criticized the City for not trying harder to bring new businesses into the current complex.

“They blighted it,” Odenwald said. “I don’t think there has been any effort to get anyone in there.”

Like others who have criticized the inclusion of a Walmart in the redevelopment plan, Odenwald said he worries about the impact a Walmart would have on nearby businesses in St. Louis City and Affton, and he takes issue with the retailer’s treatment of its workers.

“I’m a union guy,” he said. Odenwald is a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers local 655 union.

Odenwald said he is also concerned about the tax increment financing (TIF) planned for developer GJ Grewe, and its potential impact on the . The TIF has been designed to freeze property values at the plaza until it is paid off, which, according to the incumbent Lauter, is likely to take 10 to 13 years. The district will have to collect property taxes based on the pre-redevelopment property values. Since the redevelopment will presumably increase the worth of the property, the school district will collect less tax revenue from the shopping plaza than they would had the TIF been designed differently and the property values not been frozen.

“Other than bringing in a developer, I personally don’t see (the advantage of a TIF),” Odenwald said. “The country’s biggest retail store? I don’t think they should be given a TIF.”

Unlike candidate Dee Wiecher, however, he said he doesn’t see a problematic lack of transparency in the board’s dealings on the project.

“I believe the board has done everything they were supposed to,” he said.

Odenwald said he sees himself as a middle choice between the two other candidates: Lauter, who supports the Walmart plan, and Wiecher, who strongly opposes it.

“I’m willing to be the one to ask ‘for’ or ‘against,’” he said.

And despite his concerns, Odenwald said he isn’t even completely against proceeding with the Walmart project as a solution to Shrewsbury’s budget shortfall.

“My answer isn’t going to be ‘no’ 100 percent. Right now, I’m at 95 percent.”