Francis G. Slay Quotes
I plan to see St. Louis as a global competitor. As an international trade hub, as an incubator of new companies, as a place of culture and the arts, as a magnet for immigrants, for entrepreneurs, for animal lovers, and for gays, as a city of parks and trails, and as the sort of place that figures in young people's dreams.
Slay, Francis G. "Fourth Inaugural Address." City of St. Louis, 16 Apr. 2013.
She was citing a study done by the Kauffman Foundation.
This futuristic work attempted to project American life in the year 2000—then 112 years in the future. It is remarkable how many elements he successfully predicted. In this famous quote, he correctly anticipated the growth of small businesses, the transition possibilities between workers and employers. At the time, workers and employers were distinct social and economic classes with much hostility between them and relatively little class mobility. Conflicts—even bloody ones—between labor unions and employers were common. Very fascinating is his prediction regarding labor unions. At the time a minority of workers were members of unions and much of the labor strife was caused by companies trying to prevent unionization and unions trying to organize more workers. 60 years after this prediction Bellamy appeared to have been wrong in that the labor movement had grown tremendously and much larger percentage of the workforce were Union members. However, the percentage of unionized workers began to decline and by the year 2000—his target year of his prediction—a comparatively few workers were union members. While labor leaders of 2000 would argue that unions were needed as much as ever, the vast majority of the workforce tended to agree that they had become unnecessary.
While New York City was and still is the great example of all this diversity, it can only be approached in cities where the population can be both large enough and diverse enough to support and appreciate the virtues of pluralism.
Francis G. Slay 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, Slay is the longest-serving mayor in St. Louis history. His fourth term started in April 2013. He announced on April 8, 2016 that he would not seek another term as mayor. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
