Upstart did it her way

By Jake Wagman — ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Saturday, Mar. 10 2007

ST. LOUIS — When Kacie Starr Triplett announced that she was running for
alderman, members of her own party advised against it.

Wait your turn, Triplett, a Democrat, was told.

Instead, Triplett cut right to the front of the line — and straight to City
Hall.

Now, after a convincing victory in Tuesday's primary election, Triplett is
poised to become the youngest member of the Board of Aldermen, representing one
of the most dynamic wards in the city.

Does she have the potential her middle name suggests? Only time will tell.

Just don't tell her 26 is too young to be an alderman.

"I'm 14 years older than Jesus when he preached his sermon," Triplett said.

What Triplett lacks in years she makes up for in moxie — and political
pedigree. She is the granddaughter of John Bass, the veteran legislator and
former city comptroller, who died less than 10 days before the election.

Triplett has been turning heads since hitting the campaign trail, and not just
because of her 1,000-watt smile or 6-foot-1 stature. Some see in her the
charisma and work ethic that could make last week's election the springboard
for a successful political career.

Beginning next month, she will represent the 6th Ward, a diverse patch of St.
Louis that takes in the downtown loft district, the Peabody public housing
complex, Lafayette Square and Tower Grove East.

Besides gaining the political confidence of a divided ward organization,
Triplett's immediate challenges range from the homeless population in Lucas
Park to the future of the Praxair site.

Politics in her blood

Triplett grew up in the ward's Tower Grove East neighborhood. She attended St.
Elizabeth Academy, a Catholic all-girls high school, where she was starting
center on the basketball team.

She earned a political science degree from Hampton University and went to work
in the Capitol Hill office of former Rep. Richard Gephardt.

But her real political education came at the heels of her grandfather, who was
briefly on the Board of Aldermen before serving in the state Senate for a
decade.

Bass' first victory at the polls, for city comptroller, occurred on March 6,
1973 — 34 years to the day of Triplett's own election.

The pair would spend hours talking politics and current events. When Kacie came
into the room, her mother recalled, her grandfather's eyes lit up.

"Kacie Starr was his girl," said Kacie's mother, Jill Bass Triplett.

That's why it was so hard for her when he was in the hospital.

"It was difficult for Kacie to put in the hours in the campaign and visit her
grandfather," Jill Bass Triplett said. "Some days he was able to respond better
than others. Sometimes it was just a matter of holding hands and saying, 'Papa,
can you hear me?'"

When Bass died Feb. 25, Triplett took one day off and then went back to the
business of getting elected.

"She said, 'This is what he would have wanted,'" said campaign manager David
Chilenski.

Tough first race

Even so, last week's vote was a tough first election for any novice. Opposing
Triplett was Patrick Cacchione, a health care lobbyist who previously ran for
Congress, and Christian Saller, who worked for the city's development agency
for 10 years.

Cacchione was backed by the ward's Democratic Committee, whose members earlier
told Triplett that it was not her time to run.

She ignored them.

"When my grandfather ran for comptroller, people told him 'No,'" Triplett said.

Her campaign was fueled by college students and other young people, knocking on
hundreds of doors and making so many phone calls that some voters had heard
from the campaign five times before Election Day. A sign at the campaign
headquarters read: "You can't buy hustle."

"When you feel something in your heart," Triplett said, "you just go for it."

Her father, John "Big John" Triplett, also played a key role. A union organizer
for the Pipefitters local, he was Kacie's chauffeur and shadow on the campaign,
helping to pour thousands of labor dollars into the effort.

By election night, there wasn't any suspense — Triplett won in a landslide,
taking half the votes. The other two candidates split the rest.

"Let me tell you something — we expected to win the election," Triplett said.
"But not by the margin we did."

Still, the real work will begin after she takes office April 17. Though there
have been younger board members — new License Collector Mike McMillan was
elected alderman at 25 — at least one member of the current board has been
there longer than Triplett has been alive. Others were aldermen when she was
just a toddler.

One possible mentor for Triplett is Lewis Reed, the current 6th Ward alderman
whom voters promoted Tuesday to president of the Board of Aldermen. An alliance
also could be forged with Rep. Russ Carnahan; Triplett worked in his district
office before launching her campaign.

But Carnahan's interest is more than political — the congressman, a Compton
Heights resident, is also a constituent.

"She's going to be my alderman," Carnahan said.

Which means he'll be watching Triplett closely — and so will many others.

jwagman@post-dispatch.com | 314-622-3580