Chesterfield’s Ward 1 Council Race: Consider It Old School vs. New School

I guess the city council race in Ward 1 is Old School versus New School. I have to admit that sometimes I don’t understand New School.  

The race puts the last of Chesterfield’s original elected officials, 73-year-old Barry Flachsbart against 35-year-old David Arbogast. Flachsbart is a long time city homeowner and was on the city’s first elected council. He is out of town three days a week and sometimes four. He is a full professor at the University of Missouri campus for smart kids at Rolla, where he teaches courses dealing with applied computer sciences.

Arbogast grew up in Chesterfield. Since at least 1999 he has owned a condo on Coliseum Drive. Condos can be considered either New School where you don’t want to be tied to a large piece of property and deal maintenance issues all your life or VERY OLD SCHOOL where you have moved into a retirement community where you don’t have to maintain property, but you are somewhat tied to it because you don’t drive anymore.

Despite being a professor in applied computer sciences Flachsbart is listed in the phone book. (Yes I still order a copy of the White Pages from the phone company.) This means he has an old fashion landline; which is Old School.  Arbogast is not listed, probably relies on only a cell phone; which is New School.

Arbogast has a campaign website; which is very New School.But if you go to the website and click on the “contact” link you get the following statement:

“To avoid wasting time on sales calls and junk mail, my email address and phone number are not available on this web site.

Please use the form on the right to contact me. If your message warrants a response, I will do my best to respond promptly.”

This is very New School. It makes it impossible for people who don’t have a computer from contacting you. They are probably old people anyway who if they vote would vote for Flachsbart. It also has an attitude. “If your message warrants a response…” That is some in-your-face stuff and is very New School or as the kids call it; “way New School.”     

There is no work experience listed on Arbogast’s website. Again this is New School. Resumes are a thing of the past. Flachsbart has a website that deals with his professional articles. That is quasi New School. He does not have a campaign website, which is old school, but he does have a specific campaign email address, which is actually New School.

Arbogast did list a telephone number on a campaign flier. However, when I called it I got voice mail answered by a computer generated female voice. Again, this is New School not wasting your time recording a personal voice mail message.  

Flachsbart is listed in the phone book and has email addresses that are easy to find on the city’s website and the University of Missouri S&T website.

Arbogast is on Facebook but his info page tells us he likes the movies Star Wars and Tron, but does not list a work history. Flachsbart is not on Facebook. Classic New School and Old School!    

Flachsbart recently fell while going door-to-door campaigning and broke his leg. Going door to door is Old School. Falling and breaking something is Old School too. I did both: campaigned door-to-door and fell and broke two ribs.

Arbogast looks like he has a size 30 waist, a full head of hair and maybe ran in a marathon sometime in the last year…very New School. Flachsbart’s trip to the barber doesn’t take long.

Finally Arbogast didn’t bother to register to vote until 2007. This is New School. Who needs to waste time getting bogged down with politics? Arbogast also has never bothered to vote in a Chesterfield municipal election.

Now that is interesting. He is running for an office, but never was interested enough to vote for anyone holding that office. That is very, very New School.     

Flachsbart has never missed voting in a city election, even when he is in mid-term and not voting for himself. Voting in elections where less than 20% of the voters bother to show up is Old School.

I have not heard of any opposing views on city issues discussed in this race. Arbogast claims he is in Chesterfield full time. But I have handled both constituent’s phone calls and emails while I was on vacation in Europe or on a cruise ship I the middle of the Atlantic. I know that a professor in Rolla, who lectures for an hour, spends the next two hours in his office next to a computer and a phone is not really out of touch.

So looking at the race in Ward 1, it seems to be New School versus Old School, even if the Old School guy teaches computer science—pretty new school, I'd say.