ST. LOUIS, Mo – Shane Cohn spent some of his young life traveling with his mother between Missouri and Florida, before eventually ending up at the place he now calls home – St. Louis. In the time following, Cohn has been elected alderman of the of the 25th Ward of the City of St. Louis.
However, this was never an assumed outcome as a younger man, as Cohn had no real interest in politics during his young life.
“I wasn’t involved in politics,” Cohn said. “I came out as an openly gay person when I was 19 and then I started coming out to friends and family when I was about 20. As a young person, I felt I wouldn’t be able to get into politics because I came out and this is Missouri.”
“Coming out is a process, I came from a large family and It took a number of years to come out to all of them,” Cohn said. He also describes his family as conservative and mostly Republican.
It has been a long road for Cohn on his way to being alderman, one that has had a great deal of variety.
“I’m a product of public education and proud of that very much so. I’ve spent some time down at the University of Missouri but then enlisted in the military and served briefly,” Cohn said. ” Then I came back home to St. Louis and started working but never completed my degree at the University of Missouri”
Cohn prides himself on his innate instinct to serve and better the public.
Simply getting involved in his community proved to be a stepping stone for Cohn as he reflected on his past involvement.
“I was always raised to basically get involved and I did, so I know at this point, I had been very visible and very active for years before running for office,” Cohn said.
In preparation of the impending retirement of the previous 25th Ward alderman, Dorothy Kimer, Cohn began organizing meetings focused on what would happen in her absence. At that time, Cohn was “just putting on his professional cap” and although he had been involved with the local Democratic Party, he still had no real intention in being placed on the ballot.
“A year later I got a phone call from one of the committee people in the ward and they asked if I had identified anyone in that process,” Cohn said. “I didn’t want to put up the headache of running for public office and all of that. A couple weeks later I was asked if i would consider running for office and I had a conversation with some of my neighbors about what their thoughts were about me running. They went out and talked to some of their neighbors and they come back with feedback that was mostly positive and we got the wheels in motion.”
Cohn was added to an already crowded primary that included three other candidates.
“One of my opponents was basically running off endorsements and connections and another was running off of mailings and wasn’t that interested in knocking on doors,” Cohn said.
Cohn’s campaign was very involved with the community itself, and he would take the time to go around his ward and get the word out he was running and that he was the right man for the job.
“We reached out to new voters and younger voters, we built a campaign that was very focused on knocking on doors, I went around my ward three times. I would knock on doors sometimes until it was dark and then in the meantime trying to raise money,” Cohn said.
He raised $30,000 for his campaign. The foundation of Cohn’s campaign had three parts: neighborhood safety, development, and engagement.
Cohn’s campaign was successful and he began to implement his plans for the city.
“Along those three priorities – from a development perspective, we’ve had millions of dollars in residential and commercial development while in office. We brought life back into an entire block in the neighborhood,” Cohn said. “When I took office I worked with the St. Louis Development Corporation, on a forgivable loan program for businesses that want to move into the area. We also had created one of the largest and more active neighborhood ownership models in the city of St. Louis.”
As for neighborhood safety, Cohn has worked to get community members proactive in their community’s safety, foudning the mobile court watch program. The program allows community members to monitor courthouses and their proceedings to make sure those who are or have committed local crimes are not being released back into the community. Cohn’s ward also has a victim’s assistance program which makes sure community member’s needs are being addressed following times of crisis. This program is also run by volunteers.
Cohn had the advantage of running unopposed in 2013, and is in the first year of his second term.
Satisfied with his work so far with the 25th Ward, the 34-year-old Cohn is committed to promoting public service for the people in his community in any way he can.
“I consider public service to be a calling, and it takes a tremendous amount of energy and service for the community. Four years is a long time and I am committed to my constituents and my neighbors. I am not blind to opportunities down the road, but my calling right now is alderman, and if I have another calling down the road I will evaluate it.”
