New Missouri senator says rural-urban roots a good mix

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Maida Coleman grew up in rural southeast Missouri, served as a legislative assistant in Jefferson City, then worked in St. Louis as a journalist and settled there.

Now, after one year in the Missouri House, the 47-year-old Democrat finds herself the newest member of the Senate, where she hopes to use her diverse background to help bridge the gap between urban and rural interests.

Coleman, who won a special election to replace the late Paula Carter, is off to a quick start.

She already has filed legislation authorizing state aid for a new St. Louis Cardinals baseball stadium.

"I feel like I am doing what I was meant to do in my life," Coleman said in an interview in her sparse Senate office before she was sworn in last week. "This is the spot I've always expected to be in."

'Nothing gets me down'

Her journey to that spot began in Sikeston.

The eldest of eight children, young Maida (pronounced MAY-da) was cooking dinner for the entire family by age 9. She was active in her church and sang in choir -- the setting for an incident, she said, that brought her as close to sadness as she has ever been.

When power went out during a storm, she caught her hair on fire and was forced to wear a wig to school. As she sang in choir one day, a boy pulled the wig off.

"It was embarrassing," Coleman said. "It wasn't really sad. Nothing really gets me down."

Coleman said her mother always was there to instill self-confidence, which grew even stronger when the 27-year-old journalism graduate of Jefferson City's Lincoln University joined the staff of then-state Rep. Billie Boykins.

For a year, Coleman got her first real look at a woman who was in a position of power. The year was 1981.

"Representative Boykins was my first role model," Coleman said. "I grew up with a strong mother, but Billie was the first business person and woman that I knew was in a leadership role.

"She was my first indication that I would be a lawmaker. I remember how forceful she was about getting her point across. I felt that she was respected."

Their positions are now reversed. Boykins, who served in the House from 1978 to 1982, now works as Coleman's administrative assistant. She provides valuable information about the workings of the Senate, having been administrative assistant to former Sen. Phil Curls.

Coleman served on the House Agriculture Committee and on a special agricultural task force appointed by Gov. Bob Holden.

"My goal is to continue to form relationships with lawmakers that someone from urban Missouri and urban cities probably wouldn't associate with," Coleman said. "I think it's still strange that a black female from an urban area would be interested in agriculture, which affects all of us."

Justifying stadium

But Coleman is also focused on the Cardinals stadium, which would be built in her district.

"It is something that is very controversial now, especially in rural Missouri," she said. Yet "it's important that we be able to work with each other and make concessions. They need things in out-state Missouri just like we need things in the inner city, and we have to be able to find common ground."

What would she tell folks back home in Sikeston about why there's a need for a new stadium?

"You need a stadium because it is an economic engine," Coleman said. "Money that comes into the city of St. Louis goes into the general revenue fund of the state."

While Coleman agrees that she can come across calm and cool, she can also be tough when necessary -- rookie senator or not.

"This 'nice' thing is more of an act," Coleman said. "I will fight to the end to make a wrong right. I don't like for people to be mistreated."