Meeting With a Bang!

If you are a concerned citizen, the July 27, 2011 Wentzville board of aldermen meeting proved to be a most splendid occasion indeed. The Aldermen have taken control of overspending and the bulging bureaucracy in city hall, which is exactly what the citizens who elected them sent them there to do. This meeting started with a bang and heralded a long night for the unhappy mayor Paul Lambi.

After the usual Call To Order, Open Forum, Consent Agenda, blah, blah, blah, they got to Unfinished Business: LINC Services. In a last-ditch attempt to get the city to fund the 501c organization, Mayor Lambi introduced a "contract for services" to lure them into entertaining his pet project. He asked for discussion—the sounds of crickets could be heard from a block away. The city of Wentzville seemed to stop in time; no traffic or trains could be heard, only deafening silence. As the aldermen starred blankly into their computer screens, an uneasiness could be felt from the dais. After what seemed like minutes, suddenly the mayor spoke; "seeing no discussion, I'll close this item." BANG went the gavel. That shot was so hard, I swear I could see splinters flying—the staff woke up, the aldermen jumped, and the mayor got the message; the LINC subject was "finished business." This point in question is unfortunate; after all, LINC is a deserving organization. Mayor Lambi must have gone out on a limb and promised something to LINC Services that he had no place or right to promise. If he wants support for anything from this board in the future, he will need to query the aldermen ahead of time to see whether he has their support before embarrassing himself and the city. Ramming things through or intimidating a bunch of junior and first-term aldermen won't work anymore.

After the dust and wood chips settled, the subject turned to new business. The most interesting of it was the "Prospect Road (east) Booster Pumping Station Contract Award." Without going into great detail, our aldermen questioned and listened to testimony of the staff and vendors, and nodded through the flaccid justifications of the mayor. Following a lengthy discussion they rejected the staff recommendation and awarded the contract to an equally qualified lower bidder. The bottom line is a savings of almost $100,000 in taxpayers' dollars. To anyone watching the proceedings, it would be easy to surmise that the staff has favorite vendors whom they recommend regardless of the cost to the city.

Mayor Lambi has to have heard it loud and clear; these young aldermen are not afraid of him anymore. I have a hunch that the rest of his term is going to be tough. If he decides to run again in 2012, and he should happen to win, it's going to be the most miserable four years he's ever spent in office. If he's smarter than he's acted in his last two terms, he won't run for re-election.

I can't wait for the next meeting; it promises to be a dandy, It's going to be hard not to laugh out loud, or for the younger generation LOL. Inside, I'm sure I'll be ROFLMAO!