Just Say NO!

I have to talk about something that I've been hearing around town for the last several months, but what prompted this writing was getting a call from a dear friend of mine this morning. I know that our ever-present, all knowing, mighty potentate, Mayor Paul Lambi has been pushing some pretty corn-ball things for the past few years. Things like Incubator Plus, supposedly devised to help small and micro businesses get going and keep going. This venture, and many others, have failed miserably and gone belly-up around here simply because they reneged on keeping  promises made to business owners.

Since his initial election almost eight years ago, Lambi has had a history of backing programs (like Incubator Plus) that look noble on the surface, but there's always some nuance that leaves them somewhat odoriferous. The difference between those earlier dead fish and his latest is that this one smells right up front. After only one minute of my friend explaining this deal, I started scratching my head—and it wasn't dandruff. Let me explain:

Lambi is going around town rounding up individuals as well as business owners to "volunteer" to be tutors for people who want to finish their education; a very worthwhile and noble endeavor. He claims that his organization has hundreds of these so-called "volunteers" lined up to begin tutoring people. In order to be allowed to sign up, the "volunteer" needs to pay $250 for the privilege of getting into the program. I've known a lot of volunteers in my day but I've never known one who paid for it, except in time and talent, or the occasional donation. My confidant said that Lambi's organization will let someone volunteer for free, but their name will be added to the bottom of the list. I have always been under the impression that tutors got paid, not the other way around. I guess the immediate question is; where is all this money going? If I were to guess, it would be Lambi's pocket in the form of a salary.

I wouldn't have brought up this whole subject (frankly I don't give a crap what Lambi does, as long as he does it somewhere else), but I've heard that there are Wentzville people who were approached by the mayor and were afraid not to participate and reluctantly gave in, and some are now angry. One source tells me that some of this business has been carried out in the Mayor's office in city hall. I wonder if there's a name for this; it wouldn't be influence peddling, would it? Wouldn't it be a real hoot if a few of these people would come before the President of the Board of Aldermen (Leon Tow) and lodge a complaint? That could be a very interesting turn of events that could even require Lambi to retain the services of an attorney. I urge any of my readers who felt pressured into participating in this idea to come forward and testify.

I later discussed this subject with several business owners; one in particular summed it up pretty well: "Lambi sounds like he's been eating too many retard sandwiches."