Please Don't Apply

Having never been (and no ambition to be) an alderman, this perspective is from an observer and student of Wentzville politics. Watching candidates run for elected offices over the years has given me a great respect for those who are successful and effective in the seat. Unfortunately, the actual ratio of those elected who are duly constituted to those who are not, is sometimes frightening. Today, on Wentzville's Board of Aldermen, the number of capable office-holders is greater than those who are ineffective. That has not always been the case and may have never been since the 1960s when our national government became polarized. The middle of the road candidate gave way to the radical right and the radical left that has dominated politics ever since.

Local government is not party sensitive and no candidate declares a party to run for office however it does not stop the right/left divide at this level of government. It's always been said: "You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy" hence the political divide finds its way into Wentzville.

The salary for alderman in Wentzville (if based on a 40 hour week) is about $2.16 per hour—clearly money is not an incentive. I question every legitimate candidate for alderman to assess their reason for wanting to be elected, unfortunately there is usually either a personal or political agenda, and I've heard some doozys. "Lurch" Schuette" for example lived in a subdivision and when developers destroyed his view of  woodland to build an adjacent subdivision he got upset and joined Vickie Boedecker's flying monkeys to put an end to it. Somehow he concluded that he had paid for the view. Lurch in turn recruited several others including Nick Guccione to become a member of the "Lurchettes."

I interviewed Guccione when he ran for aldermen for the first time and he revealed some interesting things. First and foremost, he had no good reason other than great political aspirations; he wanted to be mayor and then move on into state government. He had no knowledge of the concerns of the citizens or businesses of Wentzville and has kept his special interests blinders on since being elected. An admitted Obama supporter, Guccione has brought his liberal issues before the board and made them stick until he lost his pack of Lurchettes—had he been opposed in the election of 2011 he would more than likely be out of the picture today.

The job of alderman carrys a great responsibility, if you don't like spending long hours reading, don't apply. If you don't like sitting through several long and late drab meetings filled with drollery every week, don't apply, If you don't have time to answer phone calls or messages at all times of the day and night (a great flaw of "Lurch" Schuette's), don't apply. If you want to feel powerful, important, and grandiose, don't apply. If you have no love of Wentzville, it's heritage, or citizens, please don't apply. If you really don't know whats going on and no good reason to apply...DON"T.

This message has been brought to you courtesy of: The Wentzvillian for good government, a concerned, no-profit, no-pay, no tolerance, and no nonsense, entity that believes Wentzville can be greater than it is.