The Beginning of the End?

Early last fall The Wentzvillian first got wind of a situation involving the possibility of influence peddling in the city and now it looks like Mayor Paul Lambi's chickens may come to roost very soon. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter Mark Schlinkmann has been poking around Wentzville looking for information about the possibility that Lambi has been using his office to promote his company; Winning Endeavors.

Schlinkmann reports, "...Lambi also has retained an attorney, Chet Pleban, to respond to the board's inquiry. Among the issues Pleban said he's looking into is the board's decision last month to spend tax money "on what essentially is a no-bid type of deal" to attract Ranken to the city." I find this quite interesting because public record clearly shows, Lambi has been doing that very thing since he gained office in April 2004. It's been one "Contract For Services" after another, no competitive bidding, just give them the money, until the new board came along two years ago. Today there's a contract being investigated involving a company named; Carollo Engineers, issued some seven years ago in the amount of $75,000. This contract has been amended several times over the years without competitive bidding and today it is over $4 million dollars. How in the hell did this happen and under Mayor Lambi's watch? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

There have been a great number of disturbing things happen during Lambi's term, especially in the last six years. Many of these things have been brought to light by the majority of the current board when Lambi was not doing his job because he was off acting mayorally to the outside world. Partying and not overseeing the business of the city is not the way to be a mayor. I'm pleased to say that Aldermen Leon Tow, Rick Stokes, Cheryl Kross, and Chris Gard have gone the extra mile and taken up the burden to do the job that Lambi wouldn't do or couldn't do. Through their initiative, they are in the process of saving the city millions of dollars.

I've heard complaints from citizens and business owners who felt pressure to donate money to Lambi's Winning Endeavors program but were afraid to report it for fear of retribution. Now is the time to come forward, the cat is out of the bag and nothing will happen to you now. Call the President of the Board of Aldermen, Leon Tow and issue your complaint, make an example for future Mayors and Aldermen that "good old boy" tactics won't work here in Wentzville ever again. The time to pig-pile is now!

The lid is about to blow and Lambi's alleged  influence peddling will be in every newspaper, on every TV network, and blog in the state. The "Executive Session" minutes are about to be released and I'm disappointed in the way Lambi has treated our city and really not looking forward to the black eye he's about to give us. Lambi will be remembered in the history of Wentzville and I only wish I could say; thanks for the memories. If you'd like to read the article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch click on the following link:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/wentzville-board-looking-at-mayor-s-role-in-ranken-discussions/article_2318c0dd-01e3-50cd-8d36-ec523b130e29.html