Awk! Polly Wants A Cracker!

The Meeting:

The Board of Alderman held a special meeting scheduled to begin at 5:30 PM for Mayor Guccione's appointment to the vacant Ward 3 Alderman seat.  Due to an absence and a late arrival, there were not enough Aldermen present for a quorum, consequently the start time was pushed closer to 6:00 PM. The regular meeting started near 6:30 PM and presented the real possibility of another midnight session. On two agenda items (to paraphrase President of the Board; Rick Stokes), "In the interest of getting out of here before midnight, I move to table or postpone." If he hadn't, this meeting wouldn't have ended at 11:00 PM. Thank you Alderman Stokes.

Mayor Guccione's appointment wasn't much of a surprise and the Board approved his very good friend John Luby. Luby served two terms on the Board of Aldermen during the controversial "Lurchette" period, when Bill Schuette, Guccione, and Luby controlled the board. It was they who were instrumental in changing the Wentzville Parkway overlay district to include LED signs and live music. Resultant problems presented by these changes has residents complaining about them since they were implemented. It was a time of "feel good" legislation, if it felt good, or they had a friend who wanted it, it was passed.

John Luby is probably one of the nicest people in Wentzville and I always liked him but to be honest, I didn't agree with him much and was summarily disappointed with the way he represented my residential ward. If he is true to form, his alliance with Guccione will manifest itself in many 5-1 votes on issues. John won his first term but unopposed in his second and stayed in place. In Luby's bid for a third term, he was upset by the newcomer, Rick Stokes, who has become a leader on the board. It will be an interesting six months watching what Luby does leading up to the election in April 2013.

As expected the interim City Administrator was introduced: Mr. George R. Kolb. With the city only six days, I was surprised at the handle he has on city issues. Mr Kolb, by all outward appearances, looks like he is capable of handling the job he was hired to do. I wish him success in dealing with the many problems facing the city in his new smaller office.

The Peeve:

This highly intelligent Board of Aldermen use words or phrases that emphasise points they are trying to make. One of Alderman Stokes' pet phrases is; "Tee it up" or, "Who's going to tee this up?" I assume it is from his passion of playing golf and he uses it very well in many of his statements. I've heard Alderman Gossett use the word "rancor" on numerous occasions during the appointment process. A fairly common word that sometimes gives pause to those who may not know what it means. Then last night I heard our interim CA Mr. Kolb, use three tenses of the word; "vet," another word that I'm sure our Mayor is going to start using.

Now: Mayor (Polly wants a cracker) Guccione in an effort to sound either clever or intelligent (pick one), likes to parrot words and phrases stated by the aldermen. If he understands it, he'll repeat it that night—and usually more than once. He has now added; "tee up" to his "Polly wants a cracker important persons words and phrases that intelligent people use list" to his meeting vocabulary and is using it on a regular basis. (Polly) Guccione used the word "rancor" at least three times before the end of the meeting after Alderman Gossett used it in reference to him a few weeks ago. Last night Mr. Kolb used the words "vet, vetted," and "vetting," on several occasions and watching Guccione's face told me—"Awk" he was inpressed—he doesn't know what it means, but he was impressed. Mark my words, he will be adding this word to his "Polly wants a cracker important persons terms and words that intelligent people use list"—as soon as someone looks it up for him.

They say imitation is the kindest form of flattery, but in this instance it appears to be a disappointing indictment of our education system. However, I do encourage our aldermen to keep feeding Polly, it's fun to watch from the cheap seats.