Grumble, Bumble, Stumble, and Mumble

I always find it fascinating to watch Mayor Nickolas Guccione grab onto a subject that he had nothing to do with claiming it for his own. He's desperately trying to be the champion of the taxpayers but with few, or no ideas of his own, he latches onto anything proposed by someone else. Off he scurries with his new idea avoiding research and giving no thought to the consequences—this is the part where it usually ends up badly for our hero—a safe falls out of the sky onto the head of Mayor Wile E. Coyote.

Now that I have your interest, the Board of Alderman meeting of February 27th (video) was over before 11:00 PM but in my elevated years I found it difficult staying awake. The Peruque Valley and Heartland Park projects, "(ID # 4369) was an exciting discussion and I will dedicate my next writing to cover the story. Other than the parks discussion it was the subtleties of the meeting that piqued my real interest.

Let's start with the smoking issue brought up in; "Heal Thy Self," which I posted on February 26th. Mayor Guccione got his brilliant idea from Alderman Forrest Gossett during a phone call when Gossett told him that he had seen employees smoking in City owned vehicles. This led to the "To All Employees" letter which was the subject of my scrutiny yesterday, the rest is history. Guccione claims to anyone who he thinks might believe him that he does not read The Wentzvillian. Coinsidently he brings up smoking in front of the buildings even to the extend of giving a no smoking distance from the front door of city hall, a number that was posted as a comment to this blog.

I've stated on numerous occasions that our mayor is incapable of making decisions and this is the subject for his new idea to disallow smoking within 25 feet from the entrance of any municipal building. The fun part of this is that he brought it up after reading it here and he introduced it into discussion yet he will not issue a directive. It's funny that he issued a directive on the 25th that there will be no more smoking in city vehicles but he won't issue a directive for a smoke-free zone at the entrances of city owned buildings. Why is that? Well, Mayor Coyote rode one of his ACME rockets into the side of a cliff (it begins to smart after a while) and The Wentzvillian challenged the hypocrisy of his directive.

"I'm not going to tell people they can't smoke in public." He wants the Aldermen to take the next ride on his rocket. He stated that he won't make the decision unless the Aldermen make it for him. He's slicker than a firehouse pole. Rather than conform to OSHA and Federal rules, which seems to be a no-brainer (something that is well within Gucciones ability), Mayor Coyote won't issue the directive and defaults to the Board to make it for him. If a Mayor can't make a decision based on Federal guidelines, I question whether or not he is a Mayor.

Now let's move on to another funny story. Last week the Board of Aldermen set the agenda for the "Strategic Planning Session" (retreat), without the assistance of the Mayor, who was supposed to do it. Every year since I've been watching City Government the Mayor has always set aside a half-hour or so to give his goals for the City to the Aldermen at the retreat, oops, I mean Strategic Planning Session. I thought it curious last week that his goals for 2013 weren't discussed as a topic for the meeting. Guccione was suspiciously silent and didn't mention that it was his place to tell the Aldermen his plans for the coming year. After thinking about it a while, Guccione doesn't have any goals!

"Looking at our agenda for the Strategic Planning Session we didn't include the Mayor's Goals," said Alderman Cheryl Kross. Her offering was met with Guccione's patented deer in the headlights look, I love her, she's cuter than a junebug in a jumpsuit. Again he didn't know what to say but agreed to take a time slot. When opening on Friday evening was suggested Guccione said "I won't be there Friday." They then offered Saturday and Guccione knew he was trapped he was going to have to fabricate some goals to give to the Aldermen. Saturday ... or Friday ... whenever ...  Guccione grumbled, bumbled, stumbled, and mumbled.

I was disappointed last year because the retreat video experienced "technical problems," I didn't have the opportunity to hear his goals for last year. This year I have been guaranteed that citizens will be able to watch Guccione give his famous "Goals for 2013." I can't wait to see what he's going to say simply because he has no goals, never has, and never will. He is going to have to find out what the Aldermen have done to effect the coming year and lay claim to it. I'll bet he won't take credit for the Splash Station or the other new parks. Honestly, I cannot think of a single thing that he can ask the Aldermen to achieve for him, but a wink's as good as a nod to a blind mule.

More Wile E. Coyote funny stuff came up in a discussion regarding appointments to committees and boards. I need to tell you about it so I'm putting this reminder to myself for my next writing  to explain just what happened, funny stuff, you'll love it.

Heal Thy Self

A funny thing happened when I opened my email this morning I received a copy of an email sent by my favorite mayor, Nickolas Guccione, "To All City Employees." I'm not going to reprint the entirety of the transmission here, just the parts I have questions about. It is regarding the ever popular smoking issue, and regardless of your preference I believe you'll find some portion of it interesting.

Sentence Number 1: "In order to promote a positive image of the City of Wentzville smoking in city owned vehicles will no longer be allowed." My question with this statement is this: If you are sincere in wanting to give a more positive image, why can you be seen standing in front of city hall puffing your brains out on cigarettes? Or don't you believe that your edict should pertain to your own nasty habit?

Sentence Number 2: "Vehicles and buildings owned by the City are essentially paid for by taxpayers." You forgot to mention that the ground the buildings stands on is paid for by the taxpayers too. It stands to reason that you shouldn't be smoking on the grounds either.

Since Guccione has been elected, he has even instituted smoke breaks at every Board of Alderman meeting. Shutting down the business of the City while he goes out in front of City Hall to be seen by citizens driving by where he stands outside the front door enhancing the image of the City by blowing smoke on each and every passer-by. Nickolas Guccone says he is concerned about the City's image but has no intention of taking himself and his nasty habit off of the grounds away from public view.

I've heard several times over the past year about Guccione smoking in front of city hall, it's not just me complaining about it. What does the good-book say: "Let he amongst you who is without sin cast the first stone." Mr Mayor, I suggest that before you say others are hurting the City's image, you need to clean up your own act.

It's Time For Our Mayor To Make A Decision!

A perfect example of Mayor Guccione's total lack of leadership came at Wednesday's Work Session. A mayor is responsible for setting agendas. Wednesday they set the agenda for the annual retreat, currently known as "Strategic Planning Session." Ever since I've been watching Wentzville City Government, the mayor has not only participated in setting the agenda but approved it. Guccione did neither, if he was to give input, someone would have needed to wake him up. I hope everyone watches that video (click here) just to see how little our mayor really does in the one place where he should shine.

Being an idealist and while writing "Report Card Part I," and "Report Card Part II" and most recently watching the work session this past Wednesday, The Wentzvillian was reminded of the election of 2012 and the mistake the voters made electing Nick Guccione over all of the other more qualified candidates. Today, less than two months until his first year in office and seeing his lack of accomplishments and leadership has me sitting here again shaking my head in utter disgust, I need to vent!

I'm convinced that Presidents, Governors and, Mayors who are less than qualified must be narcissistic, why else would they invite the scrutiny of the press, demanding employees, irate citizens, and one lowly voice in the darkness of cyberspace? I'm further convinced that in Mayor Nickolas Guccione's case, there was quite a lot of naivety.

Alderman Nick Guccione's political teething came by following the lead of five other Aldermen who were more bold than he, only by being very quiet did he outlast them. Having been told how to vote he never had to read or investigate items, he merely voted "Yea" or "Nay" in harmony with the leading Aldermen. When his leaders were not reelected and other strong more-conservative candidates were seated he was all alone on the board. Knowing he would have a frustrating time trying to compete with stronger-willed, more government-savvy Aldermen, and aware of the great possibility he would not be reelected to represent Ward 3, he made the bold decision to run for mayor. The unethical course of his campaign is no secret as he bamboozled the voters and steamrolled Wentzville with his slash and burn strategy. Every candidate running for any office other than those he hand-picked caught the mud he was slinging all over town. As expected he has begun slamming Alderman Cheryl Kross of Ward 1 and Ward 3 candidate Darrel Lackey with dirt and lies in an effort to manipulate the coming election. Other than thinking about fame and bright lights, I'm really not sure why he wanted to be Mayor so much that he would discredit himself by trashing everyone who ran against him and his aldermanic hopefuls. Unfortunately for him, none of his posse were elected leaving him with more than a few disgruntled Aldermen to deal with.

Working with today's Aldermen, directing a staff, managing almost 200 employees, representing 29,000 citizens, and managing a $60 million dollar budget are not within Guccione's area of expertise. So what are his reasons for wanting to be Mayor of Wentzville? Alderman Guccione had a history of following but as Mayor he can't do that anymore, Harry S. Truman said; "The buck stops here." If Guccione is ever going to have a chance at being an effective Mayor, he's going to have to make some decisions. Since he was elected mayor, the Board of Aldermen have been carrying him and doing his job by making educated decisions that he should have made and had they not, the city's budget and policies would be in serious trouble.

Now I'm reminded that our Mayor is supporting two candidates in the soon-to-be election and I find it troubling that Guccione is longing for days gone bye when he agreed with the Aldermen and they agreed with him and things got messed up in City Hall. God help Wentzville if he chips away at this board replacing them one at a time with clones of himself. Vote for Cheryl Kross and Darrel Lackey!

More From the 20th

At the meeting Wednesday the 20th (click here), one of the few times our man of few words (Mayor Nickolas Guccione) spoke was to say that he's all about customer service. He's talked about "customer service" so much since being elected he has me convinced that he must know a lot about it. But, it was brought out at the meeting that an email was received from a resident by the City regarding a financial matter. It was asked of Mayor Guccione if he had directed it to whoever may be able to answer it and the question got his usual deer in the headlights look. As it turns out, he hadn't done anything with it, I guess hoping someone else would take care of it, which no one had. Anyway, I thought customer service involved responding to someones needs but I guess I was wrong. I reckon I need to reread the Customer Service for Dummies handbook. I wonder if he gives that same kind of "customer service" attention to someone buying chicken parts.

Every year about this time the city holds a "retreat," now known as a "Strategic Planning Session." This year rather than rent a fancy meeting facility at a resort somewhere in another city or county this year the Aldermen decided to have it locally, here in Wentzville. Last year for the first time they had to hire a facilitator to keep the meeting on topic and moving along. They had to, especially since they had a look at the way our Mayor conducts a meeting, any meeting. Previous Mayors knew how to facillitate a meeting but knowing that Guccione isn't capable of facilitating any sort of meeting and in an effort to save money, they will use the new City Administrator.

Now it's onto another subject; opening day for Wentzville's new Splash Station. With delays in construction, the latest date given for the grand opening of the Splash Station is August 15, 2013. An interesting discussion happened at the meeting between President of the Board, Rick Stokes and Mayor Nickolas Guccione. If it were possible to open on August 15th, that would mean it would be open for a whole 19 days before it would have to close for the season. Hiring employees, lifeguards, and concessions must be fairly expensive which under usual circumstances making a decision should be easy, but when you have Guccione at the wheel sometimes scraping a fender or two should be expected. Stokes asked the Mayor: "Will we be opening Splash Station for only two weeks?" Guccione was caught flat-footed probably not sure how to answer, on one hand if he decides not to open the park he broke a promise to the people and on the other, if he opens it'll cost the City dearly. Stokes continued; "This is your bailiwick it's clearly operational." I'm not sure Guccione understood what the reference to "operational" meant, after all he's only "Kinda like the CEO" At any rate he responded; "If you want me to make a decision, I'll make a decision." I'm telling you, any Mayor who doesn't know when to make a decision is lost.

There's more from the meeting of the 20th and I'll touch on it in another day or two.

Are We Keeping You Up?

Looking at the Work Session agenda of February 20, 2013 (click here for video) it really didn't appear to be very exciting, but it emphasised many of the things I've been harping on about Mayor Nickolas Guccione for the last two years. Guccione was disengaged and other than for a few brief moments never opened his mouth other than to yawn, which was frequently. After the meeting a  reporter from a local publication asked me what I got from the meeting. I told the reporter that I took two pages of notes but not being a reporter myself I look for a lot different content than you would. The reporter did make the following comment without solicitation; "Guccione didn't say much," to which I responded; "that kinda sums up the job performance of our current mayor."

I'm going to start with the Work Session Topic List. There were a total of 24 items on the list and one of them will ring loud with the village center businesses and residents; "Honorary Street Names." It's interesting to note that this topic is the only item on the list not to have anyone listed in the "Requested By" column, or a "Date Received." This item is different than the "Renaming Streets" subject brought forward by Mayor Guccione a few months ago. That topic incited such an uproar of the citizens and business community that it was decided by the board to write a policy which will protect our historic street names.

Memorializing our historic street names has Mayor Guccione out on a limb with a saw in his hand sawing as fast as his Wile Coyote arms can move. Twice, Alderman Stokes asked for ownership of this item and twice Guccione ignored him. At 2:38 into the meeting Guccione said "Do you want to talk about Honorary Street Names?" He brought it up, he is the one pushing for it and if you watch the video starting at 2:51 I think you'll see that Mayor Guccione wants this to happen. He won't take credit for placing it on the Work Session Topic List but he got it on the agenda of March 13th as a discussion item.

Mayor Guccione has been out on the streets bad-mouthing Alderman Cheryl Kross because she's running for reelection against one of his boys. He's tried saddling her with the Street Renaming change disaster and now he wants her to take credit for the Memorial Street Name crap. In my opinion, if the Aldermen want to put ownership where it belongs, they can do it publicly. When it comes up on the March 13th agenda and Guccione asks for discussion, they need to ask him for his recommendation. There's where Guccione will need to make a decision; either break his promise to his friend or piss off everyone in the downtown area. If he doesn't want to take a stand then it's time for the "Board of Crickets" to sing their lonely song, chirrup. chirrup, chirrup.

I'm tired of Guccione's political agenda and believe the Aldermen need to let him stand or fall on his items of discussion. There was more from last night but I wrote more than I wanted today, the thought of the mayor yawning all last night has me longing for a nap. I'll probably be back tomorrow if I wake up.

21% Job Approval Rating

Some of you have taken the opportunity to vote in the "Rate Mayor Guccione's Performance" poll at the top of the column on the left, and I thank you. Even though it's not as yet a huge sampling of Wentzville voters I thought it would be fun to track how my readers judge our Mayor through the end of his term. Personally, on my report card he has been a miserable failure in his first year in office. I can't say he was a disappointment because I followed his career through five years as an alderman and he did absolutely nothing, so in that respect he got an "A,"—I expected nothing and he delivered—nothing.

Mayor Nickolas Guccione was elected on April 3, 2012 with just 42 percent of the vote so I expect his job approval ratings here would be no more than that and most probably something less. Guccione didn't do himself any favors with the Board of Aldermen when he ran such an unethical campaign and holding his vacated seat open for nine months, failing to work with them on an appointment made it even worse. The hole he dug created interpersonal relationship problems and he is having a difficult time assimilating. His obvious lack of oratory skills and inability to articulate will remain problematic for the remainder of his term. Unfortunately for Wentzville, the officials of other communities in St. Charles County see him as a joke and question the intelligence of our citizens who voted him into office.

Today, according to The Wentzvillian Poll; Mayor Nickolas Guccione's job approval rating is bleak at 21%. It's interesting to note that all of the positive votes for him were "Excellent" which puzzles me because anyone who is conscious or watches him in action (and I use that word loosely) could not possibly call his job performance "Excellent." Since he has five "Excellent" votes I have to assume he has four friends left he hasn't ailenated—yet!

A Muddy Elephant in the Snow

In only a month and a half we will be going to the polls to elect two Aldermen and our Municipal Judge here in Wentzville. It reminds me of another election when then-Mayor Vickie Bodecker stuffed the ballot with her hand-picked candidates. At the time she was frustrated that her conservative Board of Aldermen didn't subscribe to her ultra-liberal beliefs so she initiated one of the dirtiest campaigns (until Nick Guccione's of last year) ever to be held in Wentzville. Unfortunately, two of her bozos overthrew the conservative board that would have allowed her to cast tie-breaking votes had she been reelected. Fortunately, Paul Lambi was elected and for a year the balance of power remained just right of crazy, but that would all change the following year with the election of the ultra-left socialist Alderman Nickolas Guccione.

With Guccione on the Board creating a majority, things got real nuts in City hall. The Socialist board of that time took apart any resemblance of fiscal responsibility and they binged on useless and destructive legislation. The effect of their influence is still being felt today, employees being fired or quitting out of fear, audits and policy violations because of a lack of oversight, and Guccione is the only vestige of those chaotic times.

Mark Twain said; "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Guccione is trying to do the same thing he did last year and Bodecker did over nine years ago—stuff the board. That tactic set the city back for years to come by endorsing candidates who agreed with them rather than what's best for the city. If he were to be honest he'd have to admit that he has no interest in what's best for the city, it's all about him and his nonsense politics. If he were interested in creating a better city, he'd do what he does best (besides lying); follow—follow this Board of Aldermen who could make him a great Mayor instead of one who will go down in history as our worst.

Today, our Mayor is parading around town with Michael Hays and Robert Hussey in tow, introducing them as the best things since sliced bread. A little advice to them; check with some of the candidates he supported in the past and see what they have to say about him and his loyalty. Even better, ask his campaign manager of last year, see what she has to say about his ethics. In case you don't know, the Board of Aldermen just passed new ethics policies because of Alderman Nickolas Guccione's total lack of ethics, so if you want to follow his advice you'd better prepare yourselves for some fines. Guccione won't leave a paper trail when he stabs you in the back, he'll just slither away leaving you out there twisting in the wind, that's the way he does things.

I'm waiting for him to use his latest "campaign propaganda tool;" his weekly Newstime articles (that we all pay for) to hawk his recruits. He doesn't do anything different, he merely changes a few names and starts the motor running. You can smell his influence and he covers his tracks like a muddy elephant in the snow. He really believes that no one can see him coming or where he's been. Soon we'll see the old worn-out trash that he and Bodeker used for years in their campaigns to help Hays and Hussey smear and defame anyone who runs against them. One more thing; Guccione is campaigning for Michael Carter for for Municipal Judge but everyone knows he's a loser just like Guccione.

To the voters; Don't let Guccione get another foothold on dirty politics in Wentzville's City Hall. Reelect Alderman Cheryl Kross in Ward 1 and elect Darrel Lackey for Ward 3, as for Municipal Judge; incumbent Steve Martin is the man. Remember, a vote for Kross, Lackey, and Martin is a vote to keep Guccione frustrated for another year. Who knows, if we can't get rid of him maybe we could have him committed, he is definately not drooling out of both sides of his mouth.

Nickel Ass, Nickels and Dimes Taxpayers

Last nights Board of Aldermen Meeting of February 13th lasted until fifteen minutes of midnight. It ranks right up there in the top ten most boring meetings I've ever attended. With all that was on the agenda I expected fireworks somewhere and it finally came in the last hour. You had to know what you were looking for or the untrained eye might have missed the fun, and naturally it was with our easy target; Mayor Nickolas Guccione. I'm sure some of you think I'm picking on him but he does so many incredibly unethical things I can't ignore it.

The Wentzvillian posted Put Up Or Shut Up on January 29th where I explained that Mayor Guccione was fed up with all "the misinformation out there on the blog" and how Newstime was going to be publishing weekly again and would have a reporter at the meetings to correct the misinformation. What he didn't say was that he was the reporter and the City publicist was being paid $45 per hour to write and submit the articles at his direction.

It started during "Item XVI, Information/Discussion, No. 2. (ID #4358) Communications Manager Position" The discussion was about hiring a Communications / Marketing manager at $70,000 per year who would be responsible for all of the press releases and writing of The Vision Newsletter, among other things. Essentially, the contract of our publicist, Laura Pendino of Five Star Publishing Co. would be terminated and everything would then be funneled through the new Communications Manager.

The Aldermen questioned, who oversees press releases now and the mayor said "no one, each department calls Laura Pendino with the information and she writes it and sends it to the news services." It was defined that a press release is giving notice of an event or other important information necessary for the public. He knows that his Newstime articles do not qualify as press releases and should not be paid for by the taxpayers but he couldn't help himself, the blog made him do it. I can always tell when Guccione is getting uncomfortable, he backs his chair away from the Dias, crouches down with his head in one hand and glares at the speaker until he blows.

Finally, Mayor Guccione pulls his chair back up to the Dias and spouts, "There's a lot of misinformation out there in the blog ... I don't know if you read it," (He's claimed many times that he doesn't read The Wentzvillian but something's driving him crazy. Hmmm, maybe he doesn't read it, maybe someone reads it to him), but I digress. He just admitted that he is not sending out pubic information press releases, he is responding to The Wentzvillian using his weekly article that we (the taxpayers) pay for. Guccione's hate for The Wentzvillian and his personal politics is costing the taxpayers $45 per hour. The mayor has been told over and over by the City Attorney and the Board not to respond to the media but he's got a hard-on for The Wentzvillian and it's author, he doesn't care how much it costs the taxpayers to correct "the misinformation in the blog."

It's out there now, Guccione made a fool of himself again and he just keeps screwing up the job of mayor. I wish he'd put as much effort into being mayor as he does trying to stop this blog. Einstein defined insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results." Mayor Guccione is like the poor coyote who keeps trying to catch the Road Runner, it's fun to watch him dropping a piano on himself or blowing himself up but it's unfortunate that Wentzville has to pay his tab. The question remains; When will the Board of Aldermen stop his spiteful spending and unethical behavior?

Guccione Politicizes Street Renaming

Everyone has heard the talk of renaming one of our historic streets, what everyone doesn't know is how it all started and who was pushing. Once residents got wind of what the City was about to do, they began calling their Aldermen and several organizations in town  were motivated to oppose the change. The petitioner withdrew their request, the resolution was tabled, and citizens began breathing easier knowing that their historic street names would not change, unfortunately, this is when things escalated ... in the beginning:

Mayor Nickolas Guccione, owing the local NAACP for supporting him in his election last year, advised Mr. Curtis Davis of that organization, to write a formal letter to the City requesting the change of Kohrs Avenue to Dr, Martin Luther King Drive. When he received their letter Guccione drafted a resolution: "Resolution No. 12-472 Providing to Approve to Change the Name of Kohrs Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, and Matters Relating Thereto," and presented it to the Aldermen for adoption or rejection. Interestingly, the resolution did not go through Planning and Zoning for their recommendation instead, Guccione circumvented the system and brought it straight to the Board of Aldermen. He did what he is best at; manipulation of the system in an effort to pull a fast one and put our good Aldermen on the spot. No one in the City could draft a resolution and present it to the board without going through channels other than the Mayor. If anyone is looking for who was responsible for this entire thing this is proof that Guccione was behind it all. At any rate, the Aldermen tabled the resolution until it could be investigated properly.

Since Kohrs Avenue is in Ward 1, Alderman Cheryl Kross called for the petitioner to meet in City Hall to determine what they were asking and things got hairy; George Kolb, City Administrator got involved suggesting a more high profile street to rename, and Nick Guccione took a powder leaving Alderman Kross holding the bag. He is a master of deception; it is leaked that Kross is in support of the street naming because she's running the meeting, Guccione leaves no trace of his involvement, and his plan to replace her in the upcoming election is in full swing by recruiting Robery Hussey to run against her. His only tie; the illegal resolution that did not go through the process, he must have figured no one would notice.

Today, Alderman Kross is facing another election where Mayor Guccione has recruited her opponent and he's determined to get her out. Armed with the lie that Kross is behind the street renaming fiasco, Guccione is out there hand in hand with Hussey spreading it to the HOA's and other public venues. Speaking of that, I find it interesting that Mayor Guccione is including his candidates; Hays and Hussey, and politicizing his duties as Mayor. Something stinks unethical there, but that's our beloved mayor, he is drawn like a moth to a flame whenever questionable ethics is about.

This Wednesday night at the regular Board of Aldermen meeting the resolution is back on the agenda. Alderman Kross is bringing it back off of the table to be voted down once and for all. Other than Guccione, George Kolb has been it's largest proponent and Wednesday is his final meeting as the interim City Administrator. Now we need to figure out a way of keeping Guccione from sneaking in a resolution memorializing our streets, after all he did make a promise to Curtis Davis of the NAACP and you can bet he's not finished. Mayor Guccione is responsible for a lot of our problems in the city today and this context is the only time the words "Guccione" and "responsible" should be used in the same sentence.

Where Were You Ten Years Ago?

Last night's Alderman Work Session was into its fourth hour when I opted for jammie time and left. After an hour and a half discussion on signage, I felt like I'd just gotten off of a tilt-a-whirl. I'm convinced that the sign ordinance will never be satisfactory to anyone—there are just too many variables and First Amendment issues. The bottom line is; get ready for clowns, cows, balloons, and ball-headed hamburger hawkers lining the streets and intersections of Wentzville. The City will require the creatures to remain on their own property but I believe the Wentzville Police Department is going to have a ball enforcing that one. At any rate, in this age of highly skilled drivers using iPods, cell phones, texting, applying makeup, and eating fast foods while driving, one more distraction like reading signs waived by cartoon characters alongside the road is a piece of cake.

After listening for an hour about camping at the Rennaissance Faire, the subject of Wabash Days rose to the top. Alderman of Ward 2 Chris Gard adamantly opposed the City losing money on this event opting to turn the entire event over to the organizations in town. Parks Director Mary Jo Dessieux presented the history of the celebration and event volunteers from the Community Club, Historical Society, Downtown Business Association, and Chamber of Commerce followed with input. It was exclaimed by the speakers that Wabash Days is an economic development tool and it brings a much needed awareness to the village center and the city as a whole. Gard dismissed this argument saying that he does not believe it has helped redevelop the downtown area. "The money that was spent on Wabash Days over the past ten years would have been better spent in real improvements to the area."

The Board of Aldermen are looking for anything that would equal less spending and smaller government—I applaud their efforts. Gard continuously threw around a number in excess of $100,000 over the last ten years but I question how much real redevelopment would or could have been done for that amount of money. That's a whole $10,000 a year, they might have been able to throw up a few new street signs for $10K but I even question that.

For years the organizations of Wentzville asked the City to build a crosswalk over the railroad tracks to help keep pedestrians safe and clean up the unsightly and dangerous crossing but they couldn't find the money. Those same organizations took the initative to donate the cost of the crossing before the City took action and actually built the crosswalk. A plaque stands at the corner of Linn and East Allen street dedicating the crosswalk paid for by those organizations—oh and, the groups paid for that too.

Except for the rebuilding of Business 61 (which is hardly the village center), the recent improvements of the still incomplete Church Street, filling potholes or fixing broken infrastructure, the City has done nothing to rebuild downtown. The organizations and business owners of Wentzville have done more for the redevelopment of the downtown area than the City ever did over the past ten years.

There was one Mayor who was content and even went out of the way to let our old town decay and self-implode so it could be flattened for new homes and buildings. There was a time not too far past when our village center was terribly run down but thanks to the many business owners and organizations of our downtown community that trend has reversed. Wentzville's rich heritage is kicking in downtown and the Wabash Days event is credited by those same business owners and organizations as helping inspire new businesses to open and repair the rundown appearance of our inner city. If Alderman Gard would like a list of those renovated buildings I would be happy to provide it for him.

I have to thank Mayor Guccione for his words of support of the event; "My family and I have enjoyed volunteering for the past several years at Wabash Days, the people who attend like the event." Aldermen Sonya Shyrock of Ward 2 and Forrest Gossett of Ward 1 also gave encouraging words. I'm sure there are people who are unhappy that the City loses money on Wentzville's special events but I'm equally sure that those same people may enjoy the fireworks and Fourth of July parade and celebration, or the soapbox derby in which their children participate. Hundreds of families enjoy the annual Easter egg hunt and holiday night lights. Others get into the Christmas Parade and some might not even like the name, preferring "Holiday Parade." The bottom line is; all of these add value to living in Wentzville, you can't put a number on that. The last estimate says Wabash Days draws around 13,000 people into the village center and not all of them are from Wentzville. People come from other counties including St. Louis and even other states, they come to Wentzville that weekend and spend their money—that's called economic development!

I understand the cost-cutting efforts of this Board, I really do but the questions needs to be asked to Alderman Gard: This is the youngest Board of Aldermen I've ever seen with the most time in office being held by Alderman Cheryl Kross of four years. When was the very first time you walked the streets of the village center? Could it be that you never saw downtown Wentzville before Wabash Days ten years ago? Is it possible that you never saw the great change in aesthetics of our village center over the last ten years? Would it be a stretch that you have no idea of the economic impact of Wabash Days to our village center over the last ten years? Where were you ten years ago?

(The Wentzvillian has just learned of the passing of Mayor Guccione's mother yesterday morning. Our prayers and sympathy is with Mayor Guccione and his family during this time of grieving.)

Would You Like Fries With That?

The Wentzvillian attended its first ever Parks Board meeting last night, Monday, February 5th because I wanted to get their take on the rock situation and I got more than expected. I urge my readers to watch the City's Parks Board meeting video to confirm the things written here. It was worth attending, some very revealing statements were made during the "Open Forum" and "Unfinished Business Item 1, (ID # 4345 Project Parks Update."

Other than myself, spectators were sparse at best. Mayor Nickolas Guccione sat in the front row and President of the Board of Alderman, Rick Stokes sat in the second. Guccione attends every committee and board meeting being held in the city because this is how he learns what's going on in the city. Rather than read minutes or packets of bills and resolutions he leads the city via the audio method. He also makes decisions on subjects by hearing which items get the most support and then he leans in that direction, this is known as the "Guccione Method of Mayoring."

Stokes got up during open forum announcing himself as "citizen Rick Stokes" and issued a rather provocative challenge regarding hitting rock and cost overruns to the Park Board. "About a year ago during the planning, design, and selection process, members of the Park Board and the Mayor openly criticized the Board of Aldermen." The Parks Board and Mayor listened intently as Stokes said; "Some of the helpful comments made were: Just trust staff; The evaluation committee made their decision, just go!; The VOTERS want parks NOW, The staff and PDS (design company) know what they are doing, get out of the way. And my personal favorite: Stop questioning staff and start digging."

Currently, cost overruns are at $240,000 with a contingency of $292,000 for the entire Splash Station which is less than five percent complete. Stokes went on to say, "49 percent of the voters said "no" to parks and they want to know how their money is being spent. I challenge the Park Board to bring forward its recommendations about where we are going to get the money to pay for these overruns to the Board of Aldermen? There are two other parks budgeted and they have large water features what happens if we hit rock there too? Do we build them at the same time or do we sequence them?

Stokes finished by saying, "The Board of Aldermen wish to be in agreement with the Parks Board, we would like to think you are a partner rather than a critic." That statement cut them to the bone because they and the Mayor have been critics, in a very public way. Guccione will need to figure out who to blame for his statements of the past.

Finally, during unfinished business one of the parks board members stuck her foot down her throat buy saying, "I'm surprised the rock situation was a surprise! We knew years ago that there was rock there when we tried to build some ball fields." I'm now questioning who is to blame for this problem and I imagine our City Attorney, Paul Rost, is going to be pulling his hair out after that public admission. Things just got a lot more complicated for him. Somewhere in the city, someone knew that they would have the problem of excessive rock and they didn't bother to bring this little fact to the Board of Aldermen.

Last night, citizen Rick Stokes handed the Mayor and his staff a super-sized meadow muffin sandwich, maybe Guccione could bring the condiments. I can't wait to see Guccione trying to wiggle out of this blunder, it just keeps getting better and better to watch city stuff unfold.

Report Card Part II

Continuation of Report Card Part I.

5. "Support Parks and Recreation." Mayor Guccione Supports Parks and Recreation so much that he publicly humiliated the Board of Aldermen in the media claiming that they were stalling and taking too much time evaluating contractors. Had they been allowed to complete their investigation without the public outcry created by Guccione, the Friends of the Parks, and the Parks Board, the project would not be $290,000 over budget. Because Mayor Nickolas Guccione sided with the special interest groups and ignored the advice of the Board of Aldermen he had the taxpayers write a huge check and will consequently give the citizens less park for their money. Guccione's idea of supporting Parks and Recreation is to start digging—maybe we'll get lucky.

6. "Improve Public Works." Guccione was advised to resolve a reoccurring problem on at least three occasions but because his attitude is; "It's better to forgive than reprimand,"  he did not manage his staff and it cost the Public Works Director is job. In addition, the Church Street Project was not completed on schedule and I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of it. Finally, the Splash Station is $290,000 over budget and now our Mayor is going to have to figure out how to save the project without gutting it's amenities or let the other two parks suffer. Guccione's idea of "Improving Public Works" is to forgive and forget, let the chips fall where they may, and let the staff go unsupervised.

7. "Support Downtown Development." Alderman Chris Gard has called for a new committee to deal with the restoration of the downtown village center, it's purpose is to accentuate and preserve Wentzville's rich history. A list of candidates for the committee has been given to the mayor for appointment but because he politically opposes the president of the Wentzville Historical Society, he will not appoint him. Unfortunately for Wentzville, this person knows more about Wentzville history than the aggregate of the other members. Guccione's idea of supporting downtown development is to say over and over; "It's my appointment, it's my appointment, bla, bla, bla."

8. "Support Services for Seniors." I'm still waiting to see or hear anything that our Mayor has done to improve the quality of life for our seniors. Guccione's idea of supporting senior citizens is to spout platitudes, ignore them, and watch them into infirmity.

So much for Guccione's campaign promises. Some of us knew that Alderman Guccione's record was nonexistent and that if he were to be elected on his list of eight lies he would continue doing what he knows best—nothing. Sometimes I really feel sorry for him, it must be overwhelming to scratch and claw yourself into a job only to find out that the reality of that job is way over your head. Confused, scrambling, and wanting to hide from problems you have no way of solving, or that you never expected, is far from the glamorous dream job you'd hoped for. Guccione's idea of being Mayor is deceit, deception, and deflection but never productive educated decisions.

Report Card Part I

Two months from now, April 2nd, Wentzville will be going to the polls to elect or reelect Aldermen from 2 wards and our Municipal Judge. I posted on January 22nd; The Race is On where I listed the candidates for each race and the reasons for my choices. It is known that Mayor Nick Guccione will be supporting Robert Hussey and Michael Hays because these people will bolster his convoluted agenda. He will also be promoting Michael Carter for Judge simply because Carter worked so hard for Guccione's mayor election last year, in other words he owes Carter.

Even though this is not a Mayor election, The Wentzvillian thought it a good time to evaluate Mayor Guccione's first year in office. He published a list (during his campaign for mayor) of eight bullet points, that will be addressed one by one. After reading his promises and results of his promises to the voters who supported him, rational thinking individuals may want to look harder at the qualifications and motives of the people he is supporting in the election of April 2, 2013.

1. "Put the needs of the people ahead of special interests."

Most recently: Mayor Guccione activated the local NAACP and another group by introducing a resolution to rename one of our downtown historic street names to Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. This subject brought forth a huge response from citizens opposing his agenda. Alderman Guccione made promises to these groups who supported his campaign for mayor, his idea of putting the people ahead of special interests is to ignore the people if he can find someone to blame it on.

Secondly; Joining the drive by the Parks Board Committee, Guccione pressured the Board of Aldermen to quit evaluating the contractor's on the parks projects. "The people want this now," he exclaimed over and over! Due to the media coverage created by Guccione, the Aldermen were rushed into making decisions they now regret: ROCK in the splash station area. So much rock was discovered that the project is currently $29o,000 over budget. With $2,000 left in the contingency fund, how will he complete the other 90 percent of the project? Had Guccione done his job, he would have sided with the Aldermen, not the Park Board Committee, and taken the necessary time to insure this kind of problem would not have occured. Now there is a huge problem with trying to complete the parks as planned. His idea of siding with the people is to ignore the voters and side with the employees, Mayor Guccione needs to learn the difference between Wentzville taxpayers and employees.

2. Attract more quality jobs and help our local businesses to grow." Mayor Guccione opposed the Sam's Club coming to Wentzville in every vote of the Board. His opposition was so intense that he didn't even attend the grand opening, instead he asked Alderman Rick Stokes to officiate in his absence, Sam's Club brought in hundreds of jobs to Wentzville and a great deal of revenues to the City coffers but being supported by his union during and after his campaign he remained loyal and did everything he could to block Sam's Club (this item also fits into 1 above). Alderman Guccione also had the honor of voting "Nay" every time there was a vote to allow WalMart to become a supercenter. His rational was that since his employer, Schnucks, was right across the Parkway he didn't want the competition. Guccione's idea of attracting jobs is to say "No" to jobs and business if it crosses his political or personal agenda, regardless of the effect on the City.

3. "Keep our city safe." Since I can't find any Guccione initiatives in this category, my question is; What did he do?

4. "Be fiscally responsible." This promise is laughable. The Aldermen handled the 2013 budget with nothing from our mayor other than the occasional snore. During the investigation for the City's investments, Guccione didn't have a clue where they were or even who did. Unfortunately, our mayor can't read a balance sheet, he is a butcher by trade, not an accountant or bank president, he is merely the CEO of a city with a 60 million dollar budget. In his realm, he doesn't need to know anything about City finances he has people he can blame if anything goes wrong. Mayor Guccione's idea of being fiscally responsible is to watch the aldermen and staff handle the money stuff.

The Wentzvillian's next post (Report Card Part II) will list the remaining four unkept promises.

Darrel Lackey for Alderman Ward 3

I've just received notice of a campaign kickoff for Darrel Lackey: Lackey running for Alderman of Ward 3 is a long time resident of Wentzville and a very active community-minded citizen. He is a financial advisor with an office here in Wentzville located in the Trinity Building and he is very informed regarding city politics. His record of public service is long having served more time on the Board of Aldermen than any incumbent, and coincidentally, he has spent more time as Mayor than our current mayor. All in all, he is the most qualified candidate in the upcoming April election.

Wentzville Alderman, Ward 2 1987-1992 (3 terms)

Wentzville Mayor 1992-1995 (2 terms)

Wentzville Alderman, Ward 3 2002-2006 (2 terms)

Wentzville Township Committeeman 2004-2010 (3 terms)

Darrel Lackey has been and will again be a strong asset to Wentzville City Hall. My vote goes for Darrel Lackey to be Alderman of Ward 3.

DARREL LACKEY

For

Alderman, Ward 3

Please RSVP to:

314-941-5513 or leolackey@yahoo.com

Darrel Lackey

P.O.Box 387

Wentzville, MO 63385



WHAT:

Campaign Kickoff for Darrel Lackey, Candidate for Ward 3

Come out for Friendship, fun, and pizza with drinks available.

WHEN:

Tuesday, February 12. 2013

5:30 PM until 8:00

WHERE:

Maggie Malone's

990 Wentzville Parkway

Wentzville, MO 63385

636-332-1176

www.maggiemalones.com



I hope all of you within reach of The Wentzvillian come out to meet and talk with Darrel but more importantly, vote for him. We in Ward 3 will have been unrepresented for a year until the upcoming election in April when Darrel takes his seat on the Board of Aldermen, right next to you know who.