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.