2 Days to the Election, and...

Every year at election time, things get crazy. This insanity has been going on in Wentzville since I can remember and it's always the product of some strong-willed narcissist trying to influence, or manipulate elections. I won't go into previous administrations other than to say; after talking with the old-timers in town, none of them have ever seen a Mayor actively support and campaign for Aldermen candidates until Nixkolas Guccione. No one has ever seen flyers sporting a candidate with a picture of a Mayor supporting him. I cannot fathom that there is not some State statute or Federal law protecting citizens from this type of election manipulation. Personally, I can't imagine any candidate wanting Guccione's support especially after seeing his track record of election ethics.

Nick Guccione has been recruiting and actively supporting candidates in the last two elections. I've checked my list and found that in the last two years he has actively supported seven candidates, four last year and three this year, which includes one Municipal Judge. Of the four last year, none were elected and most of them have a bad taste in their mouths after Guccione lied and turned his back on them, in fact one of them was his own campaign manager. I can only hope that Robert Hussey and Michael Hays are prepared for Guccione blaming them for anything they did under his inept and unethical tutelage. I haven't seen Hussey's campaign flyer yet but I do know that Guccione is already back-peddling on the ethics infractions on the Hays literature.

Michael Hays could be in for a big surprise when the Election Commission and/or other City and State agencies come down on him for his flyer. His problem could easily be something every other disgruntled candidate fell for, being lied to by Nickolas Guccione. Guccione could easily say that he had no part in the content of the flyer (never saw it) and only gave him a personal endorsement letter and say that he didn't know Hays would stick the word "Mayor" on it. Tricky Nicky would have plausible deny ability leaving Hays to take the hit, I hope he has proof of Guccione's involvement or he'll take it alone leaving Guccione to move on to the next sucker.

Guccione is never going to change his campaign tactics or manipulation of our election process unless our Aldermen and City Attorney get more involved. The only thing we, the citizens can do to protect Wentzville is to identify those unsuspecting candidates of Guccione's choice and make sure they do not win the election. Those people are Robert Hussey and Michael Hays who are running for Aldermen, and Michael Carter for Municipal Judge. In this years election, the most damaging mistake could be the election of Carter. It has taken Judge Steve Martin two years to straighten out the Judicial budget mess left by Carter.

For the reasons stated above, it is imperative that Wentzville voters choose the right people to represent us in our Government:

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross

Ward 3

Darrel Lackey

Municipal Judge

Steve Martin



3 Days to the Election, and...

For those of you who may not know, there is an election in three days and it will have a great impact on the future of Wentzville. Nickolas Guccione makes his own rules in campaigns. Ethics violations are no problem, lies on campaign flyers are no problem and violating City ordinance is no problem for Tricky Nicky.

Yesterday I got a campaign flyer from Micheal Hays, he is learning the Guccione method the hard way. On his flyer I found a clear Missouri Ethics Commission violation by naming the Firefighters of Eastern Missouri listed as supporting him. The Firefighters are not happy, they are not supporting Hays and in fact, they don't even know who he is. Next he is clearly wearing his Wentzville logo pin which is a flagrant violation of Wentzville ordinance with a fine attached.

The third and most damning item is on the reverse, a picture of him and Guccione, both wearing the Wentzville logo pins with a written City endorsement signed by none other than Nickolas Guccione, Mayor. He just stated (in print) that the City of Wentzville endorses Michael Hays. Every citizen of Wentzville should complain to their Aldermen and have our Mayor brought to justice. Guccione was pardoned by Mayor Lambi when he left office for exactly the same thing. Rules do not apply to Nickolas Guccione (or so he believes) and our Aldeermen need to teach him and Hays that there are consequences for violating Wentzville law. Citizens of Wentzville and my readers should be outraged if Guccione is allowed to flaunt his arrogance and go unpunished for his crime—AGAIN!. The Ward 3 Alderman seat is an important job, if you want a proven liar and one who supports unethical behavior, vote Hays, if you want a man of sound ethics in or out of the campaign, it's Darrel Lackey.

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross

Ward 3

Darrel Lackey

Municipal Judge

Steve Martin

I forgot to mention, when Guccione presented his goals, he wants to see a full-time mayor instituted in the next three years. This tells me that Guccione wants to quit cutting up chickens and retire on great benefits and a fat paycheck of taxpayers dollars. God help us.

After I finished writing about Mayor Nickolas Guccione's goals and objectives yesterday I thought about something that happened Wednesday evening at the Board of Aldermen meeting March 27th that struck a chord. One of the goals Guccione is wanting to achieve is to lower sales taxes. This sales tax reduction he wants will reduce revenue to the City and lower sales taxes on everyone who shops in Wentzville. The Cuts to the sales tax will have to be made up somewhere and last Wednesday evening Guccione introduced into discussion his plan "New Business Item X.5. (ID # 4443) Preliminary Real and Personal Property Tax Levy 2013." Guccione wants a 2.3 percent increase in personal and property taxes to pay for the reduced sales tax.

Now let me see if I got this "strate," Guccione wants to lower sales tax on everyone shopping in Wentzville from Lake St. Louis, Troy, Winghaven, Foristell, Warrenton, O'Fallon, and Flint Hill, among others, and raise taxes on every resident and business in Wentzville. The consequence of Guccione's tax will burden Wentzville businesses and homeowner with higher personal property and real estate taxes to pay for everyone from other cities getting a sales tax cut. Why doesn't this seem right to me? I'll tell you why, because Guccione is living up to his name; Tricky Nicky.

It's scary to think that his sidekick the Appointed Ward 3 guy Michael Hays agrees with him. I hope when voters go to the polls that they remember this little tidbit and push the eject button on him and elect someone with some smarts, namely Darrel Lackey.

Speaking of the election, I have been flooded with campaign literature from Michael Carter who is running against my pick, Stephen Martin. I can only guess how many trees he's killed trying to get elected, hell I even got an Easter Card from him. I've never gotten one of those from anyone, but Carter wants to use Easter, the pinnacle of christian faith, to campaign, begging for your vote. I would think that kind of activity would be offensive to anyone calling themselves Christian, at least it should be.

4 Days To The Election, and...



I can't let go of just how important this election is, we have only four days left and every vote counts.

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross

Ward 3

Darrel Lackey

Municipal Judge

Steve Martin

Today I'll write about Mayor Nickolas Guccione's goals and objectives presented at the Strategic Planning Session March 23rd that I watched via a City provided DVD, thank you. In my opinion, his goals and objectives were the same as last year and by his own confession based solely upon a few citizen's suggestions. Nothing revolutionary, nothing new, just the same old feel good rhetoric.

1. Four New Police Officers: Exactly the same as last year and a safe one to say that will always garner support from everyone, paying for it is an entirely different question. I have to give you a direct quote credited to our illustrious mayor, "I want to have the best police department in the city." I have to ask; how many police departments do we have in Wentzville?

2. Lower Retail Sales tax: This is a noble statement made by every politician seated or campaigning since taxes were invented. A lengthy discussion followed this goal regarding just how it could be accomplished and from my interpretation of the debate, it can't be done. CIDs, NIDSs, TIFs, TDDs, and a plethora of other tax incentives to businesses just can't be renegotiated, but it was a good try, maybe next year.

Five of the six Aldermen weighed in on lowering personal and real estate taxes as an option. Guccione couldn't offer that one because it's been too well advertised that this has been the objective of the Board for the last four years. It would be difficult to steal that idea since everybody knows who is and has been doing that very thing. Guccione made a statement against the reduction of personal and real estate taxes to the effect: "The personal and real estate tax reductions have only averaged a savings of about $25 or $26 to residents so far." I can't believe that a Mayor would minimize a tax reduction to residents suggesting that the City shouldn't have cut these taxes.

I mentioned that one of the Aldermen said nothing during the half-hour discussion and that one was Guccione's appointed buddy, Alderman of Ward 3, Michael Hays. He has been truly a disappointment in his lack of desire to engage in any debates by the Aldermen.. Hays is running against Darrel Lackey for the Ward 3 seat and when Lackey wins it will be the first time Ward 3 has had a full compliment of Aldermen in six years. Some of you may puzzle over the length of time but it's simple, Guccione took up space in that seat for five of them.

3. Better Snow Removal: Guccione wants a new truck that can dispense a chemical agent that will be actively melting snow for 72 hours. Great idea, we can always use another very expensive vehicle in the stable that will be used four or five times a year. My question is, how are you going to pay for it?

4. More Entertainment: Guccione wants the Economic Development Director to more aggressively seek out "bowling alleys, teen-towns, or other events." Another feel-good request that will get the respect of citizens and has been asked of every mayor since 1872. Our mayor must have forgotten that the taxpayers have just paid for a new $20 million dollar park system that has yet to be completed, but that's another story.

5. Pearce Blvd. Beautification: He is requesting amenities i.e. park benches, lights, and new signs for Pearce Blvd. I think I know where this request came from but my question is; don't you think repairing sidewalks, or even putting sidewalks in areas along Pearce Blvd. that don't have them might be nice first?

6. Beautification of the Overpass at Hwy 61 and Pitman Ave.: The mayor wants to repaint the overpass that belongs to MODOT (Missouri Department of Transportation). He may also want to paint the railroad overpass which belongs to the Norfolk Southern Railroad. I don't think I need to Comment on this request.

That's it, Mayor Nickolas Guccione's vision for 2013. Alderman Shyrock said it best; "I agree with all of these Mr. Mayor, but how do you propose to pay for them?" To this Guccione responded with a classic; "That's why we have a staff." I'm still shaking my head trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. President of the Board Rick Stokes said; "I don't see how you can dump this off on staff to pay for this. Everything here costs money."

The Goals and objectives portion of the meeting was ended with a statement by Alderman Stokes; "Mr. Mayor, I thank you for presenting your goals and objectives. I look forward to seeing your proposal on how we reduce revenues by reducing sales taxes and manage increased spending to accomplish them." Me too!

5 Days To The Election, and...

I want to mention, there are five days until Wentzville citizens go to the polls to vote for the future of our city. I strongly recommend that my readers vote and vote wisely. The Wentzvillian is actively supporting:

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross

Ward 3

Darrel Lackey

Municipal Judge

Steve Martin

Now let's talk about the meeting last night March 27th. There were some interesting things happen and I'm going to interpret (spin) some of them just so you can get a real flavor of what was said. First, our St. Charles County Councilman, Joe Cronin was there to speak on the new communications tower mandated to be built in Wentzville by the Federal Government. I'm sure this topic is of great interest to many people but frankly the discussion had my eyes glazing over. I came to attention when he congratulated the Board of Aldermen for taking the lead on the Highway 61 interchange that MoDot announced last week. Mayor Nickolas Guccione tried to claim this project in the social media leading us to believe that it was his idea. Cronin said; "It was this Board that did it." not Guccione, so much for his propoganda.

Alderman of Ward 2, Sonya Shryock gained bulldog status last night when she put on the gloves with Guccione. The attack revolved around the Mayor's goals he gave during the Strategmic Planning Session this past weekend, which are still not posted on the City's website. Shyrock said, "The goals you gave us Saturday are very expensive, how do you propose to pay for them?" Board President Rick Stokes cut in to say that this is not a topic for discussion but Guccione said "I will rebut her comments," with "I repeated the requests of the citizens." I can't believe our Mayor takes requests, comments, or complaints from citizens and makes them his goals for the future of the city. Since he adheres to the wishes of the people so well, maybe one of the 58 percent of our citizens who didn't vote for him could suggest that he run "strate" to the next bridge and jump off.

Next in the ring was Alderman Stokes. The subject was Guccione's Newstime article of last week where he stated; "The Aldermen threw out the bids for the two remaining parks." Stokes wasn't a happy camper (wink) and confronted the mayor as to whether or not he supported the decision. "You were blaming the Board for throwing out the bids." Guccione squirmed and said, "I support you." Then he tried defending himself using his usual tactic, blaming someone else. In this case it was the City Publicist, Ms. Laura Pendino who was thrown under the bus. "I gave it to Laura and she copied it out of the minutes, I didn't do it." Ouch, I'm glad I don't work for Guccione! He reminds me of the little kid on the playground who is always pointing his finger at someone else; "I didn't do it, she did it teacher." Hey Mr. Mayor, don't you know that you are responsible for any content with your name on it? You just admitted that you don't write the articles but didn't you even read it before it was delivered to 17,000 residents in Western St. Charles County? Talk about irresponsibility.

I had the pleasure of meeting our new City Administrator, Mr T. Michael McDowell and I am impressed with his knowledge and strength of conviction. It's still early, but I believe he may be the strongest CA Wentzville has had in the last 20 years. I'm happy to report this information because we need a strong CA to carry the mayor and relieve our Aldermen from babysitting this ineffectual blowhard.

So much for today. There were other important issues debated last night but most of them are boring so I'll leave them to the Patch or Journal. The fluff patrol is more patient than I, no offense.

Blogosfear

The City of Wentzville has not posted the video from the Retreat...er...uh, I mean the "Strategic Planning Session," held Friday and Saturday, March 22nd and 23rd. During discussions at past board meetings we (the public), were promised that it would be videoed, I'm starting to wonder if the City didn't pull the same stunt they pulled last year, "Technical Problems." I can excuse it last year simply because the City handled all of that themselves, but now since they terminated staff, dissolved the City-operated IT department, and hired an outside contractor to handle the IT matters, we have to assume "Technical Problems" would be a thing of the past.

At the last board meeting the topic was discussed and it appeared to be a priority of the President of the Board, Rick Stokes, Alderman of Ward 3 to insure the Strategic Planning Session would be videoed. The only Alderman who was not pressing the issue was from Ward 2, Chris Gard who stated "The process is more important than the video." I strongly disagree with Gard, the citizens who voted for him and all of the aldermen sitting up there, have come to rely on the videos of public meetings posted on the City's website. You can't just say; "oh what the hell, we can do without it for this public meeting or that public meeting," when you tell the citizens it will be available, it should be available at all cost.

I regret not going to the Retreat last year because I was told by the City it would be recorded, and then, "Technical Problems." This year, hopefully I didn't fall for the same sad story for the "Strategic Planning Session." Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it will be posted but it's been five days since the session started, and besides, I spoke with the IT Director, Carolyn Sutton of Winning Technologies and she told me that it would be recorded, I can only hope she wasn't premature in her statement.

On to politics: A few things are bothering me. First, my mailbox is being bombarded with pretty campaign cards for a Mr. Bob Mainiri who is running for Wentzville Fire Board of Directors. I know he is supported by none other than our own Mayor Nickolas Guccione and that as of today, the Firefighters Union has donated $38,600 to his campaign. My question is; If he wins, what will he owe to the union? Secondly a question of ethics regarding the campaign of Bob Hussey for Alderman of Ward 1. It appears that on Mr. Hussey's campaign donations he has listed $400 from the Fire District. Perhaps I'm misdirected but, the Ethics Commission says that taxing entities cannot donate money to campaigns and the Fire District is a taxing entity. Could there be a little mischief afoot?

Now for some fun: Most of you would be correct in assuming that The Wentzvillian is not one of Mayor Nickolas Guccione's favorite publishers so I have come up with the word which best describes his phobia:

blogosfear (Blog´ôs-fear) n. Fear of being talked about or becoming a character in some one's blog. e.g. Anytime the Mayor talked to his friends, he was overwhelmed with blogosfear thinking their conversation would be published the next day in The Wentzvillian.

"Just To Set The Record Strate."

For the past few years I've constantly said how our mayor, Nickolas Guccione does nothing, needs to go back to school, and tries to take credit for everything. He thinks he's pretty good at covering his tracks but yesterday he really stepped in it.

Alderman of Ward 2, Sonya Shryock posts on Facebook frequently giving news regarding the City of Wentzville. Yesterday, she reposted an article from stltoday.com; Plans Announced for Highway 61 Improvements, (click here). The first comment to her post was our claim-jumping Mayor. Guccione posted; "This was also a huge part of my goals fit 2012 when I became mayor of Wentzville..." You need to go to the link I provided to see for yourself the string of comments that followed her repost, it's very revealing.

Another comment (copied and pasted exactly) by our highly literate Mayor was as follows: Nick Guccione: "Just to set the record strate Scott smith Doug'lee and Doug Forbeck set up the meeting with Modot at my request it took a lot of people working together local county and state just to set the record strate " I noted his mispelling of the word straight and the comment that followed; Michael Hulse: "Um ... Mr Mayor, it's spelled 'straight,'" and Guccione responded; Nick Guccione: "Thanks Michael for spelling lesson all thumbs." All thumbs? Mr. Mayor you used the non-word "strate" in two places in the same post and two times you spelled it the same way, coincidence, all thumbs? I think not. If anyone reads your propaganda in Newstime each week they would notice a marked difference in writing. As a matter of fact I read your last article and I have serious doubts if you could even read it, much less write it.

Now that the fun part is over, let's get back to our claim-jumping Guccione. Later yesterday afternoon a Facebook post by Alderman of Ward 1 Forrest Gossett (click here) really set the record STRAIGHT. Gossett gave a lengthy progression of the Highway 61 story. From his information I can safely say without fear of sucessful contradiction, the only part Mayor Nickolas Guccione took in the entire process was to nod, make it one of "his" goals (after the fact), sign the letter, and take credit for everything. I'm trying very hard to be nice here but I'm about to blow.

Footnote: I cannot find the word "strate" in any dictionary I have on hand. I'm beginning to wonder if he meant "strait?" Surely that must be it.

The Wink

Since there wasn't a City meeting last night The Wentzvillian thought maybe a little ad lib would be in order. Most of my readers know that The Wentzvillian has a low opinion of Mayor Nickolas Guccione's job performance (last measured at 19 percent) but be assured, it's only because he can't do the job he was elected to do. The only thing he excels at is campaigning, it's dirty, nasty, and unethical, but he's good at it and can lie with the worst of them. Guccione is such an easy target, you could put a list of city topics on the wall, throw a dart at it and assuming you hit the paper it would score a subject that he knows nothing about. On the other hand, if you miss the target you may have hit the one thing he knows everything about—nothing!.

I'm going to dedicate a few lines to boards and commissions and our mayor's seeming lack of ability to understand the appointment process. On March 1st The Wentzvillian posted "Turnip Truck 101," where I reported on Guccione's failure to bring forward applicants for the Board of Adjustments and even tried to shove that task off on Alderman Cheryl Kross. Alderman of Ward 3 Rick Stokes brought forward a candidate from Ward 3 and Guccione finally made the appointment. The problem is, after three weeks Guccione hadn't bothered to notify the applicant to inform him that he had been appointed. The applicant seeing his name on the website had to call the City for confirmation. I can't fathom the embarrassment Guccione brings to Wentzville, he ducked another opportunity to do the right thing or should I say, anything.

On another subject, Guccione is so fed up with The Wentzvillian he has some attorney reading all of the articles written here over the past five years trying to find something he can sue me for.  To Mr. Guccione I say; Good luck with that, but I'm kinda wondering why someone in this City hasn't taken legal action against you. Since you had no reason other than ego to be the Mayor of Wentzville, I can't think of any reason to make it pleasant for you.

Alderman/Mayor Nickolas Guccione has done some pretty foul things during his time as a politician. In addition, he's done little for the City and accomplished nothing. For all he doesn't know and cannot do in our City it's entirely possible he could be more useful sitting around all day in the Mayor's office surfing porn sites.

Re-Elect Judge Steve Martin to Municipal Court

I voted for Judge Larry Nesslage in 2009 and because he didn't campaign as hard as he had in past elections Michael Carter flooded the town with signs, made a nuisance of himself with auto-dial phone recordings, and won the election. Once on the bench, Carter did his best to dismantle the Justice Department budget by lowering fines that were set by ordinance, releasing offenders with reduced fines, and not fining others who violated our laws.

The single most destructive thing Judge Carter did was to alienate our police force who worked fearlessly to apprehend those who would harm us, the citizens. Our Police officers lost faith in our municipal court and that situation put the citizens in harms way. Mayor Paul Lambi, Chief Robert Noonan, the Wentzville City Attorney, and our Aldermen had closed door meetings to see what could be done about either limiting Carter's power or removing him from office all together. Carter claims that his actions were in the name of justice, I claim he is arrogant, suffers from delusions of grandeur, and is once again wanting to reek havoc on Wentzville's Police Department and burden taxpayers by not making law-breakers pay their fair share.

In the 2011 election for Municipal Judge there were 3,685 votes cast for six candidates. Judge Steve Martin garnered 52.73 percent while Michael Carter snared 25.78 percent of the vote. I am proud to say I voted for Martin and seeing Carter's reign of terror end in Wentzville. Today, he has the Guccione machine supporting him and all bets are off, we need to continue our support for Judge Martin and I ask my readers to vote and tell your friends and acquaintances about Carter and Guccione's agenda of chaos in the City. I have spoken with Judge Martin and his words follow:

Dear Voters:

Last election for Municipal Judge, I asked for your confidence in me to serve as Municipal Judge and I was honored by your overwhelming support.

I promised to be fair to all, respectful to everyone, and bring professionalism back to Wentzville. I kept that promise and at the same time increased efficiency and saved the taxpayers money.

I look forward to discussing the improvements we have made to the Municipal Court since the last election, including the promises I made and have kept!

I look forward to meeting with you and I ask for your trust, and your vote on April 2nd.

Respectfully,

Stephen Martin.

Promises Made, Promises Kept

As Municipal Judge, I promised to bring professionalism back to the Municipal Court. I am proud to report that as Municipal Judge:

• Not a single ethics complaint has been filed against the court.
• The Court meets all statutory deadlines.
• The court is in compliance with all state laws.
• Residents are informed of their rights before going to trial.
• Everyone before the court is treated with respect.

 I also pledged to bring fairness to the court. Since being elected:

• A fair trial is received by everyone.
• Fair and polite treatment of all victims and all are given a chance to be heard.
• Reduced number of continuances. Justice delayed is justice denied.
• Expanded payment options for residents.
• Regularly scheduled trial nights for residents wanting a trial.

Re-Elect

STEVE MARTIN

Municipal Judge

Find us on Facebook at:

Steven Martin For Judge

(Click Here)

I find it difficult to believe that Mayor Nickolas Guccione is actively campaigning for Carter. that alone speaks volumes about the character of both individuals.  If you don't believe me about this situation, stop any Wentzville police officer and ask them what they thought about the damage Judge Carter did to the City of Wentzville and then please re-elect Judge Steve Martin to the Wentzville Municipal Court.

The Price of Freedom

To sin by silence when they should protest

makes cowards of men.

—Abraham Lincoln

I started with this quote for a reason, not because I'm particularly fond of Abraham Lincoln, but because I believe with all my heart that his words are true. Last Monday's Statesmen vs. Politicians II had more pageviews in one day than any other post in the history of The Wentzvillian—I have to ask myself why? But I know the answer. The Wentzvillian had a cyber-visit from an extremely bitter candidate who attempted to manipulate the Wentzvillian Poll exactly like he did in last year's poll. This year he wasn't as bright as he was last year; he left a signature with his actual name on it, ya gotta love 'em.

The Wentzvillian is despised by our last three mayors, a number of elected officials, and wannabes past and present, for telling the people of Wentzville the things it sees in Government that is believed to be wrong, unethical, or just down-right crooked. I've had things happen from having windows broken out of my cars and office to threats of legal action. Candidates have started blogs and websites to counter the information posted here, they've written me ornery letters and emails, and confronted me nose-to-nose in City Hall among other places, all in an effort to intimidate or otherwise discourage me from publishing The Wentzvillian.

Every single person confronting me says exactly the same thing: "You're not telling the truth." Yet the City knows I'm telling the truth; they even called in a special unit from the St. Louis police department to sweep Wentzville City Hall for bugs, so The Wentzvillian must be close to spot-on. I have never had one problem from anyone in the City other than those who have either crossed the line, were on the fringes of unethical/illegal activity, or didn't want their bleak records published here.

The Wentzvillian was started for a number of reasons, but when a person trusts in their Government and is flat-out lied to and it costs them both  financially and emotionally, where do you turn? I've learned that you can't beat City Hall in a fair fight simply because Government is patient where a citizen's wallet is not. Government also has the power to defame and discredit anyone who doesn't subscribe to its beliefs. The only thing anyone can do is to go off-grid, and in doing so those people are constantly looking over their shoulders, but this is hardly an option if you consider yourself a patriot. So what's the answer, what can anyone do to expose what they truly believe to be injustice? Abraham Lincoln said it best: you can either sin by silence or stand and face the many slings and arrows of corruption.

This time of year (just before an election) things get particularly nasty for me: threats, verbal attacks, and fear of more rocks coming through my windows—it's always from the same group of thug politicians. Not statesmen but the ones "who seek personal or partisan gain often by cunning or dishonest means," these men and women are often the target of The Wentzvillian. For those of them, they left not only a fingerprint in the form of ISPs but names attached to them; should you care to escalate your hatred of me, this information has been sent to the appropriate authorities and if I become fish food they will have a great place to start. Until then—The Wentzvillian will be here pounding on the keyboard illuminating unethical behavior in any elected official or wannabe—Happy Reading!

Statesmen vs. Politician Part II

Ward 3 is a totally different story than the Ward 1 race, there are three candidates running and only one with experience in Wentzville city government. One sits in an appointed position on the Board of Aldermen and as much as I like Alderman Cheryl Kross I think flipping on her vote to allow that to happen was her biggest mistake in her time on the Board, we'll see what happens.

Ward 3

Michael Hays (appointed)

Linda L. Wright

Darrel Lackey

Micheal Hays spent several years on the Planning and Zoning board where he and Mayor Nickolas Guccione became friends. Hays was one of the three candidates recruited by Guccione to beat Rick Stokes in the 2012 election  Cutting a deal with Guccione, Hays withdrew his name in favor of becoming the appointed Ward 3 Alderman should Guccione become mayor and vacate his seat, beating Stokes was a long shot anyway.

Everyone knows the story about the long arguments over his appointment to Guccione's vacated seat. "It's my appointment, it's my appointment," he cried over and over and the seat remained vacant for nine months until Kross changed her vote putting a smile on Guccione's face. Guccione will be active in this election bringing the full force of his dirty campaign tactics against Hays' opponents, I know one of his opponents and if things get nasty Hays and Guccione had better brace themselves.

Hays has never campaigned, he's never been in the trenches and is enjoying his appointment to the board at the dismay of many Ward 3 residents who had no choice in his representation. He will be relying heavily on Guccione's campaign machine to beat his more qualified and highly experienced opponent. Guccione and Hays have become thicker than fleas on a hound dog's ears, arriving early to have their clandestine meetings in the mayor's office to plan their strategies. Guccione is parading him all over town including him in all of his mayoral functions. As a resident of Ward 3, I resent the mayor's total lack of care and concerns regarding his Ward 3 constituents.

Linda L. Wright is still an unknown to me. I have heard that she decided to oppose Hays strictly because of the way Guccione handled the appointment and she sounds like a very concerned citizen of Ward 3. I'm not sure how much she will campaign since she now knows that Hays will have a formidable opponent.

Darrel Lackey is no stranger to Wentzville, serving two terms as Mayor, three terms as Alderman of Ward 2, and two terms as Alderman of Ward 3. I had the pleasure of having Lackey represent me and was impressed with his no nonsense attitude toward our City government. He was responsive to citizen requests and concerns throughout his career in Wentzville Government.

Lackey was the butt of Guccione's dirtiest campaign tactics when he ran against him last year for Mayor. It is my belief that if Lackey hadn't entered the race on the last day of registration he would be sitting in the Mayor's office today. Lackey re-entered Wentzville politics winning his first term as Ward 3 Alderman in 2002 when the City was in the grip of the tyrant Mayor Vickie Boedeker where he helped bring a sense of peace back into the City. Deja vu, now we have an unqualified, ineffective mayor, Nickolas Guccione doing his best to throw Wentzville back into the dark ages. Darrel Lackey is not the kind of elected official to pander to special interests or grant favors, he is a common sense legislator who represents his constituents. Lackey left Wentzville Government to run for a seat on the St. Charles County Council.

Municipal Judge

Michael E. Carter vs. Steve Martin (incumbent)

Michael Carter: Michael Carter served as Wentzville's Municipal Judge from 2009 to 2011 when he lost his reelection bid to our current Judge Steve Martin. Carter was disliked by our Police Department due to his habit of reducing fines set by ordinance and releasing prisoners. His actions reduced the police budget so much that our Mayor Lambi and Aldermen took action to limit his authority and even talked of having him removed from office. Carter created an unhealthy and even unsafe environment in our city for the residents of Wentzville because of the disturbance he created in our police department. Carter campaigned actively for Nick Guccione and there's no doubt his support will be reciprocated by the mayor. Many people see judges on the ballot and don't have a clue which one to vote for, be assured, Carter is not the man for Wentzville  If you have thoughts of voting for Carter, ask any Wentzville police officer who served during his term as judge for their opinion of his time on the bench.

Stephen Martin (Incumbent), Judge Martin was elected against a field of six candidates in the 2011 election. His service over the past two years has resulted in the restoration of the Police budget which was almost destroyed by his predecessor. He is revered by the Police Department and City Hall as a good and fair judge. The people should be proud to have Judge Martin on our Municipal Court bench.

According to public record, when Martin was elected, Carter had left him $220,000 in uncollected fines. During his time in office Martin had assessed $1.1 million fines and collected $1.3 million. Martin has streamlined the court system reducing court sessions and paperwork. When you go into the voting booth, The Wentzvillian recommends pulling the trigger for Judge Steve Martin.

Statesman vs. Politician Part I

Yesterday evening the Board of Aldermen had a work session where they discussed some very important issues regarding the future of city sponsored special events and the state of our new parks. I want to address some points brought out at the meeting but right now my focus is on the upcoming election which in my opinion is even more important to Wentzville's future.

In 25 days Wentzville will be going to the polls once again, this time to elect or re-elect Aldermen from Ward 1, Ward 3 and our Municipal Judge. Each of these positions are crucial in the ongoing process of rebuilding our city from the chaos created by the irresponsibility and misdirection of the administrations of the last 17 years. Unfortunately for Wentzville, as a result of last year's election we have to contend with a man whose reasons for wanting to be mayor were not in the best interests of our City. Mayor Nickolas Guccione is the least qualified and most indecisive, non committal mayor in recent history, and needs to be kept in check by men and women who know how to run a city of our size. Guccione runs a very strong campaign and knows how to get elected but his leadership attributes leave a lot to be desired. After his first year in office he's failed miserably and The Wentzvillian Job Performance Poll has him at a whopping 23 percent approval rating. With that preface, lets look at the candidates:

A Statesman is defined:

A leader regarded as a disinterested promoter

of public good.

A Politician is defined:

One who seeks personal or partisan gain,

often by cunning or dishonest means.

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross (incumbent) vs. Robert Hussey

Cheryl Kross spent her first year on the Board of Aldermen enduring a Board that was giving away the farm and the chauvinistic jabs of a Mayor who abused his authority while taking misogynistic shots at her every chance he got. Once the tide of more conservative Aldermen were elected her ultra-conservative fiscal bend was more appreciated and she gained traction. Kross was heard saying many times: "I'm tired of government piling layer after layer of taxes and fees on taxpayers." She worked hard to get real estate and property taxes lowered, reducing and eliminating fees, and not allowing water and sewer rates to be increased. All of these things were realized during her terms and she's promised to continue those efforts. Cheryl Kross has never once accepted money or special interest support for her campaigns.

Robert Hussey is being supported by Mayor Nickolas Guccione, which in my opinion speaks volumes regarding Mr. Hussey's political stance. A realitor who was unable to garner support from the Board of Realitors (who instead offered their support to his opponent) he turned to scooping up support from Guccione's union connections. His literature reads that he is looking to raise $6000 from a fundraiser in Chesterfield to mount an all out blitz of signs and mailings. Mr. Hussey's resume is impressive, if you can keep from stumbling over the misspelled words and if he's looking for a job as a City Administrator, I don't know about his references simply because I'm not wanting to hire him.

Mr. Hussey was interested in the City Administrator position here and Mayor Nickolas Guccione devised a plan to slide him in the back door around the application process. Guccione told him to contact the two newest Aldermen; Forrest Gossett and Sonya Shyrock, he even went to the extent of setting up a meeting in city hall between himself, Hussey and Shyrock, Guccione didn't show up. Anyone attempting to influence Aldermen during an ongoing job evaluation is the height of unethical behavior, Guccione knew better, that's why he didn't show up. Hussey should have known better since his resume states that he worked in city management.

So, which is the statesman and which is the politician, you decide. I'll continue tomorrow with the Ward 3 and Municipal Judge races.

Re-Elect Cheryl Kross Alderman Ward 1

(The Wentzvillian has watched Alderman Cheryl Kross for the past four years, a more studied Alderman cannot be found on the Board. To a fault, she has been the most vigilant protector of tax-payer dollars seen here in years, maybe ever. We do not always see eye-to-eye on issues but she is absolutely responsive to her constituents, dedicating her time (and at times her personal resources) to the resolution of any citizen's concern. Cheryl Kross was a ray of sunshine to tax-payers when she was first elected four years ago to a gluttonous group of Aldermen and a Mayor who were hell-bent on destroying the finances of Wentzville. Today, there is no better candidate to represent Ward 1, The Wentzvillian believes that Alderman Cheryl Kross has earned the trust and respect of residents and deserves to continue her quest to put and keep Wentzville on a strong financial foundation. The Wentzvillian urges it's readers to re-elect Cheryl Kross for Alderman of Ward 1.)

Re-Elect

Alderman Cheryl Kross

Ward 1

Responsive to Citizens and Businesses:

Leading the way to improve our Customer Service System through technology enhancements.

Led efforts to complete Wentzville's portion of Veterans Memorial Parkway through Western St. Charles County.

Safe neighborhoods by adding additional law enforcement to keep your community safe.

Proven pro-business advocate = Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.

Fiscally Responsible:

A leader in strategic planning to reduce your real estate / personal property taxes three of the past four years.

Led effort to reduce City business license fee from $50 to $25.

Actively participated on Parks working committee meetings to ensure your tax dollars are spent sensibly.

Leader and advocate - no increase in your water / sewer fees in 1013.

Actively involved in thorough review of City budget, investments and audits.

Efficient Government:
Actively working on consolidating multiple buildings into a new City Hall, NO TAX INCREASE for you.
Promoting organizational restructure, employee development and training, and pay for performance to enhance services to you.
Leading Proactive Neighborhood Preservation, creating safe communities and protecting your property values, using existing resources.

About Cheryl

Blessed to call Wentzville home for seven years, wife, mom, and "Nana" to my grandchildren.

Financed all of my campaigns with my own money.

My only special interests are Wentzville Citizens and Businesses.

Business Development Manager for a global logistics provider

30 plus years experience in business management / contract negotiations.

Experience

Attending your HOA and Neighborhood Watch Meetings.

Your Storm Water Board representative.

New City Hall Consolidation Committee.

New Parks Work Group Committee

St. Charles County Municipal League Director 2009-2011

Community Envolvement

Children's Ministry Leader Calvary Church

Neighborhood Watch Coordinator

Wentzville Area Senior Services Director

St. Louis Businesswoman's Golf Association Director

Historical Society Member

Community Club Supporter

Working For You!

Always make myself available:

Saturday Monthly Meeting

"Town Hall w / Aldermen"

Phone: 636 332 1907

Email: cksilobend@live.com

Facebook Friend: Cheryl Kross

(Alderman Cheryl Kross submitted her information to The Wentzvillian to be posted here unedited. After reviewing her opponent's lack of a good reason to oppose her and his affilliation with Mayor Nickolas Guccione, The Wentzvillian endorses Alderman Cheryl Kross in her re-election.)

Parks—February 27th, 2013 Board Meeting

"(ID # 4369) Peruque Valley and Heartland Park Project" was discussed at length last Wednesday evening under "New Business". Several of the bidders were in attendance and spoke during "Open Forum," including one who was contesting the selection process.

At the onset, Mayor Nickolas Guccione recused himself at the advice of the City Attorney and left chambers until the discussion was completed.  The selection committee comprised of city staff had chosen the top three companies, of those they recommended C. Rallo Construction Co. Interesting to note here, the owner of C. Rallo Construction Co. is a member of Mayor Guccione's family. The Wentzvillian is not suggesting improprieties but in government just the appearance of the lack of ethics should be avoided at all costs. In this instance, not only does the mayor have a family relationship to the recommended supplier but the people on the selection committee work directly for him. By appearance alone it would be easy for someone to correctly or incorrectly deduce that this combination meets the criteria for a conspiracy, either intended or unintended. To make things even more sticky, Guccione has a family relationship with the owner of the cleaning service company contracted by the city.

During "Open Forum," representatives of Gundaker Commercial Construction protested the selection process. Apparently they had several blanks on the bid form filled in with "Later" and those blanks excluded them from being an approved bidder. Gundaker stated that other bidders who were approved had left blanks yet were approved. In support of their argument to be an approved bidder they added; "Gundaker was low bidder across the board."

Now for the problem: Parks construction has been pushed and pushed to "Start digging" by the Park Board, Friends of the Parks, and Mayors Lambi and Guccione to the point that cost overruns on the Splash Station are projected to far exceed its budget. The latest estimate for opening day is August 24th 2013 plus two weeks which ends up being one week after its scheduled closing for the season. This information should make it a little easier for Guccione to make his decision whether or not to open in 2013, but you never know.

Because they are going to be so far over budget on Splash Station, the Aldermen have been placed in an unsavory position—robbing Peter to pay Paul. To tell how deep to cut Splash Station amenities and/or from the budget of Heartland and Peruque parks, they need an accurate accounting from staff just how much Splash Station will cost. Questions were asked; "Why Splash Station was chosen first and why its location was chosen. Very good questions if they want to start pointing fingers (which I'm sure will come sooner or later and I'd bet those fingers are attached to the arms of Lambi and Guccione), but it won't help the situation. After a lengthy debate and deciding that the obvious result of cuts to Heartland and Peruque would change their design criteria it was decided to rebid.

The only thing left is for staff to provide the numbers asked for, evaluate the depth of the cuts to each of the parks, and send it back out for bid. I would be surprised if there are any blanks left on the forms this time around.

Turnip Truck 101

Before I get into more of last Wednesday's Aldermen meeting (click here) I wanted to mention that The Wentzvillian poll has Mayor Nickolas Guccione's job performance down one point from last week to 20%. If you haven't taken the time to vote in this poll, please do so.

I found it interesting that Guccione said in the meeting; "Mike (Hays) and me are going to various venues around town." He is prancing his ponies Hays and Hussey everywhere, giving them all the free face-time he can get for them. It's pretty disgusting to watch him use the mayor's office to drag his candidates out and endorse them at functions of the mayor. I urge my readers to lend support to the reelection of Ward 1 Alderman Cheryl Kross and Ward 3 Candidate Darrel Lackey.

Now what I promised: The Mayor is responsible for appointing members of the various boards, e.g., Board of Adjustment, Planning & Zoning, Parks, etc., the ensuing discussion during his "Mayor's Report" was comical. He needed to appoint a member to the Board of Adjustment who's term expired that day and he waived around a list of 20 applicants for boards. These applications were for different boards and dated back to 2009. Why he didn't tell the board that he needed board members before they expired was a mystery to the Aldermen.

Guccione explained that he needed several positions filled and only had two recent applications. The Board of Aldermen are trying to approve individuals from the wards with an equitable distribution of representation and it's the Mayor's responsibility to offer them the candidates. Ward 3 has a shortage of representation and Alderman Rick Stokes stated that he would like a resident of Ward 3 to be appointed to the Board of Adjustment. Guccione looked at his list and said that he wasn't sure how accurate it is anymore since some applicants had been on it so long. Alderman Cheryl Kross asked the Mayor; "Can you call the individuals and ask if they are still interested in serving?" Guccione paused, looking at the list and then back at Kross. I could see in his eyes the committee putting out a cigarette butt on the floor of his mind clouding his thought process, then he said; "I don't have time to call all of these people, I can't do it." He held out the list toward Kross and said; "You can do it if you like." The mayor is trying to get the Aldermen to do that job for him too.

This job should have been done before he brought the outdated list to the meeting. It's the Mayor's responsibility to have current volunteers lined up to be appointed but for some reason Guccione doesn't know that. I'll tell you, at that moment I had visions of Guccione sitting on the back of a turnip truck heading down Pearce Blvd. toward City Hall. Here we have a Mayor with an Executive Assistant who handles tasks just like this one and Guccione doesn't know to give it to her to make the calls and update the list, instead he says things like: "I don't have time," and "You can do it." I wonder if he knows he has an assistant and if he does, does he know her name? This is basic management, use the staff for the day to day activities of the city but Wile E. doesn't understand it.

Almost one year as Mayor and the things Guccione doesn't know about the job is overwhelming. He doesn't know that he is supposed to give the Aldermen his goals, not only to be budgeted for the coming year but to announce his goals to them so they could work together toward making them happen. Now we find that he doesn't even know that he is responsible for rounding up applicants to be appointed to the citizen's boards  This one in particular baffles me especially since he is so practiced in saying; "It's my appointment, it's my appointment." Here we have a Mayor with a 20 percent job approval rating and he wonders why. This is the same man who is endorsing Michael Hays, Robert Hussey, and Michael Carter in the April election, Guccione's performance should tell you everything you need to know about his sock-puppets.

I'm sorry I didn't get to the park projects discussion but it will be addressed in full in the next edition of The Wentzvillian.