What's Changed?

Last week The Wentzvillian posted  a theory about third terms in Wentzville politics. It is called Third Term Crazies. (TTC) and it is my firm belief that Mayors and Aldermen being elected for a third term somehow change the way they do business. Last weeks writing mentioned Alderman Cheryl Kross, and how according to the theory,  may be showing early signs of TTC. TTC is diagnosed when the elected official comes into a third term with newly acquired uncharacteristic traits. As much as I've appreciated Kross being on the Board of Aldermen, I have to admit, something has changed.

Kross has always been a strong ultra-right-wing-conservative alderman who vehemently opposed taxes, fees or any other form of government control over citizen's checkbooks. She opposed any form of new taxes or fees, and supported the half-million dollar real estate tax cut passed last year. She introduced legislation which resulted in cutting business license fees by 50 percent, and on numerous occasions was heard to say from the dais; "I want to stop putting layer after layer of taxes and fees on our residents," how can anyone disagree with that?

At the "Special Meeting " last night during the Work Session" portion of the meeting, City Administrator, T. Michael McDowell introduced a "Sewer Lateral Program." The program will pay for broken water and sewer mains between the street and residential homes, and result in a fee of $28 per household. The estimated cost of main repairs is between $2,500 and $5,000 per incident, which is  now paid for by the resident who has the broken main. This new fee, if adopted, will result in negating entirely, or eating away most of the savings given residents from last year's tax cut.

Bigger Government was always at the core of Kross' ideology and it's distressing that she agrees with it now. McDowell said to the aldermen; they would need to hire a person to administer the program. That equates to bigger government and Kross uncharacteristically said nothing in opposition.

In the past, Alderman Kross would have been all over this, she would have sunk her teeth in so deep, no one would have been able to break her hold, until it was failed. Uncharacteristically, she did not oppose it, what's changed? Paying for main repairs has always been the responsibility of the homeowner since sewers and water were first connected to homes. Why now, what's changed?

Kross used to take up those battles and not stopped fighting them until she'd won, but last night—not so much. Citizens loved her for that, that's why she ran for office, that's why she was elected three times, I myself actively campaigned for her in each of her three elections. So what's changed? Has she reached her level of incompetence, as suggested by the Peter Principle, I think not. I do believe she may have fallen into TTC, and it can get worse, unless she recognizes what she's doing to the Board and her constituents.

Alderman Kross: Where's the fight? What's changed? Why are you agreeing to have the City put in another layer of fees or taxes on Wentzville residents; wiping out the tax cuts you helped put in place? Have you lost your focus and gone into the Third Term Crazies?

The Wentzvillian caught a lot of flack over it's post of May 24th, and expects those same hard-core Kross fans to overlook the change going on with her; filling my inbox with more personal attacks. I will post any comments addressing the content of the posts here, but if you want to avoid the subject and come straight for me, don't expect to be seen by my readers.

TTC

Many elected officials don't agree with  my method of reporting on what they do, or don't do, in city hall. They don't like the idea that The Wentzvillian doesn't interview them to get their side of the story. They seem to think that I can't possibly post the truth and that my opinions don't really matter anyway, yet some of them have gone to great lengths to shut me up. The opinions posted here come from persistent observation over the long haul, and most times The Wentzvillian has been spot on, in fact, so close to the truth, they thought I was bugging City Hall.

What many of them don't understand is that my observations, although more intense, are from the same vantage of the voting taxpayers who pay any attention to what our government is doing. Our view of government is pretty much the same except, from close observation, I recognize the efforts of our mayor and aldermen to spin what they are really doing via newspaper, newsletter, or other forms of propaganda. That being said, The Wentzvillian has recognized a real problem in City Hall.

Over the years of watching city meetings and seeing mayors and aldermen, both good and bad, come and go, The Wentzvillian has formulated a hypothesis, which I like to call the Third Term Crazies (TTC). Some of them come in with good motives, and others, not so much, however, I'd say, 90 percent of them come down with this malady. It has manifested itself in many forms but it always comes with the marked uncharacteristic actions of an elected official contracting the disease, and is always politically fatal. Since the data used to formulate the hypothesis is based on two year terms and the parameters of the term were modified last year to four year terms for the mayor, a new sampling needs to be had. It could perhaps be a faulty syllogism to say that mayors will now contract Two Term Crazies, but only time will tell.

TTC, although slightly different, resembles The Peter Principle, and since Mayor Nickolas Guccione reached his level of incompetence when he was initially elected to his first term as an alderman six years ago, his TTC has been extremely difficult to diagnose. Any time The Peter Principle and the Third Term Crazies intersect, it really doesn't matter anymore, the result is a full-blown narcissist in office.

I've received calls from two residents asking if there is a rift in the force on the Board of Aldermen, and is the reason The Wentzvillian went into such detail about TTC. It is my belief that the Alderman of Ward 1, Cheryl Kross, may be showing early signs of TTC.

During the last two meetings of the Board, I've noticed a glaring difference in Alderman Kross' deportment. Although there are no blatant outbursts of anger from her, she is masking something. At the Board of Aldermen Meeting of May 22nd, unless she was talking, her head was uncharacteristically resting in her hand or hands, the entire meeting. She made no eye contact with the President of the Board, Alderman Rick Stokes, or conversed with him, unless it was absolutely necessary. Another thing I noticed, Kross spent an unusual amount of time whispering with the City Administrator, T. Michael McDowell. For some reason, Kross is not a happy camper, and I believe I've deduced, by observation, what it is.

Kross is the senior Alderman with two terms (four years) behind her on the Board, and in my assessment, Kross believes that she should have been elected President of the board. To her dismay she didn't have the votes, and consequently, Stokes was re-elected to that post.

Kross started making mistakes recently, the largest of which came when she flipped on her vote to accept Guccione's appointment of Micheal Hays, resulting in the election of one of the most unpopular aldermen in recent history, who won by only 38 percent of the vote. Unfortunately, the residents of Ward 3 are saddled with an alderman they don't want all because Kross flipped on her vote at the advice of her good friend and ward-mate, Alderman Forrest Gossett. Gossett advised her: "Not accepting the mayor's appointment would be political suicide." Kross made a decision, not based on the best interest of the citizens of Wentzville, but her own political future in Wentzville.

I will offer more evidence to my theory that Kross may be in the grip of TTC next time, but for now, I'll end with this thought: Alderman Cheryl Kross used to follow her own conscience, but now may be taking too much advice from what could very well be a one-term alderman, Forrest Gossett.

Why Isn't This Front Page News?

NEWS FLASH:

DATELINE May, 17, 2013:

To my friends in the media, get this—President of the Wentzville Fire Board, Mark Kaiser, resigns under pressure of a hostile take-over. Chief Randy Bornhop, and Joe Heitkamp are put on administrative leave. The now union fire board members are moving people out in preparation of a union take-over. Where's Elliot Davis when you need him, why isn't this front page news?

Best Interest Of The City

Every once in a while, Board of Alderman meetings literally puts the audience to sleep. The Special Meeting of May 14th started out that way, after all, one can only listen to financial reports for so long before you realize an hour had gone by and you have no memory of what was said. Sometimes a dysfunctional sound system can be a blessing in disguise.

I sat and listened to resolutions that dealt with contract approval of various companies who are involved with our park projects and found myself nodding off, until I sensed a divide in our board of aldermen. Since PDS (Planned Design Services) Company lost their contract and Gartenberg Construction Consulting, Inc. took over, a number of the subcontractors needed a re approval of their contracts. The divide came with a 4-2 vote on two of the three resolutions, Aldermen Sonya Shryock and Cheryl Kross voted "nay" twice, while the others passed the resolutions.

I listened to Alderman Cheryl Kross speak for what seemed like an hour on one of the resolutions and frankly, I was lost most of the time. Kross has a style of point presentation that delves into a minutia of detail before she gets to what she's really wanting to say. It wasn't until Shryock spoke that I saw the big picture. Kross had set the stage, and in my opinion, Shryock was about to deliver the knockout punch. Unfortunately, due to an odd set of circumstances, Alderman Chris Gard called the question before Shryock could finish her point and the resolutions passed 4-2.

What happened: Kross and Shryock were arguing against having open ended contracts which extend past the completion of the project. Shryock pointed out that a similar contract was awarded to one of the three companies being discussed. The amount of the prior contract was $40,000, but because there was a clause allowing for charges after completion of the project, it ended up costing the City $3,000,000. I remember the aldermen discussing that situation a year or so ago, and how angry they were that it had happened, vowing it would never happen again. Well, they just passed three more contracts Wednesday night just like that one.

I think what happened was that Gard was so bored listening to Kross, he called the question, closing the discussion. Shryock had her hand raised to finish her statement and rather than call on her, Mayor Nickolas Guccione cut her off and called on Gard.

I guess my problem with this entire situation is that I don't understand why any charges should be billed to the City after the completion of any project. Turning a 40 thousand dollar contract into three million dollars should have been a lesson, not to allow any charges to be made after the fact. Rick Stokes, President of the Board was fuming when they discovered the previous contract last year, yet he seconded Gard's call for the question and shut down Shryock. I have to stand with Kross and Shryock on this item. I believe they were mistreated and misunderstood regarding their protest, and the other four aldermen passed something that is not in the best interest of the City!

What Are You Afraid Of?

Much thought has been given to the Board of Aldermen meeting of May 8th, and what I feel to be a real breakdown in our City Government. The question keeps rolling around and around; why did our Aldermen flinch in the face of final victory over sleazy politics in Wentzville? What are they afraid of?

I'm not surprised by a couple of the aldermen, but am shocked by the reaction of others. I've seen this group stand together on numerous occasions regarding one subject or another, but this is the first time they've displayed their cowardly side, in lockstep. After many hours of thought, I believe our aldermen colluded to whitewash Mayor Nickolas Guccione's violation of the Political Activity Policy, but I can't figure out why!

The aldermen pulled this discussion from the regular meeting of  April 24th, two weeks after Alderman Shryock broached the subject of the Mayor using his office to get Micheal Hays elected to Ward 3 by a measly eight votes. It then reappeared on the agenda of May 8th with the promise of "We have new information." They had one month to debate and bicker amongst themselves (in private) to come up with ... nothing! I'm going to lay out what I believe happened, or should I say, didn't happen:

Amongst themselves, someone, or all of them, decided that Alderman Shyrock needed to excuse herself, "for personal reasons," from the discussion. Whether she knew what the other aldermen had planned or not, she started the discussion a month ago and the topic was important enough that she should have been there to present the opening of the discussion. Instead she bailed.

Alderman Kross opened the discussion with a cryptic, long-winded question to City Attorney, Paul Rost, and she didn't even bother to say what it was about. Alderman Kross, what are you afraid of? I've known Rost for the better part of ten years and he is many things to as many people but one thing I never knew about him; he's a mind reader. "I assume you are talking about the campaign brochure using the office of the mayor endorsement." Kross didn't say as much, but Rost knew. There were conversations between the aldermen and Rost; every alderman knew what was going on; too bad the taxpayers, who elected these people, didn't.

After Rost admitted in a public meeting that there was a violation of the Political Activity Policy and that this Board could take action, Alderman Chris Gard went into his pale, "We are not a Judicial branch" speech. Alderman Gard, with all your knowledge about policies and procedures, I cannot believe you actually said that. It might have justified the Board's inaction to the ignorant masses, but those who watch, know. The Board of Aldermen can lay in judgement and take action against any other elected official when they violate the law, or policy; just ask the Mayor of Ellisville. So, what are you afraid of?

The noble Alderman Forrest Gosset piped in to say: "I am a firm believer in the First Amendment, and I will fight to the death any one's right to freedom of speech." C'mon Alderman Gosset, who are you kidding? Everyone knows; Mayor Nickolas Guccione can say anything he likes, just like the rest of us, but when you violate policies or break laws, you pay the consequences of your First Amendment Rights. Your blovial smoke-screen of a speech may have sounded good on the record, but we all know it was just an act. A cover-up to give a false illusion to the audience that the Aldermen's hands are tied. Pious platitudes don't solve the problems you just created. What are you afraid of?

Now we come to my biggest disappointment, President of the Board, Alderman Rick Stokes. I watched Stokes closely that night, knowing full well that he would step in to get to the heart of the discussion. Not only did he not set the record straight and secure the future of well-behaved politics in Wentzville, instead, he said nothing. Rick Stokes has set himself up over the past three years to be a leader in Wentzville. An outspoken man who was elected to tell the truth and who was not afraid of public opinion that might not agree with him. Well, it appears that Alderman Stokes may have sold out to politics. I would have expected that from many of the others, but not him. Being honest may not get you many friends, but it always gets you the right ones! What are you afraid of?

The only two people at the meeting who didn't participate in this charade were those who unfortunately, just earned the right to further corrupt the politics in our city.

Mark Twain once said: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your Government when it deserves it." Today, the Government of Wentzville does not deserve it! We either have laws and policies, or we don't. What are our Aldermen afraid of?

Give 'em The Old Razzle Dazzle

I loved the musical Chicago, and I can easily understand why it won six Academy Awards, including best picture. One song in particular; Razzle-Dazzle, was brought to mind after watching the award-winning performance of our Board of Aldermen during "(ID 4498) Ethics Discussion."

The subject was to deal with Mayor Guccione's use of his office to campaign for an Alderman during the past election. The topic was placed on the Agenda of April 24th and pulled off prior to the meeting; it was then placed on last night's agenda. Tension ran high when three citizens spoke in open forum during the meeting of April 10th, when Ward 2 Alderman, Sonya Sryock, brought it back up during her Alderman Report. It was stated that the subject being discussed by the Board was not on the agenda and should not be taking place. Ward 1 Alderman, Cheryl Kross, asked that it be placed on the agenda as a discussion item.

OPENING CHORUS:

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle

Razzle Dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate

Give 'em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather 'em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?
What if your hinges all are rusting?
What if, in fact, you're just disgusting?

Razzle dazzle 'em
And they'll never catch wise!

Now for the cast and performance: (We hope you enjoy the show)

ACT ONE:

Opening the curtain the scene begins. After all of the important Bills and Resolutions are voted on, Shryock will be excused for personal reasons, subsequently not present for the discussion she inspired. Exit stage left.  This leaves on stage, but silent through the discussion, the following:  Mayor Nickolas Guccione, plus the Aldermen of Ward 3, Michael Hays and President of the Board, Rick Stokes rocking in their rocking chairs. Curtain closes.

ACT TWO:

Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em a show that's so splendiferous
Row after row will crow vociferous

Give 'em the old flim flam flummox
Fool and fracture 'em
How can they hear the truth above the roar?
Roar, roar, roar!
Throw 'em a fake and a finagle
They'll never know you're just a bagel,

Razzle dazzle 'em
And they'll beg you for more!

Curtain up, enter Kross, stage right:  She speaks for the now-absent Shryock and begins a cryptic and lengthy question to the City Attorney, never once addressing the actions of the Mayor or his violations. The audience is disappointed in her poor acting performance.

Enter City Attorney, Paul Rost, stage right: Rost talks about the "Ethics Policy" and explains why there are no violations. He is the only member of the cast to read the mind of Kross by saying, "I assume you are talking about the campaign brochure using the office of the mayor endorsement." No one responded so then Rost says, "However there is a 'Political Activity Policy.'" He gave a lawyerly speech carefully outlining the intent of the policy and finally says, "The board could take action." The audience rises to their feet to cheer the news. Both Kross and Rost exit stage right.

ACT THREE:

Give 'em the old double whammy
Daze and dizzy 'em
Back since the days of old Methuselah
Everyone loves the big bambooz-a-ler

Give 'em the old three ring circus
Stun and stagger 'em
When you're in trouble, go into your dance
Though you are stiffer than a girder
They'll let you get away with murder

Razzle dazzle 'em
And you've got a romance

Enter Alderman Chris Gard, stage right: Gard starts his "We are not the Judicial Branch," speech saying how they cannot pass judgement on anyone. The crowd is stunned; they cannot believe that Gard actually said it. Gard exits stage right.

Enter Alderman Forrest Gossett, stage left. "I am a firm believer in the First Amendment, and I will fight to the death any one's right to freedom of speech." The audience cheers and waves flags, but they don't know why. It's reminiscent of a George M. Cohen play. Curtain close.

CLOSING CHORUS:

Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em

Show 'em the first rate sorceror you are
Long as you keep 'em way off balance
How can they spot you've got no talent

Razzle Dazzle 'em
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Razzle Dazzle 'em

And they'll make you a star!

CRITIC'S REVIEW

City Attorney, Paul Rost, gets rave reviews, but the actions of our Aldermen last night were a well-rehearsed choreography of smoke and mirrors the likes of which has never been seen in Wentzville City Hall. Voters should be up in arms about the precedent they set last night. Mayor Nickolas Guccione was just pardoned a second time, and I hope the citizens of Wentzville won't forget it. I'm sure that Guccione will come on strong with his dirty politics next year as usual, when he works hard to replace Gossett, Shryock, and Stokes. I think our regular board went camping, and the board that was present last night were all actors—every one of them. This was a display of pure politics, not justice.

This morning I have to say; I'm truly ashamed to say, I live in Wentzville!

They're Dropping Like Flies



Our new interim Finance Director, Mr. Greg Smothers made his debut at the Wentzville Board of Alderman meeting last night's  Mr. Smothers predecessor, Ms. Petree Powell, was fired last Friday for unspecified reasons and added to a growing list of Directors being fired under Mayor Nickolas Guccione's administration.

Now for the reason for this post: It will be announced (or maybe not publicly announced) later this morning that the IT' Director, Ms. Carolyn Sutton will be joining Ms. Powell in the unemployment line. Sutton was responsible for the computer, video, and sound systems in the city.

I was amazed at the quality of the audio in the meeting last night, I could hear every word spoken by the mayor and aldermen, even if they weren't speaking on the particular subject being discussed. The audio prior to last night was terrible and I never understood why, after all, public address systems are not a new technology. I always thought they could have bought an old tube-type Bogen PA system and done a better job than our IT Department did with thousands of dollars of modern technology.

It was announced that the City of Wentzville borrowed the IT technicians.from O'Fallon to come look at our system, they made a few adjustments and, voila, instant fix for years of substandard audio. Perhaps this had something to do with relieving Ms Sutton of her position. At any rate, given that Guccione is responsible for firing half of the staff already, he could replace the entire staff in about four more weeks.

Article Interruptus

It is with guarded excitement that I await the Board of Alderman meeting this Wednesday, May 8th. The reason I'm looking forward to it is because the "Ethics Discussion," which was originally posted, and removed from the agenda of April 24th has been placed on the upcoming agenda. I'm apprehensive because here lately when I hear things, they haven't necessarily come to be. So, I'll be there to listen and see what happens.

This discussion item was placed on the agenda to address the  questionable ethics of Mayor Nickolas Guccione and Ward 3 Alderman Michael Hays during the election this past April. Remembering back to the election of 2012, during Mayor Lambi's final meeting as Mayor of Wentzville, the Board was going to have a similar discussion about Guccione's unethical behavior. Lambi's last official duty was to issue a pardon for him. I always thought it unfortunate for citizens of Wentzville to bear the shame of having a Mayor sworn in who was just pardoned by the outgoing mayor. And now, citizens of Ward 3 are represented by an alderman who won by only 39 percent of the vote, who would not have been elected if Guccione hadn't gotten involved.

Guccione must not have learned anything from Lambi's pardon because he continued along with his old campaign strategies this past election by using the mayor's office to promote the seating of Hays. I can only hope our Aldermen impose some drastic spankings.

NEWS FLASH: The body count rills up under Mayor Nickolas Guccione's administration. Ms. Petree Powell, Interim Wentzville Finance Director was fired Friday night about 8:30  PM by City Administrator, T. Michael McDowell. It was reported to The Wentzvillian that Ms. Powell and Mr. McDowell may have had some bad blood between them. Powell was hired January 10th of this year to replace Dennis Walsh who had served as Wentzville Finance Director for many years. Ms. Powell sent a blistering email to the City, which I will do my best to acquire. The Wentzvillian has been told that a new interim Finance Director will be present at the meeting this Wednesday.

Guccione was directly involved with the firing of four directors in Wentzville, so much for being in favor of the employees, huh? I have never seen such a turnover in the City as that created by Mayor Nickolas Guccione. My suggestion to City employees is: if you have a position of any responsibility with the City, duck! Do what your leader does; hide, pass the buck, lie, accomplish little or nothing, and always have someone you can blame.

I'm off to do some research, see ya later!