"I'll Have No Truck With Plot" —Sheldon Cooper

 

Last night's marathon Board of Aldermen meeting hadn't ended for the aldermen when I left at 12:45 AM — they were all cozy in the back room in executive session when I decided I'd had enough fun for one day. Fun was the word for it too, in all the years I've been watching Wentzville city government I've never witnessed a more bizarre meeting. This meeting could have easily lasted until three in the morning had the aldermen not deferred five discussion items to the next regular board meeting. So much happened that I know I'm going to miss something during the reporting. However, I'm confident that my screw-ups will pale by comparison to the mishandling of the meeting and pufferous-buffoonery of our Mayor Nickolas Guccione.

 

I will not be able to cover even a small portion of what transpired last night, so I'll start with the item I thought the most ridiculous and try to elucidate in as few paragraphs as possible. If at anytime you get lost, I suggest you go to the city's video of the meeting and see if it's any less confusing there (good luck). But first, in Guccione's inimitable style (or lack of); after the call to order and the pledge, he decided not to have an official roll call and skipped right on down to approval of the agenda. Later he gave the wrong bill number on a second reading making me wonder if the vote was legal, and he continuously introduced bills to be read "by title only" which is the duty of the aldermen, not the mayor, but what the hell, he is the King.

 

Getting down to "NEW BUSINESS, Item 6, (ID#4799) Municipal Legal Services (City Attorney)," a cut and dried vote to approve the recommendation of the Professional Services Committee to accept Vogel, Cunningham & Rost Law Firm turned into a nightmare. After Alderman Forrest Gossett read the findings and gave the scores of the competitive bidders, Alderman Sonya Shryock made the statement; "I don't like that the board doesn't get to interview the bidders." This isn't the first time I've heard her say that, but this time it started a rhubarb that still has me shaking my head this morning.

 

I don't know the exact count of aldermen and directors who comprise the Professional Services Committee but I do know that at least two aldermen and three staff members are involved. The formation and parameters of this committee were created by this very board and has become a part of the Purchasing Policy which was recently approved and adopted by ordinance of this board. It appears that if there were objections, they should have been aired out long before thousands of staff hours were expended to write such an in-depth document. It must be remembered that our City Attorney is not an employee and as such, does not fall under scrutiny of the board other than to have their contract approved or disapproved, interviews take place at the committee level. The ensuing discussion raised brows throughout chambers.

 

What I found interesting is that there was a vote not to accept the recommendation of the committee and reinvestigate the process of selection. Those voting "No" (to accept the recommendation) were Shryock, Cheryl Kross, and Michael Hays, voting yes were; Chris Gard, Rick Stokes, and Forrest Gossett. Guess who got to break the tie with a "No" vote? The subject of investigating the process is opening a can of worms — if they decide to change the process it means that the board is once again micromanaging the city by interviewing every professional services company to ever bid on a service to the city.

 

Now it's time for a little preface to this subject: I know that Kross does not like the law firm representing the City and that they fell out of grace with Guccione, probably because he didn't get the answers he wanted from them when he was going through his and Mayor Lambi's ethics problems. Kross and Shryock have become very close in the last year-and-a-half and have been voting as a block of late. Hays is a total zero on the board and would do anything to please his benefactor, Nick Guccione. This sounds like the days of The Lurchettes when they were creating problems for the city and costing tax-payers in the process.

 

I believe Shryock made a huge mistake bringing this forward and that her decision to do so was influenced by Kross and Guccione. I've gone on record saying, I've been disappointed recently with some of Kross' actions and that she has fallen prey to the Third Term Crazies, it appears that Shryock has stumbled into lock-step with her. It's a known fact that Kross is still seething about not getting to be board president and has had a huge falling out with Stokes, communication has broken down, and she has been dragging Shyrock over to her side.

 

There are many ramifications to what happened last night on this subject, all of which will burden our already overworked staff, and waste valuable city resources. This board is clearly divided, just like Guccione wanted, and we must thank Alderman Cheryl Kross for it's demise as an effective body. I'm disheartened that her vendetta toward Board President, Rick Stokes, has taken this once well-oiled government machine to a rusty hunk 'o junk (Lurchettes), in just six months. I'm sorry that The Wentzvillian ever supported her in her last election, that mistake will not be repeated.

 

What happened last night in regard to this item has proven to me that The Wentzvillian's polls are correct: look at them, see which aldermen are the most effective and asks the most relevant questions. It all boils down to the fact is that the Mayor (who has a 19 percent job approval rating) and Kross (one of the least effective aldermen and asks the most irrelevant questions) do not like our City Attorney, Paul Rost. I believe Aldermen Shryock and Hays are taking part in a plot to remove him from his position, and that the subject to reevaluate the selection process is simply a cover for the conspiracy. I agree with Wentzville's most effective aldermen on the board: Gard, Gossett, and Stokes who sided to approve our City Attorney, and keep the process of selection intact (I have a hunch that the City staff does too).