September 25, 2013 marked the beginning of the end for one of the best, most responsible Board of Aldermen to have ever joined forces to bring Wentzville out of the governmental Dark Ages. I thought perhaps it might have happened next April when our illustrious mayor, Nickolas Guccione, would continue with his hobby of election tampering to get a couple of his hand-picked candidates elected. If you've followed the career of his last selection; Ward 3 Alderman Michael Hays, who has done absolutely nothing but take up space and support his master, you'd see the quality of Guccione's unconscious siftings. However, Guccione preempted the April election and schmoozed two fearful and disgruntled aldermen to underscore his lunacy; Cheryl Kross and Sonya Shryock.
I have a friend who is a photographer and she likes to photograph inanimate objects that appear to be alive. I laughed and she asked me what was so funny? I told her that she needs to come to city hall and snap a few shots of our Mayor Guccione and Alderman Hays, but I digress.
Without knowledge of the President of the Board, Rick Stokes, Alderman Sonya Shryock, on the advice of Guccione and/or Kross, pushed a political snowball down the hill which ultimately crashed into Alderman Forrest Gossett. It is believed Guccione got Shryock to add an impromptu item under "Other New Business" dealing with the ethics policy. Her addition was a prelude to Guccione taking command of an ambush of Gossett, without him being perceived the aggressor. This act of pugnacity was completely staged by Guccione—Shryock was his unwitting sock-puppet as I will explain later.
To preface: Gossett had sent an email to the mayor and aldermen stating that he had contacted an old friend of his who was employed by the firm contracted to do the city's audit. He was questioning the bill the company had sent to the City of Wentzville. The environment in City Hall got hectic with outlandish predeterminations and Guccione was leaping to conclusions with joy that one of the aldermen whom he had no control over had committed an ethics violation. Guccione was determined to make a huge production of it and put his political slash-and-burn mode in high gear.
Enter Shryock, who has issues with Gossett anyway. She and Guccione cooked up the plan for her to surprise everyone at the meeting to call Gossett on the carpet so Guccione could attempt to make him, Stokes and Gard look bad without being the instigator, he left that for Shryock. What they didn't know is that Gossett knew he'd displayed poor judgement and was prepared to announce it during his alderman's report. In addition, prior to the meeting, he had informed the President of the Board, Stokes, of his intentions. If there is ever any indication of wrong-doing of any elected official by another, proper procedure is to contact the President of the Board. Had Shryock followed proper procedures, she would have contacted Alderman Stokes with her concerns and found out what was going to happen. Instead, she pushed the snowball and let Guccione take over. The reason I know this to be true is: It wasn't on the agenda, but Guccione was ready, he cited the article and paragraph of the violation in the ethics policy, it's too bad he didn't understand it. Normally, he can hardly remember his own address, much less quoting the ethics policy.
As the heated discussion escalated, Guccione slobbered: "We either have policies or we don't. We either follow them or we don't. Everybody makes mistakes so when I make one, I don't want all of you building a guillotine in the back room to hang me. I have to watch my back all the time, accusations come from all sides." He's referring to when he violated city ordinance by using the City logo on his campaign literature. That was no mistake, that was criminal, and Mayor Lambi had to issue an executive pardon to spare Guccione the shame and cost of being prosecuted. Guccione simply doesn't understand that when more than half of the registered voters in Wentzville didn't vote for him, he has a huge target on his back—surprise, surprise, it comes with the job.
Unfortunately, the video of the meeting has still not been posted so accounts are from my notes and memory. If I were Guccione, I'd be glad that it hasn't been posted because it would prove that he was the aggressor in this matter.
As frustrations grew, Gossett read the emails (for the record) between him and the friend with the auditing firm. The emails clearly indicated that Gossett did nothing illegal and the allegation of a violation is unfounded. According to the letter of the policy, it was confirmed by the City Attornery; there was no personal gain or manipulation by Gossett, consequently, no violation of the ethics policy. For his poor judgement Gossett apologized, admitted his mistake, and in answer to Guccione's incessant attack he said, "Mr. Mayor, as I see it, you have one of two choices; you can either censure me or start impeachment proceedings." This is when I thought I heard Shryock say, "I didn't mean to start all of this." During the entire battle royal, Alderman Cheryl Kross said nothing in the defense of her old friend and kept her head down—she knew this was going to happen.
I know Guccione was using this confrontation in an effort to minimize his unethical election behavior of the last two years. I further believe, he is using this instance to assist him with his future ethics violations in the upcoming election of April 2014. Guccione is a sneaky little rascal, always looking for diversions and justifications for his lack of ethics and incompetence in the job. For his information, the target on his back will not get any smaller until he realized that he is unfit to lead the city and he steps down. Furthermore, He is blaming everyone for everything that goes wrong during his term, but the day will come after he's out of office that the citizens of Wentzville will not remember the aldermen or the staff, everything that went wrong during his administration will rest squarely on his back. If he doesn't believe that, he can ask Vickie Boedeker or Paul Lambi about their legacies.
Dear Mayor Nickolas Guccione: When you choose a thankless job —lie, cheat, and steal to get it—you can't be upset when nobody thanks you! Oh, and before you jump to conclusions and build a gallows you should be careful, it could be yours.
PSS: The dominoes are falling. Guccione's platform has termites and there's no place for him to hide. For the next couple of months City Hall watchers won't be cheated on their entertainment, there is BIG news popping in City Hall. Send in the clowns ... Oops! ... they're already here.
I have a friend who is a photographer and she likes to photograph inanimate objects that appear to be alive. I laughed and she asked me what was so funny? I told her that she needs to come to city hall and snap a few shots of our Mayor Guccione and Alderman Hays, but I digress.
Without knowledge of the President of the Board, Rick Stokes, Alderman Sonya Shryock, on the advice of Guccione and/or Kross, pushed a political snowball down the hill which ultimately crashed into Alderman Forrest Gossett. It is believed Guccione got Shryock to add an impromptu item under "Other New Business" dealing with the ethics policy. Her addition was a prelude to Guccione taking command of an ambush of Gossett, without him being perceived the aggressor. This act of pugnacity was completely staged by Guccione—Shryock was his unwitting sock-puppet as I will explain later.
To preface: Gossett had sent an email to the mayor and aldermen stating that he had contacted an old friend of his who was employed by the firm contracted to do the city's audit. He was questioning the bill the company had sent to the City of Wentzville. The environment in City Hall got hectic with outlandish predeterminations and Guccione was leaping to conclusions with joy that one of the aldermen whom he had no control over had committed an ethics violation. Guccione was determined to make a huge production of it and put his political slash-and-burn mode in high gear.
Enter Shryock, who has issues with Gossett anyway. She and Guccione cooked up the plan for her to surprise everyone at the meeting to call Gossett on the carpet so Guccione could attempt to make him, Stokes and Gard look bad without being the instigator, he left that for Shryock. What they didn't know is that Gossett knew he'd displayed poor judgement and was prepared to announce it during his alderman's report. In addition, prior to the meeting, he had informed the President of the Board, Stokes, of his intentions. If there is ever any indication of wrong-doing of any elected official by another, proper procedure is to contact the President of the Board. Had Shryock followed proper procedures, she would have contacted Alderman Stokes with her concerns and found out what was going to happen. Instead, she pushed the snowball and let Guccione take over. The reason I know this to be true is: It wasn't on the agenda, but Guccione was ready, he cited the article and paragraph of the violation in the ethics policy, it's too bad he didn't understand it. Normally, he can hardly remember his own address, much less quoting the ethics policy.
As the heated discussion escalated, Guccione slobbered: "We either have policies or we don't. We either follow them or we don't. Everybody makes mistakes so when I make one, I don't want all of you building a guillotine in the back room to hang me. I have to watch my back all the time, accusations come from all sides." He's referring to when he violated city ordinance by using the City logo on his campaign literature. That was no mistake, that was criminal, and Mayor Lambi had to issue an executive pardon to spare Guccione the shame and cost of being prosecuted. Guccione simply doesn't understand that when more than half of the registered voters in Wentzville didn't vote for him, he has a huge target on his back—surprise, surprise, it comes with the job.
Unfortunately, the video of the meeting has still not been posted so accounts are from my notes and memory. If I were Guccione, I'd be glad that it hasn't been posted because it would prove that he was the aggressor in this matter.
As frustrations grew, Gossett read the emails (for the record) between him and the friend with the auditing firm. The emails clearly indicated that Gossett did nothing illegal and the allegation of a violation is unfounded. According to the letter of the policy, it was confirmed by the City Attornery; there was no personal gain or manipulation by Gossett, consequently, no violation of the ethics policy. For his poor judgement Gossett apologized, admitted his mistake, and in answer to Guccione's incessant attack he said, "Mr. Mayor, as I see it, you have one of two choices; you can either censure me or start impeachment proceedings." This is when I thought I heard Shryock say, "I didn't mean to start all of this." During the entire battle royal, Alderman Cheryl Kross said nothing in the defense of her old friend and kept her head down—she knew this was going to happen.
I know Guccione was using this confrontation in an effort to minimize his unethical election behavior of the last two years. I further believe, he is using this instance to assist him with his future ethics violations in the upcoming election of April 2014. Guccione is a sneaky little rascal, always looking for diversions and justifications for his lack of ethics and incompetence in the job. For his information, the target on his back will not get any smaller until he realized that he is unfit to lead the city and he steps down. Furthermore, He is blaming everyone for everything that goes wrong during his term, but the day will come after he's out of office that the citizens of Wentzville will not remember the aldermen or the staff, everything that went wrong during his administration will rest squarely on his back. If he doesn't believe that, he can ask Vickie Boedeker or Paul Lambi about their legacies.
Dear Mayor Nickolas Guccione: When you choose a thankless job —lie, cheat, and steal to get it—you can't be upset when nobody thanks you! Oh, and before you jump to conclusions and build a gallows you should be careful, it could be yours.
PSS: The dominoes are falling. Guccione's platform has termites and there's no place for him to hide. For the next couple of months City Hall watchers won't be cheated on their entertainment, there is BIG news popping in City Hall. Send in the clowns ... Oops! ... they're already here.
Guccione and Shryock should be called out for their public ambush of Forrest Gossett without checking their facts. Shryock was misled, but when you lead with personalities rather than facts, you should be reprimanded.
ReplyDeleteIf you can prove that Kross was in on it, she should also taste the whip. This is poor, poor leadership on the part of the mayor and Shryock, as President of the Board, Rick Stokes should do something.
gooch pooched it again but this time shryock could take a hit too. I hope it was worth it for her and that the lunch was good.
ReplyDeleteNick is just blowing smoke to cover up what he's been up to and to hopefully direct attention away from himself and the misdeeds he has committed and plans to commit. What a jerk he is. I sincerely hope that Stokes and the rest of the BOA just step back and let him hang himself. Make him BE the mayor and handle the responsibilities of the office, including running the meetings and handling the leadership and duties of the vacant offices. Let him fall on his sword.
ReplyDeleteI'm really angry at Aldermen Shryock. Why would she side with a snake like Guccione. I know one person in ward 2 who will not vote for her next April.
ReplyDeleteGuccione didn't contrive his attack on Gossett because he cared about good government, he did it because he's started his smear campaigns for April 2014. He wants one of his dead-from-the-neck-up choices to replace Gossett.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that he duped Shryock into adding it to the agenda thereby opening it for discussion. It would have looked worse on him than it does if she hadn't introduced it. I'm not sure she knows the depth of his political depravity because she's up for reelection too and unless she's got her nose securely up his butt, she's next.
I finally got to watch the video. The Wentzvillian and The Mole are correct. Mayor Guccione's attack on Mr. Gossett was inappropriately misguided revenge. That's the real Nick, vengeful, hateful and just plain ornery. He was almost foaming at the mouth when he made accusations about everybody wanting to hang him. That's the real Nick!
DeleteAlderman Shryock has lost the faith of us in her WARD by forgetting the values of her neighbors who got her elected.She appeared to be good mom who cared about children, neighbors, and decency in public office but her true colors are now evident. She set up Alderman Gossett for the kill and then played the "I didn't mean to do that" card. What a 2 faced phoney. Forrest Gossett has more friends than you know. She won't get relected in her ward or any other ward with her pick-apart approach to city management..The Mayor will toss her out like yesterdays' dish water when he is thru with her and that day is coming fast. Sorry, young lady but you dug yourself a grave that will close in on you quickly. Better get some counseling advise from your buddy Alderman Chris Gard who helped you get elected. It's sounds like you have embarassed your mentor and now he is going to suffer also. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME'
DeleteAnd the mouse ate the cheese!.
Gooch is already blaming the aldermen for the consequences of not approving the City Attorney's contract. He has a very short memory.
ReplyDeleteMayor: can you say "TieBreakerVote?"