A Duck Soaring With Eagles?

Six hours of my Saturday, October 26th, was spent watching the Board of Alderman budget meeting. Unfortunately for me, with all the Power Point presentations given by each department there was no video of the mayor and aldermen doing their thing, so I had to trot down to city hall to watch in person. I will report my findings later in the week because I need to make good on  the promise made to my readers on how Alderman Cheryl Kross found a way of spending more tax-dollars than we needed to spend.

 

A month ago on September 26th, I posted "I'll have no Truck With Plot — Sheldon Cooper (click here), where I wrote about the rejection of the findings of the Professional Services Committee that consequently caused the Wentzville legal services company to decline a six-month extension on their contract. On November 8th, the contract of Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost, P.C. (CVR) to represent Wentzville will end and the city has been scrambling to figure out what to do ever since.

 

The blame for our legal services team dismissal of the extension can be spread around, but the brunt must fall on Alderman Kross and Sonya Shyrock, they had personal reasons to get rid of City Attorney Paul Rost. These alderman cost the city dearly because now rather than pay legal services on a contracted basis, Wentzville will pay hourly rates-plus, until they can contract another firm. The remainder of the blame goes to Mayor Nickolas Guccione for breaking the tie because he disliked Paul Rost for not getting him out of his 2012 ethical problems, and Alderman Micheal Hays for doing whatever Guccione wanted him to do.

 

After going into public record I found a letter from CVR which outlines the hourly rate the city will pay them until another firm is contracted, and until such time all outstanding items are resolved. "Our billing rates for attorneys currently range from $250 to $305 for shareholders, $145 to $205 for associates, and $80 to $125 for legal assistants. Any Bond Counsel services requested will be charged based on such fee arrangement as is agreed to. Consistent with our policy, we will bill the City on a monthly basis for professional fees and expenses incurred on your behalf and bills will be addressed to the City for payment. We will include in our statements separate charges for photocopying, messenger and delivery service, computerized research, travel, long distance telephone, and telecopy expenses. Other fees and expenses (such as accountants, consultants, or other professionals, if required) generally will not be paid by us, but will be billed directly to the City.

 

Each of the three "shareholder" attorneys are charging between $250 and $305 per hour and it's not a case where we are being charged for one or the other, all three will more than likely be billing at the same time. If we average it out, Wentzville will be paying around $832 per hour for just the attorneys, no telling how many hours the "associates," and "legal assistants," will charge, I think it fair with everything listed we're somewhere in the ballpark at $1000 per hour, just for attorneys. and all because Kross, Shyrock, and Guccione had an ax to grind. With the pending cases, new cases, and bond work to be done before the City can secure a new legal services firm, it could add up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few months. Thank you Alderman Kross, Shyrock, and Mayor Nickolas, I hope you got this added into your "tight budget."

What's worse, even after a new legal team is contracted and being paid by the City, we will still be paying CVR for the many "... (ongoing law suits), Economic Bond Counsel who handles the; Bear Creek CID, GM Chapter 100 Bonds, ongoing advice and monitoring of existing issues, (SRF Bonds, revenue bonds, TDDs, CIDS, NIDS, etc.), and work through the new City Attorney as the point of contact. ..." It's anybody's guess how long (maybe years) these things may stretch out but until they are wrapped up, I strongly suggest that Alderman Kross, Shyrock, and Mayor Nickolas be made to sign over any paychecks the City gives them until such time that everything done currently by CVR is handled solely by the new legal services team. I don't think tax-payers should be made to pay for expenses to the City incurred by elected officials who have personal axes to grind. Of course, Hays should give back his paychecks simply because he's filler on the board for Mayor Nickolas.

What has transpired here is exactly why elections are so important to any city or government entity, we must elect people who are qualified and look out for the best interests of those who elected them. Take a look at their records, inside, and outside of the office they are seeking. If the voters had looked at Nickolas Guccione's record as an alderman, he would have been happily cutting up chickens and climbing the Schnucks corporate ladder, instead, he's the CEO, CFO, CO of the police force, leading 200 employees, safe-guarding Wentzville's operating expenses of $18,000,000, and a budget of over $50,000,000. With that kind of responsibility it's easy to take one's eye off of the ball, in the case of Nickolas Guccione he has never even seen the ball. As for the aldermen who created this situation, they didn't look far enough down the line, they never once asked the questions: What could happen if I take my personal grudge to my decision making for the City? What could happen if I insult the City's legal services team by not approving the recommendation of the professional services committee? And, would CVR really not accept our conciliatory six-month extension of their contract?

To watch our City Attorney, Paul Rost, sit through that grueling meeting where this group of unthinking aldermen raked him, and his team over their insulting coals was hard for me. Rost appeared to handle it in stride, but in my life I've learned never to insult or underestimate the power of an attorney, you never know when it might come back to bite you in the ass. Not once, did Kross, Shyrock, Hays, or Guccione ask themselves, or anyone else, the hard questions. They merely skipped their way into La-La land, hand-in-hand, merrily singing; "We're off to see the Wizard, the insidious Wizard of revenge."

So who actually got revenge on whom, and who is the real victim here? As I see it, CVR lost in the long run, Wentzville lost, the Tax-payers really lost, and after the next elections we can hope those responsible will lose; Kross, Shyrock, Hays, and Guccione. Cunningham. Vogel, and Rost, P.C. represent several cities and have earned accolades statewide, they really don't need Wentzville or this nut-bag group of politicians who drove them out of town. To Kross, Shyrock, Hays, and Guccione, I say: If you want to soar with eagles, don't be a duck, you might just find yourself being dinner, or did this unholy alliance just find that out?

 

If A Statue Snored, Would Anyone Hear It?

 

 

The Board of Alderman Meeting of October 23, 2013 (click here) was uneventful on the surface, but if you watched closely, reading between the lines, you'll see a few interesting discussions. Mayor Nickolas Guccione set a record last night, one he should take great pride in—he sure hasn't done anything else positive in his first year and-and-a-half as mayor. He actually adjourned the meeting before 11:00 PM, of course, there were only five bills & resolution on the agenda (two of which were removed), and a half-dozen reports and discussion items. If the Aldermen hadn't gone into an hour-long executive session, they could have been out the door shortly before 8:30 PM.

 

I thought "(ID # 4850) Discuss to Set an End Time to Board of Aldermen Meetings" held promise, but the confrontation I expected didn't materialize. The board came to a consensus to end the board meetings by 10:30 PM. I'm not sure Guccione can pull it off, especially given his total lack of skills in running meetings. He suggested cutting off audience speakers at five minutes but I think he'll get pressure from the aldermen to have it reduced to a three minute cut-off time. He then said, "I don't want to cut people off, but I'm going to do it. We'll see how long he can live with that idea.

 

I'm not going to be able to get away without saying something about my other alderman, Michael Hays. Trying very hard not to use language that my young readers might find offensive, I'll give it my best shot at getting through my dissertation.

 

Every one knows the story about Hays, how a politically motivated Alderman Cheryl Kross flipped on her vote to let Guccione appoint him, and how Guccione and Hays campaigned on the questionable use of the city logo during Hays' election, that he won by eight measly votes. Well, last evening during Hays' alderman report, he stated, "In the spirit of shortening the meetings, I have nothing to report." My God! In the year he's been sitting in his office, the only time I ever heard him say anything during his report, other than one time when he supported the Junior D.A.R.E. program was, "I have nothing to report." Michael Hays is the most useless, do-nothing alderman to ever represent Ward 3 and that's saying something, because his chair was occupied by none other than Nickolas Guccione for five-and-a-half years. We might as well have a stone statue of an alderman in Hays' seat, we'd get as much out of it as we get now, and statues don't snore.

 

There's more: Two weeks ago, a young couple came before the Board of Aldermen telling them of how it is necessary for them to fence their corner lot so their handicapped child would have a safe place to play. Unfortunately, their fence does not comply with City codes and they will have to obtain a variance from the Board of Adjustment prior to building, so they have asked the city to waive the fee for them. From what I've been told, the fee could be anywhere from $100 to $500. On board with this idea was Guccione, who naturally looks for votes any place he can find them. To put Guccione's thinking in perspective, you must remember how he pardoned a convenience store owner from having to pay a fine of less than $100 for not filing for his liquor license on time. This guy will buy votes from anyone using taxpayer dollars. If he were smarter, he'd just issue an executive order to allow the petitioner to build their fence without going through the process. Anyway, the issue came to a vote of the aldermen and up popped Hays hand to vote "Yes," every other alderman voted "No," except for the again vacationing Sonya Shryock. It is my feeling that Kross would have voted with Hays if Shryock had been there to vote with her. Kross is not going to go out on a limb to vote on a Guccione issue if she sees it won't pass, and without her sock-puppet there, it wasn't going to pass. Ward 3 residents should be outraged at the lack of representation they receive from Micheal Hays.

 

As we all know, the ultra-conservative tea-partier, Cheryl Kross, is a penny pincher, as I've stated before, she'd jump over gate to keep from wearing out the hinges. Unfortunately for her constituents of Ward 1, she's tossed out her core values because of her petty hatred of Board President, Rick Stokes, and is now spending at a rate fast enough to qualify for honorary membership in Guccione's Socialist Club. I'll elaborate on this subject next time.

 

 

Guccione Lesson #1 — Bailing Water Using A Drill

 

There's a regular Board of Alderman meeting tomorrow (Wednesday October 23, 2013) evening, and after reading the agenda I laughed out loud. If you'll remember at the last meeting, President of the Board, Rick Stokes, made a point of criticizing Mayor Nickolas Guccione for not controlling the meetings, saying; one-thirty in the morning was way too late to be ending. This problem has become standard practice, indicative of Guccione's leadership in, and outside of the meetings.

 

Item "3. (ID # 4850) Discuss to Set an End Time to Board of Aldermen Meetings." After looking at the board packet I read that this item was brought forward by Guccione. He really doesn't understand that he is the problem, not the size of the agenda.

 

Guccione has a habit of allowing citizens to talk and debate Bills and Resolutions. He can't quite grasp the simple fact that there is a business section of the meeting, and those citizens who attend the meeting are only spectators. Knowing him, I can understand his logic: Nickolas Guccione is political, he's always on the campaign trail. His philosophy is not in the best interest of the city, it's in the best interest of himself and those he supports during elections. He truly doesn't understand that he's going to piss-off some people simply because he's doing the job he was elected to do.

 

At the last meeting there were at least half-a-dozen citizens who spoke in "Open Forum," and at "Public Hearings." The problem came when those same people were encouraged to speak again during "Bills and Resolutions," not once but several times — each. Guccione actually allowed debate between the audience and petitioner during the business portion of the meeting.

 

I've attended a lot of board meetings of various cities around the county, and never once have I seen a mayor allow citizens to speak during the business portion of the meeting, unless it was to request an ambulance. On average, members of the audience are allowed three-to-five minutes to speak during public portions of the meeting. At the end of their time they are cut off whether they had finished or not, and they are not allowed to speak on any one item more than once. At St. Charles County meetings, the public is put on a timer and they have two minutes to make their point, period, then the hammer comes down and it's adios amigo.

 

The bottom line is, Guccione wants to put a time limit on the overall meeting when he needs to put a time limit on the speakers. What he's proposing will not work and I think the aldermen may tell him that tomorrow. He may actually wish he'd never put it on the agenda.

 

Now we come to Item "XIV. Information/Discussion," paragraph "2. (ID # 4858) Professional Services Committee." You remember when Aldermen Cheryl Kross led Sonya Shryock and Micheal Hays down the yellow brick road to having our legal services team drop their briefs and quit. After Guccione joined this rag-tag band of mutineers, the city has been scrambling to figure out what to do.

 

The discussion will be what to do about the all volunteer committee that now refuses to spend countless hours evaluating professional service companies because Guccione and his gaggle of groupies just reject their findings. I think it could be an enjoyable discussion for observers.

 



 * * * * *

 



The City just posted an amended agenda, and it seems that our crackerjack Mayor Guccione just ex afficioed himself into another committee mess. Under "New Business," paragraph "3. (ID # 4856 Financial Audit Service." The city just received a letter from their CPA; Allen, Gibbs, and Houlik, L.C., stating (in part), "... effective immediately, we withdraw from the contract and will not conduct the external audits for the City for 2013 or 2014. ..." hence, now the City is once again scrambling to replace yet another professional services company.

 

There was a discussion during the last Board of Aldermen meeting where it was decided not to pay a sum of $12,000 for additional "out of scope" work performed by the auditors under a verbal agreement. Guccione who is ex afficio of the audit committee didn't seem to remember any verbal agreement so rather than pay it, it was decided not to. I contest that Guccione naps through financial meetings, leaving it to others, I wonder who's gonna get a spanking this time?

 

The list of high-level employees who have left the City is enormous and now the CPA can be added to Legal Services on the list of professional services companies who no longer want to be involved with Guccione's brand of Wentzville. Does anyone hear the rumblings of "recall, recall, recall," out there on the streets. Incompetence must be rewarded and who better to reward with a recall? — Mayor Nickolas Guccione. His ship has taken on more water and he's using a drill to bail it out.

 

Enough Is Enough, It's Time

 

It's been brewing for a long time—a year and a half to be exact—and even though I've tried my best to warn the good people of Wentzville—it seems my message has fallen on deaf ears. No mayor of Wentzville has ever had so many high level employees quit or be fired from their jobs at a faster pace than that of Mayor Nickolas Guccione. Wentzville's City Administrator, Public Works Director, Finance Director, Assistant Finance Director, IT Director, Director of Purchasing, Accounts Payable Manager, Economic Development Manager, Civil Engineer, and Assistant Civil Engineer, have all either quit, retired, or been fired over the past 18 months. Is it a coincidence that so many employees have taken a powder since Nickolas Guccione has been called "Mayor" for the same length of time? I think not!

It is now my unpleasant duty to announce another high level employee to take leave of King Nickolas' reign, Ms. Lisa Etling, Executive Assistant to Mayor Niockolas Guccione, has handed in her resignation—another coincidence?—I also think not. Ms. Etling had served Wentzville as Assistant to Mayor Lambi, and the City Administrator, and had been with the city for over twenty years. I know Ms. Etling, she was a dedicated, and valuable asset to Wentzville, I have to ask myself—why would she resign? The answer lies deep within the structure that our mayor has neglected—he has relied too much on employees doing the job he should be doing. It also has a lot to do with trust, and the City of Wentzville's employees do not trust Mayor Nickolas Guccione.

Now that I've brought up the issue of trust, I need to address the employees relationship with the Board of Aldermen. They trusted the board of aldermen when they were unified, but now, with Alderman Kross off the reservation, taking Shryock with her, and Alderman Micheal Hays being a pawn, they have lost faith in being protected—they feel more at the mercy of a lunatic who knows nothing about management—Mayor Nickolas Guccione.

Kross and Shryock have pushed their noses too far into the operation of the city. They are micromanaging every department, and Guccione is such a poor manager, he has allowed it. The Employees are confused, they don't know who to listen to; a dysfunctional mayor, or a once unified, strong board, that has been disrupted by Alderman Cheryl Kross, who has broken the solidarity of the Board of Aldermen. I now believe, Kross is a cancer to the City of Wentzville, and in combination with our mayor, who thinks he's the King, our city is going down a path that leads nowhere. Ms. Etling was Guccione's assistant—with all the other city employees leaving, and now her resignation from a long-time position—it speaks volumes about her boss.

I've neglected to talk more about the Board of Alderman meeting of October 9, 2013, which was a total disaster, but I guarantee I will next time. If you go to the city website, and click on the video for the October 9th meeting (click here), you will find that the audio is available, but the video is not. I heard that the city clerk had inadvertently forgot to throw the correct switch, I believe it was an accident. If you want to find out what happened at the meeting, you can listen to seven-and-a-half hours of audio—believe it or not, you may find it interesting. My next post will give you the times to listen to, so you can hear for yourself, the incompetence of Mayor Nickolas Guccione.

As for now, I have two more days of sand, surf, and suds to endure. So next time I'll be back to the 50 degree weather in Wentzville and ready to dig into the crazy situation known as King Nickolas' sinking ship. It's too bad that Wentzville is losing so many good employees and that some citizen hasn't asked their alderman about the process for having King Nickolas recalled——it is time.
 

We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This!

 

I've figured out why more citizens of Wentzville don't attend the Board of Aldermen meetings — because they have lives! Why any private citizen would want to spend seven-plus hours watching local government pass or fail bills and resolutions just doesn't make sense, and Mayor Nicolas Guccione knows it. With tongue in cheek I suggest—it's a sadistic plot. Anytime he can stretch a four-hour meeting into seven or more it means fewer people watching him stumble over misdirecting the meeting, thereby not seeing him for the failure he really is.

This is getting old, but once again I don't know where to start. Guccione made an ass of himself so many times during the Board of Alderman meeting of October 9, 2013, it had to be seen to be believed, but there was more; the "girls" Aldermen Cheryl Kross and Sonya Shryock continued playing leap-frog; Alderman Chris Gard made an unusual statement during his Alderman Report; Guccione's pet monkey, Michael Hays, did absolutely nothing productive again; and President of the Board, Rick Stokes, chastised Guccione for his poor leadership, but the funny thing is; I don't think he even realized how serious Stokes was.

Generally I watch the meeting video before posting just to make sure that I actually heard what I actually heard, but "Due to technical difficulties the video for the meeting is unavailable." If I were Guccione, I wouldn't want anyone going back to see how poorly I ran the meeting either.

One of my faviorate Aldermen to watch (NOT!), especially when I want to take a nap, is Guccione's pet monkey, Michael Hays. He usually says nothing — ever, but this time he decided to open his mouth and remove any doubt that he is really interested in what's going on. It came after the aldermen heard the "Public Hearing" for McBride Peruque, LLC., who wants to build out the subdivision; Peruque Hills Estates. Almost 300 lots were left un-built after the original builder bailed on the project. It's complicated, but it boiled down to McBride asking to change the side-yard setback from six feet, to five feet. Hays, who spent way to many years on planning and zoning needs to go back, if they'll have him. His reason for voting "Nay" on the first reading revolved around his bedroom habits which was way too much information for me. It was said that in other instances, this type of change had been approved in other subdivisions in Wentzville, but not under Hays' watch. He said: "Just because we did it before doesn't mean we will do it again. If I were to vote for this, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night." What the hell, you don't need to sleep at night, you've been doing enough of that while trying to conduct Wentzville city business as an alderman.

 

* * * * *

I can't cover all of what happened last Wednesday night during this writing, but over the seven-plus hour meeting several things need to be addressed.

1) Alderman Chris Gard, who is one our most rational aldermen very seldom gets upset at the dais. In the three years he's served on the board, I can think of only two. That's why I was surprised to hear him get angry at an un-named member of the board of aldermen because his name was mentioned in a report of an investigation conducted by the St. Charles Prosecuting Attorney. Subsequently, he apologized to Chief Lisa Harrison three times during his tirade. I have read the report and know the facts of the case, but I doubt any of my readers would understand what's going on without the information in the report, and I'm reluctant to divulge it at this time. I'm sure viewers of the meeting were puzzled, and in my cynical way; I wonder if the video of the meeting suffered from a real technical difficulty — or an actual legal problem.

2) If there were ever any doubt that Aldermen Kross and Sonya Shryock were voting together on everything, that thought was put to rest at this meeting. Both voted "Nay" on the final reading of Bill No. 3501 which funded the new Economic Development Director position. Then, on Bill No. 3502 which funded the IT Manager position, Shryock paused for an uncomfortable 20 to 30 seconds before she reluctantly voted "Yes." What's funny about this is that Kross did exactly the same thing immediately following Shryock, these two are definitely in lock-step.

3) Now before I close, it must be mentioned how dissatisfied President of the Board, Rick Stokes, was about the lack of direction Guccione gave in keeping the meeting orderly. It was getting late and Stokes said, "Mr. Mayor, you need to get control of this meeting, we cannot continue operating like this." Guccione's reply was barren of sincerity, "Oh, I know." This meeting didn't close until 1:20 AM and they still hadn't gone into executive session, by the time they went home, it was after 2:30 AM. Guccione let the public speak during "Open Forum," and "Public Hearings," and then proceeded to let them talk from the podium and their seats during "Bills and Resolutions," or pretty much whenever they wanted to be heard. He has no idea of how to run a meeting which doesn't surprise me, it took him a year-and-a-half to learn how to use the gavel (sometimes).

I saw Mayor Paul Lambi conducts meetings, and he was good at it, rarely did he let anyone other than petitioners speak during "Bills and Resolutions," and rarely did he ever have a meeting run past 11:00 PM. So what's the difference? Simple: Guccione doesn't see the public as citizens talking when they want to, he sees them as voters that he doesn't want to offend by telling them, "the public had their chance to speak during 'Open Forum,' and 'Public Hearings,' after that comes the business portion of the meeting, and the public just listens."

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; Mayor Nickolas Guccione is incompetent when it comes to anything having to do with government, and it glows when he's at the dais. I feel sorry for the staff who has to sit for over seven hours listening to citizens talking when they shouldn't, and discussions that are covered over and over while the mayor naps. The employees probably work 10 to 12 hours a day running their departments and then they have to sit through another seven hours of Guccione's lack of control of the meeting, it's a crime. He doesn't care, he doesn't work cutting up chickens on Thursday, it's his day off, but the employees need to get some rest if they are expected to function in the high-stress administration of King Nickolas.

The meeting of October 9th was a product of the Aldermen giving Guccione his head. They stopped running the meetings for him and are letting him excel at screwing it up. The last two regular meetings ran until after midnight. Don't the aldermen have grounds enough over the first year-and-a-half  to censure Mayor Nickolas for incompetence? Stokes called him out, but that alone is not going to straighten out the mess Guccione has created, it's going to take something else. Guccione just does not understand what's going on around him. I can't believe the aldermen who have eight-to-five jobs don't complain about getting out of city hall before midnight, these agendas under Guccione are no more loaded than the ones in Lambi's administration.

A lot more happened during the seven-and-a-half hour meeting and I will report more next time.  Right now, I've got surf to deal with.
 

The Invisible Man — Michael Hays

 

The scrambling in City Hall continues after our legal services team rejected the city's offer of a six month extension on their contract. Sitting around waiting for the city to find a replacement would do nothing positive for their firm's reputation. Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost has represented Wentzville through three administrations and now because two aldermen and the mayor don't like the advice of City Attorney, Paul Rost, they kicked them to the curb.

 

Aldermen Cheryl Kross, Sonya Shryock, and Mayor Guccione all have personal reasons for not wanting Rost as Wentzville's city attorney. I've underscored; personal, because each of these people created problems for themselves and rather than hire an attorney for themselves, they thought Rost should act as their private attorney. When Rost, who looks out for the interests of the city gave them his opinion, this group didn't like what he advised.

 

Guccione was in serious legal trouble after he violated the city's copyright laws during the 2012 election. The board was about to turn his case over to the prosecuting attorney when Mayor Paul Lambi issued an executive pardon one week before Guccione was sworn-in as mayor. Guccione figured wrongly that the city attorney was there to represent him through the ordeal, he found out that Rost represented the city, not individuals within the city. After that was all finished, Guccione was going to spare no expense in relieving Rost of his position, having no board support, he needed to wait until the legal services contract was up for renewal.

 

Kross and Shryock's dislike of Rost is an entirely different story. These two aldermen have gotten themselves into some potential legal problems that I'm holding onto until such time that a determination has been made. Once I get the first indication of anything going public, I assure my readers, I'll be all over it. They each went to Rost with their problems and they also didn't like the advice they were given. Time will tell about the possible slings and arrows headed their way. These two aldermen are not enough to reject the recommendation of the Professional Services Committee so, enter Alderman Micheal Hays.

 

Hays came to office by appointment of Guccione and was elected in 2013 via one of the most unpopular elections ever in the history of Wentzville. This may not have happened if Kross hadn't flipped on her vote to allow Guccione to appoint him, now Guccione had his first real ally on the board of aldermen. Hays has literally done nothing productive on the Board of Alderman, his sole mission is taking up space until such time that Guccione needs him to vote on an issue. I defy anyone, anywhere, to successfully refute that assessment.

 

So here we are, Guccione, Kross, and Shryock dislike Rost because they don't feel he helped them with their personal problems, still not enough votes to have him removed from his job. Now we add the vote of Guccione's pet monkey, Hays, and it's instant revenge.

 

Something inside me says that none of these revolutionaries gave a thought to the fact that when they threw out Rost, they were throwing out the entire legal services team. Tom Cunningham, Bond Counsel, has a reputation of being one of the best, if not the finest Bond Counsel in the entire state, and they didn't renew his contract because they didn't like the advice of the City Attorney. I have to wonder about the leadership qualities of any of those who voted against Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost on September 25th.

 

At any rate, the scrambling goes on in the city — Wednesday's Board of Aldermen meeting, October 9th, has the possibility of being exciting. "NEW BUSINESS: Item 3, (ID # 4834) Professional Services Committee," and "Item 4, (ID # 4833) Municipal Legal Services," holds the potential for some real serious discussions. I look to see Aldermen Stokes, Gard, and Gossett bring up some very interesting questions for Guccione, Kross, Shryock, and the invisible man, Hays.

 

 

 

Vengence Is Mine

 

The Wentzvillian has supported Alderman Cheryl Kross in every election she's ever run in Wentzville, but of late I've had serious questions about what's been going on with her. Some may think I've been overly critical recently, but after the meeting of September 25th, I am convinced, she has lost touch with why she ran for office in the first place.

 

I published a blog entitled "TTC" (click here) (Third Term Crazies,) where I explained my theory about why some Aldermen who've served more than two terms seem to lose their focus. Today, I'm convinced, without a doubt, Kross has stepped way over the line and is leading Wentzville down a path to serious problems. She doesn't see it, but I guarantee that anyone watching the board meetings for the last six months will agree, she is driven by a new inspiration;  EGO, and revenge.

 

In Kross' first term, she was subjected to Mayor Paul Lambi's chauvinistic treatment (click here), to the embarrassment of all, then Rick Stokes was elected. Things changed, Kross had a voice for the first time, and with Stokes' support things got better for her and Wentzville. The Lurchettes were banished, and a new sanity came to the board of aldermen. What has happened to this once unified board of only six months ago has all become clear to me today. Unfortunately, she has turned on the one person who had her back against the tyranny raining down on her from Lambi — Rick Stokes.

 

Since I was just a tyke I was taught, "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord." Well in this case, Alderman Kross  feels herself wronged, and is now hell bent for leather to show the leaders of the board: Rick Stoles, Chris Gard, and Forrest Gosset, that she has the horsepower to run the board — Vengence is mine sayeth Kross. She was angered when the board elected Stokes to his second year as President of the Board, and she was thinking; I have more time on the board, I deserve to be president. Ego can destroy a person and today, it's about to destroy a city. Alderman Kross has let her ego displace her rational conservative thinking.

 

This is really tough to write because I really care for Cheryl Kross, but Alderman Kross has reduced herself to being a slave to the same thinking that was the driving force behind The Lurchettes: (Schutte, Luby, and Nickolas Guccione) — EGO. She's recruited Alderman Sonya Shryock, and with Michael Hays being in debt to King Nickolas, she's plotted and successfully orchestrated a coup d'état (click here) on Wentzville's Board of Aldermen. This awesome responsibility will soon lead to disaster for Wentville. Very soon, Wentzville will be without legal counsel, and with a ton of lawsuits against the city, this means only one thing; Guccione will have a very big problem ... all created because of the ego of Alderman Kross.

When trouble befalls Guccione, he's going to remember the aldermen who led him into problems and he's going to roll-over on Kross — Vengeance is mine sayeth King Nickolas. She will feel his full wrath, and he's meaner than a junkyard dog with 14 sucking pups. Guccione only knows one thing and that's politics, he knows no more about government than a frog knows about bed sheets He's always followed a leader, it used to be Bull Schuette, and now it's Kross, it won't be long before he realizes that he's made another terrible mistake (as usual). Of course, Michael Hays will be spared simply because he's Guccione's zombie, but Kross and Shryock had better start watching their backs. I'm sure Guccione has slash-and-burn information ready to send to the press.

Throwing out the legal services recommendation of the Professional Services Committee, and going back to tweak the selection process are going to haunt Kross and Shryock. I'm thinking that Kross thought she knew what she was doing, but Shryock has been taking bad advice from too many individuals who may have some axes to grind. Their political troubles have just begun, in their rear view mirrors they will see Guccione's sardonic smiling face with his pet monkey on his shoulder.

Kross and Shryock have split from the pack and have sought shelter with Guccione. If you have a hard time believing this, watch the meetings, count the split votes with Guccione breaking the tie, then you'll know it's personalities, not issues that have them siding with the undead. There were no split votes in Guccione's first year in office and since Stokes was elected president of the board for the second time, there have been three, they will come more frequently. It may be time to make some changes if the citizens aren't represented by objective Aldermen.

The Wentzvillian does not seek out the opinions of elected officials, everyone of them tells a different story and very seldom, if ever, is it the whole truth. The Wentzvillian  views city meetings as any citizen would, and as the public is told many times over and over: "You don't have all the facts." What some aldermen don't seem to understand is; the view is different from here than it is in their eyes. What we see and hear from our governors is reality, what is perceived in the public eye is truth. Until these aldermen, and mayor, want to give their side of the "real" truth, what we see is what they get. Perception is everything, perception wins or loses elections, and perception is truth until the absolute truth is unveiled, and even then it may be too late. Vengence is mine sayeth the public.

The mess and scrambling in city hall today was all created by Kross, Shryock, Hays, and Guccione. It is all because, in their short-sightedness and arrogance, they had no thought of the consequences of their actions. I would have loved to see the look on their faces when Wentzville's legal team turned down their insulting offer. I wouldn't be surprised if when they ask the other aldermen to help them get out of this mess, they don't tell them, "Hey, you wouldn't listen to reason, you wanted the power, you took it, so now you can clean it up," — but they won't.

The Wentzvillian readers are for the most part conservative, and Alderman Kross claims to be ultra-conservative. Perhaps she should look at the polls here where she and Shryock are leading the pack in asking the most irrelevant questions and are at the bottom of the poll when rated on their job performance. These polls are not manipulated and are the thoughts of conservative voters who are dissatisfied with the actions of Kross and Shryock. Perhaps they could tell us the truth about who they really are?

 

I'm sorry I had to post this, but I care too much for this city and the great Board of Aldermen that I knew. Things are about to blow in Wentzville, and with  the aid of Aldermam Kross' ego, Mayor Guccione's La-La land will fall to his own misguided followings. Remember Mr. Mayor, you cast the tie breaker, so if you want to point your finger at someone, stick it in your nose and scratch your brain, who knows, maybe you'll find a reset button up there.

 

A Fish Riding A Bicycle

On Thursday, September 26th, 2013 The Wentzvillian posted "I'll have No Truck With Plot" —Sheldon Cooper (click here). This post recorded only a portion of the beginning of what may be the most damaging Board of Aldermen meeting held in Wentzville in its 158 year history, and it is the work of Mayor Nickolas Guccione at his absolute worst. I will remember this meeting as long as I cover government here and I'm sure it will become the apex of Guccione's legacy of lunacy. This meeting will have far reaching negative consequences for our city and its residents, so let me begin, or should I say continue?

The video was finally posted for the Board of Alderman Meeting of September 25th, 2013 and I invite all interested citizens to take a gander at government at it's worst (click here). Pay particular attention to; "NEW BUSINESS, Item 6, (ID#4799) Municipal Legal Services (City Attorney)," and see the outright disrespect our City Attorney, Paul Rost, endured at the hands of Mayor Nickolas Guccione, Aldermen Cheryl Kross, Sonya Shryock, and Michael Hays.

Paul Rost has represented his firm; Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost as Wentzville's legal counsel for over ten years. In all that time, I've never heard anything negative about the job they've done for our city, there have been some who didn't like this or that, but a very good score overall. I have nothing but respect for Rost and the way he's conducted himself trying desperately to explain rudimentary legal matters to Kross, Shryock, and the living dead; Hays and Guccione. He represented us through some pretty dysfunctional boards and now a dysfunctional mayor. I've seen times when I thought he should have stood up and walked out on the utter lunacy going on around him, but he continued to do his job in a helpful and exceptionally professional manner, he deserves a lot of credit. I've never met Special Attorney Tom Cunningham but I've sat through numerous presentations regarding bond issues, TIFFs, NIDs, and CIDs, etc., this man knows his stuff.

If you read the post entitled: "I'll Have No Truck With Plot —Sheldon Cooper," you know that there was a split board with Guccione casting the deciding vote not to accept the recommendation of the Professional Services Committee for Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost. This decision was wrong from where I sat, but the discussion to reevaluate the selection process was painfully messed up. Not only to those watching, but I'm surprised Rost didn't take his brief case, set it on the dais in front of the mayor and say, "Mayor Guccione, here, you take over, I'm outta this nut-house!" I've seen some pretty screwy things come from city meetings but this meeting takes the prize. The way our mayor does business I'm thinking a first year law student could win a lawsuit against Wentzville.

Well, after that meeting of September 25, 2013, the law firm of Vogel, Cunningham, and Rost, has decided against an offered six month extension on their current contract and I've heard that they handed in their termination of services effective November 8, 2013. It looks like Guccione's job got a little bigger. Not only is he missing a City Administrator, Assistant Finance Director, Accounts Payable Manager, Economic Development Director, retirement of the Purchasing/IT Director, and two key Engineers, he can now add; City Attorney, Bond Attorney, and Litigation Attorney to the list. Splash Station Aquatic Center is a half-million dollars over budget and a year late, does anyone sense a trend here with Mayor Nickolas' administration? Watching Guccione run this city is like watching a fish riding a bicycle ... interesting.

The consequences of displaying a lack of faith in the law firm of Vogel, Cunningham, and Rost by rejecting their contract bid and subsequent termination of services could have a devastating effect on our credit rating. I wonder if any of the Unholy Alliance; Kross, Shryock, and Hays, had any thought that Special Attorney, Cunningham handles all of the bonds of the city or that there are numerous lawsuits against our city currently in process. Whatever happens going forward is the responsibility of our genius Mayor Guccione simply because he broke the tie. When our credit rating goes down and interest rates go up, we can thank King Nickolas.

So how did we get here? The simple answer is, ego, and that's going to take some explaining. Kross is still burning after not receiving the Board President job, she seems to think it's something that gets passed around like an attendance prize. The board voted unanimously to have a Professional Services Committee who do the selection process and it was added to the purchasing policy which was passed just a few months ago. But now all of a sudden, Shryock doesn't like the fact that the aldermen didn't get to interview the candidates for the legal services contract and wants to reevaluate the process, which is problematic. Then you have Guccione who is desperately trying to force respect on the board and he has Hays in his back pocket. Anyway, the group just mentioned decided to vote in a block with Guccione breaking the tie, just to teach the other aldermen that they aren't in charge. They voted not to accept the recommendation of the committee until the selection process can be modified, and after some vacillation, offer Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost law firm a six-month extension on their contract.

I'm sure that when Rost took this back to the partners, they weighed their options. Probably something like this: Do we accept the extension knowing that in that time Wentzville will be seeking out other representation? What would that look like in the business world for us to hang around settling for scraps until we're replaced? These men are intelligent business men, they know that their business image is extremely important and they decided to pack it in and pull out on the city's offer. Rost told me that they would still work with the city in an effort to make for an easy transition, but I think there will be problems even when they do get a new legal services firm. Maybe it's time to hire some lawyers and have them work as employees. I'm thinking, had the city offered a one year contract extension, everything would have been fine. Kross, Hays, Shryock, and Gucciione must have thought that Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost would just roll over after talk about three-month or a six-month extension. Wrong!

The Unholy Alliance didn't see far enough to even think that this company would reject their offer. Now, they don't have time to reevaluate the selection process, go out for bids, and have legal representation after Nobember 8th. They have put the City in serious jeopardy and there's some heavy-weight scrambling going on. Guccione is now blaming the aldermen or anyone else he can designate as the fall-guys. His memory isn't long enough to realize that it was his vote that put Wentzville in trouble.

November 8th marks the last day of the extension contract, after that, Vogel, Cunningham, and Rost are willing to continue working for the city on a straight time and expenses basis. Wentzville may need to contract attorneys to cover anything new that will come in from now on and that ain't cheap. Guccione and the Unholy Alliance just started writing more checks with taxpayer dollars, so much for Kross' conservative values. Special executive session meetings are being called in rapid-fire trying to unscrew what this ego-driven group of poltroons screwed up. It's going to be interesting to watch the scramble, but it's not good news for Wentzville.

There are numerous other problems as a result of this meeting. I've heard drums beating ... there are more than one director who has sharpened his/her resume and getting ready to pull the trigger to get the hell out of Dodge, so to speak. Guccione is the Captain of a ship that is taking on water faster than President of the Board, Rick Stokes, can pump it out. Me thinks Kross is behind it, and all because "If I can't be President of the Board, I'm bringing you down." I wonder if she thinks now, after what has just transpired that she still has what it takes to be President of the Board? Things are falling apart rapidly in Guccione's administration, it's entirely possible that soon he may have no subjects to command.




Credit Where Credit Is Due

 

I don't read newspapers often, but every once in a while someone will stick one in my face, point to an article and say: "Look at this." DOH! Invariably I see our mayor's smiling mug with an article written by someone other than himself, using words that our mayor could probably not understand, and in most instances, even pronounce. Many times I've pointed out that Mayor Nickolas Guccione couldn't possibly write the articles in Newstime, he merely gives the city publicist an idea and she runs with it. The entire scheme looks like Wentzville tax-payers are footing the bill and deceiving the public, by making Guccione look competent.

 

Like any investigative reporter, I decided to edify myself, I exercised my rights granted via the Sunshine Laws and request information from the city. As I suspected, the city publicist, Ms. Laura Pendino, of Five Star Publishing admits in emails, to-and-from Guccione,  that she writes every word. Of course the city pays somewhere between $200 and $300 for each article written.

 

Although I knew Guccione didn't write any of the articles printed in Newstime with him getting the byline, I couldn't help but be disturbed. If he would write them by himself he could save the city somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 a year, especially since there's nothing newsworthy being published in his (her) article. Besides, it would be a real hoot to read.

 

As I read on in these emails between Ms. Pendino and Guccione, I found something even more disturbing, and it goes as follows: "Hi Mayor Guccione, Since kids just started back to school, do you want to do something about safety for kids going back to school? ... Please let me know if this is a topic you want to cover. ... I'll wait to start writing until I hear back from you. —Laura Pendino"  I didn't know that she picks what to write about, why bother having the mayor's name and mug-shot on the article? Guccione's response, exactly as written: Yes Laura .That sounds good .go with that"

 

If Ms. Pendino is going to pick the topics, write the articles, and then submit them to Newstime, why isn't she the Public Information Specialist and working for the city? Why is the mayor involved at all? It seems to me like a huge waste of tax-payer money on non-news items. Why isn't Alderman Kross all over this, she's so tight she'd jump over a gate to keep from wearing out the hinges.

 

It seems to me that if the city would do away with a contract firm handling our publicist duties and create a much needed Public Information Services Department, the city would get better services and save money in the long run. I know a few very talented people in the city who are qualified to undertake this position, why not just do it.

* * * * *

 

In my investigations of City Hall, I found some really disturbing things going on with one of our junior aldermen. As I've just touched the surface of this situation I'm going to wait a few days until I receive more information.

 

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On the subject of the vote September 25th to deny the selection of our City Attorneys, Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost, I stumbled upon some information that will shed a very interesting light on the situation. I have written a post that I was going to put up yesterday, but I promised my sources that I would give it until tomorrow before I pull the trigger on it. Stay tuned.