The Wentzvillian has posted on numerous occasions that Ward 1 and Ward 3 citizens have little representation by their elected aldermen, and today I want to point out a group of citizens and businesses who have even less; those living and working in the village center. This quaint part of town was the heart of Wentzville and had been since first platted in 1855 — this all changed a little more than 15 years ago, when a decade long journey of thousands of immigrants from St. Louis County loaded their wagons to begin anew — out just a little farther west. All of these people, some 25,000, wanted a little slice of country-heaven. Unfortunately for them, and the native-born residents, they now have exactly what they left behind; urban sprawl and big-city politics.
Native Wentzvillians were pushed to the side in favor of the Wentzville Parkway, big-box stores, and scores of new subdivisions. With the population explosion, the little community of Wentzville was hemmed-in by Highways 70, 61, and the Parkway. The total focus of newly elected transplants was on growth, nothing on preservation or maintenance of the core city.
The now misused phrase; "Small-Town Feel" was coined in the summer of 2005 — it appeared as the masthead on the premier issue's cover of a very popular Wentzville magazine entitled; Echo Magazine. It read: "ECHO MAGAZINE Celebrating That Small Town Feeling." The pages were filled with village center articles about people, events, history, businesses, and the politics of Wentzville. A lot has changed in Wentzville since it lost Echo Magazine — sometimes I wonder if things wouldn't be a little different for the village center if it had survived.
Wentzville today reminds me of that TV show "The Dome," nothing gets in and nothing gets out. What I mean by that is; The Wentzville Union newspaper pulled up stakes after 80 years to be sold off in the 1970s and that opened up a vacancy for the Wentzville Suburban Journal to move into town. Over the years, Newstime has lost touch with what's going on in Wentzville, the Journal moved out of town, and Echo Magazine closed it's doors in 2010. No news gets in or out of Wentzville; if it had been, Nickolas Guccione would not be Mayor and would probably have served a one two-year term as alderman. Things would have been different for sure.
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A few years ago, the board of aldermen restructured the boundaries of the wards but maintained all three wards converging in the center of the downtown village center. Village center residents are vastly outnumbered by those living in the newly developed outer ring of the city and because they are divided into three wards they are even more diluted — consequently the only voices heard by aldermen (who all live outside the village center) are their subdivision neighbors. To prove this point; Alderman-elect Robert Hussey and Alderman Cheryl Kross are both suggesting that they want to put high-density housing and even section eight housing in the downtown area. Everyone living in downtown who want this; raise your hand. I believe a better place for this kind of housing would be out near those who want it; a place like Golf Club of Wentzville, Bear Creek, or even Stone Meadows — and I think most of the disenfranchised village center residents would agree.
Downtown Wentzville is unheard by city government because it has no voice. It's time to restructure the wards again and this time, do it fairly — create Ward 4 — Ward 4 would be bounded by Highways 70, 61, and the Wentzville Parkway. Those residents outside that area have their own unique problems and those downtown have an even more unique set of problems. The newly created Aldermen of Ward 4 would be residents of the village center and probably not immigrants from St. Louis County. They would know about the things that downtown desperately need to have done and how to get them done. Residents and businesses of the village center need to press for equality, petition this new board of aldermen to give you a voice by creating a level playing field, give us back that small-town feeling!
Downtown Wentzville is unheard by city government because it has no voice. It's time to restructure the wards again and this time, do it fairly — create Ward 4 — Ward 4 would be bounded by Highways 70, 61, and the Wentzville Parkway. Those residents outside that area have their own unique problems and those downtown have an even more unique set of problems. The newly created Aldermen of Ward 4 would be residents of the village center and probably not immigrants from St. Louis County. They would know about the things that downtown desperately need to have done and how to get them done. Residents and businesses of the village center need to press for equality, petition this new board of aldermen to give you a voice by creating a level playing field, give us back that small-town feeling!
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StlToday.com posted another article on Saturday, April 19th (click here) in which Mayor Nickolas Guccione admits he has stacked the Board of Aldermen cards. The article deals with the turmoil in this city since Guccione was elected. My hope for the city; this is just the beginning of real investigative news coverage in Wentzville.
That's another good idea, which means the new board will never vote in favor. Someone should bring up the subject during Open Forum at a BOA meeting. I'm curious what excuses they would give.
ReplyDeleteOf course, our city has more problems than can be counted. We, the people, are limited as to what we can do about them. A priority should be to push for a change from 4th class city to charter city. It would reduce some of the control relished by these elected officials and give us more of a say in what can or cannot take place at city hall.
I wasn't born in Wentzville but I've lived in the downtown area for over 40 years. I feel like I'm not represented and not even sure what ward I'm in now. I'd love to have aldermen who know our downtown, its history, and our needs but they are all too involved in their subdivisions.
ReplyDeleteOne time I heard my alderman say that he ran for office because another subdivision was being built next to his in The Fountains and they were cutting all of the trees down behind him. He said the view from his deck was terrible. I can say the same thing here, I loved the cornfields where they put the parkway, maybe I should run for office.
When I was a kid, I could walk about six or seven blocks west and do some great hunting, now it's all subdivisions and traffic. I wish our government had never built the Wentzville Parkway. These new people don't care about our problems downtown, I guess there's not enough voters down here.
Alderman Kross talks a lot about the "small town feel," I don't think she knows what it means.
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