Guccione Has Wet Wentzville's Bed

 

Mayor Nickolas Guccione worked hard in making a fool of himself to get people elected to the Board of Aldermen who will give him total control of Wentzville city government. To him that means catering to special interests, favors for his buddies and prospective voters. Prior to last month, there were Aldermen who understood fiduciary responsibility, ethics, and representative government—that has all changed.

 

Today, we have one alderman; Chris Gard, who has the experience, know-how, and is far-sighted enough to recognize the many subtle pitfalls of legislating from the hip. The bad news is we have two aldermen, Michael Hays and Cheryl Kross, who have proven themselves to be close followers of the Nickolas Guccione butcher shop method of politics, and three new aldermen who will need guidance as they learn the ropes. At least two of our new aldermen, Linda Wright and Robert Hussey, owe a campaign debt to Nickolas Guccione and they are most likely to repay that debt back to him in the form of votes on the board. Then there's Alderman Michael Rhoades, he has the best chance of being an independent  thinker and true representative of the people in his ward, we can only pray that he seeks guidance from his ward mate; Ward 2 Alderman, Chris Gard, and not our small-thinking, short-sighted President of the Board, Cheryl Kross, and Mayor Nickolas 'Butcher of Wentzville' Guccione.

 

I've given a lot of thought to Cheryl Kross and her presidency of the board, and I'm having great difficulty resolving her ability to lead. A number of things in her recent past have illustrated her poor judgement and lack of  leadership. Most recently is the lawsuit in which it's alleged that she took an active role in the conspiracy to fire Chief Lisa Harrison (click here). She was instrumental in the movement against our City Attorney Paul Rost (click here) and the loss of our audit firm—not renewing the contracts of these two firms is costing taxpayers a fortune. Then there was her flip-vote (click here) to allow the seating of the most useles alderman and sock-puppet of King Nickolas; Michael Hays—that decision was not in the best interests of Wentzville or Ward 3, but rather her own political fear of not being re-elected in 2012. President of the Board Kross has proven herself incapable of leading a gaggle of geese across a road, how she is going to intelligently lead three cub-aldermen is beyond me. I'm afraid, as she leads with hate and revenge, the city will gather more lawsuits until an ernest movement can be mounted to vote her out of our city government. Kross is all over the city putting in face-time, she's also taking huge advantage of social media, posting everything she can find to keep her name in as an important person in the city. If there's a chance to get her out of office in 2015, concerned voters will need to start now.

 

So what does the near future hold for Wentzville? King Nickolas will immediately take apart the ethics policy and the sign ordinance allowing him to collect more baskets for the Mayor's Ball (click here), and give his buddy exJudge Michael Carter the ability to plaster Wentzville with political signs for his third run at Judge Stephen Martin in 2015. 'The Butcher' is not satisfied with having control of the executive and legislative branches of Wentzville government, he wants to control the judicial branch as well.

 

Things do not bode well for Wentzville with Mayor Nickolas Guccione and his flying monkeys leading our city down the tube. Guccione doesn't have any guidence running our city and must rely heavily on our directors and his "friends in high places." What this means is that once again, our city staff will be making Guccione's decisions for him. Problems loom large in the mystic of Wentzville's future, Guccione made his bed, has everything he wants, and now we'll see just how much better it gets around here. For my money it will be a nightmarish ride for our employees and the city coffers will be burned to the ground while the 'Butcher of Wentzville' plays his fiddle and seeks more avenues of power. These are dark days for Wentzville and we can thank voter apathy for it. Registered voters need to organize and put a stop to Guccione's party (Hays and Kross) in April of 2015.

 

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?

 

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.

 

 

 

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.




"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). 

 

 

Bust My Britches, They Actually Did It!

 

I probably should digest what took place at last night's Board of Alderman meeting for a few days, but I think fun times are ahead and I couldn't wait to give you my take on it right now. I still cannot believe what happened simply because its ramifications are so staggering. Mayor Nickolas Guccione, our Mayor Nickolas Guccione, the one who's most challenging task of the day is counting how many chicken parts to put in each package, is going to be serving a dual role to include that of City Administrator.

 

You heard me right, Guccione will now be responsible for everything. Alderman of Ward 1, Chris Gard suggested it and it got enough support from the board that it happened. When the aldermen discussed his new role Guccione said he could handle it, but as talks turned to duties he started back-peddling. "I'm only here one day a week, but I come here every evening." So here's the story; we now have a full-time mayor who only works one day a week, doesn't that sounds exciting!

 

It is my belief that Guccione wanted to be Mayor and Interim City Administrator with the fat paycheck that comes with it, but—and this is a big BUT—he will only get his mayor's salary which is somewhere in the range of $14-$15K a year, which some believe to be too much. That's a real let down for Guccione, four times the work at a tenth of the rate, but it's a real good deal for the city (if it works out). I'll go out on a limb here and say; Nickolas Guccione is the lowest paid City Administrator in the history of Wentzville!

 

Guccione's bubble burst when the City Attorney, Paul Rost said: "According to statute, being a 4th class city, you cannot hold both jobs at once. If you were to take the interim City Administrator job (with the fat-fat paycheck), you would have to resign from office, and visa-versa." So now he has the responsibility of being mayor with all the work and responsibility of a City Administrator piled on. Mayor Guccione is a much better man than I ever gave him credit for because he's going to do all of this in one day a week (and evenings of course), Bravo Mayor Nickolas, you are truly the King of Wentzville!

 

The Aldermen, as I, have confidence that our city directors will step up and keep the day-to-day functions of the city going. They are intelligent, capable, and highly-educated in their various fields. The problem I see is the day-to-day interface between them with their City Administrator who will be cutting and packaging chickens four days every week, where will they go to get answers or decisions? This is going to be interesting to watch.

 

I smell disaster for the city and I don't know how it can function when Guccione has to make snap-decisions...right now. It ain't happenin'. Are the aldermen setting him up, knowing that he can't possibly do the job? What happens if he screws something up? I know that employees don't like working with (or under) him, that may be why he can't get any of the Directors to take the interim job. They don't want him messing up and blaming them, he is famous for excuses and always has a fall-guy. You watch, when he blunders he will use his famous, "I didn't do it," or "I didn't know, nobody told me." And now he can use the old: "Hey, I'm doing two jobs here some things are going to fall through the crack." A note to staff: Gird your loins, you're about to get something you really, really don't want!

I'll be watching more closely now than I ever did to make sure the blame goes where it belongs. After all, he said he could do it. When things start to go south in our city, I'll make sure you get it first.

 

 

"Just Because You Say It's So..."

Board of Aldermen meeting of April 10th continued: I touched on Mayor Nickolas Guccione's Mayor's Report this morning but there was more. After his now famous "High Road" comment Guccione went on to say about those who spoke out against him, "I have to bite my tongue but I just ignore it." He just ignores citizens who are unhappy about his unethical behavior and I'm glad to hear that because the sore he created will fester to the point where he will wish he hadn't ignored it.

About the Alderman reports, I'm a little unhappy that four of our six Aldermen had nothing to say about the situation with Guccione. Hays of course wouldn't bite the hand who fed him but he did address the ethics problem on his flyer. He apologized to the Board for the misspelling on it and the ballot, taking blame for it. I give him credit for doing that but that's where it ends. From the way things came down, it looks like Hays had nothing to do with his own campaign literature and Guccione handled everything. That explains a lot, especially the misspellings and lack of proofreading.

Alderman Shryock opened her report with, "Mayor, you opened the topic of the flyer during your report, so we need to have the discussion about you signing the endorsement as "Mayor." Guccione went to Def Con 4 saying, "I didn't do it." I wish I had a dime for everytime I heard him say that over the last six years. Then he kept saying that he gave the printing company his photograph and the letter but; "I never told him to put 'Mayor' on it." I've learned over the years that when Guccione opens his mouth it's probably a lie, but when he's making excuses, he's definitely lying, it never fails. Shyrock went on to say again that they needed to have this discussion and that's when her missiles got through Guccione's comfort level and he shut down, saying, "I'm not going to have this discussion with you."

Alderman Forrest Gosset cut in to say that this is not the proper place to have this discussion. If we are to have it, it needs to be during a work session or a regular meeting discussion item. Guccione looked for help from City Attorney Paul Rost who said, "It isn't on the agenda, it needs to be on it to have a discussion." Guccione was relieved thinking it was over but the Aldermen set it for a discussion item for April 24th. Mark your calendars, this will be a goody.

President of the Board of Alderman, Rick Stoles, during his report said, "If I were to campaign for someone I'd do it as Rick Stokes, not Alderman Rick Stokes. It shouldn't have been 'Mayor'" Then I heard Stokes say something I've only heard about but never actually heard it said in a meeting, the dreaded 'C' word; "I was going to call for a vote of censure but since we are going to have a discussion on the 24th, I will hold it until then."  For those of you who "ignore it," I've provided the definition:

CENSURE (cen'sher) n. 1. An expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. 2. An official rebuke, as by a legislature of one of its members.—tr.v. cen·sured, cen·sur·ing, cen·sures

Guccione was finally very uncomfortable, not only with the few criticisms during open forum but those of Shryock and Stokes. In frustration he said, "Just because you say it's so, doesn't make it so." I think I used that a few times in third grade, how about you?

Perhaps we did something good for our City, standing there in front of the Board complaining about our government, at least I hope so. The three of us put our asses on the line, let's see what comes of it, I'll see you on the 24th when Mayor Nickolas Guccione will have to answer for his unethical behavior. Are there any bets as to whether Hays chimes in? I guess we'll find out where he stands on unethical behavior in politics. I believe this will be the most interesting meeting since that last few of Mayor Lambi's term.

Would You Like Fries With That?

The Wentzvillian attended its first ever Parks Board meeting last night, Monday, February 5th because I wanted to get their take on the rock situation and I got more than expected. I urge my readers to watch the City's Parks Board meeting video to confirm the things written here. It was worth attending, some very revealing statements were made during the "Open Forum" and "Unfinished Business Item 1, (ID # 4345 Project Parks Update."

Other than myself, spectators were sparse at best. Mayor Nickolas Guccione sat in the front row and President of the Board of Alderman, Rick Stokes sat in the second. Guccione attends every committee and board meeting being held in the city because this is how he learns what's going on in the city. Rather than read minutes or packets of bills and resolutions he leads the city via the audio method. He also makes decisions on subjects by hearing which items get the most support and then he leans in that direction, this is known as the "Guccione Method of Mayoring."

Stokes got up during open forum announcing himself as "citizen Rick Stokes" and issued a rather provocative challenge regarding hitting rock and cost overruns to the Park Board. "About a year ago during the planning, design, and selection process, members of the Park Board and the Mayor openly criticized the Board of Aldermen." The Parks Board and Mayor listened intently as Stokes said; "Some of the helpful comments made were: Just trust staff; The evaluation committee made their decision, just go!; The VOTERS want parks NOW, The staff and PDS (design company) know what they are doing, get out of the way. And my personal favorite: Stop questioning staff and start digging."

Currently, cost overruns are at $240,000 with a contingency of $292,000 for the entire Splash Station which is less than five percent complete. Stokes went on to say, "49 percent of the voters said "no" to parks and they want to know how their money is being spent. I challenge the Park Board to bring forward its recommendations about where we are going to get the money to pay for these overruns to the Board of Aldermen? There are two other parks budgeted and they have large water features what happens if we hit rock there too? Do we build them at the same time or do we sequence them?

Stokes finished by saying, "The Board of Aldermen wish to be in agreement with the Parks Board, we would like to think you are a partner rather than a critic." That statement cut them to the bone because they and the Mayor have been critics, in a very public way. Guccione will need to figure out who to blame for his statements of the past.

Finally, during unfinished business one of the parks board members stuck her foot down her throat buy saying, "I'm surprised the rock situation was a surprise! We knew years ago that there was rock there when we tried to build some ball fields." I'm now questioning who is to blame for this problem and I imagine our City Attorney, Paul Rost, is going to be pulling his hair out after that public admission. Things just got a lot more complicated for him. Somewhere in the city, someone knew that they would have the problem of excessive rock and they didn't bother to bring this little fact to the Board of Aldermen.

Last night, citizen Rick Stokes handed the Mayor and his staff a super-sized meadow muffin sandwich, maybe Guccione could bring the condiments. I can't wait to see Guccione trying to wiggle out of this blunder, it just keeps getting better and better to watch city stuff unfold.

The First 100 Days?

It's time to talk about "ID #3959 Water Reclamation Project - Change Order No. 4," I've thought about it long enough. This involves a contract that was completed under budget by $71,000 and the vendor subsequently put in a change order for an additional $61,000. Perhaps this all sounds routine and maybe even boring but what happened at last Wednesday's meeting was quite interesting and anything but boring. I will not lay blame on any of the City staff for what happened as it falls squarely on the shoulders of our Mayor, Guccione.

The change order came before the Board of Aldermen for approval because any expenditure of over $25,000 needs Board approval. The problem arose when the presenter, Mr. Jerry Hillin, Purchasing/IT Director, stated that the change order had been signed and the check already sent to the vendor. In other words (in the words of the Aldermen), "the ship had sailed," the Aldermen had to approve the expenditure.

Perhaps your asking how this could happen as it smacks the purchasing policy right across the lips? The Aldermen weren't happy about this akward turn of events and asked exactly that same question. The answer given by Public Works Director, Scott Smith was; that the purchasing policy is not clear on the 25 large rule in this instance. "There are two trains of thought: Since the original contract was approved by the Board of Aldermen and it came in under budget by more than the amount of the the change order, it was interpreted that no approval was necessary The other would be that any expenditure over $25,000 must be approved," unfortunately none of the Aldermen agreed with staff's rationale.

My question is this: If there was a question of policy, why wasn't that question brought up the chain of command before the check was signed? It appears that Mayor Guccione was either uninformed, or just didn't care and made an executive decision based on apathy, in either case, the buck stops with the Mayor. I've heard Gooch constantly tell the Aldermen "they need to trust the staff," well in this instance it bit him and the City square on the ass for 61 large, and he is responsible. It is the Mayor's job to see that policy is followed, he's been heard saying: "I don't make policy, I enforce it." Well Mr. Mayor, you really goosed the moose this time din'cha? It wasn't the first and by no means be the last.

Ward 2 Alderman Sonya Shyrock asked; Why is this on the agenda if I cannot vote 'no' on it? City Attorney Paul Rost responded: "You can vote 'nay' but the fact is that the money is spent.  If you like, the City could start proceedings to get the money back from the vendor but that is a discussion for another time. The money is spent and you simply need to vote on it." During this following discussion by the whole of the Board, Guccione looked like a deer in the headlights. All of the Aldermen were unhappy about the situation and made it clear that it must not happen again.

I'm sitting here thinking; the Aldermen were told there was a savings of $71,000 on this contract and were probably thinking that the vendor and staff did a great job and then this happens. I'm glad I'm not on the Board, the Mayor would have caught holy hell for not doing his job and costing the City the embarrassment of springing this crap on the Board. This kind of shit is typical of him, it happened frequently when he was an Alderman and even more frequently during his unethical campaign for Mayor. The best thing he could do for the City is resign, it's not going to get any better, I'm thinking his lack of leadership qualities will eventually cost people their jobs and the City a fortune. Mark my words, rather than taking responsibility for this, he will blame it on someone else—another of his unsavory habits. Look out!

This coming Thursday, Guccione will reach the 100-day mark of his office, I can't wait to hear his speech regarding all he's accomplished. That will be the shortest speech he'll ever make and given his speaking skills, it's probably a good thing. Jeeez, what a mistake this city made electing him to any office of responsibility.

A Sale on Chicken Parts

As I predicted, last evening's Board of Aldermen work session meeting could be considered uninteresting to most, but I had a ball. Watching our New Mayor and seeing his lack of participation and willingness to let the Aldermen run the meeting is right in line with his five years of inactivity on the Board where he did absolutely nothing. I'll will say one thing for Mayor Guccione, he's consistent.

The retreat meeting agenda was fun. After Guccione opened the meeting and the discussion about the retreat agenda, the President of the Board, Alderman Rick "Bulldog" Stokes spoke up and in my eyes, just like the City Attorney Paul Rost last week, ran the meeting while Guccione went into his thousand yard stare. This will be Guccione's operating procedure for meetings during the next four years, I like to think of it as a deer in the headlights form of leadership.

I have to say that if the "Bulldog" hadn't led the meeting, it would be still going on at this writing. The next 30 or 40 minutes was a drag as the Aldermen went through the tedium of listing agenda items and organizing time slots for each discussion.

As the discussion wound down, the "Bulldog" realized that the agenda didn't include a slot for the Mayor. He said to the Mayor that in his report last week, he remarked that he wanted to hit the ground running; "Where would You like to give your direction?" Guccione responded; "You forgot about me, I didn't get a chance to talk." I was right there when he said that, where was he while the Aldermen led the meeting? Where was he when he was supposed to be keeping decorum and leading the meeting. As a matter of fact, at one point he tried to close the discussion before the agenda was even created. "Bulldog" asked Guccione if he agreed with or had comments about the agenda and he replied: "No, this all fits in with my goals." WHAT! What the hell does that mean" He let the Aldermen run the meeting and set the agenda, while adding and saying nothing, and now it all conforms with HIS GOALS? C'mon Mayor, throw us a bone, what exactly are your goals. I have to go to that retreat if for nothing else but to hear him elaborate on his goals.

Now, on to more fun: The Chamber of Commerce holds a ribbon cutting for new businesses in Wentzville and has done this since their founding every Tuesday at 11:00am. Mayor Guccione was invited and agreed to officiate the proceeding. 11:00 came and went with no Mayor when a phone call illuminated that he couldn't make it but would be there by noon. Noon came and went and after receiving another phone call from the Mayor we learned that he couldn't be there until 4:00pm. The Chamber officials decided to wait and went on with the BBQ and other festivities. 4:00 became 4:30, no mayor, 4:30 became 5:00 and still no Mayor. The Chamber could wait no longer so they asked the President of the Board to stand in for the AWOL Mayor.

I've heard that the Chamber President, Mr. Tony Mathews asked the Mayor if there was a better time for him to attend the ribbon cuttings and Guccione said that he's always off work on Wednesdays. I know that the Chamber has board and regular meetings on Wednesdays so this is going to be interesting to see how much they can adapt before keeping it on Tuesdays and invite the Economic Development Director or an Alderman to preside over ribbon cuttings.

I've been sitting here trying to figure out what would keep Mayor Guccione from this event when he said he'd be there at least three times last Tuesday. I need to look in the ad section of the newspaper to see if Schnucks has a sale on chicken parts. If so, that would explain Guccione's absence.

Two Stooges Minus One

Another very good friend of mine, Ms. PSS was complaining to me last night that I need to start writing two times a day. She said that yesterday's A Poke In The Eye was great but she wanted more, so this half is dedicated to her. After watching the meeting of April 25th, I can say to her; have no qualms or trepidations, the vicissitudes you'll encounter will elevate you to a lofty understanding that the frivolities have just begun to actualize.

To continue: Nervous as expected, Mayor Guccione took the throne. It's a hard job speaking to a large group of people and he made his share of mistakes. In time he'll get the routine of chairing a governmental body, at least for the sake of the City, I can hope. His first order of business was to hold an election for the Board President, Alderman of Ward 3, Rick "Bulldog" Stokes won the honor, this is going to be an interesting challenge for Guccione to work closely with the Bulldog. Guccione's campaign committee filed an ethics violation against Stokes that cost him some heavy cabbage, I'm not suggesting that Stokes is not going to forgive Guccione but reaching into someones wallet is hard to forget, I wish them well on their liaison.

Mayor Guccione read his "Vision for the City speech," and the audience listened intently. He talked about wanting growth and keeping up with it. He wants a larger police department and more employees in his bureaucracy. As he stumbled through his oration, I tried desperately to figure out what his vision was. The things he said have been said by every mayor of Wentzville for the last 157 years—"where's the beef?" Our Mayor has no ideas for the future of Wentzville, everything he said was merely status quo and maintaining.

After really fumbling through the process of approving the "Consent Agenda," it came to appointments. I'm going to cut to the chase here and skipping the committee appointments to slip right into the Ward 3 vacant seat appointment. I'm puzzled here, Guccione said he's not going to announce the name of his choice until May the 9th, after he gets approval of each Board member. It is my understanding that he wants the Alderman to approve his appointment without knowing who his candidate is, what the cornbread-hell is that all about. How can they possibly give a blind nod to someone without knowing who it is? That doesn't seem like good government stewardship to me.

The discussion went on for quite a while and Guccione called on City Attorney Paul Rost on numerous occassions about "my appointment," he used that term at least a dozen times. I've never heard Rost talk that much in a meeting, it was as if Guccione was using him as his Assistant Mayor. Rost was busy that night, but when you have a Mayor who knows nothing about procedures, I guess he has no other recourse than to use the City's mouthpiece to carry him through the meeting. This isn't the end of Guccione's ignorance of governmental procedures, Assistant Mayor Rost will be in power until his contract expires and if last night is a preview of things to come, Guccione should sit on his lap and let Rost work his mouth. God knows somebody needs to.

I've heard Guccione talk about his candidate to fill his vacated seat and have picked up on a few things. He mentioned that there are at least three Aldermen who know him and that they like him. At the meeting he said something that gave it away for me; he said it is someone with experience. I can think of three names right of the top of my head; Darrel Lackey, Bob Smith and John Luby. After looking at this short list, Lackey is a big NO, Smith was on Leon Tow's campaign committee and that's more than likely another NO, and that leaves Luby. He was one of the original Lurchettes, served with Guccione, and is one of his close friends. This may be a no-brainer! I know Luby, he's one of the kindest people I know but he's not a representative of anyone. He was a follower on the Board of Aldermen and voted with the Lurchettes on some of the lousiest legislation ever to become law in Wentzville. Have I missed anything? I do not want him representing me in Ward 3 again and urge the Board to tell Gooch to appoint a legislator, not an indecisive sock-puppet.

Guccione stated that he will look at a list of names suggested by the Board but will not under any circumstances appoint one of them. It's his appointment and if the Board doesn't approve his choice, "We are dead-locked and the seat will remain empty until next years election." He is not going to compromise and will punish the citizens of Ward 3 in his personal vendetta. So much for being "the candidate of the people." This is pure Guccione the narcissist, hateful, unthinking, not caring, and totally unreasonable!

The meeting started promptly at 6:00pm and lasted until after 11:00pm, I left when they went into executive session, I'd had enough fun for one night. Lambi presided over 26 agenda items and seven or eight people speaking in open forum. The total time was less than two hours. Guccione, on the other hand, presided over 14 agenda items and the elapsed time was over three hours. I can see some late night meetings in the future when the agenda is full. Guccione will become flustered, use the staff attorney more than necessary, and need to be constantly reminded how to chair the meeting. Guccione lost control of the meeting and it resembled a round-table discussion at the United Nations, total anarchy. This will not change, Guccione has a control problem and he really believes he has the power to do anything he wants in City Hall, his power trip is going to get him in some deep problems. He'd better start working with the Aldermen, representing all the citizens (even those in Ward 3) and not just the little over 1000 voters who put him in office!

I see something coming to the Board of Aldermen meetings, I think they will become very Jerry Springeresque. This is bad for our City and reporters around the county and City of St. Louis will have a field day at every meeting. Mayor, don't make us ashamed to admit that our hometown is Wentzville! The things you say and do now are heard and seen by multitudes of people in the state, so please close your hole and try to act like you got some smarts!

Experience Counts

Three days after the election and I’ve been trying to analyze what’s happened and what’s going to happen after the swearing-in of the new Mayor and Aldermen. Today I’d like to focus on the stable of Aldermen and their impact upon the city.

Those elected for the first time are Forrest Gossett and Sonya Shryock. Gossett is an extremely intelligent man with an education in journalism; it’s been a treat speaking with him, he’ll keep me on my toes and I hope visa-versa. A man who understands and can categorically critique what I do, and has done so, calling my work (sometimes) bombastic. At first I was uncomfortable with that moniker until I looked it up and found him correct. He covered many major elections during his days as an editor and has a very good understanding of Government and its inner workings. Sonya Shryock spent 20 years in the real estate industry and comes from a family of Realtors. She understands the engine that keeps home sales going and will be an asset to Wentzville in its effort to fill our 3,500 vacant lots we have as a result of the housing bubble bursting. Re-elected was “Bulldog” Rick Stokes, the resident voters of Wentzville recognize quality and displayed it with his landslide return to the Board.

Seated Aldermen for one more year are Chris Gard and Cheryl Kross both highly capable Aldermen who are not in favor of mediocrity and have a history of challenging the status quo. Leon Tow who was the senior Alderman with 14 years on the Board of Aldermen lost his bid for the top-spot and consequently bequeathed the senior Alderman title to Cheryl Kross who is beginning her fourth year of service. Leon, with his experience served as a stabilizing force on the Board, they looked to him for leadership and questions involving procedures and history of Board actions, which leads me to the point of this writing.

Today, we have the youngest Board of Aldermen I’ve ever known. Having elected a new mayor with highly questionable leadership skills who has only five years of dysfunctionality on the Board will be of no help with policies, procedures, and history of actions to this new board.  The Wentzville City Attorney, Paul Rost; and City Clerk, Vi Skillman will be busy babysitting this Mayor and young group of energetic Aldermen. With only one person on the Board with over two years, there will be lots of questions that were mostly fielded by Mayor Lambi or Leon Tow.

Now we come to the vacated seat in Ward 3, left when Nick Guccione stole the election with lies, mud-slinging, and deviousities, he will probably appoint Rodney Stratman to that seat. As a voting citizen of Ward 3, I do not want another lame Alderman, especially one living right next door to a Mayor as sneaky as Nick Guccione. I want an Alderman I can trust, one who will represent me and the other citizens of Ward 3. It is my opinion that the Board should reject any of Guccione's appointments and put someone in that seat who knows how to represent.

So who should that be? It should be someone with experience, honor, and integrity. There is only one man or woman that I know of who lives in Ward 3 that fits all of those qualifications; Darrel Lackey. Mr. Lackey served as Alderman in both Ward 2, and Ward 3, and was Mayor for two terms. I cannot see any other candidate or more qualified person to serve as my representative in Ward 3. With no Alderman having more than three years on the Board and the possibility of losing both Gard and Stokes to the Missouri State House of Representatives, Wentzville is going to need a strong person on the Board of Aldermen, Lackey has a history of being a strong servant of the people and businesses here.

I have spoken to Mr. Lackey and when I asked him if he would accept such an appointment, he said he would be honored to serve out Guccione's vacated seat. I will be calling my Alderman; Rick Stokes and the Aldermen of the other wards to urge them to nominate Darrel Lackey to serve as Ward 3's Alderman.

I'm appealing to all of my readers to call your Aldermen and ask them to appoint Darrel Lackey to Ward 3. Not only would it provide a stronger Board, it would provide the experience lacking in our current Board. If and when we lose Alderman Gard and or Stokes, we would insure that there would be another "Gard Dog" and "Bulldog Stokes" representing the people of Wentzville who knows how to serve our City.

A Day in the Life

Sometimes just watching city meetings isn't enough to tell if your representative is really functioning in a manner that parallels the needs of the constituents he or she represents, sometimes you need to focus in a little closer on the individual, so close that at times it may become somewhat disgusting. That was my mission last evening, to watch my Ward 3 Alderman Nick Guccione to see just how much he participates in discussions and contributes to the welfare of those in his ward. Oh by the way, did I mention that he's running for mayor?

I didn't expect a lot of fireworks last night and I was right about that but since I'm just a crusty old curmudgeon it was plenty enough entertainment for me. The meeting started promptly at 6:30pm and I walked out the door when they went into executive session at about 11:00pm. It started in the usual way, Pledge, Roll Call, bla,bla,bla, and Consent Agenda and some discussion was had by some Aldermen but nothing of consequence. They moved a "Status of the Parks Project..." presentation from the end of the agenda to just after the consent agenda so the presenters wouldn't have to stay until the end of the meeting.

The parks presentation update was a lengthily slide show with a healthy discussion afterward. They talked about the budget in relation to the design and every single Alderman had questions and comments except mine, Nick Guccione. I was hoping to see him jump in there with some financial questions or even to say "Man those renderings are pretty," but I got nothing. My other alderman Rick Stokes was all over the cost overrun estimates and so were everybody else's Aldermen, but Guccione remained tight-lipped. Oh well I thought, he'll get them next time.

It was during the Mayor's report where Lambi asked the Board to consider naming a fourplex of ball fields after the person who was instrumental in the City obtaining the land for well under the appraised value; Wayne Dockler. He wanted to call it Dockler field. It was exactly 8:04pm, one hour and thirty-four minutes into the meeting after every other alderman agreed to the proposal when my Alderman Guccione stuck his hand up and opened his mouth with: "I agree to name the fourplex baseball field Dockler Field." Guccione's response reminds me of an old story: It takes a team of engineers six weeks to design a multi-million dollar water treatment plant but it takes management six months to decide where to put the bathrooms. The reason: everybody knows something about bathrooms.

Then at 8:14pm came the "Aldermen's Reports" and I knew Guccione would shine here but all I heard was; "No report." Rick Stokes (my other Alderman) during his report asked if the City could partner with the Postal Service to have a drive-up mail box placed on the parking lot of the USC building at Linn Ave. and Pearce Blvd. to assist the handicapped and elderly in having an easy mail drop rather than going to the post office where they need to get out of their car to mail something. At 8:21pm, once again Guccione raised his hand to add: "I don't know if we can make them (Postal Service) do that." He made a point of adding to the discussion with something he didn't know, he's made a his political career of things he doesn't know.

Then came a bill on restructuring the Human Resources and Procurement Departments and it was unanimous except for Guccione, at 8:37pm he voted "NO." He was the only Alderman to say "no" to promoting Human Resources Manager, Amy Holloway and Purchasing Manager, Jerry Hillin, so much for his claim of fighting for the employees and being on their side. I wonder, since the unions are heavily invested in his campaign for Mayor, if Amy and Jerry were union employees would they have gotten his vote?

It wasn't until 9:25pm that Guccione raised his hand (other than to second every motion made), it was during a discussion involving Bill 3373 "Fugitive from Justice Ordinance." Chief Lisa Harrison explained the proposed ordinance and said that it would allow the police department to detain a fugitive with warrants for extradition to the city issuing the warrant. It also provided a fine of not more than $100 to be assessed by the judge. Chief Harrison added that they could also make the fugitive do community service if they were homeless or out of work with no means of support. Guccione suggested: "Fugitives could be made to do community service." It took him until 9:25pm to come up with that bit of profound and insightful thought, it makes me proud, to be a citizen of Ward 3.

There was a discussion about providing the police department with meters to gauge decibel (noise) levels in answer to the recent Caddyshack noise issue. There's a history here and it goes back to about three years ago when the then Board of Aldermen changed the overlay district on the Wentzville Parkway to allow live music in restaurants and bars. The formers of the master plan put a great deal of thought into providing for the overlay districts knowing the potential for noise interfering with the quality of life in the residential areas behind the Wentzville Parkway. The change was initiated by Mayor Lambi wanting to do a favor for a bar-owner friend and knowing the group of Aldermen in charge back then it was a lock to get it changed. That group was Bill Schuette, John Luby, and none other than Nick Guccione. Analytical thought beyond the end of their noses was not their strong suit so they created all the problems going on with live music on the Wentzville Parkway today. We should all thank them for wasting so much time for our Aldermen and police department now.

At 10:35pm, at the request of Lambi, the board revisited the release of the Executive Session" minutes involving the alleged conflict of interest. He wants it out in the open and wanted to force the Aldermen to release them without the blacked-out portions. The Aldermen have stated on several occasions that they will not approve any minutes that would create legal problems for the city and would not release them without the approval of the City Attorney, Paul Rost. Guccione stated: "I have no problem releasing the minutes but without sections blocked out. That's why I voted against it before." Mr Guccione is fine with having law suits filed against the city and releasing the minutes without the advice of Rost. This is the thought pattern of Nick Guccione, don't think about the consequences, fix the problem now at all costs.

During the course of the evening, my alderman, Nick Guccione spoke up eight times and offered nothing of consequence while the other Aldermen asked pertinent questions and offered real solutions for over four hours. This meeting is not unusual, this meeting is typical of his mode of operation. He's not my Alderman, his place could easily be filled by a 10th grader who would probably do a better job. Nick Guccione is running for Mayor, think about it, can the City of Wentzville really afford a Mayor who acts and reacts rather than thinks?

Addendum A March 29, 2012, 1:05pm

I just received another mailer from Nick Guccione, the unions have treated him well to be able to afford all of them. Not only did he steal the trade marked City logo again, he is now campaigning for one of his recruits, Rod Stratman, who is running against the best Alderman on our Board; Rick Stokes. He's determined to control the Board of Aldermen whether he becomes Mayor or not. Nick, the good citizens of Ward 3 don't need another lame deciple of yours representing Ward 3, you have been bad enough.

The Den of Bell-Tails

Once again, it's time to visit the City of Wentzville playhouse; the meeting of February 22nd. For the political addicts out there, there were lots and lots of delectable goodies that night. Alderman Nick Guccione served the hors d'oeuvres but Mayor Lambi brought in the main course and dessert. Lambi was steppin' high like a rooster in deep mud until none of the Aldermen (except Guccione) bit on his "distract and deceive" trap.

It was during the "Mayor's Report" after Lambi gave Alderman Chris Gard a sound drubbing when he attacked staff member; Jerry Hillin, Purchasing Manager. He third-degreed Hillin on the process of the "implied contracts" and the $15,000 check, in my opinion, he was totally out of line with his interrogation. At one time during the meeting Gard said (in no uncertain terms) to the Mayor" You are overstepping your authority." There was uneasiness in the audience as he grilled Hillin.

After several minutes of Lambi's inquisition Hillin stated (with all due respect); "On the advice of my personal attorney and that of our City Attorney, I have filed an official complaint against you and refuse to answer any of your questions," According to Hillin, this was all due to Lambi busting into a finance meeting that morning and verbally beating on him there too. In my opinion, Lambi has gone over the edge and it appears that here lately his oil does not reach his dipstick, he is acting desperate. Could it be that he is in deeper trouble than originally thought?

After thinking this through, there are some other very strange things going on in City hall. I know that the initial employee complaint was in regard to a conflict of interest investigation and involved Rankin Technical college. As I reported in my post of December 16, 2011, "Illegal practice of using ones Influence...," in the city van going to Rankin the day of the alleged conflict there were several aldermen, Mayor Lambi, Economic Development Director Larry Tucker, and Ed Watkins of Winning Endeavors. Many of the questions of which Lambi demanded that night could have been very easily answered by Larry Tucker. Why wasn't he present? Could it be that Tucker was the employee who filed the conflict of interests complaint (that started it all) and on the advise of his attorney did not attend? If it's true, this scenario could answer a whole bunch of my questions about connecting the dots.

There have been aldermen meetings in years gone by where I've seen aldermen pick up their things and walk out due to the irrational demand of a mayor. At one point in Lambi's rant when he couldn't get any of the aldermen (except Guccione) to answer his questions, he tried to  threaten the board by saying; "I am the CEO of Wentzville and Chief Law Enforcement Officer. I demand you answer my questions."  Old Scratch was not a happy camper and made a fool of himself with his specious direction. Wouldn't it have been fun if Gard and all the other rational thinking aldermen got up and walked out, leaving Lambi and Nick Guccione sitting there trying to figure out what to do. If Lambi continues his tirades in future meetings, and I have no doubt that he will, I can see this happening.

There's a lot more to discuss about the meeting of February 22nd but there's no room for anymore today. A whole mess of stuff to think about and sooner or later all the facts will be known. I know that Paul Lambi is a good man and I've had a difficult time bringing myself to believe that he has done all that has been brought forward.  I have not closed my mind to the fact that there may be more behind the story than I've heard. I'm pretty much a hillbilly but I was raised on a floored pen and if there is anything else going on in this matter I will do my best to get to the bottom of it.

Regardless of the reasons, the things going on today in our city hall are not a good thing for our community, as much as I enjoy a good fight, I'd like to see it stop. Sometimes when I go to city meetings it's like walking into a den of bell-tails.

Send in the Clowns

I never thought I'd see another meeting like February 8th but this one may even be more entertaining. Last nights meeting of February 22nd promised to be another evening of dog owners stuffing the room to hear the discussion of the pit bull ordinance, then out of the blue—it blew! I'm going to have to view the video several times to make sure I have all the facts in the proper order but it all started with the "Mayor's Report" when Mayor Lambi announced that his report would be a little longer than usual. I also have to report on Alderman Nick Guccione and his sincere attempt to assimilate, Nick when you  already have your foot in your mouth up to your ankle and you want people to respect you, stop trying to shove it in up to your knee.

Lambi went on the attack regarding the investigation of the $15,000 check given to City Attorney, Paul Rost. His target was Alderman Chris Gard of Ward 2 and opened up with both barrels. Lambi is angry about the allegations being made in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the St. Charles County Journal, and The Wentzvillian, quoting from each. He asked (barked)  questions of Gard from what appeared to be a script. I suspect he was trying to get the aldermen to commit to some kind of "witch hunt" and may have been coached by his defense attorney, Chet Pleban. Gard responded by saying "under advice of Wentzville's city attorney, I refuse to answer." At the February 8th meeting Rost instructed the board that they should not respond to newspapers and blogs. The only alderman to respond to Lambi's questions and fold like a cheap suit was Guccione, but that's axiomatic. He was told not to respond to newspapers or blogs at least three times (that I know of) last week what part of that didn't he understand? (scratching head)

I will go into more detail about Lambi's behavior last night on a later blog but for now, I want to concentrate on Guccione's performance during the meeting. Twice last night he campaigned from the Dias saying: "I made a mistake voting for the Rankin contract, I'm sorry," Guccione flips again, what's new? First he votes against Sam's Club coming to town and now flips on Rankin. The Suburban Journal of February 13 reported: "(Ed) Watkins (Winning Endeavors) confirmed that Pleban was examining whether Wentzville should have requested bids before approving its $360,000 agreement with Ranken. Watkins said at least two aldermen and the city's economic development director were aware that another school, Linn State Technical College, expressed interested in opening a satellite campus in Wentzville two months before the Ranken agreement was finalized."

Lambi tried unsuccessfully to get the aldermen to admit that they knew about Linn State Technical College wanting to open a satellite school here. None of the aldermen said a word except Guccione; "I didn't know," agreeing with Lambi he made a motion to have the aldermen reveal who knew. Silence again, as the board of crickets starred expressionless into their computer screens, the motion died for lack of a second. Three times that night Guccione made a motion for various topics and they failed for lack of a second. When the subject of not posting public meetings in private homes was voted on, Guccione was the only "no" vote. Four times over the course of the meeting Guccione opposed the entire board, can the board always be wrong? This is exactly what I posted about him on my February 20th blog;"Why" Guccione is incapable of working with the other aldermen, there is no way he could be a successful Mayor.

As a footnote: Donna Sherwooid is up to her usual underhanded crap by filing another "ethics violation," this time on her opponent, Jeremy Pritchett. Bill Schuette finally made an appearance (after an eleven month absence) to speak in the "Open Forum" and to have a city-paid campaign photo-op saying; "We should not be spending tax-dollars on Rankin." It amazes me how Guccione fell right back in lock-step with Schuette, old habits are hard to break. Schuette slithered back into the night shortly after his photo-op and Sherwood rolled out two hours before the meeting ended. This was a regular circus night for reporters and viewers alike, make sure to go to: http://www.wentzvillemo.org/ to see all three rings. Look for more to come, I'll be baaack!

Groundhog Day

I can't help it, I've watched the Board of Aldermen meeting of February 8th a dozen times and every time I do, I see new stuff. I urge every voter in Wentzville to watch it, particularly, from 2:45 to 3:05 into the meeting. If you are planning to vote for Nick Guccione to be our next Mayor of Wentzville and you watch it, I believe you will have a new and greater prospective of him and his professed leadership qualities. In only 20 minutes, Guccione proved that he hasn't anything to offer this city.

To roll back the clock a little to about 1:18 into the meeting, after Alderman Gard gave the St. Louis Post Dispatch article to City Attorney, Paul Rost, to determine if there was anything in it from the infamous executive sessions, Guccione said it wasn't him. He went on: "The next day after the executive session it's out there on the blog." This is an admission that The Wentzvillian ("the blog") was right on target with what was going on in the executive sessions. Gard expressed grave concern that someone told it all in the St. Louis Post Dispatch article (Gard doesn't need to wonder any longer about who spilled the beans.). Why would Guccione say something like that unless he was trying to defer blame? Do you remember when you were a kid in school and the teacher sat on a tack, everybody pointed at someone else, it's the same old story.

Beginning at 2:45, the real fun started. Gard began talking about revising the sign ordinance to tighten up on the election period. He said that he and Alderman Leon Tow had attended a meeting of senior citizens recently and the first question was: "When are you going to do something about all these political signs cluttering the city? They don't want the city littered with political signs for five months out of every year" (because of the abuses of a few candidates). "I'll give you (Guccione) their names and you can tell them that they're full of it." Guccione just had to jump in to defend either himself or his campaign manager, Donna "Bananas" Sherwood, who placed her signs out 30 days prior to that allowed by city ordinance. During his protestations, Alderman Cheryl Kross reminded him that, "the proposed change doesn't include the name; Nick Guccione in it." That didn't deter him from continuing his whining, he went on crying about how his opponents had larger signs, better locations, and that this whole change is all about him. There's a word for that type of behavior but not being a psychiatrist I won't use it. I wonder if he ever had the inkling that maybe he's being supported by the wrong people? I've come to the conclusion that Guccione is the sort of politician, who if given enough time, would outsource all of our jobs to Banglawhore.

I found it quite interesting that at just about 2:55, while talking about changing the city policy to include not letting politicians campaign in city facilities during working hours, Guccione went bat shit crazy. He once again went on the defensive blaming it on "the blog," he said that he wasn't campaigning in the police department. He stated: "On January 3rd I visited the police station to merely welcome the new chief and the next day it was on 'the blog' that I was campaigning." A very cordial thing for him to do, but why did he feel the need to have his campaign manager tag along? Oh and by the way, she just happens to be running for a political office too, what a coincidence! His abysmal attempt at masquerading as an innocent well-meaning non-campaigning alderman is pathetic. Well, thanks to his infernal whining it's back on "the blog" again.

Two minutes later at around 3:57 he went on the defense regarding his political rally, loosely concealed as a Coffee Talk public meeting. He went on to complain that other alderman can meet in public places to talk over city business and he is being criticized for having a public meeting in his private residence. This whole thing was precipitated by Alderman Rick Stokes when he asked for a resolution to not allow advertising (paid for using tax dollars) in the Vision or other city publication; a Coffee Talk or other event which may become a political rally. Guchione's hand shot up like it was attached to a booster rocket "Once again, this is all about me." his explanation was not really comprehensible as he went on blathering about "seven people who are all anonymous, I didn't know there were that many people in town with all the same name." I have to assume he was trying to talk about "the blog" again and some of its anonymous comments, I really don't know. If any of my readers who watch the video can explain what he was foaming at the mouth about, I'd appreciate knowing.

I'm convinced that Guccione doesn't know nits from noodles and his tongue is long enough to cut his own throat, but he is entertaining to watch. I don't believe that he's entertaining enough to run this city for the next four years but he is a fun guy. I hope I'm finished reliving that meeting but somehow I seem to think; just like Bill Murray, I'm doomed to be locked in that three hours until I learn enough to become a changed man.

Alderman Admits "the Blog" is Correct!

One of my readers commented on the report I put up here on February 8th and he or she gave me pause. The statement was made: "You may be exaggerating,..." and it made me think. I've been trying very hard to be a lot more objective about the Mayor, the Aldermen, and the upcoming election including those candidates competing, then I read on;  "...but not much!" Thank God, I must be making progress, or not. I'll admit my lack of objectivity is in direct proportion to the anti-good-government actions of those elected officials and candidates who are trying to screw-up Wentzville, but I'm trying to stick to the facts. There are some who can bring out the worst of me with the simplest things, and as much as I hate to affirm it (as if you didn't already know), Nick Guccione, Donna Sherwood, and Bill Schuette are such easy targets with the things they say and do, I just can't help myself—I'm weak, please bear with me.

I had intended to say more about the meeting of February 8th and I was afraid that the person commenting was going to steal my thunder but there was so much more said that night I could probably continue writing on it until well after the election. One point brought up in the comment was: "Nick appeared to complain about the unfairness of securing sign locations. Was Nick claiming he needs to flaunt the sign regulations to level the playing field?" He is right on the bead. Guccione is the whiner and has the advantage of being able to do it in front of literally thousands of citizen witnesses in an effort to get "underdog" support, but Donna Sherwood is the biggest violator so far this election. She placed her signs up almost a full month prior to the date allowed by ordinance, probably on the advice of Guccione. She knew that the city would give her notice to remove her signs "within 30 days" which would coincide with the beginning of "political sign season." At least Guccione waited to put his signs out until 60 days prior to the election which adhered to the ordinance. I don't think it was as noble as it looks, he knew the ration of crap Sherwood took and just didn't want it for himself, then again, she may have been his test case, hmmm.

Regarding Nick Guccione and his campaign strategy...he has no strategy (especially with Sherwood managing his campaign), unless of course you want to call underhanded-backroom tactics a strategy. Recruiting candidates to stack the board with his stooges will always be called enethical here. He really wants to win but what he doesn't realize is that everyone can see right through him, he can't win a fair election. At the meeting, he whined (it's not an exaggeration, anyone watching the video will see that he was actually whining) about his opponents ability to secure prime locations for their signs, "it's just not fair," they're all after me he cried. I was thinking that Mayor Lambi, who sits next to him, should have loaned him his handkerchief. Guccione has no debating skills, he relies on blaming others for his short-comings.

I do have to report about the most important section of the meeting; when they discussed the press release prepared by the City Attorney, Paul Rost. The press release was designed to tell the public why the information from the "Executive Session" is not available because the investigation is ongoing by "other agencies." The St. Louis Post Dispatch article really brought some serious doubt that Guccione didn't reveal privileged information. He protested so much about not "saying anything" to the reporter that he actually admitted: "It's all out there on the blog, I didn't say anything, (that wasn't already known). I'll take a lie detector test." The Wentzvillian couldn't have had a better endorsement than an alderman admitting that it's all true, about Lambi and influence peddling. Until Guccione's admission, it was simply a concerned citizen's observations and pure speculation. I can see trouble on the horizon for Alderman Guccione but I do want to say: Thank you again! Because of his blabbing to the press, seeing the minutes of those secret meetings is probably not necessary except to dot a few "I"s and cross a couple "T"s.

After last weeks meeting I am wondering if Guccione will still continue contributing to the meetings or clam up again. If he were to take some good advice (which he never has), he'd just try and be an alderman for another year and be quiet about it, let Sherwood (his campaign manager) start her photo-ops again. That should be more than enough bad press for the both of them.

BTW, I wish the person who said I was exaggerating would please tell me where? I am really trying to get better. I know that as Forrest Gossett, candidate for Alderman of Ward 1 told me: "You can be a bit bombastic at times," but I'm really, really trying. Maybe there's some 12-step program for "Citizen Journalists?"