There were so many things wrong with the Board of Alderman meeting of February 11, 2014 that I hardly know where to start. Aldermen Cheryl Kross and Sonya Shryock once again asked imbecilic questions taking up the time of both petitioners and staff. They stalled a CID renegotiation resolution of the Wentzville Bluffs development just after the petitioner announced that he had five new businesses ready to go to planing and zoning, one of which is a new movie theater. Mayor Nickolas Guccione went total bozo over the ethics policy again and reiterated the fact that he cannot read and hates Roman numerals. Of course, Alderman Michael Hays did what he does best; stare at his computer screen, make funny faces, and vote with Guccione—adding absolutely nothing to the meeting.
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I am going to start with Guccione's favorite issue: being able to take baskets of goodies to the Mayor's ball. This point in question has become the entire thrust of Guccione's platform, any other issues in Wentzville pale in comparison to his desire to collect donations from companies to take to the Mayor's Ball.
Guccione has been arguing the ethics policy for months trying to get the Aldermen to change it to allow him to take charitable donations. You may recall, this policy was modified to disallow elected officials to solicit private donations after Mayor Lambi abused his authority and was found guilty by the Missouri Ethics Commission. Spearheaded by Alderman Forrest Gossett, the policy was written to safeguard individuals and companies from feeling pressured by elected officials who seek donations for a cause. Guccione wanted it changed back to pre-Guccione days so he can go around town strong-arming companies to give generously to his beloved Mayor's Ball.
I used the term "strong-arm" because regardless of how you cut it, that's what it is. Companies as well as individuals are intimidated by an elected official coming to their home or business looking for a hand out. If I were to walk into a Wentzville business asking them to donate $250 to my favorite charity, they'd say, "no thanks." But if a mayor walks into that same business with the same request, the owner is nervous and feeling pressured about refusing him, and as Lambi proved; they'll give it to him. Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't this a form of (perhaps unintended) extortion? I think so, and so should our elected officials.
The change to the policy was up for final reading and King Nickolas got his dream fulfilled as it was a 5-1 vote. Alderman Rick Stokes sacked up and held firm that he disagreed with allowing any elected official to extort solicit donations, consequently, he was the only one to vote "Nay." I'm especially disappointed in Gossett when he announced that he promised to compromise with the mayor but struggled with himself internally because he felt it wrong also. That didn't stop him from voting "Yea." Mr. Gossett sold out his core values to keep a promise to a mayor who has never kept a promise to anyone since being elected almost eight years ago. Shame on you Alderman Gossett, you just made it possible for Guccione to move on to his second priority—getting Chief of Police, Lisa Harrison fired.
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Moving on to the utter lunacy of Kross and Shryock. Mr. Rick Podhorn, developer of the Wentzville Bluffs retail development, came before the board to ask for a resolution to obtain an extension of the CID used to develop the property on the southwest corner of Hwy. 70 and Hwy. Z. Mr. Podhorn explained that he had five other businesses (one of which is a movie theater) ready to go before planning and zoning within the next two months, but they will be unable to obtain financing if the CID is not extended. After repeating the lengthy proposal to Shryock three times because she didn't seem to understand Community Improvement Development language, Stokes moved to offer the extension and have a resolution drafted by the next meeting.
Alderman Kross, in her usual baffling way, offered an alternate motion to bring it back for discussion without a resolution. Why she wants to stall this great opportunity for Wentzville has many people scratching their heads. She is making things tight for the developer and could possibly close the window on it with her smoke and mirror logic. She's making powerful enemies all over town and I'm afraid with this latest stunt, among many others before, Alderman Kross has outlived her usefulness to Wentzville politics—she needs to follow Shryock out of the door and definately not be re-elected in 2015.
