"The High Road."

Bill McClellen of the Post Dispatch had a great article Wednesday about Ellisville's Mayor Adam Paul being removed from office; Ellisville shows how government can be, well, fun, and  the Wentzville Board of Aldermen meeting of April 10th was, well, fun! Including myself there were three people who stood up in "Open Forum" to complain about the Mayor and Alderman Hays. Later in the meeting Mayor Nickolas Guccione said; "Three people don't make up the city." I find that statement remarkable simply because he listens to, and acts upon less than that when it suits his purpose, like setting his goals for 2013. He's even ready to change the very way business is done in the City when only one person gets his ear.

Guccione squirmed in his seat as the three citizens pummelled him for his lack of ethics and manipulation of the election. After the second person finished criticizing him Guccione said, "I would comment on that but I won't because I'm going to take the high road."  "High road?" I almost laughed out loud when he said that. I have news for him, he can't get to the high road from where he is. That statement coming from him is like your dog telling you (if he could talk). "I'm not drinking out of that dirty old bowl anymore, next time you leave the lid up, I'm drinking out of the toilet." His "high road" didn't last long, he finally cracked during his "Mayor's Report," when he threatened one the three (one who had already left) by saying, "One of them I beat in the election last year. He likes to say things about me and some things are going to be coming out about him." Here comes the trash he used against him last year, that's just like Guccione, when he can't defend his screw-ups he turns to mud-slinging. Watch out Mr, Lackey, here it comes, the Guccione "high road." I got the feeling that Guccione while looking down at us from his golden throne, at the three of us who spoke against him, were essentially the dregs of the City, we weren't concerned citizens, but rather usless box-dwellers who just don't appreciate his high standards and great brand of leadership..The "high road," Pfffft!

I've stated many times that Guccione will not take responsibility for any of his foul deeds, even when he gets caught with the smoking-gun still in his hand. His M.O. has always been blaming someone else for his unethical tactics. I was sure he was going to dump on Alderman Hays for putting the title "Mayor" on his flyer, but he didn't, after all when your name is Guccione and you're the Mayor of Wentzville, friends on the Board are scarce. Instead, our high-riding Mayor took the "high road" and blamed the printing company. Had Hays lost the election and he'd been no more use to Guccione, rest assured he would have blamed Hays for everything.

I want to talk more about the Mayor and Aldermen Reports but it will take more than I can put here today, so I'll close with this: For those of you who are thinking; "Guccione never gets in any trouble, why aren't our Aldermen doing anything?" The pile of dung the Mayor is shovelling on him self is growing substantially, the Aldermen are aware of it and our concerns. The day is coming when it will cover Guccione's "high road" and a long overdue spanking will be had for him.

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!

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!

Show Me The Money

With no meeting this week I feel an overwhelming need to keep recalling the Board of Alderman meeting of February 8th. That meeting has to go down in history as the most entertaining, controversial, and insightful Wentzville meeting of the 21st century. If you were a regular follower of City meetings over the years and watched closely, you'd see things that would frighten a hard-tail mule into relieving himself on the kitchen floor.

City government is clever—taxpayers are exploited by a complete lack of public interest while government merely continues with business as usual. Since the Wentzville Union and Wentzville Journal moved out of town there has been little or no unedited critical reporting of our government. The Suburban Journal, Newstime, Community News and Patch.com are for the most part fluffy and refuse to do any investigative reporting. The St. Louis Post Dispatch, however, has no problem digging into difficult topics of a controvrersial nature and scaring the horse pucky out of those involved.

This "blog;" (The Wentzvillian), as well as a private citizen, was kicked in the cod-piece in a public meeting by Alderman Nick Guccione for telling the truth about what's going on in city hall. Perhaps, the things here are too close to the truth and finally the mayor and aldermen know that their ethics, actions and ability to handle taxpayers money responsibly are being closely monitored by The Wentzvillian.

The Wentzvillian has reported on several occasions the subject of: "Implied Contracts," defined: "...checks being cashed without supporting documentation." When Alderman Chris Gard turned one of these cashed checks over to the city attorney; Paul Rost, my interest was piqued. Gard asked: Why didn't the contract follow the check? This is troubling for a number of reasons; the check was cashed, there is no paperwork, and no legitimate address for the company." I know that the company in question is; Westplex Sports and Entertainment L.O.C. (Local Organizing Committee). In researching this company, I found that it was created by Ed Watkins of Winning Endeavors and from the 2006 election flyer of Mayor Paul Lambi I found the following bullet point:

• "Board Member and founder to LOC (Local Organizing Committee); first in this area; this committee focuses on bringing large sports and entertainment events to this area. This Committee is located in Wentzville and represents St. Charles County, Franklin, Warren, and Washington."

I remember these meetings when Lambi led the Lurchettes (Bill Schuette, John Luby, Peggy Meyer, and Nick Guccione) down la-la lane, gleefully skipping hand-in-hand singing Kumbaya,  to pass a resolution to give his organization $15,000. Lambi promised a new world-class velodrome and balloon races to equal those in St. Louis. None of these things materialized and now the organization may not even exist. This may have been a neat and noble pipe-dream but why didn't the Lurchettes investigate its probability or its corporation? The answer is simple, this group of so-called aldermen were in Disneyland and passed anything they didn't have to read or think about. What was the money used for and where is it?

The only possible reason this check was turned over to Rost is; to find the money and who and how Wentzville was relieved of $15,000 without a trace. In my humble opinion: there is only one of two men who has the money, either Mayor Lambi or Ed Watkins. Other questions are: Who endorsed the check? What did Wentzville receive for fifteen large? And, have more chickens come home to roost? It's very troubling that the same two individuals have connection with yet another complication which has been given to our city attorney for investigation. I am pleased to see Alderman Gard has the snarglees to make more noise than a jackass in a tin barn and bring this matter to light seeking to make the perpetrator skin his own skunk.

The Butter is Back in the Ice-Box

The Board of Aldermen meeting of Wednesday, February 8, 2012 may have been a pivotal moment for Alderman Nick Guccione in his election bid, even his political career may be at stake. His campaign for Mayor took a terrible downward spiral that evening, a course from which many believe he will never recover. Guccione is predictable, so predictable in fact that he can be manipulated by publicity into revealing his political motives, or almost anything else one might want to know—as was proven on that terrible night when he "came clean."

The Wentzvillian first got wind of the allegations currently under investigation by State and/or Federal agencies regarding Mayor Paul Lambi back in August of 2011. A friend/businessman complained to me about being approached by Lambi to donate money to his Winning Endeavors project. Being stone-walled by the Aldermen, I started my investigation around Wentzville to see if there was any substance to what I'd been told. I located several individuals who expressed similar concerns regarding being pressured by the Mayor to participate in his program. Lambi, being the kind-hearted benefactor to any worth-while cause was blindsided by what he was really doing.

Getting the real facts from the City or it's elected officials on this subject was like trying to shove butter in a wildcats ass with a hot poker, it wasn't going to happen. So, I began watching the players and meetings more closely. Finally after months of observation, I had struck a nerve and the pieces of the puzzle came together. I had heard of a tactic used by some to "throw something against the wall and see if anything sticks," well it stuck. I was on the right track and it was only a game of watching and waiting until it unraveled.

Then the big break came from a totally unexpected source: Mark Schlinkmann of the St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote a bit of the story and interviewed Alderman Nick Guccione. Being the news-whore that he is and wanting his name and face on anything in print—to help him win an election—he caved in to the pressure but little did he know that it would be his undoing. No other Alderman would comment to Schlinkmann regarding the "Executive Session" minutes except Guccione, and in the meeting of February 8th when confronted with the article, he spilled his guts in front of the city: "It's all over the city, the blog did it, I didn't say anything." Even today, I'm not sure Guccione recognizes the fact that he let the wildcat out of the bag and had told the city; it's all true. Since then, the story has been printed in the Community News and on Patch.com., The Suburban Journal reporters are currently investigating. Mr. Guccione will get all the press he desires.

Guccione is a regular reader of The Wentzvillian and followed my investigation, not because he really cared about the subject, but because I believe he cannot stay away from anything in print that might put a negative spin on him and his campaign. He read The Wentzvillian's speculation of the events and it must have been so close to the truth that he felt like the story had broken and he would cash in on it by being the first Alderman to get his name on the story. When the Board and City Attorney discussed the subject, Guccione realized that he had pulled a boner and tried to back-peddle by blaming "the blog" for letting out the story, "I didn't say anything," yet there his name was in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Unfortunately I do not know much about the penalties for revealing sensitive City information but I'm sure we'll find out in coming months. I do know however that the Board of Aldermen in whole, are not pleased with what he's done and if there will be penalties, we may be in store for another round of "Executive Sessions." Regardless of the outcome, I'd bet that Guccione will blame The Wentzvillian.

Guccione was told by the City Attorney not to respond to articles in the newspapers or blogs but he just can't keep from it. He is a control-freak and wants to control the city and Board of Aldermen—that ain't gonna happen. As long as he pursues his good-old-boy brand of politics, The Wentzvillian will be here  but for now, I can put the butter back in the ice-box and the hot-poker back in the fireplace.