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!

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.

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?"

The Beginning of the End?

Early last fall The Wentzvillian first got wind of a situation involving the possibility of influence peddling in the city and now it looks like Mayor Paul Lambi's chickens may come to roost very soon. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter Mark Schlinkmann has been poking around Wentzville looking for information about the possibility that Lambi has been using his office to promote his company; Winning Endeavors.

Schlinkmann reports, "...Lambi also has retained an attorney, Chet Pleban, to respond to the board's inquiry. Among the issues Pleban said he's looking into is the board's decision last month to spend tax money "on what essentially is a no-bid type of deal" to attract Ranken to the city." I find this quite interesting because public record clearly shows, Lambi has been doing that very thing since he gained office in April 2004. It's been one "Contract For Services" after another, no competitive bidding, just give them the money, until the new board came along two years ago. Today there's a contract being investigated involving a company named; Carollo Engineers, issued some seven years ago in the amount of $75,000. This contract has been amended several times over the years without competitive bidding and today it is over $4 million dollars. How in the hell did this happen and under Mayor Lambi's watch? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

There have been a great number of disturbing things happen during Lambi's term, especially in the last six years. Many of these things have been brought to light by the majority of the current board when Lambi was not doing his job because he was off acting mayorally to the outside world. Partying and not overseeing the business of the city is not the way to be a mayor. I'm pleased to say that Aldermen Leon Tow, Rick Stokes, Cheryl Kross, and Chris Gard have gone the extra mile and taken up the burden to do the job that Lambi wouldn't do or couldn't do. Through their initiative, they are in the process of saving the city millions of dollars.

I've heard complaints from citizens and business owners who felt pressure to donate money to Lambi's Winning Endeavors program but were afraid to report it for fear of retribution. Now is the time to come forward, the cat is out of the bag and nothing will happen to you now. Call the President of the Board of Aldermen, Leon Tow and issue your complaint, make an example for future Mayors and Aldermen that "good old boy" tactics won't work here in Wentzville ever again. The time to pig-pile is now!

The lid is about to blow and Lambi's alleged  influence peddling will be in every newspaper, on every TV network, and blog in the state. The "Executive Session" minutes are about to be released and I'm disappointed in the way Lambi has treated our city and really not looking forward to the black eye he's about to give us. Lambi will be remembered in the history of Wentzville and I only wish I could say; thanks for the memories. If you'd like to read the article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch click on the following link:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/wentzville-board-looking-at-mayor-s-role-in-ranken-discussions/article_2318c0dd-01e3-50cd-8d36-ec523b130e29.html