Payback Time for a Decade of Unbridled Growth

Sooner or later the unbridled growth of Wentzville over the past decade had to come back and bite us in our asses. With thousands of homes, miles and miles of streets plus everything that goes along with them, the recession is teaching us—the only thing that can support growth is more growth.

About five years ago Mayor Lambi forecasted that by the year 2010 Wentzville would have a population of 50,000 and that by 2015 the number would increase to 80,000 residents. Gearing up for this anticipated growth he continued the vision of his predecessor (Vickie Boedeker) and became the vanguard of Wentzville's resource expansion: A larger police force and oversized-illconcieved law enforcement center; then you have the acquisition of parkland which begs more equipment and personnel; all of this means more infrastructure hence the need for a larger public works operation i.e. more equipment and manpower; finally, increased resources equates to more administration and personnel to support the city. When the housing bubble burst, Wentzville was left with  unbuilt subdivisions, empty streets, and aging infrastructure that must be maintained. Today with a population of 29,000 some hard choices are having to be made in city hall—where to cut the budget and still maintain necessary services. This subject will be addressed in another blog in the very near future.

Now it's time to talk about just one instance of our street maintenance that was seen last week while driving to Walgreens at the corner of Meyer Road at the Wentzville Parkway. Noticing signs and cones across the Parkway on Bridlespur and being the nosy person I am, I drove on over and entered the Fox Run subdivision. Wow, what a mess. It seems the city is replacing many of the street slabs there and for some reason they decided to remove all of them at one time. They took out slabs in front of peoples driveways throughout the subdivision resulting in complaints and phone calls to their aldermen. I don't know the thought process behind this project but I do know that the residents of Fox Run subdivision should swarm to city hall for the next Board of Alderman meeting. Since Mayor Lambi is the Chief Executive Officer and governs all of the things that happen regarding the city, he needs to hear from the citizens first hand about how he has been handling projects in our city, the buck stops with him. He loves to take credit for everything positive in the city, whether he had anything to do with it or not, so give him credit where credit is due.

Rumors:

Dianna Wright is going to run for Alderman of Ward 2.

Forrest Gossett will run for Alderman of Ward 1.

Matt Garvey will oppose Rick Stokes for Alderman of Ward 3. There is supposed to be a campaign kick-off planned for Thursday September 29th, 7:00 PM at the Olde Towne Pub. If it's true, there might be some interesting conversations.

Welcome Back to Mayberry, Andy!

I've hesitated to comment on last weeks board of alderman's meeting of September 14, 2011, probably because I have been trying to figure out why the process of finding a new CA (city administrator) hasn't been started. The aldermen and mayor have known that Dianna Wright would be gone—they've known for sure since August 24th when in executive session it was decided to offer her the option to resign. Then two weeks later, after she declined the boards offer, again in executive session, they voted unanimously to fire her. Hadn't anyone noticed that when she left there was no one in her office?

Other than Dennis Walsh, our finance director taking over as acting CA, the only person crying about Wright's leaving is Mayor Lambi, but he's been crying a lot lately. Wednesday, Lambi introduced the idea to hire an interim CA, stating what a heavy burden has been placed on his staff and himself, wah, wah, wah. He said, "it's painfully obvious how much additional work has been placed on Dennis Walsh, and it's taking more time than I can spare," wah, wah, wah. "I don't want to burden Dennis to the extent of his jeaprodizing his health." Wah, wah, wah. He opened it up for discussion and the aldermen, in turn commented.

Alderman Tow asked Walsh, "are you so overburdened that you cannot cover both jobs?" "No, I can do it with the help of the other directors," said Walsh. Alderman Kross said that our directors were hired because they were intelligent, and capable to direct their departments, they will step up to the plate, "Mr. Smith, Can you do your job?" "We are well equipped to handle our ongoing projects," he answered. Lambi jumped in; "All of our department heads are capable but they need a CA, a CA is the ramrod," wah, wah, wah. Then he stated how he has only so much time to give and he's "already at city hall six to eight hours a day," wah, wah, wah. That's interesting, for the last few weeks I've passed city hall three times a day and I've seen Lambi's car there only twice. Unless he's carpooling or taking some other form of mass transit, I seriously doubt he's hanging around that much.

It's at this point, Lambi gets to his point; he wants to hire Andy McCown to fill in and direct the search for a new CA. McCown would require; travel, lodging, and an hourly wage for three days a week. McCown was the CA here and retired three years ago to move to Arkansas to be nearer his children. Don't get me wrong, I really like Andy McCown, he was always nice, gentile, and attentive to problems but, why do we need someone to travel to Wentzville to "fill in" for our absent CA. My answer is that Lambi and McCown were close for a number of years and Lambi wants to help his "bud" by having him come up to save his sinking ship. At least then he'll have someone in city hall who will talk to him.

Does the city really want to spend travel money (back and forth twice a week to and from Arkansas,) lodging, and hourly wages for three days a week? It's funny that Lambi says he's spending six to eight hours every day and McCown will do it in three days. Hmmm! The estimated term for McCown will be two to three months. Anyway, the aldermen would agree if McCown was the assistant CA under Walsh's direction. Lambi perked up, "That's exactly what I'm asking for," Lambi responded. It's amazing how long it took him to wise up the alderman to hire an "assistant CA." That guy can change his tune on a dime when he's not getting his way.

2012 Campaign Kick-off at Wabash Days

It's six months until Wentzville citizens go to the polls to cast their vote for a new mayor and three aldermen. You may think this a little early to have candidates positioning themselves but I assure you the drums in at least two of the mayoral camps are beginning to be heard around town. As I stated in earlier blogs, this is going to be a complicated election but as of this writing a couple of the horses have left the gate. So here we go!

Leon Tow, President of the board of aldermen representing ward 1, and Nick Guccione, Alderman of ward 3, both running for the top spot have selected their respective committees and are starting to gear up for next April. Although I'm not usually caught unaware of what's going on in elections, I was surprised to see both candidates availing themselves of the Wentzville Community Club's Wabash Days parade to enter floats. I don't remember their order in the parade but I suppose it's of little consequence, they were however the only candidates entered. Lambi either didn't get the memo, thought he could pass them in the straight-away, or chose not to run. Option three would be best for him, unless he wants to feel, first hand, the agony of defeat.

Tow's procession included three other aldermen, one from each ward; Cheryl Kross from ward 1, and Chris Gard from ward 2 both walked along side greeting spectators and passing out candy for the children (today's equivalent of kissing babies); Rick Stokes of ward 3 drove the tractor pulling Tow, his family, and supporters. All-in-all, a very impressive array of high-profile pundants. In past elections when Lambi and the Lurchettes would be coursing for office, many of them would campaign for each other at the polls but I never saw them clustered up walking in a parade—maybe I'm wrong, I could have mistook them for circus clowns—I didn't pay much attention to them until they got elected, after all, they were only interesting when they were making fools of themselves in the board meetings.

Guccione's float was somewhat less endowed with elected officials, he did however have his family and several benefactors walking alongside. None-the-less, Guccione was announcing that he is a serious contender and is not going to run third this time. His campaigns are always aggressive, he and his committee will be heard around the city

The news about aldermen slots up for bid is about the same, it's wide open in ward 1, since Tow is putting all of his resources into running for mayor, a new candidate has yet to appear. Ward 2 is still a question as rumors that Vann Samples will not seek reelection. In ward 3, Rick Stokes' campaign hasn't disclosed itself but it's almost certain he'll be there in the home-stretch, who his opponent(s) will be is still unknown. It's going to be an interesting election and I look forward to seeing the strategies unfold.

One more indication that the campaign of 2012 has been engaged comes from Tow's camp. A mailed announcement was received by several hundred voters to attend an "Open House" tonight at the Golf Club of Wentzville Pavilion. I didn't receive an invitation because I only heard about it moments ago, I would suppose walk-ins are welcome. I would really like to hear his platform and the questions posed by the attendees but alas, I have prior obligations. The Wentzvillian readers will hear about this event at 6:00 PM this evening at the exact moment it will start, if you can get there before 7:30, you might be able to catch some of it.

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Storm Water Utility "Tax" Revisited

It's been four years since the City of Wentzville proposed the implementation of a "Storm Water Utility Fee"and had the first and second reading on this controversial ordinance. The third and final reading was postponed indefinitely until a lawsuit against the St. Louis MSD (Metropolitan Sewer District) who inflicted a similar "fee" on its citizens was resolved. From this point forward in this writing, the term "fee" will be replaced with it's actual definition; "TAX."

This bastard tax was brought forward by then City Administrator, Andy McCown in an effort to keep from paying the $300,000 per year expense from the general fund to update and maintain Wentzville storm sewers. It was picked up on by "Lurch" (Bill Schuette) combined with other Lurch-like aldermen and Mayor Lambi who thought they would hang their hats on saving the city by putting it in ordinance form. Then came the MSD law suit. Like the chicken-shits they were, the "Lurchettes" seeing the uproar of St. Louis citizens and fearing a similar situation here, back-burnered it instead of giving it an up-or-down vote. Wouldn't a normal person see—if St. Louis citizens are mad enough to bring a law-suit against MSD, maybe something is wrong with this whole stinking thing? 

Time went on, McCown retired, Lurch and the others faded away, and the ordinance was left hanging in limbo. Waiting, ever waiting until it could be brought back before an unsuspecting new Board of Aldermen who, not knowing it's implications, could have the final reading with only a 24-hour notice. Then in May of this year Dianna Wright revisited the Storm Water Utility Tax at a board meeting trying to drum up support for it. In an effort to inform our citizens and new aldermen I posted; "Bend Over Wentzville, Here Comes a New TAX," which outlines the history.

I would implore our aldermen to bring the Storm Water Utility Tax back and either inflict it on our homeowners and businesses or vote it down. It's been hanging over our heads for over four years now and it's time to take action. This current Board of Aldermen has shown great strength standing up against the mayor and the bureaucracy in city hall. They have made great strides toward fiscal responsibility and now they have the opportunity to make a difference by showing Wentzville once again that they really care about its citizen-homeowners and businesses.

A Half-Million or Heads Will Roll

The Wentzville Aldermanic work session on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 dealt mostly with the 2012 budget, and budget meetings are always synonymous with dozing off for me. This one was a little different because within the first five minutes, before they even got into the topics, it got interesting.

Alderman Rick Stokes, Ward 3, got the attention of Mayor Lambi to ask for a brief Executive Session. I'm unclear about the exact reason for his request but I believe it was something to do with the agenda. Lambi replied: "Alderman Stokes, we've begun the meeting and I see no reason why we should stop it now." Stokes organized his papers and placed them in his briefcase, pushed his chair back, and started closing his computer, Lambi asked; "where are you going?" "I'm leaving." I thought I heard Stokes say something like; I'm not sitting in this meeting with a revised agenda that I've never seen until this very minute. They sat glaring at one-another for a few seconds when Lambi slammed the gavel down with a loud bang (something he's gotten a lot of practice at during past months), "We're going into a brief executive session," he said as Stokes, and Dennis Walsh, Acting City Administrator followed Lambi out of chambers. A few minutes later they returned and the meeting began. In my years reporting on city government I've seen aldermen go into executive session many times but never once during the regular meeting.

If I was surprised by the mid-meeting Executive Session, the second one was a complete mystery. Jerry Hillin, Wentzville's Purchasing Administrator, interrupted the meeting by saying, "there has been a breach of security," and called for executive session. This had to be a half-hour into the meeting when Hillin, Walsh, and Stokes followed Lambi out of chambers. The term "breach of security," had me looking out the window to see if maybe Afgan Rebels were storming city hall so I was preparing myself to duck out the side door. Prior to Hillin requesting the side-bar, Alderman Stokes was having trouble with his microphone and in the midst of his frustration he uttered; "shit," and of course the microphone started working just in time to record his expletive on tape. Shit may be a breach in most instances but I can't imagine how it effects the security of a meeting other than in the context of a Depends blow out, but the city's waste treatment people were present so I would think it could have been handled without Executive Session.

Voters should be disappointed in a couple of our aldermen regarding statements they made concerning the $500,000 real estate and property tax cut proposed by Stokes and supported by Alderman Kross, Ward 1 and Alderman Guccione, Ward 3 a while back. During discussion, Alderman Vann Samples, Ward 2, stated that he is "not in favor of cutting real estate taxes," implying that once you reduce a tax it's impossible to get it increased without a vote of the people, unfortunately Alderman Chris Gard, also Ward 2, agreed with him. It amazes me, after the city announced an increase of $38 million in sales tax revenues which go directly into the general fund, how a paltry half million in real estate and property tax is not a no-brainer. Samples and Gard believe that it should be found elsewhere in the budget, in other words; cut services, not taxes.

Toward the end of that discussion, Stokes told the city staff in no uncertain terms that he wants to see a half-million dollars cut out of the budget even if it means cutting heads. It has been said for quite a few years that there are too many employees in the city. He went on to say that "no one wants to see anyone lose their job, but I want that half-million, what ever it takes." I don't know how that statement will be perceived among employees or citizens but Stokes is persistent, and I don't think he's going to give up on it.

Earlier that evening I heard one of the City's Administrators say that they are trying to hire an assistant for him. I have noticed that any time someone gets a promotion (or a position is created) in the City, they get an assistant. Bob Swank, ex-Economic Development Director, left his employment with the city (in a similarly mysterious fashion as Dianna Wright), and whom accomplished very little, got an assistant. Before Andy McCown, ex-City Administrator, retired, he set up an HR department and named Amy Holloway director, she got an assistant within the first year of her position. When the smoke-and-mirror-shrouded eviction of our public works Director came about, the City turned his job into two jobs which created the need for at least one new assistant. My point is; it appears that anyone working for anyone in the City above the level of grunt, gets an assistant.

At least most of these promotions and their assistants come from within—lower level jobs were left vacant meaning they had to hire more people to fill those positions. The problem is that it appears that no one is promoted at lower pay levels than their predecessors and that adds up to higher payroll. A perfect example is Dianna Wright, she initially hired in at $117,550 that is $14,000 more than Andy McCown was making ($103,000) when he left. When Wright disappeared she was making over $121,000. Mark my words, whom ever is hired to replace Wright will earn as much or more than she did. The City's motto should be; "make room for lower level employees to make higher salaries." The mayor only makes $13,000, but then again that's way too much for what he does. And then you have the aldermen, I think our elected officials make (at last look) around $4,300 for making the hard decisions for their constituents. There was a time when Mayor Lambi wanted to do away with mayor and have a city manager—he wanted that job. Just think, if he had gotten his wish, he would have been gone last week—now we have to wait until April.

"Irreconcilable Differences"

The rumors about the possible departure (under unfavorable terms) of Wentzville's City Administrator, Dianna Wright, have come true. I've held off on this until now to gather as many facts as I could, so here goes: The rumors of her demise started in 2009 and was (unfortunately) spread citywide by then ex-Alderman John Luby when he walked into a meeting in town and interrupted the proceedings by expressing publicly his disappointment in hearing the rumor that she was to be fired. Prior to that I had heard it but didn't give it undo credibility, of course, I may be giving undo credibility to an ex-Alderman's knowledge, but since I had heard it from two other active Aldermen about that time I believed it—yet I remained questioningly silent (for me anyway).

Over the months, I watched the deportment of the board during regular meetings and the issue of Dianna Wright's fate began quacking like a duck—loudly. Last week August 24th at the regular public Board of Aldermen meeting, I realized it was true and that the end was near for Dianna Wright. How near I wasn't sure but I thought in a couple weeks she would more than likely be displaced. Boy was I wrong! That night they went into executive session after the meeting and I knew the subject would be regarding her termination.

Thursday afternoon, at about 1:30 PM, I was notified that Dianna had been given her walking papers a mere half-hour earlier at 1:00 PM that day. I'm going to have to tell my sources to be just a shade more prompt with news of this magnitude or ask for their resignations. There was no notice given by either the City or Dianna—just poof! That leads me to believe that it was not her choice and that a better option was not had for her. As time progressed, I thought it strange that none of the local publication's reporters knew anything about it and on Friday, A special meeting of the Board was scheduled for Monday August 29th—a full five days after her disappearance from city hall.

The only thing on the August 29th agenda was "Executive Session." It was to be regarding the press release that has now been sent to the various publications that serve the Wentzville area and surely what to do for a new City Administrator. The press release reads in part: "The Wentzville Board of Aldermen held a special meeting on Monday, August 29 to discuss continuity of day-to-day city management and the search for a new city administrator as a result of the sudden departure last Thursday of Dianna Wright as city administrator. City officials cite 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for Wrights departure..." Until a replacement for Wright is found, Wentzville's Director of Finance and Assistant Administrator, Dennis Walsh, will serve as the interim city administrator." Dennis has served as interim administrator for several departing city administrator's, I don't know why they don't just give him the job and start looking for a new finance director. Seems to me that he could get a modest raise and hire a new finance director at a lower salary than he is currently making, but that's probably too logical for the city to understand.

The details of Dianna's severance provision will be public information probably at the next general board meeting. The press release is usual lawyer jargon and can be interpreted however someone wants to read it. The term "irreconcilable differences" could mean anything; either the board fired her or she got so unhappy with the situation that she walked out. Either way it's not going to be a promotional bell-ringer at her next position. For my money, she got fired. This press release is the same as other city staff terminations in recent years, just the name has been changed.

Personally, I liked Dianna, she was attentive, cooperative (with citizens), and as smart-as-a-whip. It's unfortunate that she and the city didn't blend, but in the end, both must go on. It's a shame that she had to sell her home in Harrisonville and that she'll be moving on from Wentzville to her next assignment where she'll be buying another home. With her credentials, it's not like looking for a job at Wal-Mart. I wish her success where ever she goes. I guess they can scratch one more off of our population signs now to read: 29,069.

The Legacy of Lunacy.

As much as I follow Wentzville city politics and government, I'm not usually taken unaware at board of alderman meetings but every once in a while an issue will pop up that makes watching the process a complete joy. Lately, for about the last two months, I've been surprised more than not. The last time was when our Mayor (Lambi) asked the "Board of Crickets" for money to be donated to the 501c LINC organization. Watching him seething over the board's indifference to his pet project was a complete delight. At the meeting of August 24th, another surprise developed in the form of new business; the "David Hoekel Expressway" project.

Like his predecessor who lays claim to being solely responsible for the overpass at the Wentzville Parkway, Lambi has put his eggs in making the future David Hoekel Expressway overpass his legacy. The expressway has been in the planning stage for over a decade and will serve as an outer belt connecting Highway 61 with Highway 70. In the design, an overpass will connect the North Outer Road to the South Outer Road and eventually connect to the Page Avenue extension. The first phase of the project is the section from West Meyer Road to the South Outer Road of Highway 70. Lambi has made a fool of himself trying to drum up support for his pet projects and this one is just the latest in his long legacy of lunacy.

A three and a half hour meeting that could easily have been done in two hours had it not been for one relatively small agenda item under New Business: "Item 2, (ID #3411) David Hoekel Parkway - Grant Opportunity." Thinking that the board would look favorably on his plan and hoping to put his legacy in motion, Lambi had at least a half-dozen employees from the HNTB company (grant writers) in attendance. Unfortunately for them, they were not asked to present their grant plan so they left after discussion was had denying the request. Once again, just like the LINC proposal, he wasted HNBT employees time to come to the meeting for another of his pet projects. Sooner or later his counting chickens is going to come to roost on his political career.

For the particulars: HNBT would require $49,000 to write a grant for a "Tiger III" Federal grant that could fund $24 million to the project. The kicker: best estimate, there is a 3% chance of winning the grant. Lambi is so desperate to engage his dream that he is willing to roll the taxpayers dice for $49 large for a 3% chance at $24 million. I'm starting to get a feeling why he isn't a financial advisor anymore, but what the hell, it isn't his money. After a prolonged discussion by the Aldermen, they decided they aren't going to shoot craps and agreed not to entertain Lambi's proposal. Lambi who was not too happy disgustingly exclaimed, "Wow no investment in the future of Wentzville tonight!" and banged the gavel. In any one's belief, a $49,000 bet for a 3% chance is not what would be called an "investment."

The splinters from the gavel settled and they got into the second reading of 16 bills presented. After the readings, Lambi said: I want to revisit this grant proposal. He went on to ask; "what if we could get HNTB to write the grant on a contingency basis? About this time, I'm thinking—what company would accept a contingency contract for an estimated $49,000 on a 3% chance of getting paid. The answer was obvious to everyone except Lambi. An offer of this kind was just another waste of time. After another half-hour or so of discussion, the aldermen did accept his proposal with the "contingency" clause written in the contract. This idea is almost crazier that the first.

After the balance of bills were completed they entered the discussion section of the agenda; three different items, the second of which was : "(ID #3414) Vehicle Towing and Storage Services." This discussion was another long-winded debate when Lambi finally broke in to say; it's almost ten o'clock and he thought it a waste of valuable staff and board time so he closed the subject. Once again as I've stated on numerous occasions, if Lambi likes or wants something it's balls to the wall, regardless of time and expense.

Despite Staff crying budget woes—Aldermen cutting expenditures, and the city sporting the highest sales tax in the County, Lambi was quoted in a recent article featured on Patch.com: "The city is flush with cash," who do we believe? For my money it's probably somewhere in the middle—but that's another subject entirely. I know that the city is short $5 million in road repair and infrastructure. At any rate, I sincerely hope that Wentzville voters tune-in and turn-off Lambi's lunacy at election time.