A Great American

It's only four days before we all go to the polls to vote for the candidates of our choice. I want to remind everyone about the importance of this election. We have a four-year term for Mayor for the first time—that's a long time if you realize in the first year, you've made a mistake, so as the Knight Templar said; "Choose wisely."

"Choose wisely," no truer words were spoken regarding this election. We have men running for Mayor who have a wide range of government experience, some great, some not so great. I've had the privilege to know and watch each of them while they were serving our city and want to point out some of the things two of these candidates have done while in public office:

Bill Schuette: Schuette was a recruit of Vickie Boedeker when trying to regain her seat as Mayor for the second time after losing to Paul Lambi. At that time Boedecker had lost Board support and needed to get a new board elected to regain control of Wentzville should she be elected. She lost, but her disciple, Schuette won a place as Alderman of Ward 2. Had the voters known of her plot, Schuette, Luby, and Guccione would never been elected.

Schuette was uneducated about government and I believe had no interest in learning. Some of the ordinances he brought forward and supported were found in violation of state statutes and shot down. Others were destructive and led to changes to the overlay districts regarding sinage and allowing live music in the bars and restaurants on the Wentzville Parkway. Schuette was prone to give advantages and favors to his business friends and did so frequently, The tow contract was changed to give the advantage to a less qualified tow company simply because one of his best friends was the owner. Schuette brought chaos to our Board, he was loud, arrogant, and an embarrassment to the City in other public venues. A year after losing his bid for mayor and his seat on the Board, Schuette tried to regain it but was denied by the voters who were looking for a real represenative.

Nick Guccione: Guccione was also one of those recruited by Boedecker to run and he was elected to Ward 3. He was a butcher at Schnucks grocery stores and had no knowledge of government or procedures. The bad part about his situation is that he never had to learn because Bill Schuette led the recruits with his strong over-confident personality for four years on how and when to vote. Unfortunately for Wentzville, it was the blind leading the blind for four years until Schuette lost his bid for Mayor and consequently lost his seat on the Board. When the other recruits lost their seats, Guccione was all alone with a new group of aggressive well versed people (Aldermen) who believed in Wentzville and proper procedures.

When he ran for a third term and without the Boedecker machine he was lucky that he was unopposed. If someone had run against him he would most assuredly been joining the other recruits fate of losing his re-election. His good-fortune was Wentzville's misfortune, in his first year of his third term he was placed in a position of being behind the 8-ball to perform the duties of an Alderman. Knowing nothing of procedures, forming ordinances, gaining support from other board members, he quietly stumbled along. He followed everyone on the board, not speaking, not bringing forth legislation, and not representing his constituents of Ward 3.

Being a concerned voter in Ward 3, I have watched my Aldermen very closely for over 10 years and I believe that Mr. Guccione doesn't read the Alderman packets, is unprepared at meetings, doesn't have any knowledge of parliamentary procedure, and his record on the Board of Aldermen supports my statement. He watches other Aldermen and listens too much to small groups of citizens who speak in "Open Forum" at City meetings. Mr. Guccione makes decisions based on flimsy and un-researched information by small special interest groups and when he makes the wrong decisions he flips on his vote. His record is riddled with flipping on votes, he even campaigns on it, admitting he was wrong. Mr. Guccione is wrong on almost everything he votes on when he makes his own decisions regarding any subject before the Board.

Guccione is an opportunist and when he sees anything that may give him a political advantage he jumps on it. Siding with Mayor Lambi for the first time in five years is a perfect example. They were on the opposite side of almost everything. Guccione even tried leading a charge to have Lambi pay back the $15,000 (the mysterious check turned over to the attorney) out of his own personal checking account and now he's acting like they were buddies forever. He voted with the other Aldremen to turn the alleged influence peddling complaint against Lambi to the State Board of Ethics Commission, as a matter of fact he made the motion to do so.  Now he's with Lambi calling the entire ordeal "a witch hunt" trumped up by one of his opponents and at the same time discredit not only his opponent but the opponents running against his recruits. He thinks by siding with Lambi, Lambi's supporters will support and vote for him. He is a panderer and seeks any group who might support him, no matter how small or ridiculous, if it means votes, he's there.

He has pulled out all of the stops, he knows that if he is not elected Mayor this year, he will serve out his last year as Alderman trying to live with the things he's said and done. He knows that he will never be re-elected as an Alderman in Ward 3.  Guccione is the only Mayor candidate to resort to mud-slinging and trickery. I completely understand why he does it—it's the only thing he has besides small interests groups to campaign on, his record is completely void of any achievements, it's the only thing he can do. He relies on old newspaper articles and takes things out of context to bash his opponents rather than campaign on his merit. You can't talk about something if you have nothing to talk about.

A great American once said: "Small people talk about other people" "Average people talk about material things, and Great people talk about ideas." In five years of Guccione being an Alderman, I've never heard him come up with a "great idea," but I have heard him "talk about other people," on numerous occasions and spreading slanderous lies and rumors is well within his realm of ethics. I have to appeal to the good voting citizens to think about these words and think about where Nick Guccione stands. After looking at his record and campaign strategies, after looking at those closest to him and his conspiracy to control the Board of Aldermen, and after listening to his words and seeing his lack of accomplishments, any thinking person will come to agree that Mayor candidate Nick Guccione is not a good choice to run our Wentzville!

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.

Candidates Night 2012

There were probably between 150 ant 200 people attended the Chamber of Commerce Candidates Night, last night at the Holt High School auditorium. I was disappointed to see that the radio station wasn't there but life is full of little trade offs. Only two of the candidates didn't make an appearance; Ward 1 candidate Forrest Gossett, who had a confirmed medical emergency and; Rodney Stratman candidate for Ward 3, who insiders said; got cold feet, everyone else was there. I was also disappointed in the quality of the questions asked, many were just lame, as a matter of fact I didn't hear one question that was hard-hitting—you know, it was all generic, "oh, by the way" kind of stuff. Questions could not be addressed to individual candidates and I think that was a big mistake. The Chamber of Commerce could have done a much greater service to the City without this touchy-feely event, but that's another story all in itself.

Each Candidate had an opportunity to give an opening statement and some were revealing while others were just downright laughable. I'm going to start with Ward 1 and run through all the Wards before I get to the Mayor Candidates. I have to warn you, Nick Guccione was running true to form, blaming everybody else for his problems, claiming everything that was good was because of him, and flipping on subjects, he needs a new script writer. Here was some of the questions asked and responses of Aldermen candidates.

Ward 1:

Forrest Gossett, absent. I wish Mr. Gossett had been able to attend because I've heard him speak on the subjects regarding Wentzville and believe he could have given his opponent a lesson in government and the problems facing Wentzville's future.

Jay Webber: Mr. Webber was asked two questions, the first was: "What specifically would you do for the downtown area?" Answer: "There are things that can be done." Second question: "How would you cut taxes?" Answer: "Repeal the sales taxes on the Parkway." Since the Wentzville Parkway and infrastructure was built using TIFFs, CID's, TIDDs, and other tax incentive vehicles on the various developments in securing the coming of  businesses like; Wall Mart, Home Depot, Target, and Lowes, anyone with a third grade education in government financing should know that it can't be done. Mr Webber was a well spoken gentleman who was recruited by Nick Guccione so it's easy to see why he didn't know this, he simply had no intention or self initiative to become an Alderman.

Ward 2:

This ward has three candidates running ; Donna Sherwood, two time loser of this seat; Sonya Shryock, and Jeremy Pritchett, Guccione recruit. They asked these candidates questions and I'm just going to give the highlights. It was interesting to note that in their opening statements, Jeremy Pritchett declared his political affiliation; "I'm Republican." Obviously Mr. Pritchett either didn't know, or didn't care that candidates at the City level do not declare political affiliations.

The first question was: "How would you cut spending?" Sherwood said: "Get rid of unnecessary equipment and stop buying it." Ms. Shyrock said: "locate and reduce waste spending throughout the City." The moderator asked: "What's the most important problem facing Wentzville today?" I was disappointed in all of the candidates answers but one stuck out in my notes: Jeremy Pritchett said: "Parks." I'm no real fan of newspapers and don't read them but I do know that it's been all over the news that a half-cent sales tax was approved by the voters to the tune of 20 million dollars and they are breaking ground on three new parks in the City this year. I guess that "important problem" was solved.

Ward 3:

Three candidates are vying for this seat: Rick Stokes (incumbent), Rodney Stratman (absent), and Curtis Davis. It was noted that Nick Guccione was on the phone with Mr. Stratman asking him to come to the event. He was heard to say: "There's still time, they won't get to Ward 3 for awhile." Sounds like his recruit broke ranks and ran, good for you Rodney. The other Guccione recruit was Curtis Davis a seemingly very nice old black gentleman who introduced himself as the local president of the NAACP and husband of his lovely wife of 57 years. He stated: "I see none of my peoples' here and I want to see more blacks involved." Unfortunately for Mr. Davis, he knew little about City issues and gave the impression he's a throw-back to another generation in time. I truly felt empathy for him as he addressed the assembly trying to answer the questions.

The first question set the tone of the rest of the night for Ward 3 candidates: "Name the one goal you'd like to attain if you are elected." Rick Stokes answered: "Enhance transportation and maintain our current roads." Mr Davis: "The school system. And to make the neighbors in my subdivision cut their grass" He does not know that the school system is a separate entity and Wentzville has absolutely no control over its activities. The other questions were answered with the accuracy of a learned Alderman by Mr. Stokes but Mr Davis when asked about tax incentives such as TIFFs, CIDs, and others he admitted that he didn't know what they were.

Mayor:

Bill Schuette didn't show but that was expected, Leon Tow, Darrel Lackey, and Nick Guccione were there and all but Guccione answered all of the questions. Guccione instead, campaigned on the strangest thing: "I made a mistake voting for Ranken Technical School," he  voted for it three times, attended all of the talks over several months and participated in the writing of the resolution to have Ranken come to Wentzville. Obviously he was either asleep or just following the group (his specialty) rather than listen to these non-existent protesters. "I voted for it but I made a mistake, people don't want to give them an incentive to come to Wentzville." Guccione made this speech twice in answer to two unrelated questions. He went on to say that he'd only made two mistakes but didn't elaborate on the second. He said he voted against Sam's Club because citizens didn't want it. If the truth be known, the unions that are financing his campaign told him that if he voted for Sam's Club, they'd pull their support. Talk about a special interest group having an Alderman in their pocket, Nick, your it!

If I had to pick a winner of the evening, it would have to be Darrel Lackey. He seemed to have a better command of the audience than Leon Tow and (the campaigning instead of answering questions); Nick Guccione. Both Lackey and Tow answered all of the questions and did a very good job of it but Guccione got a "D" on the questions. In my opinion, the only thing Guccione did right last night was find his way to the school. All of the candidates running for office missed a biggie: the unified new city hall and the economic engine it would start if it were in the downtown area.

One other point of interest, Nick Guccione reiterated in public that he was solely responsible for bringing the GM expansion to Wentzville, He said: "They called me, not the city, they called me." He truly believes that GM would not have expanded if it weren't for him. He claims to be responsible for bringing about a whole shift of employees to GM. I think that talking with the UAW and asking for a campaign donation is a stretch and a far cry from convincing decision makers in Detroit to expand their Wentzville facility—and using the GM logo on his literature is still illegal.

The Alderman candidate winners of the night were: Forrest Gosset (Who was in the hospital), Sonya Shryock (who answered all of the questions with sound conservative answers) and Rick Stokes by a landslide.

This has been a dirty campaign season and Nick Guccione and Donna Sherwood led the pack slinging mud rather than campaigning on their merits or qualifications. Should they be elected, it will be a gray day in Wentzville but I'll still be here reporting on their lack of leadership and crazy antics. It should be fun, at least for me.

Getting Down to the Wire

A couple months ago, I made the statement that I expected The Wentzvillian to be receiving 7,500 to 10,000 page views per month before the election. With the election only eight days away, my prediction was pretty close. As of today, The Wentzvillian is getting over 9,000 page views per month. Thank you to all of my loyal readers and those who find me by accident.

The highlighted candidates are those with the best qualifications to hold the office for which they are seeking. Those with their names scratched through, with the exception of Bill Schuette, were all recruited by Nick Guccione and his gun-moll, Donna Sherwood to take part in their conspiratorial plot to take control of City Hall and Wentzville's Government. The following is a complete list of candidates in the order of filing.

MAYOR:

Bill "Lurch" Schuette

"Tricky" Nick Guccione

LEON TOW

DARREL LACKEY

ALDERMAN, WARD ONE:

Jay Webber

FORREST GOSSETT

ALDERMAN, WARD TWO:

Donna "censored" Sherwood

SONYA SHRYOCK

Jeremy Pritchett

ALDERMAN, WARD THREE:

RICK STOKES (incumbent)

Rodney E. "Rod" Stratman

Curtis Davis

If the voting citizens of Wentzville elect those candidates picked by The Wentzvillian, the city would go a long way toward cleaning up the mess created by sixteen years of Vickie Boedecker and Paul Lambi hijinx and lack of leadership. Guccione has hand-picked five candidates who's sole purpose would lead to a chaotic, unorganized government and the eventual disgrace of Wentzville in the State of Missouri.

Give this list to your friends, neighbors, and family, let's bring representation and a sound City Government to Wentzville. Ignore the slashing of our good candidates by Guccione and Sherwood, show them that the people of Wentzville demand elected officials who are responsive and attentive to our needs and our reputation around the county.

Addendum A, March 27, 2012, 3:45pm:

Make sure you're come to Candidates Night, tonight at Holt High School in the auditorium. I think you will get a whole new prospective of Nick Guccione and the damage he will do to the reputation of Wentzville if he is elected Mayor. He is not a public speaker, so listen closely to him stumbling around the questions, it should be a riot. If he comes!

GM and Governor Nixon Supporting Guccione?

In my mail box yesterday morning I received the usual; too many bills, junk mail, and some great campaign post cards.  I got cards from Rick Stokes, Nick Guccione, Leon Tow, Darrel Lackey, Forrest Gossett, and Sonya Shryock, WOW, these things are purdy! These candidates have some great graphic designers that have created some real eye catching and informative bits of political posturing. While shuffling through the pile of cards one caught my eye, and I must say Nick Guccione has one of the most creative designers in the bunch, not only graphically but his verbiage is concise and oh so revealing.

I was astounded to see the big GM logo smack-dab in the middle of Guccione's card. I had no Idea that GM was supporting his campaign, I didn't think they actually got into backing local candidates. Guccione must be well-connected to land that monster wallet in his camp. I checked the General Motors website and found that their logo is trade-marked and it is against the law to reproduce it in any form without written permission from the General Motors Corporation. I tried contacting GM to see if they granted him permission but sadly, they are closed on Friday but be sure I will check it out first thing Monday morning. I hope he has permission because if he's wanting to be Mayor, I'm sure the citizens wouldn't want someone who would violate copyright and trademark laws. It is believed that if he disregards laws now, what kind of trouble could he get the City into later if he were Mayor?

Another thing that I noticed; If you read the card, he is taking sole credit for the GM expansion. "Nick knows what it takes to bring back American Jobs! General Motors $380 Million investment in the Wentzville Assembly plant will bring 1,280 new manufacturing jobs to Wentzville and back to America!" I'm sitting here trying to figure out how he single-handedly brought about the GM expansion. What did he do to achieve this monumental feat? He gives his phone number (636-332-1767) on the card, if any of my readers have questions, maybe you can call him and let me know his answer. Give him a call, If he tells you anything, let me know because he won't talk to me, "The Wentzvillian is not legitimate journalism."

The last thing I have a question about is the implication that Mr. Guccione is supported by Governor Nixon. He has a photo of himself posing with the Governor and it is a dandy, I met Matt Blunt once but I didn't have my Kodak, oh well. I was curious about his liaison with Governor Nixion so I emailed his office in Jefferson City to verify the connection. Unfortunately, their response didn't coincide with my post date so I will reprint his response as soon as it is received, stay tuned.

The questions and comments here today could create serious problems to Nick Guccione's credibility and electability if indeed some of these suspicions of mine are confirmed. In my gut, I believe he did not get permission to use GM's trademark, he didn't bring about GM's expansion, and Governor Nixon will respond by saying; Nick who? I will post all new information regarding these items as I get them and I urge my readers to dig into these points as well to find out for yourselves before you vote.

Addendum A, 3 March 2012, 10:00am

After further research, I've found that using the GM logo was not his first use of trade marked logos, he has been stealing the rights to the City of Wentzville's logo for months. Mr. Guccione believes that it's his Aldermanic right to use the City logo if it will assist him in reaching his objective. He uses the City logo on his campaign website and on several hand-outs, without permission that he knows he will never get. This is the candidate who wants to me Mayor, this is the candidate who believes the end justifies the means, this is the candidate who will use every unethical bit of trickery and steal anything that will advance his cause, this is Nick Guccione!

Real Facts, For the Record

"Special Interests
SPECIAL INTERESTS,
SPECIAL INTERESTS!"

This cry can be heard from Nick Guccione and his campaign manager, Donna Sherwood about all of their opponents. It's become a sort of chant; "HBA, Real Estate Board; HBA Real Estate Board, bla bla bla." They named those two organizations "The Bad Boys" in this election but he left out a few of his own.

I just had a look at Guccione's Missouri Ethics Commission (Campaign) Committee Disclosure Report of 2/18/2012 and guess what, Mr. Guccione's largest campaign contributors are none other than "Special Interest" groups. Unfortunately I haven't received his latest report but this one will do fine for now just to get my point across. He and Sherwood cry this chant when they have an opportunity at any and every event or gathering, he has even stated it in public meetings: "It's just not fair," Wa Wa Wa.

Guccione and Sherwood have always said that these two organizations tell their opponents how to vote and that they control the Board. They say their opponents are sock-puppets and are in the HBA and Real  Estate Board's pockets. I hope he isn't saying that "Special Interest" groups shouldn't donate to campaigns because if they didn't, Guccione and Sherwood would be walking around town wearing sandwich signs reading "Vote for Me."

The following is a list of those groups supporting Guccione and Sherwood with large amounts of cash:

International Union of Elevator Constructors Local #3, St. Louis

Sheet Metal Workers Local Union #36, St. Louis

USCW Local 88 Meatcutters, St. Louis

M Engineering LLC, Union, Missouri
IUPAT Union, Hanover MD

Nicholas Hamilton, St. Paul,  Secretary of two Auto Warranty Companies

This is just six of the "Special Interest" groups donating to Nick Guccone's campaign for Mayor, there are others. My question is; are they going to tell Guccione how to vote, is he going to be in his benefactors pockets, and are any, or all of these benefactors going to expect favors from him and our City as he claims his opponents will do for the HBA and the Real Estate Board?

Guccione has hammered his opponents with trash talk about them and their supporters. He dug up a 20-year old newspaper article and without an ounce of investigation he accused one of his opponents of being a sexual harasser. He has accused another opponent of being the ring-leader and instigator of an evil plot to "hound Mayor Lambi out of office" that would ultimately give his opponent an unfair advantage in the election. He accused a City employee of filing a false complaint about the Mayor and being in on the plot, and every Alderman in the City of Wentzville supported the conspiracy to give his opponent an unfair advantage in the election. He has divulged confidential information to the newspapers and in public meetings and blamed "the blog" for doing it. Mr. Guccione has tried to discredit his opponents in newspapers and other public media at every opportunity with his unfounded accusations and yet he believes himself to be squeeky-clean.

Whether he wins the election or not, he is a scoundrel of the first order, and truly a house of cards. If he is elected, the real loser will be the City of Wentzville. I feel sorry for the voters who have listened to his rhetoric without finding out about his total lack of accomplishments as a useless Alderman or investigating the real candidates, Leon Tow and Darrel Lackey. He smiles very nice for the camera and behind that smile is a man who knows just enough about our city and its government to be seriously dangerous to the future of Wentzville.

This election, April 3rd is crucial to our City. It's a four year commitment to either have an effective Mayor, or one who is severely handicaped both politically and in knowledge of government. Nick Guccione is not a communicator or spokesman, he will disgrace our City to other cities around the county with his lack of public speaking skills, experience, or government savvy, Wentzville can niether afford nor condone Nick Guccione as our Mayor.

Twicky Nicky

"Tricky" Nick Guccione is pulling out all the stops to be Mayor of Wentzville. According to the Wednesday, March 21st Suburban Journal, he is accusing all five Aldermen of "carrying out  a political vendetta against Mayor Paul Lambi,". Guccione must sit up nights with his campaign manager Donna Sherwood dreaming up ridiculous crap to launch on his opponents, and now they're trying to discredit a City employee and the entire Board of Aldermen, and of course he had nothing to do with it.

It's a known fact that Guccione is the weakest Alderman on the Wentzville Board and has no, I repeat, NO accomplishments during five years of service (I use the term "service" lightly) other than taking up space and annoying everybody. Oh, I forgot, he did get a court ruling overthrown for his bar-owner buddy which pissed off a number of his sleepless constituents! But, since he has no record of any consequence, the only thing he can run his campaign on is diversion, deception, and discrediting his more competent opponents. This man really wants to be Mayor and nothing is beyond his or Sherwood's realm of dirty stupid crap to pull. As a matter of fact, the only difference between Sherwood's experience and Guccione's, is that Sherwood never held an office

In the Journal article written by Raymond Castile (which I'm surprised they actually printed), "Alderman Nick Guccione, Ward 3, said the board, led by President Leon Tow, Ward 1, has been carrying out an agenda for more than a year to force Lambi out of office in order to give Tow an advantage in the April 3rd mayoral election." This guy is in la-la land to even think that an unnamed City employee, a seven time President of the board, and four other Aldermen are plotting against him with the Mayor being the sacrificial Lambi. He is accusing his opponent of this ridiculous crap because he cannot possibly win on his own merit.

I have to ask: Where was Mr. Guccione while all this was going on, why is it coming up one week before the election? If this is true, why didn't he blow the whistle over a year ago. Could it be that he and Sherwood just thought it up right before he said it January 11th in a closed meeting and saved it to spring on his opponents one week prior to the election? He is a twicky little wascal.

A City employee filed an official complaint against Mayor Paul Lambi and protocol demanded an investigation, and that is exactly what has been going on. What Guccione is really saying is; if a City employee files a complaint about an elected official, don't investigate it, let the complaint fall on deaf ears, don't do anything, business as usual with Guccione. Guccione, Len Tow, and the rest of the Board were acting according to policy and procedure and Guccione in his paranoid style twisted it to say they were scheming against him, everything is about him. In the January 11, 2012 closed session meeting minutes while discussing the process, it states: "Ald. Guccione expressed concern if the Mayor would resign Ald. Tow, as President of the Board, would become Mayor ProTem and give him an advantage in the Mayor's election." Guccione wasn't thinking about the employee complaint or that Mayor Lambi may have done something wrong or illegal, he was thinking about politics—exactly what I've reported on several times over the months. He is all political! Mayor Lambi didn't resign, the City employee complaint was filed, the investigation was turned over to another authority, and Guccione is left with nothing else to campaign on except slash and burn, so what's the reason for his mysterious allegations?

This is an ill calculated desperation move that will have cataclysmic effects on Guccione regardless if he wins or loses, think about it. He has admitted that he doesn't get any respect from the Board regarding his corn-ball non-issues and now he's insured that if he does become Mayor, their respect may have been somewhat diminished. If he doesn't win, he has to sit on the Board for one more year with even less respect and probably no support. He's pulled this stunt in a last ditch effort to get his recruits elected to the Board and when that doesn't happen, he is in serious trouble. If Guccione was a dictator of a small Mideast country, he would be  the reason the rest of the world wouldn't want that country developing nuclear weapons.

He doesn't think about trying to work with the Board, he thinks he needs to get rid of them. Regardless of the fine job this Board has done in the last two years, they just don't fit into his grand scheme of control. Maybe he thinks they're working too hard and it's making him look bad by comparison but that's not a difficult task. It must be something else, something deeper, something more profound, naaaa, he's just nuts!