The King Had Only One Basket at the Ball

 

I've had time to look, re look, and look again in disbelief at the Wentzville Board of Aldermen meeting of December 18, 2013 (click here). I've got to tell you something, Mayor Nickolas Guccione said some things that should disturb even his most avid fan. I've always known that he is not the most crisp pickle in the jar, but after the statements he made Wednesday December 16th, I'm concerned that there may be some criminal intent in his methodology when he threatened the Alderman and the City with a lawsuit if he doesn't get his was.

 

Mayor Nickolas Guccione has, and is displaying his arrogance of power and his total disregard for the laws of our city in the exact same manner written about in the book, The Imperial Presidency by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Everyone knows about his use of the City logo and the GM trademark during his election, everyone knew it was illegal except Guccione, and everyone was shocked when he was allowed to walk via Mayor Lambi's illegal pardon. Only a Governor has the power to pardon the crimes Guccione committed in the way and time he committed them. Now, because his lack of ethics is beginning to pile up, I'm beginning to wonder if Guccione did not know his deeds were illegal, or if he believes it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission, or he knows his actions are illegal and thinks himself above the laws the rest of us must abide.

Wednesday evening during "(I.D. # 4946) Ethics Policy," in a discussion that has been going on for months, Guccione threatened the Board and the City with litigation if the ethics policy was not changed to allow him to solicit private donations for various groups. It must be noted that this policy was modified, and signed by Guccione after the Lambi scandal, but now he wants to change it back to be able to do everything that was afforded Lambi.

At about 2:02 into the meeting Guccione became frustrated, as he does most of the time when he doesn't get his way. "My personal attorneys told me that I was elected by the people, and the Alderman can not hold me to this ethics policy. The people who elected me didn't make this policy, the Aldermen did." WHAT? Does our Mayor really believe that the people write laws and policies? My high school government classes taught me that the legislators write laws and policies, and in this case, that's our Aldermen. The same people who elected Guccione to head up the executive branch of our government, elected our Aldermen to legislate our laws. Guccione does not need an attorney he needs a government class, the problem is, he just doesn't like the system and wants to change it to his more Socialist ideas. "Not one, but two attorneys told me that if I challenge this policy it would not hold up in court. I don't want to do that but." I could hardly believe what I heard. He also said he knew State Representatives who side with him. I wonder who he's talking about, maybe his strong political supporter, Brian Spencer? Our mayor just told the aldermen, and the city, that if you don't change this policy, I'm going to collect donations anyway, and if you try to punish me for violation of the policy, I'm taking the city to court. All of you good citizens who voted for Nickolas Guccione must now see that he does not respect the laws of this city and it's by design, not oversight, it's simple ignorance of government and how it works.

If I were an Alderman and I wanted to get rid of the arrogance and utter incompetence in the Mayor's office, I would uphold our laws as they are written. If anyone of the aldermen bow to his threats, perhaps they believe they are above the law also. At one point during the discussion he said to Alderman Shryock, "If you have to ask, it's probably wrong." Guccione has been asking a whole lot in an effort to get his own way, it's time he let it go and concentrate on being a better mayor, after all, he's not a fundraiser, he's the CEO of a failing administration. He tried this same tantrum when he had Michael Hays appointed to the board, in his mind it worked once, why not again? Guccione is really pushing the envelope and deserves to be slapped around by the legal system. I'd love to watch him defend his actions here in Wentzville's municipal Court. He thinks he's above the law and deserves the opportunity to prove it to his subjects, and Judge Martin.

Dear King Nickolas, Your subjects are leaving like rats from a sinking ship, the city is being buried in lawsuits, and all you want to do is attend the Mayor's Ball. You are correct, the other mayors are laughing at you, but not because you only brought one basket to the Ball.

I'm Ready!

 

There is an interesting thread of discussion on my last post of Thursday, December 12, 2013: The Push Is On! (click here), that I believe needs to be addressed. It revolves around the possibility of Vann Sample coming out of retirement to reclaim his Ward 2 seat which is currently occupied by Sonya Shryock.

 

Sample left his service to Wentzville government due to circumstances with his day job and consequently served only one term. The seat was up for grabs and candidates came out of the woodwork to run against Donna Sherwood who had unsuccessfully run in every election for Ward 2 since 2010, she was Guccione's first choice. At the same time, Sherwood was Nickolas Guccione's campaign manager in 2012 and they ran what many believe to be the dirtiest-mud-slinging event in the history of Wentzville Politics. Her opponents were newcomers, Jeremy Pritchett and Sonya Shryock. Late in the campaign it was found that Pritchett was actually campaigning with Sherwood and Guccione in an effort to split the vote against Shryock to allow Sherwood to win and serve Guccione's wishes on the Board. Voters got wise to Guccione's plan and Sherwood lost the election, gathering fewer votes than either of the political rookies, Pritchett and Shryock. Guccione had underestimated Sherwood's level of public unpopularity.

 

Shryock won the election and was nurtured by a very strong board. There for a while, even though it became evident that Shryock was in way over her head she followed the conservative members of the board; Rick Stokes, Chris Gard, Forrest Gossett, and Cheryl Kross. Progress for the city continued without a hitch in spite of newly elected Mayor Nickolas Guccione's governmental incompetence, and the city sustained a fair level of accountability. Once Kross joined forces with Guccione and schmoozed Shryock to do the same, everything changed. Before long, Shryock began feeling empowered and led the charge (with Kross and Guccione) to remove Wentzville's legal services team. What's worse, she meddled in Chief of Police, Lisa Harrison's private affairs, it's uncertain what level of involvement Kross and Guccione played in this scandal, but I'm sure it will come to the surface. The events of that time were exposed on my post of November 4, 2013, The "Unholy Alliance" Exposed (click here).

 

The Wentzvillian polls say that Shryock's job performance is the absolute worst on the Board of Aldermen.  But I contend it's marginally better than that of the non-existent accomplishments of Ward 3 Alderman Michael Hays (both of whom suffer from delusions of adequacy) if you exclude the removal of our legal services and the scandal she started within the police department. I'm not exaggerating about their records, I defy either of them (or anyone) to publicly announce what they have accomplished since being elected. Guccione is excellent at exploiting a lack of government and political savvy and as a result he gravitated toward Hays and Shryock to do his bidding. The wild card in his goal of Board control is Kross, I had hoped she would have been smarter than him, but obviously she's not lived up to those expectations.

Should Sample throw into the mix next April, there's more than a good chance that he could regain his office and help turn back Guccione's folly. Rick Stokes should have no problem with his re-election even though Guccione will throw everything, and everyone he can find at him. The other question is if Forrest Gossett has earned enough points with his constituents to maintain his seat on the board. It will be interesting to see if Cheryl Kross, one time close confidant of Gossett will assist him with his campaign. Since she had her falling out with Stokes and snuggled up to Guccione she has turned her back on her old friend, leaving some doubt regarding her allegiance to Gossett, we will soon know.

Gossett is very well versed in policies and procedures, and government, calling for a "point of order" more than any other alderman. So much so that at one meeting Guccione sarcastically said to him, "So you're going to play lawyer again?" Guccione hates Gossett, but then again he hates Stokes too, so Gossett is in good company anyway. Guccione will put candidates up against Gossett but probably leave them pretty much to their own devices to beat Gossett by simply splitting the vote. Guccione's main focus next April will be trying to get Shryock re-elected and sling as much mud at Stokes as he can dream up. If Sample runs, Guccione will more than likely bring in a third candidate to split that vote too which could put Shryock in a precarious position. She's trusting the dirtiest campaign designer in recent history, a man who even threw his own campaign manager under the bus. I absolutely know that Shryock will get the short end of the stick because Guccione doesn't care who gets elected, as long as it's one of his recruits and not Vann Sample.

It's unfortunate that Guccione has started politicking during the board meetings already, he's making it so obvious that it shouldn't be a surprise if he's called for campaign policy violations before it's all over, but he'll find someone to blame. I'll be watching closely to see how many times he has Shryock bring up subjects for which Guccione will pick up the sword against Stokes and Gossett. If Shryock thinks Guccione will defend her, she's delusional. I sincerely hope she doesn't get into any more trouble than she's already in, but time will tell. I think the best thing she can do is bow gracefully out of the race before her inevitable legal problems begin and she's right in the middle of attention while in office, the news media is relentless and keen on scandals. Mayor Lambi did it and paid the price, it's good advice to be far from the media while in office, but taking good advice is not her strong suit. When her problems hit (and they will), her good buddies; Kross, Guccione, and Michael Hays will put as much distance between her and them as they possibly can. It's hard to find a political friend when you're under fire.

I had hoped not to get so deeply involved in reporting on the election already, but Guccione has started campaigning from the dais and the truth needs to be told — I'm ready!

 

The Push Is On!

 

I didn't attend the Board of Aldermen meeting of December 11, 1013 (click here) for one reason; I wanted to see how some aldermen acted when I wasn't watching. I did however, watch the streaming live video and I got an eyeful of the mayor, Nickolas Guccione, and certain aldermen politicizing Wentzville Government. The election is just over three months from now, and as Guccione announced before, he went full-bore trying to discredit President of the Board, Rick Stokes.

 

Once again, Alderman Sonya Shryock during her "Alderman Report" led Guccione's charge by talking about "Penalties for leaking information from executive sessions. ...I want it to be impeachment or censure worthy..." She mentioned City Hall so I ascertained she wants to point the finger at some alderman for the leak of the location of the new city hall building. I previously speculated that the new city hall building will be on the yet unbuilt Schroeder Creek extension behind Holt High School, and I knew that the final site would be decided during the regular executive sessions. The words in her report came directly to her from Guccione, how do I know this? When she finished her report Guccione said "You forgot something, I'll handle it in my 'Mayors Report.'" Unless he had scripted her report before the meeting, how could he know she'd forgotten something? Incredible!

 

Back to the point; Guccione is pointing the finger at Stokes and wants to publicly admonish and accuse him of being the leak. Unfortunately for Guccione and Shryock, the information did come to me from two aldermen at different times, and that data was stored until I posted it. The first alderman to give me the location was Cheryl Kross during several of the many meetings we had prior to her flip and subsequent blackout. The second was none other than Shryock who hinted to me about the location, but she said; "You can't tell anybody about this." So, if someone is going to be impeached as Shryock suggests, she needs to put herself and Kross at the top of the list. If you're not going to play nice, I'm going to turn you in.

 

Guccione is a great one for leaks too, I got verification of Lambi's shenanigans from him. He admitted in public meetings that my speculations were all to true by saying "I didn't leak it to the newspapers, the blog did it." Those in the know still laugh at him after giving the information to the St. Charles County Journal and St. Louis Post Dispatch. It's important to know that Kross was instrumental in connecting the dots of the Lambi investigation.

 

Even though Guccione says The Wentzvillian is not a member of the press and not a reporter, I still get it correct sooner or later and make it public for our citizens. Any good investigative reporter using carefully worded questions can, and do get "secret" information from an unsuspecting source, in this case it's Guccione, Shryock, and Kross. These three elected officials have given me more fodder than any alderman currently serving in office, simply because they have no sense of how to act during interviews. I'm certain that given the proper circumstances I could get any one of them to sell out their own grandmothers, but I'm not a reporter. I'm just a delusional conspiracy theorist concerned about what these three newly immigrated individuals are doing to Wentzville, they have no idea of what they are doing to the future of our city.

 



* * * * *

 

I hope you take the time to watch the "Mayor's Report," It's worth the time to see the spiteful vengeance he displayed during his attack on President of the Board, Rick Stokes. Guccione's politically oriented aggression is an outrage, he shows his hatred of Stokes publicly trying any way he can to discredit and keep him from being re-elected.  Mayor Guccione made a total fool of himself and the office he holds.

 

Sock-puppet Shryock started the attack in her report and Guccione escalated it during his. Guccione singles out Stokes as the only alderman on the board who is undermining his office. I've got news for the mayor, he doesn't need anyone to undermine his office, he's been doing a great job of it all by himself for over a year-and-a-half. I have to laugh at Guccione, he doesn't have the mental horsepower to spar with Stokes when it comes to government, or anything other than cutting up chickens for that matter. With the exception of Chris Gard, there has never been a more effective alderman in recent history.

 

Guccione has recruited Shryock to help run interference in taking down Stokes in the coming election and he has guaranteed her his support. I know Shryock, and I cannot believe that she's sold her soul to the devil to keep a job for which she has proven to be so ineffective. Wentzville politics is out of control and I expect that her campaign will be as dirty as any run by Guccione since he's betting the farm on her winning and giving him control of the board.

 

The push is on, Shryock is being pranced all over town just like Guccione did with Michael Hays. In the coming months leading up to the election you will see Shryock bringing things to the board that Guccione wants and they will continue trying to smash Stokes. Take notice when you watch the meeting video that Guccione gaveled Alderman Forrest Gossett saying, "I'm done with you." Gossett is in his sights and Guccione has candidates lined up to deal with him. Guccione is starting to sound like Lambi did after he knew he'd been caught, it's going to be an interesting and dirty campaign.

 

More came out of the meeting of December 11th and I'll get to is soon, but I can't get over Shryock. Out of the mouths of babes comes her betrayal of Wentzville and good, healthy government. I hope my readers vote and when they do, remember the sock-puppet who wants to do more damage to an already crippled city government—Shryock.

 

The Sinking of the U.S.S. Wentzville

 

On October 17, 2013, The Wentzvillian posted; Enough Is Enough, It's Time (click here), in which was listed the directors and employees that left their positions for greener pastures during the previous 18 months. That time frame coincided exactly with the time of Mayor Nickolas Guccione's term in office. Today, just two months later, the list has grown to include Wentzville's Parks Director, the legal services team, and Wentzville's audit firm—all left during the chaos created by Guccione's administration. Now it's my unpleasant duty to announce another flight.

 

Gary Miller, Superintendent of water and waste water has turned in his paperwork for early retirement. Mr. Miller has been with the city for 30 years and knows everything there is to know about Wentzville's water works. The telling fact about his retirement is that he only gave the City two weeks notice. In my estimate, Mr. Miller has become frustrated enough with the unpurposive leadership of Guccione's administration that he decided to get the hell out of Dodge while he still has his sanity. It is further believed that the retirements of Mr. Jerry Hillin, Purchasing Director, and the unexpected early retirement of Ms. Mary Jo Dessieux, Parks Director, were for the same reason.

 

The underlining fabric of Guccione's administration is one of a total lack of leadership skills. It's sad to say, but Wentzville employees just don't trust him and consequently their morale is at an all-time low. One of the city's employees who was fired earlier this year filed a Federal lawsuit for discrimination, and in my opinion the City will probably settle out of court to the tune of around one-million dollars. According to rumor there will be another suit, by another dissatisfied ex-employee filed closely on it's heels. I have also heard that someone has requested all of Guccione's email records for the past five months (probably an attorney) so, King Nickolas had better keep the City's checkbook on his desk. It's times like these that the name Detroit keeps coming to the forefront of my thoughts.

 

I guess Enough is Not Enough. But It's Definitely Time for someone to take action before Guccione's teething on the Wentzville pacifier creates a predicament that will take longer to repair than his new-found teeth will last, but it may already be too late. Every Wentzville Director except one has left the city payroll and now the list of middle-management personnel to leave is growing. Have the "lack of confidence bells and whistles" not been heard by our Aldermen? What will it take to correct a serious problem residing in the Mayor's office? Am I so far out of whack that I'm blinded by a smokescreen of wanting my own words; "I told you so," to be true? Or is there some other reason that the City is being abandoned by an ever-growing large number of Wentzville's most intelligent and talented employees?

 

I've stated before that Guccione has been bailing the sinking U.S.S. Wentzville with a drill—I may have been wrong. The damage that has, and is being done, has to be the result of dynamite. Recently I've been seeing parallels between the administrations of Mayor Nickolas Guccione to that of President Obama. Guccione bears a great number of notches on his gun-butt, something needs to change ... quickly. The citizens need to stand up and ask some very difficult questions like; Mr. Mayor, what have you done to our beloved City of Wentzville, and why don't you resign and go back to North County while we still have our life preservers?