Statesmen vs. Politician Part II

Ward 3 is a totally different story than the Ward 1 race, there are three candidates running and only one with experience in Wentzville city government. One sits in an appointed position on the Board of Aldermen and as much as I like Alderman Cheryl Kross I think flipping on her vote to allow that to happen was her biggest mistake in her time on the Board, we'll see what happens.

Ward 3

Michael Hays (appointed)

Linda L. Wright

Darrel Lackey

Micheal Hays spent several years on the Planning and Zoning board where he and Mayor Nickolas Guccione became friends. Hays was one of the three candidates recruited by Guccione to beat Rick Stokes in the 2012 election  Cutting a deal with Guccione, Hays withdrew his name in favor of becoming the appointed Ward 3 Alderman should Guccione become mayor and vacate his seat, beating Stokes was a long shot anyway.

Everyone knows the story about the long arguments over his appointment to Guccione's vacated seat. "It's my appointment, it's my appointment," he cried over and over and the seat remained vacant for nine months until Kross changed her vote putting a smile on Guccione's face. Guccione will be active in this election bringing the full force of his dirty campaign tactics against Hays' opponents, I know one of his opponents and if things get nasty Hays and Guccione had better brace themselves.

Hays has never campaigned, he's never been in the trenches and is enjoying his appointment to the board at the dismay of many Ward 3 residents who had no choice in his representation. He will be relying heavily on Guccione's campaign machine to beat his more qualified and highly experienced opponent. Guccione and Hays have become thicker than fleas on a hound dog's ears, arriving early to have their clandestine meetings in the mayor's office to plan their strategies. Guccione is parading him all over town including him in all of his mayoral functions. As a resident of Ward 3, I resent the mayor's total lack of care and concerns regarding his Ward 3 constituents.

Linda L. Wright is still an unknown to me. I have heard that she decided to oppose Hays strictly because of the way Guccione handled the appointment and she sounds like a very concerned citizen of Ward 3. I'm not sure how much she will campaign since she now knows that Hays will have a formidable opponent.

Darrel Lackey is no stranger to Wentzville, serving two terms as Mayor, three terms as Alderman of Ward 2, and two terms as Alderman of Ward 3. I had the pleasure of having Lackey represent me and was impressed with his no nonsense attitude toward our City government. He was responsive to citizen requests and concerns throughout his career in Wentzville Government.

Lackey was the butt of Guccione's dirtiest campaign tactics when he ran against him last year for Mayor. It is my belief that if Lackey hadn't entered the race on the last day of registration he would be sitting in the Mayor's office today. Lackey re-entered Wentzville politics winning his first term as Ward 3 Alderman in 2002 when the City was in the grip of the tyrant Mayor Vickie Boedeker where he helped bring a sense of peace back into the City. Deja vu, now we have an unqualified, ineffective mayor, Nickolas Guccione doing his best to throw Wentzville back into the dark ages. Darrel Lackey is not the kind of elected official to pander to special interests or grant favors, he is a common sense legislator who represents his constituents. Lackey left Wentzville Government to run for a seat on the St. Charles County Council.

Municipal Judge

Michael E. Carter vs. Steve Martin (incumbent)

Michael Carter: Michael Carter served as Wentzville's Municipal Judge from 2009 to 2011 when he lost his reelection bid to our current Judge Steve Martin. Carter was disliked by our Police Department due to his habit of reducing fines set by ordinance and releasing prisoners. His actions reduced the police budget so much that our Mayor Lambi and Aldermen took action to limit his authority and even talked of having him removed from office. Carter created an unhealthy and even unsafe environment in our city for the residents of Wentzville because of the disturbance he created in our police department. Carter campaigned actively for Nick Guccione and there's no doubt his support will be reciprocated by the mayor. Many people see judges on the ballot and don't have a clue which one to vote for, be assured, Carter is not the man for Wentzville  If you have thoughts of voting for Carter, ask any Wentzville police officer who served during his term as judge for their opinion of his time on the bench.

Stephen Martin (Incumbent), Judge Martin was elected against a field of six candidates in the 2011 election. His service over the past two years has resulted in the restoration of the Police budget which was almost destroyed by his predecessor. He is revered by the Police Department and City Hall as a good and fair judge. The people should be proud to have Judge Martin on our Municipal Court bench.

According to public record, when Martin was elected, Carter had left him $220,000 in uncollected fines. During his time in office Martin had assessed $1.1 million fines and collected $1.3 million. Martin has streamlined the court system reducing court sessions and paperwork. When you go into the voting booth, The Wentzvillian recommends pulling the trigger for Judge Steve Martin.

Guccione Politicizes Street Renaming

Everyone has heard the talk of renaming one of our historic streets, what everyone doesn't know is how it all started and who was pushing. Once residents got wind of what the City was about to do, they began calling their Aldermen and several organizations in town  were motivated to oppose the change. The petitioner withdrew their request, the resolution was tabled, and citizens began breathing easier knowing that their historic street names would not change, unfortunately, this is when things escalated ... in the beginning:

Mayor Nickolas Guccione, owing the local NAACP for supporting him in his election last year, advised Mr. Curtis Davis of that organization, to write a formal letter to the City requesting the change of Kohrs Avenue to Dr, Martin Luther King Drive. When he received their letter Guccione drafted a resolution: "Resolution No. 12-472 Providing to Approve to Change the Name of Kohrs Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, and Matters Relating Thereto," and presented it to the Aldermen for adoption or rejection. Interestingly, the resolution did not go through Planning and Zoning for their recommendation instead, Guccione circumvented the system and brought it straight to the Board of Aldermen. He did what he is best at; manipulation of the system in an effort to pull a fast one and put our good Aldermen on the spot. No one in the City could draft a resolution and present it to the board without going through channels other than the Mayor. If anyone is looking for who was responsible for this entire thing this is proof that Guccione was behind it all. At any rate, the Aldermen tabled the resolution until it could be investigated properly.

Since Kohrs Avenue is in Ward 1, Alderman Cheryl Kross called for the petitioner to meet in City Hall to determine what they were asking and things got hairy; George Kolb, City Administrator got involved suggesting a more high profile street to rename, and Nick Guccione took a powder leaving Alderman Kross holding the bag. He is a master of deception; it is leaked that Kross is in support of the street naming because she's running the meeting, Guccione leaves no trace of his involvement, and his plan to replace her in the upcoming election is in full swing by recruiting Robery Hussey to run against her. His only tie; the illegal resolution that did not go through the process, he must have figured no one would notice.

Today, Alderman Kross is facing another election where Mayor Guccione has recruited her opponent and he's determined to get her out. Armed with the lie that Kross is behind the street renaming fiasco, Guccione is out there hand in hand with Hussey spreading it to the HOA's and other public venues. Speaking of that, I find it interesting that Mayor Guccione is including his candidates; Hays and Hussey, and politicizing his duties as Mayor. Something stinks unethical there, but that's our beloved mayor, he is drawn like a moth to a flame whenever questionable ethics is about.

This Wednesday night at the regular Board of Aldermen meeting the resolution is back on the agenda. Alderman Kross is bringing it back off of the table to be voted down once and for all. Other than Guccione, George Kolb has been it's largest proponent and Wednesday is his final meeting as the interim City Administrator. Now we need to figure out a way of keeping Guccione from sneaking in a resolution memorializing our streets, after all he did make a promise to Curtis Davis of the NAACP and you can bet he's not finished. Mayor Guccione is responsible for a lot of our problems in the city today and this context is the only time the words "Guccione" and "responsible" should be used in the same sentence.

The Race Is On

In just a couple of months it'll be election time again  and now that the deadline for the registration of candidates is passed we need to look at those who have decided to seek office. Last year's slate was filled with characters steeped in controversy, fortunately most of them have decided not to defile this election. Unfortunately for us, the leader of the underhanded hoard of last year's preditors will remain seated in City Hall for three more agonizing years—maybe. This devious group jumped on honest candidates like a school of piranhas on a naked missionary. Ethics was a huge concern last year and because Alderman Nick Guccione ran one of the most vile and unethical campaigns in the history of Wentzville the Aldermen found it necessary to amend municipal code. Coincidentally, that ordinance providing for a new "code of ethics" and adopting a "political activity policy" was made law last Wednesday evening. That ordinance change will implement legal recourse should another band of knuckleheads want to abuse the system. To my way of thinking, since it was created to stop unethical behavior like that which our mayor used to get elected it should be called the Anti-Guccione Policy.

The Horse Race

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross (Incumbent): Alderman Kross is seeking her third term representing the residents of Ward 1. She is credited with being the first Alderman to crack the ultra-liberal nut(s) that had a grip on our city for too many years. She took the chauvinistic taunting of Mayor Lambi for three years and hung in trying to bring some sense of order to an extremely dysfunctional Board of Aldermen led by the Lurchettes. Her conservative values led to Wentzville's budget finally being free of excessive waste and feel-good spending. She has been one of Wentzville's most responsive to concerns of her constituents regardless of the magnitude of importance. In my opinion, Alderman Kross has earned a third term.

Robert Hussey: Mr Hussey is a friend of Mayor Guccione. He has experience with being a City Administrator and Guccione tried to get him in the back door by attempting to influence the Alderman. He was told that applicants are not supposed to have any contact with the Mayor or Aldermen through the process yet he still knocked on one alderman's door and the Gooch is still trying to push him into City Hall. Since he is supported by a mayor that I find totally incompetent, I urge voters to disregard this candidate.

Ward 2



Chris Gard (Unopposed)

Ward 3



Darrel Lackey: Lackey is a long time resident of Wentzville and a very active community-minded citizen. He is a financial advisor with an office here in the Trinity Building and very informed regarding city politics. His record of public service is long:.

• Wentzville Alderman, Ward 2 1987-1992 (3 terms)
• Wentzville Mayor 1992-1995 (2 terms)
• Wentzville Alderman, Ward 3 2002-2006 (2 terms)
• Wentzville Township Committeeman 2004-2010 (3 terms)

Darrel Lacky has been and will again be a strong asset to Wentzville City Hall. My vote goes for Darrel Lackey to be Alderman of Ward 3.

Michael (Mike) Hays (appointed by Mayor): Most people who are familiar with Wentzville politics know the story about Hays. He is the person that Mayor Guccione was talking about when trying to fill his vacated Ward 3 seat; "It's my appointment, it's my appointment, bla, bla, bla." The Aldermen rejected this appointment until Guccione finally appointed John Luby, who was accepted. A month later Luby hands in his resignation, walked off the job, and Guccione's crying started all over again; "It's my appointment, it's my appointment, bla, bla, bla." Rather than listen to Guccione's constant whining they approved his appointment and Hays was installed. I am represented in Ward 3 by someone who withdrew from the general election of 2012 in anticipation of Guccione getting elected and being appointed by the mayor to his vacated seat. I disapprove of Hays representing me and had he not withdrawn last year he would have been crushed by Alderman Rick Stokes reelection. Guccione will use all his resources getting his buddy elected whether it's good for the city or not.

Linda L. Wright: Ms. Wright in unknown in Wentzville politics.

Municipal Judge

Steve Martin: (Incumbent) Judge Martin was elected against a field of six candidates in the 2011 election. His service over the past two years has resulted in the restoration of the Police budget which was almost destroyed by his predecessor. He is revered by the Police Department and City Hall as a good and fair judge. The people should be proud to have Judge Martin on our Municipal Court bench.

Michael Carter: Michael Carter served as Wentzville's Municipal Judge from 2009 to 2011 when he lost his reelection bid to our current Judge Martin. Carter was disliked by our Police Department due to his habit of reducing fines set by ordinance and releasing prisoners. His actions reduced the police budget so much that our Mayor Lambi and Aldermen took action to limit his authority and even talked of having him removed from office. Carter created an unhealthy and even unsafe environment in our city for the residents of Wentzville because of the disturbance of our police patrolmen. Carter campaigned actively for Nick Guccione and there's no doubt his support will be reciprocated by the mayor. For my money, Carter is almost as big a smart-ass as I am—and that's saying something. If you have thoughts of voting for Carter, ask any Wentzville police officer who served during his term as judge for their opinion of his time on the bench.

The Ticket Is Set For April 3rd

This is going to be a hard-fought election. I can see difficult times for legitimate candidates fighting off the "anonymous" personal attacks, unfounded ethics violations, disguised campaign media photo-ops, slander, and smack coming from Boedeker's Flying Monkeys, Schuette's Lurchettes, Sherwood's Bananas, and Guccione's Stooges. Of these, none have a platform and they will strive to downgrade and discredit anyone who opposes one of "their own" rather than work toward the betterment of Wentzville. Donna Sherwood and Nick Guccione are doing their best to cloud the election by recruiting candidates that they hope will confuse the voters giving them an advantage should they be elected. It is my duty, as a believer in honesty and good government in Wentzville, to do what I can to expose their conspiracy. If one does not campaign fairly and ethically on their own merit, how could you ever expect them to govern fairly or ethically? I have identified six legitimate candidates who will work for Wentzville, the balance has been lined through. Here is the ticket as it's stands today, Wednesday January 18, 2012 following the last day of filing.

MAYOR:

Bill "Lurch" Schuette

Nickolas  Guccione

LEON TOW
DARREL LACKEY

ALDERMAN, WARD ONE:

Jay Webber

FORREST GOSSETT

ALDERMAN, WARD TWO:

Donna  "Bananas" Sherwood

SONYA SHRYOCK

Jeremy Pritchett

ALDERMAN, WARD THREE:

RICK STOKES (incumbent)

Rodney E. "Rod" Stratman

Curtis Davis

Beginning with Mayor, in the order of filing:

Bill "Lurch" Schuette: One of the original Flying Monkeys, he was alderman of ward 2 for four years planted by Mayor hopeful Vickie Boedeker in her plot to control the Board of Aldermen. In his time he helped create a board of extreme left-wing wackos; the Lurchettes. He is confrontational, loud, arrogant, an intimidator, and a regular Darth Blowhard. With no platform other than chaos and special interests he brought forth nothing of importance and supported higher-taxes along the way. His absurd actions in chambers included bringing forth an ordinance to have city snowplows clean the driveways of certain people in Wentzville. His posse was supportive until it was noted that it was statutorily illegal. Lurch tried to win his Ward 2 seat back in April 2011 but the voters wanted nothing to do with him and had enough of his embarrassing antics. I crossed his name out because he is truly bad news. I can't understand why he thinks after losing in his own ward, he believes he can smoke-screen the rest of the city into giving him the top-spot.

Nickolas Guccione: Guccione is a follower and the last of the Lurchettes. Being lost and all alone on the Board for the past year has elevated his frustration level and caused him to overload into doing desperate things. His claim to fame, other than opposing the Board on almost every important issue, is pandering to special interest groups. He brought into public meetings; dog enthusiasts to support his trivial ordinance introductions, city employees to support his flip on budget issues, and he supported the unionization of Wentzville's police department which eventually failed. In addition, at every available opportunity he voted against Sam's Club coming to Wentzville, and he opposed the real estate tax-cut introduced by Alderman Rick Stokes, that passed by a majority of the Board.  Nick believes this; the more special interest groups he greases, the better his chances are of getting elected. He is following the Boedeker Model of politics which is to control elections and dominate city hall. His "good old boy" plan is no longer wanted in Wentzville, his name has been scratched. He was unopposed in 2011 and I firmly believe that when he loses this election, he will lose his re-election attempt in April of 2013, Citizen voters in Wentzville's ward 3 are not as stupid as he seems to think. I am reminded of a comment from one of my readers which is so true: "Nick will vote the way the last person calling him wants him to vote." I want to remind voters, if he is elected he will have the authority to nominate one of his Stooges to fill his vacated Ward 3 seat and it will be the one failed Ward 3 candidate listed above. Guccione made promises to both of these men; "If one of you beat Rick Stokes and get me elected, I'll appoint the other one to my vacated seat."

Leon Tow and Darrel Lackey: I know both of these men and have seen them in action, they both have great integrity and outstanding records in City Hall. This race between Tow and Lackey should be billed as "The Clash of the Titans." I believe that either of these two would make an excellent Mayor and are the only legitimate candidates in the Mayor race. I only hope that voters realize that the other two candidates are completely incompetent and elect Leon Tow or Darrel Lackey to be the next Mayor of Wentzville. Both Candidates are 40 year residents of Wentzville and both have served in elected office for over 14 years, they know well the needs and problems of our city.

WARD 1 Candidates

Jay Webber: The only thing I know for sure about Mr. Webber is that he is one of Gucciones Stooges which is no reflection on his character because I believe (along with all the other Guccione recruits) he was duped. Guccione told me of his plants in the election for the board to gain power, whether he wins or loses his bid for Mayor he wants one, two or even three stooges to vote with him. Unfortunately for Mr. Webber, he is one of them and I cannot support the unethical conspiracy of his dark side master; Nick Guccione. Mr. Webber, if you think Guccione is an intelligent and effective alderman who represents the citizens of Ward 3, you are sorely mistaken.

Forrest Gossett: I have had several conversations with Mr. Gossett and even though he openly said that he thinks "the writings of The Wentzvillian are bombastic" (which I had to look up), in the first five minutes of the conversation, I knew I was talking with an educated and highly-intelligent candidate. His agenda is honorable and will appear here at a later date. He is my choice to fill Leon Tow's vacant Ward 1 seat on the board of Aldermen.

WARD 2 Candidates

Donna "Bananas" Sherwood: This is Sherwood's third attempt at being Alderman of Ward 2. I have no clue what she is running on, and neither does she, but I do know that she is one of Guccione's Stooges (Moe). She was originally a loudmouth vocal supporter of "Boedeker for Mayor" and when that failed (twice) she supported Lurch in his alderman races.  Due to the fact that she hated Mayor Lambi so much, for beating her beloved Vickie, she flipped to campaign for Leon Tow against him. It is a fact that every single Mayor candidate she has supported has lost the election, including her own two shots at being alderman. Flipping once again, now she is hawking for Guccione against Leon Tow and serving on his election committee as campaign manager, she is determined to ride someones coat-tails right into a seat in ward 2. She wants to be "inside" so bad, she'll use any deceitful-underhanded trick she can think of including filing documented false ethics violations against opponents. Just this past weekend she violated City Ordinance 405.580 by placing her campaign signs out more than 60 days before the election, Guccione should be proud. She has illustrated her disregard for laws and regulation numerous times and it won't stop if she should be elected. I don't think she has figured out that Wentzville really doesn't want her or her dinosaur tactics in city hall. When she loses she'll be back next year and the year after that, ad infinitum. Around town she's been called many, many unflattering things that I won't put here but one thing is for sure; if the good citizens of ward 2 elect her to represent them, they deserve her. She is a definite thumbs down loser.

Sonya Shryock and Jeremy Pritchett have placed their platform here and both seem qualified to be Alderman of Ward 2. I'm sure they should prepare themselves for attacks of all sorts from Bananas Sherwood simply because she's Gucciones Moe Stooge and Guccione hates them for running from his offer "to come over" to his dark side of the force. I like both candidates and will listen with the voters to their campaigns as they go along. At least, they have talked about issues intelligently and both seem eager and enthusiastic for the job, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about their opponent.

Ward 3 Candidates

Michael Hays, recruited by Guccione, filed early in the race but withdrew his candidacy late yesterday afternoon. Rodney Stratman and Curtis Davis: These two candidates are Nick Guccione's attempt to stack the Ward 3 deck. Split the vote so thin that one of his Stooges can sneak in to beat incumbent Rick Stokes. If indeed this is what happens and Bananas Sherwood can win in Ward 2, he'll have a banana-split board and be able to break ties. A classic "good old boy" tactic that is used by candidates for mayor who cannot win on their own merit or gain support for their own special interests. Ward 3 voters need to know that these candidates running in Ward 3 never had the inclination to become an alderman until Nick Guccione recruited them. Ask yourself the question: What will any of these men do for Wentzville if they are elected? The answer is; blindly vote with Guccione every time on every issue just as he did when he was blindly following his master; Lurch Schuette. Being a resident of Ward 3, I deplore Guccione's politics and his admitted conspiracy. The Wentzvillian will do everything it can, on this blog and others, to see to it that he is put where he belongs; with Lurch—out of city hall.

There is only one legitimate candidate for Ward 3, Incumbent Rick Stokes. His record in his first term (in only the first 18 months of office) is nothing short of incredible. He gathered support from other Alderman and demanded staff  to cut Wentzville real estate taxes by $500,000. Stokes supported Alderman Cheryl Kross to bring back the "Storm Water Utility Tax," which would have cost homeowners and businesses over $300,000 a year, to throw it in the trash. He is responsible for having city staff investigate all city contracts to find and stop waste spending. In only 18 months, of his first term with his initiatives, he accomplished more than any alderman I've seen on the board over the last ten years. He is truly a representative of citizens and taxpayers, I am proud to call him my Alderman in Ward 3. Anyone in Wentzville who owns a home, business or pays taxes should realize his potential and vote him in for another two year term. He has served with honor, integrity, and always on the side of Wentzville, I am excited for the future of Wentzville with his energy and leadership in city hall.

Bill Schuette, Nick Guccione, and Bananas Sherwood's brand of political contrivances are why Americans don't trust politicians. It is hoped that my readers will agree that we are fed up with it. If you want fairness and ethics back in Wentzville, spread the word about Guccione's conspiracy and his Stooges, together we can really make Wentzville great.

For those on the dark side of the force who are concerned with The Wentzvillian's influence upon potential voters have no fear, we only received a mere 5,500 page views in the last 30 days, we're still a small-town blog. Read that statistic as you will but I'm sure that one or two of my readers vote. Our goal is to have between 7,500 to 10,000 readers by April 3, 2012.