Wentzville—The Campaign Created Kingdom?

 

As most educated voters know, Mayor Nickolas Guccione is deeply involved in Wentzville politics. They know of his desire to control the Board of Aldermen and that his campaigns have  had a documented record of using any dirty, mud-slinging, and deceptive tactic necessary to achieve his goal. It's easy to deduce from his unethical election practices when he was pardoned by Mayor Paul Lambi that he has no thought of Wentzville other than to have total control over it by any means necessary. Mayor Guccione is not the sharpest tack in the box as illustrated by his consistant use of deceit, deception, and diversion during any election he's ever been involved in, or one he feels will help him with his control agenda. It is for these reason's he wants to remove two of the top three achieving incumbent aldermen, he cannot control them and he hates both of them.

The election coming in April will be fraught with dirt thrown by Cuccione's camp. This year there are three targets in his cross hairs, Rick Stokes, Forrest Gossett, and The Wentzvillian. I didn't know that The Wentzvillian was running for election but Guccione obviously does, so he'll use any means to discredit it. He is deeply concerned that there are too many facts coming out here that focus too closely on his record and meddling in elections when he should be dealing with the many problems in the city. It's hard to focus on his job as mayor when he has candidates lined up for his support to help him achieve his Socialist ideas for Wentzville. You will see him at the polls in April handing out his city business cards and hawking votes for his anointed few, with a little luck he'll violate the political activity policy as he did in past elections, with a little more luck the aldermen will do something about it this time.

It's unfortunate that candidates in an election can't run on their own merit, especially when it's one of those running in Guccione's stable. When you're going up against two-term Alderman and two-time President of the Board, Rick Stokes, who championed the half-million dollar real property tax reduction in his first term and since brought forward countless initiatives to the credit of Wentzville. It's difficult for anyone to run against that kind of record, but that didn't stop Guccione from lining up Linda Wright to do just that. This race is like David and Goliath but Guccione feels, with just the right amount  cash and discrediting he could have beaten Abe Lincoln with a chimpanzee. Guccione, for the past few months, has been trying to dig up anything he can find, or dream up to unseat Stokes, watch to see the mud start flying at Stokes soon.

Look similarly at trash being piled up on our Sunday school teaching Alderman, Forrest Gossett, as Guccione presses his flawed candidate, Robert Hussey against him. Last time Hussey ran against Cheryl Kross with over $6,000 in his war chest and Guccione in his corner. It's revealing to see him fight so hard to secure an alderman seat that pays $4,500 a year—there's something wrong with this scenario. Guccione's idea of how to win an election is simple; more money and a higher pile of trash will get results. Using this method, he's certain that he could have beaten Lincoln with his chimpanzee. Unfortunately for him, and good for Wentzville, he didn't pile up enough of either to seat Hussey over Kross. Robert Hussey is going to have a difficult time overcoming his record of being fired from Dardiene Prairie, but Guccione will try.

The question is: Why? Why does Guccione want to remove two of the most highly-educated, productive, and informed Aldermen ever to be elected in Wentzville, replacing them with flawed or unqualified candidates who have already proven they were unelectable just last year? This question is complicated but very simple at the same time.

The Wentzvillian has always contended that Nickolas Guccione is all about politics, city business pales in comparison to getting himself or someone else elected, government seems to be a game to him. It has been his goal in the executive branch to have complete control over the legislative branch of government, thus taking away any aldermanic representation of the citizens of Wentzville. Were he able to do this, his "It's my way or the highway" brand of law-making would take away the voice of thousands of Wentzville residents. This is not a government of the people it's a Monarchy, what the King says, goes. Mayor Nickolas Guccione doesn't necessarily want citizens to respect him for the job he's supposed to be doing, but rather wants them to love him, and show that love at the ballot box.

Since being elected mayor, he appears to be using his office to trade favors for votes. You may think this far-fetched, but is it? Last year, Mayor Nickolas Guccione pardoned a private citizen, business owner, for not filing for his liquor license on time. There was no monetary fine attached with his lack of filing for the licence and Guccione stated publicly; "It's kind of an emergency." The emergency was that the service station owner would need to wait 30 days to re-apply for his license and unable to sell liquor until that time. Since when does our government intervene in its process in favor of a negligent business owner who is obviously incapable of running his business without a king throwing out the law. Another incident took place recently when a private citizen got him to order a police escort to drive a golf cart from the golf course into downtown Wentzville. One phone call to a local tow company would have garnered the same result without any cost to the city.

These are not isolated instances of the power he wants to wield over Wentzville, and the way to do that is to throw out any logical-thinking member of the Board of Aldermen and replace them with people who will give him his head. Currently those supporting Guccione on the Board of Aldermen is Michael Hays and Cheryl Kross, he needs to get rid of Stokes or Gosset to maintain tie control but eliminate both for a total kingdom. Should he get his way, the city won't need aldermen and could trade the mayor's gavel for a crown.

The biggest puzzle in this city is Cheryl Kross. She is staying out of supporting either Stokes or Gossett in favor of Guccione and his plot. Kross isn't an unintelligent individual by any stretch, and has always claimed to have conservative values, so why she is going along with this Socialist way of government? It's baffling, especially since she has designs on being Mayor in 2016, and needs to win her seat in 1015. Both Gossett and Stokes have supported her in every election in an effort to keep insanity from taking power over the board, yet it seems that by her lack of support for her old comrades, she's inviting Guccione to impose all sorts of lunacy into city that she will be powerless to stop after the election of Guccione's recruits. She may as well be campaigning for Hussey and Wright when she turns her back on Stokes and Gossett. Two years ago she activly campaigned for Alderman Leon Tow againts "Guccione for Mayor," and now through her silence is advocating Guccione for King. Alderman Kross needs a reality check if Wentzville is going to continue digging out of the many problems facing it.

Mayor Nickolas Guccione hates The Wentzvillian and will use any deception he can to shut it down because he finally realizes that his record, which is being reported here, is damaging his plot to be the King of Wentzville. Fearful, like a rat in a corner he's lashing out trying to frighten someone who will be here reporting on Wentzville politics long after he's a bad memory. Mr. Mayor, if you want to shut me up, start looking out for the welfare of our city rather than control of it. Start acting like a rational mayor of a great city and learn how to make Wentzville a better place, not a palace.

(To my devout readers, and also those of little faith: I've heard about imitators and impostors out there and The Wentzvillian wants to assure you first;—I don't care—and second; the only place The Wentzvillian posts comments or reports is right here on this blog since 2006. The Wentzvillian does not post on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network so if you want to read what The Wentzvillian has to say, you'll find it here exclusively. The impostors out there are fear driven, by the same folks who will bring you trash-talk about Rick Stokes and Forrestt Gosset—guess who? He used this tactic during the election of 2012, it didn't work then and it won't divert the Wentzvillian from posting the facts regarding the political activity of Mayor Nickolas Guccione and his machine today. The Wentzvillian is flattered to know they are so concerned by this blog that they would imitate it. Everytime you attack it, or refer to it, a larger spike in readership results. The Wentzvillian is encouraged to know that a nerve has been struck. I'll keep up the good work—thanks for your assistance in spreading the message of The Wentzvillian!)
 

The "Unholy Alliance" Exposed!

 

Wentzville residents need to know why there are so many messed up things going on in our City Government. It's time to tell the whole story, that would have gone unheard had it not been brought to my readers here. So I'm ready to come clean about the reasons behind why Alderman Cheryl Kross abandoned the rational side of the Board of Aldermen to snug up to the most governmentally maladroit mayor of Wentzville in it's history — Nickolas Guccione.

A most unlikely confederation, since Kross is a Tea Party ultra-conservative, and Guccione a radical Obama Socialist-liberal, you'd kinda hope they'd cancel each other out, but they don't. I'm also braced to make another political adversary; Alderman Sonya Shryock, because of her incessant, and petty accusations that Chief of Police, Lisa Harrison, is engaged in unethical behavior and thereby needs to change her "no fraternizing with elected officials" policy, or be removed from her office. Guccione wants to promote his police friend to be Chief and Shryock may want hers ennobled, both of which are currently employed by the Wentzville Police Department.

 

In order to tell this story we need to go back in time to before the election of 2012 when Alderman Nickolas Guccione used unethical, and illegal means to beat Alderman Leon Tow to become mayor. Guccione was pardoned for his crimes against the City by the outgoing mayor, Paul Lambi, and later apologized to the board for being a sneaky, underhanded rat.

 

The conservative members of the board, at that time; Leon Tow, Chris Gard, Rick Stokes, and Cheryl Kross had several meetings with a prominent supporter (who will remain unnamed) to choose the candidate who would oppose Guccione. The choices were between Tow and Kross, with Tow being the final selection due to his time and experience in Wentzville Government. I  remember meeting with Kross when she asked my opinion whether or not she should run for Mayor. I told her that since the term changed to four years, if she didn't do it now, she may never get another chance. She never told me what she decided to do but I understand that the group met the next day and selected Tow. Kross came away bitter but supported the group's choice and assisted by campaigning for Tow.

 

After the election of 2012, Stokes was sworn-in to his second term as Alderman of Ward 3, and also elected to his second consecutive term as President of the Board of Aldermen. This is when Kross snapped, she wanted to run for mayor but when she didn't, she figured she'd be the next board president. When that didn't happen her deportment changed, she began voting irrationally, and her hatred of Stokes grew, she did anything she could to get back at him. It was three months prior to the 2012 election that she flipped on her vote to allow Guccione's appointment of Michael Hays to take a seat next to Stokes in Ward 3. The Guccione/Kross connection had been made, oil and water mixed and crazy things began happening again in Wentzville government as it did during the days of the Lurchettes (Bill [Lurch] Schuette, John Luby, and Nickolas Guccione). Kross must take great pride in destroying a board that had worked so hard to finally bring sanity back to Wentzville government, even with a dysfunctional Executive Branch. It's all about her pride and revenge today, she has sold out her core values and turned her back on good-government in the name of petty vanity. Unity of the board was the watchword, they made a difference in the way Wentzville government operated in a fair and orderly manner. All of our aldermen should be applauded for what they accomplished before the 2013 election; Tow, Kross, Gard, Stokes, Sample, Shryock, and Gossett.

 

It was this same 2012 election that brought Sonya Shryock to the Board of Aldermen for Ward 2. Shryock has struggled to assimilate in her first term and was drawn to her new mentor, the now very bitter Cheryl Kross. They began voting in a block and with Hays being there to vote anyway Guccione wanted him to vote, the shift from sanity to chaos was in full swing.

 

Shryock didn't like Guccione and displayed it frequently in her first year, but when Chief Harrison made a departmental policy to disallow her officers to socially fraternize with elected officials, Shryock went on a witch-hunt that included the Chief of Police and our City Attorney. Shryock had made friends with a few of our police officers, one of which a lieutenant, and was not going to allow Harrison to stop her from seeing her friends in social settings. Now Shryock had a common thread with Guccione, they both didn't want Harrison to be Chief of Police in Wentzville and they both had it in for Paul Rost. All of a sudden, oil and water mixed again and the Unholy Alliance of Guccione, Kross, Hays, and Shryock was assembled, they were determined to take over and in a big way. The best interest of the City is not on their agenda, it has all gotten very personal.

 

So this is how it started, and that brings us to the past few months. I'm going to start with Shryock because the incidents surrounding her drive to make Chief Harrison change her "No Fraternization" policy or be replaced, has had a butterfly effect that led to Attorney Rost and Wentzville's legal service company, Cunningham, Vogel, and Rost, P.C., to refuse a six-month contract and subsequently go hourly until the City can get a new City Attorney, tick-tock, tick-tock, cha-ching.

 

In a memorandum released by the St. Charles Prosecuting Attorney titled: "Subject: Special Investigation — Misuse of Official Information by Police Officer Julie Jackson," some very interesting interviews took place between Shryock and President of the Board, Rick Stokes, with St. Charles investigators. This may get confusing but I will try to sort it out as I go along.

In the interview of Alderman Rick Stokes by the St. Charles investigators, dated September 5, 2013 in part reads: "... Stokes said that on August 20, 2013, Shryock called him on the telephone and stated that she had a 'couple of citizens' that had complained to her that they thought it was 'unethical' for the police chief (Harrison) to be dating a member of the 'Police Chief's Association.' She (Shryock) further said that these 'citizens' saw an unmarked SUV parked overnight at Harrison's residence and that 'they' knew who the SUV belonged to. ... Stokes then asked Shryock if the 'citizens' were law enforcement officers and she responded that she didn't want to give names. Stokes further advised that he had told Shryock that she should contact the City Attorney and should not conduct her own investigation into this matter. Shryock responded that she had already talked to the City Attorney and he advised her to stay away from this matter and the Chief's private affairs, unless she had evidence that the Chief's private associations resulted in personal or financial gains or some kind of criminal activity. Stokes informed her that she should follow this advice and that failure to do so could result in some type of civil lawsuit."

Now I want to jump to the interview of Alderman Sonya Shryock conducted by the St. Charles investigators dated September 11, 2013: "... Shryock said that in response to this citizens complaint, she did some checking and determined that the described vehicle was not a Wentzville Police vehicle and the male subject, who drove it, did not fit the description of any Wentzville officers. What!, How on earth could she have possibly known that?...Hmmm! However, Shryock said that she later learned from 'someone' (name unrecalled) that Chief Harrison was dating someone from the Missouri Chief's Association. She told Stokes in his statement that she "didn't want to give names" and to the investigator, "she couldn't remember names." She also told Stokes that the citizen knew who the vehicle belonged to, and to the investigator she learned the name later. ...Hmmm! When asked if either the 'citizen' that made the original complaint or the person that said Chief Harrison was dating someone from the Police Chief's Assn., was a police officer, Shryock said, 'No.' She further added that no one from the police department has talked to her about this matter." Shryock admitted that she has friends on the Wentzville Police Department and that she did her own 'checking,' but no one in the police department talked to her about this...Hmmm!

Again from Shryock's statement to the investigator: "...Shryock stated that after learning that Chief Harrison may be dating someone from the Missouri Police Chief's Assn., she became concerned that this may be a 'conflict of interest' and raise some ethical issues. ... As a result, she reported this matter to Mayor Nick(olas) Guccione, who instructed her to discuss it with Paul Rost, the City Attorney. Shryock said that the city attorney advised her that this was a personal matter, concerning Chief Harrison and she should not pursue it any further." Good advice!

"Shryock indicated that she became frustrated after her discussion with the city attorney, as she felt this issue, as to a potential conflict of interest, should be addressed. Could it be that she was more interested in seeing her police friends socially, than solicitude regarding what an alleged conflict of interest charge could do to one's career? As a result, she informed Alderman Kross, Alderman Gard, and Alderman Stokes of this information." All of this after she was advised by the City Attorney to stay away from it, and don't talk about it.

"Shryock said she was later contacted by Alderman Gard and informed that Chief Harrison was concerned that a number of officers were going 'behind her back' and contacting certain city aldermen. He (Gard) further indicated that a lieutenant within the department could lose his job because Chief Harrison suspects him of going behind her back and reporting things to her (Shryock). She (Shryock) said this is not true and she is concerned that someone could lose his job based on false rumors." She's worried about a friend losing his job based on false rumors? What about Chief Harrison who could lose her job because of the false rumors Shryock started? What about the damage created by Shryock's allegations to Chief Harrison's reputation? And, what about Shryock's invasion of Harrison's privacy? This paragraph answers the question of why Alderman Chris Gard went off on Shryock during his "Alderman Report" at the meeting of the 9th of October which I posted on October 14th, We've Got to Stop Meeting Like This! (click here)

"Prior to the conclusion of the interview, Shryock again stated that this matter and the rumors have been blown way out of proportion, but reiterated that she still feels there are ethical issues, involving the Chief, that are apparently being ignored." The rumors were blown out of proportion because Shryock would not listen to the City Attorney who told her to let it go, and don't talk to anyone about it. There is much more in this 12 page investigative report and if anyone is interested to know the entire story, I suggest you hunt it down. This entire matter was created by Alderman Shryock and she has put a liability on the city if someone decides to sue Wentzville. Shryock should be investigated by the City and made to reveal her sources and/or censured for what she's done here. Shryock is a loose cannon on the board and is creating more problems than solutions but she does fit nicely into the Unholy Alliance of Guccione, Kross, and Hays.

So here we go; Shryock is now very angry with Rick Stokes for telling the investigators what she told him (Stokes), and angry with Attorney Paul Rost because he told her to let go of her alleged ethics violation charge against Chief Harrison. In my mind, I cannot reconcile why Shryock thinks she knows more about ethics than the City Attorney. Let's see, Guccione hates Stokes and is still seething at Rost for not helping him with his unethical campaign during the 2012 election. Kross hates Stokes for not supporting her 2012 desire to run for mayor, and beating her out of the Board President position. From what I've heard, Kross has no ax to grind (other than the "Nay" vote to hire Harrison) but if the rubber meets the road and the bus is aimed at Chief Harrison, Kross may very well go along just because the enemy of her enemy (Stokes) is her friend; Shryock and Guccione. Only one character left; Alderman Hays; he doesn't care what's going on, he is going to vote any way Guccione tells him to vote. There you have it, the reason, our legal services team quit the City, the reason Michael Hays was appointed to the Board of Aldermen, and why Cheryl Kross and Sonya Shryock jumped over to the dark side. This group is now legislating on; hate, anger, vanity, and ego, any questions?

Now for a note to Mayor Nickolas: Beware, Alderman Kross is only sucking up to you until after she secures her seat in the 2015 election. She wants to be in your good graces just until she can run against you for Mayor in 2016. Get the picture? And you thought Rick Stokes was going to be your main opponent. Why do you think Kross is attending organizational meetings all over town and every HOA she can make (even though most of them are not in her Ward 1), and joining any City committee you'll appoint her to. Is it possible she's doing the same thing you do, did, and are doing? Could it be that she's sneakier than you are?

 

Two Stooges Minus One

Another very good friend of mine, Ms. PSS was complaining to me last night that I need to start writing two times a day. She said that yesterday's A Poke In The Eye was great but she wanted more, so this half is dedicated to her. After watching the meeting of April 25th, I can say to her; have no qualms or trepidations, the vicissitudes you'll encounter will elevate you to a lofty understanding that the frivolities have just begun to actualize.

To continue: Nervous as expected, Mayor Guccione took the throne. It's a hard job speaking to a large group of people and he made his share of mistakes. In time he'll get the routine of chairing a governmental body, at least for the sake of the City, I can hope. His first order of business was to hold an election for the Board President, Alderman of Ward 3, Rick "Bulldog" Stokes won the honor, this is going to be an interesting challenge for Guccione to work closely with the Bulldog. Guccione's campaign committee filed an ethics violation against Stokes that cost him some heavy cabbage, I'm not suggesting that Stokes is not going to forgive Guccione but reaching into someones wallet is hard to forget, I wish them well on their liaison.

Mayor Guccione read his "Vision for the City speech," and the audience listened intently. He talked about wanting growth and keeping up with it. He wants a larger police department and more employees in his bureaucracy. As he stumbled through his oration, I tried desperately to figure out what his vision was. The things he said have been said by every mayor of Wentzville for the last 157 years—"where's the beef?" Our Mayor has no ideas for the future of Wentzville, everything he said was merely status quo and maintaining.

After really fumbling through the process of approving the "Consent Agenda," it came to appointments. I'm going to cut to the chase here and skipping the committee appointments to slip right into the Ward 3 vacant seat appointment. I'm puzzled here, Guccione said he's not going to announce the name of his choice until May the 9th, after he gets approval of each Board member. It is my understanding that he wants the Alderman to approve his appointment without knowing who his candidate is, what the cornbread-hell is that all about. How can they possibly give a blind nod to someone without knowing who it is? That doesn't seem like good government stewardship to me.

The discussion went on for quite a while and Guccione called on City Attorney Paul Rost on numerous occassions about "my appointment," he used that term at least a dozen times. I've never heard Rost talk that much in a meeting, it was as if Guccione was using him as his Assistant Mayor. Rost was busy that night, but when you have a Mayor who knows nothing about procedures, I guess he has no other recourse than to use the City's mouthpiece to carry him through the meeting. This isn't the end of Guccione's ignorance of governmental procedures, Assistant Mayor Rost will be in power until his contract expires and if last night is a preview of things to come, Guccione should sit on his lap and let Rost work his mouth. God knows somebody needs to.

I've heard Guccione talk about his candidate to fill his vacated seat and have picked up on a few things. He mentioned that there are at least three Aldermen who know him and that they like him. At the meeting he said something that gave it away for me; he said it is someone with experience. I can think of three names right of the top of my head; Darrel Lackey, Bob Smith and John Luby. After looking at this short list, Lackey is a big NO, Smith was on Leon Tow's campaign committee and that's more than likely another NO, and that leaves Luby. He was one of the original Lurchettes, served with Guccione, and is one of his close friends. This may be a no-brainer! I know Luby, he's one of the kindest people I know but he's not a representative of anyone. He was a follower on the Board of Aldermen and voted with the Lurchettes on some of the lousiest legislation ever to become law in Wentzville. Have I missed anything? I do not want him representing me in Ward 3 again and urge the Board to tell Gooch to appoint a legislator, not an indecisive sock-puppet.

Guccione stated that he will look at a list of names suggested by the Board but will not under any circumstances appoint one of them. It's his appointment and if the Board doesn't approve his choice, "We are dead-locked and the seat will remain empty until next years election." He is not going to compromise and will punish the citizens of Ward 3 in his personal vendetta. So much for being "the candidate of the people." This is pure Guccione the narcissist, hateful, unthinking, not caring, and totally unreasonable!

The meeting started promptly at 6:00pm and lasted until after 11:00pm, I left when they went into executive session, I'd had enough fun for one night. Lambi presided over 26 agenda items and seven or eight people speaking in open forum. The total time was less than two hours. Guccione, on the other hand, presided over 14 agenda items and the elapsed time was over three hours. I can see some late night meetings in the future when the agenda is full. Guccione will become flustered, use the staff attorney more than necessary, and need to be constantly reminded how to chair the meeting. Guccione lost control of the meeting and it resembled a round-table discussion at the United Nations, total anarchy. This will not change, Guccione has a control problem and he really believes he has the power to do anything he wants in City Hall, his power trip is going to get him in some deep problems. He'd better start working with the Aldermen, representing all the citizens (even those in Ward 3) and not just the little over 1000 voters who put him in office!

I see something coming to the Board of Aldermen meetings, I think they will become very Jerry Springeresque. This is bad for our City and reporters around the county and City of St. Louis will have a field day at every meeting. Mayor, don't make us ashamed to admit that our hometown is Wentzville! The things you say and do now are heard and seen by multitudes of people in the state, so please close your hole and try to act like you got some smarts!

City Logo, Public Domain?

Something that I've addressed in the past is the illegal use of the GM and City of Wentzville logos by Alderman Nick Guccione on his campaign literature. It was pointed out numerous times that they are proprietary and off limits without written authorization from the City. The logo was designed by Leon Tow and copyrighted by the City. I saw a campaign flier designed by Tow's committee for Mayor which illustrated the flag he had designed. Tow approached the city attorney asking his opinion and he suggested that it should not be used, even though it was taken prior to the copyright. Regatding the GM logo, I heard that Guccione got a nasty letter from GM but I have no information of any litigation or fine.

Wednesday evening, April 11th, during Guccione's Alderman's report, He apologized to the Board saying "it was used inadvertently" on some of his campaign fliers. I don't believe that it was an accident. I believe his use of the city logo was strategic. Even though none of the other candidates turned him over to the Ethics Board, where there would have been fines levied, the unauthorized use of copyrights is a serious offense. The Library of Congress has a team of attorneys waiting to be called in to deal with violators, which includes severe fines and even jail time. He said: "I didn't use it for promotion" which begs the question; why did he use it?

Guccione said to the Board that he takes responsibility for his committee and went on to tell them that he is ready to take any punishment or fine they deem appropriate. Guccione filed at least three ethics violations against candidates in this past election which resulted in fines for those candidates. He knew what he was doing then and realizes that at least one of those candidates won their election, that Alderman might not feel so forgiving. Guccione ran a terribly intrusive campaign with slander and ethics violations at it's core. He knew that those candidates would be fined by his actions and it will be interesting to see how his apology is received by this board, half of which were at the butt of his slam campaign and none of them returned his volleys.

Copyright fines at the Library of Congress are stiff and based on a per instance basis. Guccione used the city logo at least six times that I saw, there could be more. Copyright fines could start at $500 for the first instance and increased with each subsequent violation. Even at a flat rate fine of $500 per instance, Guccione could be in for a  lot more than he was looking for when he made his apology.

I don't know the city procedure for levying fines for copyright infringements but I'm sure something needs to be done. If nothing happens and the fine is minimal, I can see companies around town using it on their letterhead. Hell if it's cheap enough, I might even consider using it here on The Wentzvillian. It's in the hands of the Aldermen and city attorney. I wonder, since it's not a personnel issue, or land acquisition, would it be litigation and be held in closed session? I hope not, if it were a public hearing, the citizens would know that it's not OK to use the city logo and that healthy fines would insure it stay out of the public domain.

The Final Hour

The election is well under way and I did my civic duty first thing this morning, after which I visited several other polling places throughout the afternoon. The turnout seemed sparse and as a matter of fact I was the only one voting when I was there just after 8:00am. Spending time talking with quite a few of the campaign volunteers at various polling places they echoed my observation, it could be a slim day in the voting booths.

I'm not ashamed to say I voted for my Alderman Rick Stokes, he has accomplished miracles in his first two years on the Board and I hope he can continue working for us in Ward 3. I could not in good conscience vote for his opponent who is Nick Guccione's next door neighbor recruit and I hope the voters in Ward 3 have a similar view. For Mayor, the only thing I will tell you is; I made a non-Guccione and non-Schuette vote and trust my readers did the same, we really don't need one of those clowns running our city.

I drove down to the Wentzville Community Club Flea Market grounds to see who was there campaigning. Low and behold, right outside the front door sat at least a half-dozen Guccione supporters all holding signs. I did spot the Gooch right in the middle of them, sitting on his ass acting regal but not holding a sign, I guess sign-holding is beneath his pay-grade. I also met with Leon Tow and his lovely wife Mary who were busy helping people get to the polls, and I had a visit with the wife of Forrest Gossett.

At progress Park, I was greeted by Rick Stokes and his supporters, he told me that he feels good about his re-election. While talking with Alderman Stokes I couldn't help but notice Donna Sherwood sitting right in the middle of several handicapped parking spaces with a group of her flying monkeys. If anyone needed to park there, they'd have to run over her and her goon squad. Someone mentioned that she was handicapped, I had to agree, she is indeed.

A lot of folks say; "It doesn't matter who you vote for, just vote." Horse puckey it does matter who you vote for. That kind of thinking is why our country's government has lost touch with us. Think about who you're voting for, find out who they are and what they stand for, then and only then, vote.

It's two hours until the polls officially close at 7:00pm and then the candidates will be heading to their rally points to watch the results as they come in, I'll be there in support of Leon Tow and Darrel Lackey. If you've never been to one of these, they are real neat events where you meet new friends with similar views and all of them are concerned citizens of the community. If your candidate loses you'll be  down for awhile but if they win, it's a party. I hope the parties will be with the TOW or LACKEY, GOSSETT, SHRYOCK, and STOKES campaigns. Regardless of whether your candidate wins or loses, the party starts tomorrow for The Wentzvillian!

The Promise

To the good citizens of Wentzville,

It's Election Day here in Wentzville and I just read a mass mailed letter to a selected special interest group of voters from someone named Michael Rasher, the letter was a rant against Leon Tow, Rick Stokes, Chris Gard, and Sonya Shyrock. After looking into this person, I find he is not a registered voter in Wentzville, owns no property here, is not a resident, and there was no return address. He states things in the letter that could only have been fed him by none other than Nick Guccione and Donna Sherwood because the facts are so skewed, they make no sense.

In this letter he accuses Leon Tow of a plot to; "destroy city hall staff." Guccione/Sherwood/Rasher claim; "they fired Dianna Wright because she would not do unethical works," Nick Guccione was instrumental in "firing" Dianna Wright, without his motion, it's entirely possible that she could still be working for the city today. But of course telling that factoid would blow the whole fairy tale. Nick Guccione and Donna Sherwood are two of the most unethical candidates in the race today, if Wright was so ethical, why wouldn't Guccione lead the charge to fire her, as he did. This letter is just the finale to six months of unethical campaigning on their part and after reading the lie in just the second paragraph, the whole damn letter was discarded.

There's not much more I can say about Nick Guccione and Donna Sherwood that I haven't already said, but if they are elected I will have plenty more to expose. They don't like me much today but I don't really give a rats-ass what they like. I promise the citizens of Wentzville to continue exposing their self-serving agendas right out of office, but it won't be with lies, it will be with the truth supported by public record.

Nick, Donna, get ready, you are both in the sights of my microscope and no matter how disgusting that thought might be to me personally, anytime you try to pull your unethical crap on the citizens of Wentzville, you will pay for it. You can't hide, once your in the public eye and you think you can do anything you want to do, you're through! That is my promise to the citizens of Wentzville, especially those you used, lied to, and conned.

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!

Barbershop Campaign Chiautaqua

The election is just over two weeks away and the following notice was received by the "Wentzvillian" to be posted here for my readers. Bring your family to the S&K Barber Shop to meet and speak with candidates: Leon Tow, Mayor; Forrest Gossett, Alderman Ward 1; Sonya Shryock, Alderman Ward 2; and Rick Stokes, Alderman Incumbent Ward 3. about their plan for the future of our city.

Old-Fashioned

Campaign Chautauqua

Where:

S&K Barber Shop

604 West Pearce Blvd.

(Next to Subway Sandwich Shop)

Time:

March 21, 2012

10:00am to 2:00pm

Come out to this "old-time" meet and greet hosted by Steve and Ken of S&K Barber Shop. Your candidates for Wentzville will be there for your questions and conversation regarding issues facing our city. If you come in for a haircut between 10:00am and 2:00pm, you'll receive $2.00 off any standard cut. Find out what's happining and hear the candidates plan for the future of Wentzville in this unique forum. Here is your opportunity to meet a Mayor candidate and Aldermen candidates from each ward:

Mayor Candidate:

Leon Tow, Alderman Ward 1

 Aldermen Candidates:

Forrest Gossett, Ward 1

Sonya Shryock, Ward 2

Rick Stokes, Incumbent Ward 3

Come on out and visit with your candidates!

An invitation was given to all candidates running for office in the 2012 election to place their bio/platform here. This offer is open for any legitimate, independent-thinking, registered candidate to post their political platform/information. (If you are a candidate and want your information presented here, email it to: thewentzvillian@aol.com. Submissions will be posted in the order of receipt and unedited.)

Up Your Politics!

There was a conversation the other day in my favorite place—the local barbershop, about what else, politics. The subject revolved around guess who, Nick Guccione, and his pitiful record as Alderman in Ward 3. Let me tell you, if he'd been a fly on the wall, and if flies had ears, his would have been burning. This time of year politics is the topic of conversation almost everywhere but since this is a mayor election it's really intensified.

There were some things said that opened my eyes about Guccione and his attitude and actions throughout his political career. I use the term "political career" literally because that's exactly what he's had; a political career. To him, his job as alderman isn't to work for the city, it's to act, think, and spew full-time politics—to be elected or re-elected. Everything he says and does is political, be it in chambers or in public. There is no moment in time when he isn't pandering, campaigning, or snivelling about how unfair everyone is with him, "It's all about me again," poor me, poor me! If you look at his record of the last five years (and I have), he has contributed absolutely nothing in the Board of Aldermen meetings, he always follows the lead of someone else. His record is as ugly as a mud fence, not once did he introduce anything original that was codified.

Guccione doesn't speak in meetings, it stands to reason, if you don't know anything you can't say anything, intelligently anyway. When he does jump in, it's either to agree with someone or repeat something someone else had already said. When he does come up with something, it's either useless or political and he ends up eating another foot sandwich. For all he's accomplished they should set a bobble head on the Dias next to the Mayor and every once in a while he could flick it at the appropriate time, at least then he wouldn't be sticking his foot in his mouth any farther than it already is.

If something negative happens with his campaign and everyone is looking at him, he will blame it on anyone who is handy. He never takes responsibility for anything. When his campaign manager, Donna Sherwood, filed the false ethics violation against his opponent Leon Tow on behalf of his campaign committee he said; "I told her not to do it." It's all her fault, he'll find anyone he can to throw under the bus. That happened again last week when his crews were caught removing his opponent's (Darrel Lacky) campaign literature, "I didn't know they were doing that, they did it," everybody else is to blame. When he blabbed to the St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter about the confidential details surrounding the now famous secret meetings he said, "I didn't do it, it was the blog, the blog did it. I'll take a lie detector test" 

As I predicted, now he's done something reprehensible, he has started his smear campaign against Darrel Lackey. He took a 20 year old newspaper article and passed it around in his Coffee Talk without any knowledge of the subject and smeared Lackey's good name in front of the citizens in attendance. This is pure Sherwood who got it from Boedeker, it's the same tired old shit she tried almost 20 years ago, it didn't work then, and it won't work now! I know where Mr. Lackey told Guccione to stick his article and The Wentzvillian would be more than happy to help him in this effort. In case Guccione is curious, this crap he pulled is what inspired this blog today!

Sooner or later your lies get you in a corner and his ass is in the corner so tight it would take a tractor to break the suction. I would almost lay odds that he and Sherwood will not show up at Candidates Night. There is no way he can intelligently debate issues, especially with the likes of Leon Tow and Darrel Lacky and their combined 30+ years of service to Wentzville. That night Wentzville will find out the real truth about his knowledge of the city. Those who attend will have a moment of clarity and everyone will know that he is a loser. It's gonna be a party, those guys will eat his lunch!

Nick Guccione is a coward, he won't take responsibility for any of his actions or neglect and his record is more worthless than a shovel-full of chicken tracks. I can only imagine what he'd do to our city if he were to be elected Mayor. He isn't the greatest at taking good advice and he doesn't realize that history has a special place for politicians like him, especially in a small town like Wentzville. When he loses this election, I don't know how he's going to be able to face the Board of Aldermen, his constituents, and our new Mayor; Leon Tow or Darrel Lackey with the things that he's said and done. What I do know is this; no matter what happens in this election, he will still be there, and The Wentzvillian will be here putting a microscope up his politics!

A few questions for Nick: Mr. Guccione, your opponents are talking about important issues pertaining to this city, all you can do is talk about is your opponents. Is it really true that you know nothing about the issues and challenges facing Wentzville's government so you do what you know—smear? Do you talk about your opponents because you have no concept of what being Mayor is all about? And last but not least: When you hear thunder and see lightning, do you know that it's actually the sight and sound you see and hear when you pull your head out of your ass?

Clown Town Could Be Coming Back To Wentzville

I've been watching the campaign for Ward 2 very closely and the voters in that ward need to know what's going on. Ward 2 citizens had no idea about the black-eye coming when they elected Bill Schuette and they need to realize that for the last two elections the other black-eye, Donna Sherwood, has been trying her best to be elected to an office and embarrass them again. This is her third try, don't be fooled by all the signs she has all over Ward 2, she is no well-versed candidate for anything, but her trickery abounds.

Sonya Shryock and Jeremy Pritchett are running against Sherwood and on real issues offering real solutions to a growing Wentzville and its challenges, all Sherwood wants is to be Nick Guccione's stooge on the board. Unfortunately for Guccione, he doesn't know or want to believe that if she is elected, he'll be her stooge—the bottom line is; Ward 2 residents get another poke in the eye and Wentzville looses.

Shryock and Pritchett's campaign's are running on their own money and they don't have two years worth of dusty old signs from two unsuccessful campaigns lying around like Sherwood has to stick all over Ward 2. I see now where Sherwood has two shiny new four foot by eight foot signs out on the Wentzville Parkway sporting a glamour shot of her mug on them. Like Schuette before her, she's loud, arrogant, and self-serving. She knows nothing of city government as evidenced by her weekly photo-ops she used to appear in during city meetings at the expense of the taxpayers. It's funny how she stopped doing those right after The Wentzvillian called her on it, too bad, I rather enjoyed watching her make a fool of herself staggering around issues she knew nothing about. It will be very interesting watching her try to fool the public into thinking she knows what she's talking about at the Chamber of Commerce "Candidate's Night," March 27th at the Holt high school auditorium. God I hope the local radio station airs this event!

As I've stated many times before, Sherwood is Guccione's campaign manager but I'm not sure who's advising who as they are both equally inept regarding city issues. Even more interesting, I've heard that they have recruited one-term ex-judge Mike Carter to assist them with their campaign—there's a party! You remember Judge Carter, some legislators have stated that he almost single-handedly sunk the Wentzville judicial system budget in only two years. It's funny because Nick Guccione and Bill Schuette were the most vocal on the Board of Aldermen to remove Carter from his job as Judge, now it appears that Guccione and Carter are best buds. That group should get along well, very well indeed, all three of them are a little narrow between the eyes.

Sherwood has been around since the days of Vickie Boedeker, she was one of Vickie's goons, heading up the terrorist division of Boedeker's campaigns. It's evident that Sherwood learned her craft of underhanded politics very well in those days long before Guccione. She knows all sorts of tricks such as; filing ethics violations against opponents whether they are true or false, putting up campaign signs 30 days prior to the allowed time knowing that the city would give her 30 days notice to remove them, and disguising her campaigning before the voters on camera in city meetings as a concerned citizen. This is a short list, but there are many more devious tactics she brings to the table.

Perhaps Sherwood's most unethical campaign strategy learned from Vickie is one she's using in Guccione's campaign. As his campaign manager, she has recommended recruiting candidates to run against highly effective intelligent sitting Aldermen in an effort to split the vote and stack the board with their zombies who will vote what ever way Guccione and Sherwood want. The thought process here is: If your ideas are so bad that no other Alderman will go along with them, simply replace them. This is the Guccione/Sherwood strategy which puts in place people who have never even considered running for public public office in their lives. They go along with the promise that they will not have to know what to do or how to do it, just follow their lead. The chaotic Board of Schuette, Guccione and Luby are a testament to that strategy gone awry, with no intelligent leader, they really screwed up the city.

If Sherwood/Guccione should get elected, it will be a sad day for Ward 2 and Wentzville as a whole, but The Wentzvillian will be shittin' in tall cotton with great stories of clown-town. I'm relatively sure that the good citizens of Ward 2 know what to do when they go to the polls to cast their vote April 3rd, I'm equally sure what the citizens will do with Guccione. Vote: Sonya Shryock or Jeremy Pritchett for Ward 2 and Leon Tow or Darrel Lackey for Mayor. To insure an honest and ethical government you need to elect honest and ethical people to represent your city's best interests.

Leon Tow at DQ March 13th

The election is just under one month away and the following "Meet and Greet" was received by the "Wentzvillian" to be posted here for my readers. Bring your family to the Wentzville Dairy Queen to meet and learn about Leon Tow's plans for the future of our city. Click on the graphic below to go to http://www.leon4mayor.com/.





An invitation was given to all candidates running for office in the 2012 election to place their bio/platform here. This offer is open for any legitimate, independent-thinking, registered candidate to post their political platform/information. (If you are a candidate and want your information presented here, email it to: thewentzvillian@aol.com. Submissions will be posted in the order of receipt and unedited.)

Groundhog Day

I can't help it, I've watched the Board of Aldermen meeting of February 8th a dozen times and every time I do, I see new stuff. I urge every voter in Wentzville to watch it, particularly, from 2:45 to 3:05 into the meeting. If you are planning to vote for Nick Guccione to be our next Mayor of Wentzville and you watch it, I believe you will have a new and greater prospective of him and his professed leadership qualities. In only 20 minutes, Guccione proved that he hasn't anything to offer this city.

To roll back the clock a little to about 1:18 into the meeting, after Alderman Gard gave the St. Louis Post Dispatch article to City Attorney, Paul Rost, to determine if there was anything in it from the infamous executive sessions, Guccione said it wasn't him. He went on: "The next day after the executive session it's out there on the blog." This is an admission that The Wentzvillian ("the blog") was right on target with what was going on in the executive sessions. Gard expressed grave concern that someone told it all in the St. Louis Post Dispatch article (Gard doesn't need to wonder any longer about who spilled the beans.). Why would Guccione say something like that unless he was trying to defer blame? Do you remember when you were a kid in school and the teacher sat on a tack, everybody pointed at someone else, it's the same old story.

Beginning at 2:45, the real fun started. Gard began talking about revising the sign ordinance to tighten up on the election period. He said that he and Alderman Leon Tow had attended a meeting of senior citizens recently and the first question was: "When are you going to do something about all these political signs cluttering the city? They don't want the city littered with political signs for five months out of every year" (because of the abuses of a few candidates). "I'll give you (Guccione) their names and you can tell them that they're full of it." Guccione just had to jump in to defend either himself or his campaign manager, Donna "Bananas" Sherwood, who placed her signs out 30 days prior to that allowed by city ordinance. During his protestations, Alderman Cheryl Kross reminded him that, "the proposed change doesn't include the name; Nick Guccione in it." That didn't deter him from continuing his whining, he went on crying about how his opponents had larger signs, better locations, and that this whole change is all about him. There's a word for that type of behavior but not being a psychiatrist I won't use it. I wonder if he ever had the inkling that maybe he's being supported by the wrong people? I've come to the conclusion that Guccione is the sort of politician, who if given enough time, would outsource all of our jobs to Banglawhore.

I found it quite interesting that at just about 2:55, while talking about changing the city policy to include not letting politicians campaign in city facilities during working hours, Guccione went bat shit crazy. He once again went on the defensive blaming it on "the blog," he said that he wasn't campaigning in the police department. He stated: "On January 3rd I visited the police station to merely welcome the new chief and the next day it was on 'the blog' that I was campaigning." A very cordial thing for him to do, but why did he feel the need to have his campaign manager tag along? Oh and by the way, she just happens to be running for a political office too, what a coincidence! His abysmal attempt at masquerading as an innocent well-meaning non-campaigning alderman is pathetic. Well, thanks to his infernal whining it's back on "the blog" again.

Two minutes later at around 3:57 he went on the defense regarding his political rally, loosely concealed as a Coffee Talk public meeting. He went on to complain that other alderman can meet in public places to talk over city business and he is being criticized for having a public meeting in his private residence. This whole thing was precipitated by Alderman Rick Stokes when he asked for a resolution to not allow advertising (paid for using tax dollars) in the Vision or other city publication; a Coffee Talk or other event which may become a political rally. Guchione's hand shot up like it was attached to a booster rocket "Once again, this is all about me." his explanation was not really comprehensible as he went on blathering about "seven people who are all anonymous, I didn't know there were that many people in town with all the same name." I have to assume he was trying to talk about "the blog" again and some of its anonymous comments, I really don't know. If any of my readers who watch the video can explain what he was foaming at the mouth about, I'd appreciate knowing.

I'm convinced that Guccione doesn't know nits from noodles and his tongue is long enough to cut his own throat, but he is entertaining to watch. I don't believe that he's entertaining enough to run this city for the next four years but he is a fun guy. I hope I'm finished reliving that meeting but somehow I seem to think; just like Bill Murray, I'm doomed to be locked in that three hours until I learn enough to become a changed man.

The Beginning of the End?

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Anonymous Commet

The Wentzvillian  received an anonymous comment from someone who is obviously dissatisfied with the reporting here. It wasn't going to put it up but after thinking about it, this is an interactive site and everyone needs to be able to make their point here, if they have one, and sometimes even when they don't (as in this case). On occasion it gives me some demented pleasure to let them criticize themselves with their literacy, knowledge of our city, or lack thereof. I have edited out the name of a private citizen (whom I do not recognize) because I don't report on anyone who is not elected, or running for election unless they've done something newsworthy or committed a crime. It saddens me to see a second anonymous person tell me that "no one cares" about The Wentzvillian. I guess I can scratch one of my 6,131 page views this month. Here is the comment as submitted, minus the private name:

Can anyone tell me why Leon Tow is running for mayor. He is HBA's puppet we know that but other than that I have seen no reason for him to run. He is my alderman and I have called him and that stupid Sheryl Cross many times for issues that I have had with the city and of course I recieved no return calls. I think you are just trying to SLANDER Mr. Guccione because you know that the residents of Wentzville like and respect him. No one cares about your blog actually we as residents that know Mr. Guccione is a good man are laughing at you and Mr. Tow because all it looks like you are doing is campaigning in your descrete way for Mr. Tow. Its sad really

Now it's my turn: Leon Tow is no more the HBA's (Home Builders Association) puppet than is any candidate who garners financial support for their campaigns through an organization or Corporation. For instance, your candidate Alderman Nick Guccione not only has funding from the Unions and Animal Rescue organizations, he may even have support from the NAACP, does that mean he is their puppet? Using your faulty syllogism the answer is yes! And in Gucciones case, I'd say that it may be closer to being the truth simply because he's lobbied in city hall for some of them. I know people who have made campaign contributions to candidates in past years were those candidates the puppets of their benefactors? I know you and people like you can and never will understand what's going on here but you need to try to understand the political system and how people get elected in small cities where none declare a party.

Your aldermen are in city hall at meetings almost every Wednesday night. If you have no luck calling them for a response (which I seriously doubt), and your subject is so paramount that it's causing you physical pain or you're having trouble tearing your ass from the TV, send someone down there to confront them for you. Oh and BTW, there are plenty of seats at every meeting, unless of course your candidate is pandering to yet another special interest group.

Regarding your allegation that I support Leon Tow; I don't know how many times I have to remind you radical Guccione enthusiasts, there are four candidates for mayor. Just because I put your buddy in the bucket of excrement with his pal Bill Schuette, that's no reason to think I'm supporting Leon Tow. You forgot (or don't want to admit) that there is another great candidate running for mayor; Darrel Lackey. Guccione and Schuette are dwarfed (both in credibility and intellectually) by either of these men. I predict; Leon Tow or Darrel Lackey will be our next Mayor of Wentzville. If Schuette campaigns he will come in third (you know where that leaves your candidate). If the rumors are true that Schuette is not going to campaign, Guccione might move into the third spot. Speaking of Darrel Lackey, his new website is up and running: http://www.darrel4mayor.com/

Finally: I tried to look up your word "descrete" and it's not in my dictionary between "descramble" and "describe" where it belongs. I love words and enjoy learning new ones. I'd like to learn the meaning of it so I can make it my "word for the day," any ideas where I might find it? If you and your small circle of "residents" are laughing at me and it gives you any comfort, I laugh at myself too, but who "really cares" what you think Mr. or Ms. Anonymous. I hope to see you at the meetings and don't forget to register to vote, Nick Guccione is going to need your vote if he is going to beat Bill Schuette for the third spot. This is fun, just like pulling the wings off of flies.