I'm Ready!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

"That Sucks."

 

Did you ever feel the hairs on the back of your neck bristle while walking along a dark road in the night, or get the feeling that you were being watched, or maybe a sense that you were being followed? Doing what I do — exposing politicians who don't always color insides the lines — has from time-to-time put me in a somewhat less than desirable position, and I'm fine with that. You can't rack up the number of political enemies I have made without expecting some retaliation, especially from those I've been critical of. I started this post with this because I want to let those who are following me know that I know who you are, where you work, and who ordered it. To those who pursue me I say; follow away, but don't get so comfortable that you don't look over your own shoulder occasionally, you too have an observer. When the time is right names will be posted here.
 

Last week's meeting of the board of aldermen of November 20, 2013 (click here), had it's moments. I will be pointing out a few of the highlights, but first an observation: It's just a little more than four months to the election and perhaps technology is responsible, but the usual array of hopeful candidates are no where to be seen. Leading up to every election in recent memory there has always been several would-be-aldermen seen at every aldermen meetings. Almost every wanna-be started showing up at the meetings about six-months prior to an election, to either mouth off, have a photo-op, or just take notes, but they aren't here yet. From what I've heard, Mr. Joe Howard may be running against Sonya Shryock for the Ward 2 seat and that may be why he stood up to offer a rant against President of the Board, Rick Stokes. If you'd like to watch it, it takes place during the "Open Forum" section of the agenda. I've also been informed that another lady may be entering the Ward 2 race, but as yet there's nothing concrete. In Ward 1, rumor has it that Jay Webber may be coming out of mothballs after his 2012 loss to Forrest Gossett. If everything is as before, Mayor Nickolas Guccione will play a big hand in helping Webber once again, beware of the King Nickolas brand of mud-slinging to be flying around again this year.

* * * * *

Retiring Purchasing Director, Jerry Hillin, gave his farewell address to the aldermen recapping all that has been accomplished and his hopes for the future. Hillin has been a very busy man during his time here, he wrote the new City purchasing policy and along the way, made a few enemies in City Hall. Always outspoken, Hillin once again took a shot across the bow of the elected officials ship. He said he would pay for a plaque to be placed in the entrance of city hall which would read: "BEFORE YOU ENTER, LEAVE YOUR POLITICS AT THE DOOR." Shortly after that impromptu message, Mayor Nickolas told him to move on. The City owes a lot to Jerry Hillin for all he's accomplished for the future of good government in Wentzville. I for one will miss him and wish him well in his retirement.

* * * * *

I ask all of my readers to go to the city video of this meeting at 3:38:30, and just watch the discussion of the signage for "Double Fine Zones." The presentation was given by Acting City Administrator, Doug Lee, and Public Works Director, Susan Mueller, who showed examples of the proposed "Double Fine Zone" signs. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the discussion, it's something you need to see, to believe. Alderman Sonya Shryock dominated the discussion with what appeared to be like someone picking out drapes. She made some strange statements about elderly drivers and how she thinks the signs should be much larger. In her opinion, what is good enough for neighboring cities is not good enough for Wentzville's (seemingly blind) elderly drivers.

* * * * * 

The "Aldermen Reports" were interesting, and there was a first. For the first time, perhaps ever, Alderman Cheryl Kross didn't prattle through a mountain of questions and minutia. When asked for her report she simply said, "I have no report." I need to think about that for a while.

There seems to be a mystery revolving around the report given by President of the Board Rick Stokes. From what I saw, Mayor Nickolas has singled out Stokes by having the directors send an email to Guccione anytime Stokes contacts them by phone or email, regardless of of the subject. It's funny that Guccione puffs up his chest and begins barking with hostility anytime Stokes or Gossett ask him a question. He really hates those guys, which means they must be doing the right thing, and that makes them okey-dokey with me.

Stokes asked him straight up if he was the only alderman that the directors report to Guccione about anytime he contacts them. Guccione got his hackles up, and for the second time in as many meetings he cited 125.100 Section C, stating, "It is a violation of City ordinance to undermine the duties of the Mayor." Unfortunately, Guccione doesn't seem to understand that his argument is not germane to that ordinance. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Mayor Nickolas must have forgotten that unlawful use of the City logo is a real crime. The Mayor is stirring the political pot with no basis of fact, he's after Stokes to get anything he can to use against him in the coming election, whether it's fact, or not.

* * * * *

 

The next item to look at is the "Mayor's Report, Ethics Policy Discussion." This item has been hotly contested for the last few weeks and it has become clear what's going on. Shryock has been asking to discuss this at several prior meetings and it has to do with accepting charitable donations by elected officials, here is where the story gets messy.

Shryock really doesn't have a dog in the ethics fight other than to be Guccione's front man. Guccione has recruited Shryock to do his bidding and she thinks it's in exchange for his support in the coming election. What she knows is; because of her poor record she has absolutely no chance of being re-elected on her own. So she figures if she nuzzles up to Guccione, he would support her campaign, I hope she tells me how that strategy worked out for her. She's begun following him around town like a puppy, but what she doesn't know is that Guccione doesn't care if she gets re-elected or not, he can use her now and for the next four months. He has her replacement waiting in the wings and he will use Shryock until that time, afterall, he still has Hays and Kross in his pocket, it's pretty pathetic. Her job performance rating is the lowest on the board and in her effort to salvage her seat, she turned from her opposition of Guccione—caving in to his politics, for that reason alone she really doesn't deserve a second term. Kross did that very thing about 10 months ago when she turned her back on the board to flip on her vote for Guccione's appointment of the unpopular choice of Michael Hays. I wonder today if, Aldermen Chris Gard and Gossett regret their vote to approve the appointment?

Back to the discussion: The ethics policy was revised after the incident involving Mayor Paul Lambi who confessed to the Missouri Ethics Commission his guilt in taking charitable donations for his benefit. Guccione wants to have this section repealed so that he can solicit donations for charitable organizations.

During the discussion, Alderman Forrest Gossett tried to explain why the policy excluded allowing elected officials to accept charitable donations without pointing fingers at Lambi. Guccione got huffy again and in his paranoid way barked; "This is pretty insulting Sir. You talk about a Mayor in the past using charitable donations for their own benefit, Sir, but I never saw that, show me that in writing, Sir!" Guccione has either got a real short memory, or he was asleep in the closed sessions of that time, because the report clearly states that very thing. At one point during the battle with Gossett, Guccione said. "That sucks!" I've never heard a mayor use that term from the dais before, then again, Guccione does a lot of things I've never seen a mayor do or say before, and he doesn't do a lot of things a mayor should do and say.

Guccione used Shryock to bring the ethics policy back to the board, he will do anything to get it changed. I wish Shryock luck with her April election, she's gonna need it. When she's sitting at home after losing the election, I wonder if she'll remember how much she hated Guccione when she was a contributing member of the board during her first year in office? Please watch this "Mayor's Report," I think you'll find it both informative, and entertaining.

 

Was Lambi Really Wrong?

 

I implore all of my readers to watch the video of the Board of Aldermen meeting of November 6, 2013, particularly the work session portion entitled "(ID # 4872) Budget Review" (click here). Pay attention to the comments and questions posted by Aldermen Cheryl Kross and Sonya Shyrock, beginning at 2:05:50 when Shryocks hand pops up and states: "Most of the Directors did a great job on their budgets." I'm scratching my head trying to figure out which directors (who are good enough to still be here) did a bad job in Shryocks's estimation. It's a wonder to me why after watching this section of the meeting, that any of our directors are still here at all.

 

I was disappointed to hear our Parks Director, Ms. Mary Jo Dessieux has turned in her retirement papers. I asked her if she had won the lottery, or had a rich uncle die, because she's way too young to retire. Watching this portion of the video and seeing the wolf pack of Kross and Shryock try to gut the parks department budget gave me the answer.

 

The parks department has always, and I want to emphasize the word ALWAYS, been subsidized by the general fund. City parks are not self-funding, never have been and never will be, therefore, the general fund is tapped for the shortfall. This year the number is in the $200,000 range, when in years past it was as much as a million dollars. Kross and Shryock can't seem to understand that parks will never show a balanced budget but that didn't stop Shryock from demanding; "I want this budget balanced now!" Obviously, Ms. Kross and Shryock want some services cut from our current parks to make up for the shortfall, even to the extent of under-funding the new unfinished parks.

 

Kross at one time said; "Every year we have this white elephant in the room that we can't seem to take down with the tranquilizer gun." I watched the department heads while these discussions went on and noted the frustration in each of them while they tried to baby-sit Kross and Shryock through their prospected budgets. It wasn't pretty. In the end, Kross and Shryock were the only ones to want the Parks budget balanced.

One discussion I found interesting was brought up by Kross and supported by Shryock was regarding the addition of a Park Ranger in the 2014 budget. Kross doesn't want a new park ranger so as a solution she wants to take police officers off of their regular rounds to patrol the City parks. Recently, we had Mayor Nickolas Guccione getting "double fine zones" put in various subdivisions around the city without increasing police resources and now Kross wants more area patrolled. Kross uses the term; "life, health, and safety" a whole lot, which she started using a couple of years ago after hearing another alderman use it, yet she is willing to take our police off of the streets to patrol the new and existing parks. What am I missing? Shryock has little, or no chance of seeing a second term as alderman but she is following Kross right up to the edge of a cliff where Kross will pat her on the back over the edge.

Kross dominated the budget discussions with micro-managing, line-item minutia, while supporting unsustainable tax cut analysis burdens on Finance Director, Jeff Lenk. Lenk was directed to have his calculations ready by Friday, he said he would do his best to get it done before the budget public hearing to be held November 13th. After laying more work on an already over-worked finance department for something that will come back as an exercise in futility, Kross wasn't happy with Lenk's answer. "Oh my! How will we have time to read all of this before next Wednesday." Really, this is all you have to worry about, "when will you have time to read it?" From what I heard, Mr. Lenk gave good reasons why a tax-cut at this time would be unsustainable in coming years, but his assessment fell on deaf ears. If after making Lenk do this new analysis and it shows that a tax-cut is unsustainable, Kross needs to turn in her keys to the city.

This meeting of November 6th exhibited exactly why our high-level staff members are quitting or retiring at an alarming rate. Kross acts like the city has a full compliment of employees by making unreasonable demands of the few over-worked directors that we still do have. I wonder if our newly hired Public Works Director, Susan Mueller, and Finance Director, Jeff Lenk had any idea of the madhouse they were getting into. I'm now asking myself; Was Mayor Lambi really wrong when he had a muzzle on Alderman Cheryl Kross?

 

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?

 

Vengence Is Mine

 

The Wentzvillian has supported Alderman Cheryl Kross in every election she's ever run in Wentzville, but of late I've had serious questions about what's been going on with her. Some may think I've been overly critical recently, but after the meeting of September 25th, I am convinced, she has lost touch with why she ran for office in the first place.

 

I published a blog entitled "TTC" (click here) (Third Term Crazies,) where I explained my theory about why some Aldermen who've served more than two terms seem to lose their focus. Today, I'm convinced, without a doubt, Kross has stepped way over the line and is leading Wentzville down a path to serious problems. She doesn't see it, but I guarantee that anyone watching the board meetings for the last six months will agree, she is driven by a new inspiration;  EGO, and revenge.

 

In Kross' first term, she was subjected to Mayor Paul Lambi's chauvinistic treatment (click here), to the embarrassment of all, then Rick Stokes was elected. Things changed, Kross had a voice for the first time, and with Stokes' support things got better for her and Wentzville. The Lurchettes were banished, and a new sanity came to the board of aldermen. What has happened to this once unified board of only six months ago has all become clear to me today. Unfortunately, she has turned on the one person who had her back against the tyranny raining down on her from Lambi — Rick Stokes.

 

Since I was just a tyke I was taught, "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord." Well in this case, Alderman Kross  feels herself wronged, and is now hell bent for leather to show the leaders of the board: Rick Stoles, Chris Gard, and Forrest Gosset, that she has the horsepower to run the board — Vengence is mine sayeth Kross. She was angered when the board elected Stokes to his second year as President of the Board, and she was thinking; I have more time on the board, I deserve to be president. Ego can destroy a person and today, it's about to destroy a city. Alderman Kross has let her ego displace her rational conservative thinking.

 

This is really tough to write because I really care for Cheryl Kross, but Alderman Kross has reduced herself to being a slave to the same thinking that was the driving force behind The Lurchettes: (Schutte, Luby, and Nickolas Guccione) — EGO. She's recruited Alderman Sonya Shryock, and with Michael Hays being in debt to King Nickolas, she's plotted and successfully orchestrated a coup d'état (click here) on Wentzville's Board of Aldermen. This awesome responsibility will soon lead to disaster for Wentville. Very soon, Wentzville will be without legal counsel, and with a ton of lawsuits against the city, this means only one thing; Guccione will have a very big problem ... all created because of the ego of Alderman Kross.

When trouble befalls Guccione, he's going to remember the aldermen who led him into problems and he's going to roll-over on Kross — Vengeance is mine sayeth King Nickolas. She will feel his full wrath, and he's meaner than a junkyard dog with 14 sucking pups. Guccione only knows one thing and that's politics, he knows no more about government than a frog knows about bed sheets He's always followed a leader, it used to be Bull Schuette, and now it's Kross, it won't be long before he realizes that he's made another terrible mistake (as usual). Of course, Michael Hays will be spared simply because he's Guccione's zombie, but Kross and Shryock had better start watching their backs. I'm sure Guccione has slash-and-burn information ready to send to the press.

Throwing out the legal services recommendation of the Professional Services Committee, and going back to tweak the selection process are going to haunt Kross and Shryock. I'm thinking that Kross thought she knew what she was doing, but Shryock has been taking bad advice from too many individuals who may have some axes to grind. Their political troubles have just begun, in their rear view mirrors they will see Guccione's sardonic smiling face with his pet monkey on his shoulder.

Kross and Shryock have split from the pack and have sought shelter with Guccione. If you have a hard time believing this, watch the meetings, count the split votes with Guccione breaking the tie, then you'll know it's personalities, not issues that have them siding with the undead. There were no split votes in Guccione's first year in office and since Stokes was elected president of the board for the second time, there have been three, they will come more frequently. It may be time to make some changes if the citizens aren't represented by objective Aldermen.

The Wentzvillian does not seek out the opinions of elected officials, everyone of them tells a different story and very seldom, if ever, is it the whole truth. The Wentzvillian  views city meetings as any citizen would, and as the public is told many times over and over: "You don't have all the facts." What some aldermen don't seem to understand is; the view is different from here than it is in their eyes. What we see and hear from our governors is reality, what is perceived in the public eye is truth. Until these aldermen, and mayor, want to give their side of the "real" truth, what we see is what they get. Perception is everything, perception wins or loses elections, and perception is truth until the absolute truth is unveiled, and even then it may be too late. Vengence is mine sayeth the public.

The mess and scrambling in city hall today was all created by Kross, Shryock, Hays, and Guccione. It is all because, in their short-sightedness and arrogance, they had no thought of the consequences of their actions. I would have loved to see the look on their faces when Wentzville's legal team turned down their insulting offer. I wouldn't be surprised if when they ask the other aldermen to help them get out of this mess, they don't tell them, "Hey, you wouldn't listen to reason, you wanted the power, you took it, so now you can clean it up," — but they won't.

The Wentzvillian readers are for the most part conservative, and Alderman Kross claims to be ultra-conservative. Perhaps she should look at the polls here where she and Shryock are leading the pack in asking the most irrelevant questions and are at the bottom of the poll when rated on their job performance. These polls are not manipulated and are the thoughts of conservative voters who are dissatisfied with the actions of Kross and Shryock. Perhaps they could tell us the truth about who they really are?

 

I'm sorry I had to post this, but I care too much for this city and the great Board of Aldermen that I knew. Things are about to blow in Wentzville, and with  the aid of Aldermam Kross' ego, Mayor Guccione's La-La land will fall to his own misguided followings. Remember Mr. Mayor, you cast the tie breaker, so if you want to point your finger at someone, stick it in your nose and scratch your brain, who knows, maybe you'll find a reset button up there.

 

The Ambush!

 

September 25, 2013 marked the beginning of the end for one of the best, most responsible Board of Aldermen to have ever joined forces to bring Wentzville out of the governmental Dark Ages. I thought perhaps it might have happened next April when our illustrious mayor, Nickolas Guccione, would continue with his hobby of election tampering to get a couple of his hand-picked candidates elected. If you've followed the career of his last selection; Ward 3 Alderman Michael Hays, who has done absolutely nothing but take up space and support his master, you'd see the quality of Guccione's unconscious siftings. However, Guccione preempted the April election and schmoozed two fearful and disgruntled aldermen to underscore his lunacy; Cheryl Kross and Sonya Shryock.

I have a friend who is a photographer and she likes to photograph inanimate objects that appear to be alive. I laughed and she asked me what was so funny? I told her that she needs to come to city hall and snap a few shots of our Mayor Guccione and Alderman Hays, but I digress.

Without knowledge of the President of the Board, Rick Stokes, Alderman Sonya Shryock, on the advice of Guccione and/or Kross, pushed a political snowball down the hill which ultimately crashed into Alderman Forrest Gossett. It is believed Guccione got Shryock to add an impromptu item under "Other New Business" dealing with the ethics policy. Her addition was a prelude to Guccione taking command of an ambush of Gossett, without him being perceived the aggressor. This act of pugnacity was completely staged by Guccione—Shryock was his unwitting sock-puppet as I will explain later.

To preface: Gossett had sent an email to the mayor and aldermen stating that he had contacted an old friend of his who was employed by  the firm contracted to do the city's audit. He was questioning the bill the company had sent to the City of Wentzville. The environment in City Hall got hectic with outlandish predeterminations and Guccione was leaping to conclusions with joy that one of the aldermen whom he had no control over had committed an ethics violation. Guccione was determined to make a huge production of it and put his political slash-and-burn mode in high gear.

Enter Shryock, who has issues with Gossett anyway. She and Guccione cooked up the plan for her to surprise everyone at the meeting to call Gossett on the carpet so Guccione could attempt to make him, Stokes and Gard look bad without being the instigator, he left that for Shryock. What they didn't know is that Gossett knew he'd displayed poor judgement and was prepared to announce it during his alderman's report. In addition, prior to the meeting, he had informed the President of the Board, Stokes, of his intentions. If there is ever any indication of wrong-doing of any elected official by another, proper procedure is to contact the President of the Board. Had Shryock followed proper procedures, she would have contacted Alderman Stokes with her concerns and found out what was going to happen. Instead, she pushed the snowball and let Guccione take over. The reason I know this to be true is: It wasn't on the agenda, but Guccione was ready, he cited the article and paragraph of the violation in the ethics policy, it's too bad he didn't understand it. Normally, he can hardly remember his own address, much less quoting the ethics policy.

As the heated discussion escalated, Guccione slobbered: "We either have policies or we don't. We either follow them or we don't. Everybody makes mistakes so when I make one, I don't want all of you building a guillotine in the back room to hang me. I have to watch my back all the time, accusations come from all sides." He's referring to when he violated city ordinance by using the City logo on his campaign literature. That was no mistake, that was criminal, and Mayor Lambi had to issue an executive pardon to spare Guccione the shame and cost of being prosecuted. Guccione simply doesn't understand that when more than half of the registered voters in Wentzville didn't vote for him, he has a huge target on his back—surprise, surprise, it comes with the job.

Unfortunately, the video of the meeting has still not been posted so accounts are from my notes and memory. If I were Guccione, I'd be glad that it hasn't been posted because it would prove that he was the aggressor in this matter.

As frustrations grew, Gossett read the emails (for the record) between him and the friend with the auditing firm. The emails clearly indicated that Gossett did nothing illegal and the allegation of a violation is unfounded. According to the letter of the policy, it was confirmed by the City Attornery; there was no personal gain or manipulation by Gossett, consequently, no violation of the ethics policy. For his poor judgement Gossett apologized, admitted his mistake, and in answer to Guccione's incessant attack he said, "Mr. Mayor, as I see it, you have one of two choices; you can either censure me or start impeachment proceedings." This is when I thought I heard Shryock say, "I didn't mean to start all of this." During the entire battle royal, Alderman Cheryl Kross said nothing in the defense of her old friend and kept her head down—she knew this was going to happen.

I know Guccione was using this confrontation in an effort to minimize his unethical election behavior of the last two years. I further believe, he is using this instance to assist him with his future ethics violations in the upcoming election of April 2014. Guccione is a sneaky little rascal, always looking for diversions and justifications for his lack of ethics and incompetence in the job. For his information, the target on his back will not get any smaller until he realized that he is unfit to lead the city and he steps down. Furthermore, He is blaming everyone for everything that goes wrong during his term, but the day will come after he's out of office that the citizens of Wentzville will not remember the aldermen or the staff, everything that went wrong during his administration will rest squarely on his back. If he doesn't believe that, he can ask Vickie Boedeker or Paul Lambi about their legacies.

Dear Mayor Nickolas Guccione: When you choose a thankless job —lie, cheat, and steal to get it—you can't be upset when nobody thanks you! Oh, and before you jump to conclusions and build a gallows you should be careful, it could be yours.

PSS: The dominoes are falling. Guccione's platform has termites and there's no place for him to hide. For the next couple of months City Hall watchers won't be cheated on their entertainment, there is BIG news popping in City Hall. Send in the clowns ... Oops! ... they're already here.

 

Running Out Of Options!

 

I've been doing a great deal of thinking about the vacancy left in the City Administrator position since the unexpected passing of T. Michael McDowell earlier this month. Since 2011 Wentzville has been without a City Administrator more than it has had one.

 

A little history: Wentzville has had a problem with keeping a City Administrator since Andy McCown announced his retirement on January 23rd, 2008. Dianna Wright started June 2nd, 2008 and in an executive session held August 24th, 2011, Alderman Nickolas Guccione made a motion (which passed) to terminate her services. On Thursday August 25th, at 1:30 in the afternoon she was officially fired by Mayor Paul Lambi. Since that time Wentzville has been served by numerous interim City Administrators until the appearance of T. Michael McDowell this past May.

 

Now, what is happening: Mayor Guccione appoints Chief of Police, Lisa Harrison and it is approved by the board of aldermen. Less than a week after that, Chief Harrison resigns as City Administrator and resumes her duties as Chief of Police. Last Friday, August 16th, Guccione appoints Doug Lee who has been serving as the assistant City Administrator and assistant to the Public Works Director, Susan Mueller. That appointment would need approval of the board, but I've heard that Mr. Lee does not want the job. So what now?

 

Normally, a vacancy of that sort would fall to the Finance Director but in this case our Finance Director, Jeff Lenk has only been with the city for about two months, so who's next? Director of Planning and Zoning, Mr. Doug Forbeck who has been with the city longer than any Director, Alderman or Mayor, but I don't think he would take it. So here we are, waiting for the company who provided McDowell to present a replacement.

 

After some deliberation, I've begun thinking about cities around the country who have an all-in-one Mayor/City Manager. Could our Mayor serve as both, and if he could, should he? I know Guccione doesn't have the educational qualifications, but he has served five years on the Board of Aldermen and a year and half as Mayor, he must have learned something.  Almost seven years of public service as a legislator and administrator, could he do the job? Personally, I think he should give it a shot, even if it's to prove that he is competent and dissuade beliefs that he should have stayed a butcher at Schnucks. Guccione serving as Mayor/Interim City Administrator would solve a great deal of the problems currently facing the city.

 

PSS: What do you think?

 

Humpty-Dumpty



As the City of Wentzville mourns the passing of its new City Administrator, Mr. T. Michael McDowell, our government is once again trying to fill vacancies in its staff. Mr. Mcdowell had filled the job of City Administrator since May after a series of interems held that position for almost two years. My first hand experience with Mr. McDowell was that he was highly skilled at the job and an excellent addition to Wentzville's staff. Things seemed to be on track for our city for the first time since the middle of Mayor Lambi's final term.

Wentzville has been bailing the boat trying desperately to fill holes in the staff for the past three years. In that time, every single director position with the exception of two has been replaced for one reason or another. In just the past month, the City of Wentzville had finally accomplished procuring a full compliment of Directors. Things were looking up until the passing of Mr. McDowell.

Now, during the search for a new City Administrator, yesterday they received the resignation of it's Economic Development Manager, Mr. Larry Tucker. I could speculate for months on why Wentzville cannot keep high level staff employees but it all comes back to poor leadership, and that lays smack in the lap of our last two mayors. Lambi with his ethics problems and now Mayor Nickolas Guccione with his total lack of leadership qualities.

Guccione will suffer with the loss of McDowell because now he has no one to tell him what to do, or how to do it. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall. This little nursery rhyme speaks volumes about Wentzville's personnel problems and the fact that King Guccione will never be able to put Wentzville back together again.

I'll be back later with more from Wentzville.

Biased Toward Good Government

 

I've had readers criticize me for "being biased" or "Picking on Mayor Nickolas Guccione and/or Mayor Paul Lambi." I assure my readers that I am biased, but on the side of good government, and I believe most or all of our elected officials would agree with that statement. Any time a mayor or alderman does anything unethical, stupid, or is not looking out for the good of Wentzville citizens, they will cross swords with The Wentzvillian.

Personally, I like Guccione and Lambi, and was friends with both of them, the problem with our friendships came in when they displayed unethical behavior in office and I disclosed proof here on this blog—I cannot stay silent. As a patriot of the United States of America, the State of Missouri, and Wentzville, It is my constitutional right, and my duty to  inform my fellow citizens of the wrong-doing of any elected official—if these officials dislike me for what I say here, maybe they need to change their behavior—not my reporting.

Lambi started disliking me when I discovered and reported on his unethical partnership with Mr. Ed Watkins, both have admitted and agreed with the ethics violations brought down by the Missouri Ethics Commission. It's unfortunate because I think Paul Lambi is a good and compassionate man and for the most part, one of Wentzville's best mayors, I truly believe he was misled by his former co-conspirator, it saddens me that we are no longer friends.

I was friends with Nickolas Guccione and his family for a number of years, but when I reported on his conspiratorial campaigns and his unethical method of getting elected, that all changed. He tried numerous times without success to discredit me personally yet never once thought that maybe I was correct and that he needed to change his approach to elections. The Aldermen thought my facts were in order and Mayor Lambi stepped in to pardon Guccione, saving him some hefty fines. He didn't learn anything from that because there were no consequences and he continued his unethical campaign tactics when he got Michael Hays elected. He violated the "Political Activity Policy," but the aldermen went after him for ethics violations covered under the "Ethics Policy," and failed, why they did that—I'll never understand. So where are we; Guccione and Lambi both dislike me for reports appearing here but The Wentvillian will continue as long as there is corruption in our City government.

I've reported about Guccione's inability to run City meetings and in the past few months he has improved. Under the tutelage of Lambi, he's learned to use a gavel and he even displayed sack enough to shut down Alderman Cheryl Kross last week for her side-bars, something has changed with her, she didn't used to be like she is today. Guccione is learning to control public meetings, congratulations. It may take another year and a half to master looking like a mayor, but that's not all a mayor is supposed to do.

Guccione is near sighted about his vision for Wentzville's future and I'm not sure he can fix that by himself. Issuing pardons for convenience store owners because they were late applying for their liquor license is not a good start, I can see a rush of bar owners lining up to get equal treatment. Guccione needs to talk about what he wants, and he needs to express a means of accomplishing his goal if he wants to be a successful mayor.

PSS: I'm bettin' it ain't happenin'.

 

 

Pardon Me?

In the contemporary history of Wentzville I have seen only one Mayor use his power of pardon on someone. Mayor Paul Lambi used his authority when he pardoned Mayor-elect, Nickolas Giuccione for violation of copyright laws. Guccione's violation was criminal and would have carried hefty fines from both; the City and the United States Library of Congress.

 

At the time Lambi issued the pardon, he had big problems of his own—the Aldermen had turned him over to the Missouri Ethics Commission and the County Prosecuting Attorney. He was angry at the Board of Aldermen for what he called "a witch hunt," and the pardon of Giuccione was his last great act of defiance—kinda like the mouse who gave a hawk the finger just before it swooped down and ate him. Although I don't agree with Lambi giving Guccione a pardon for crimes against the City, I can appreciate it's use for a crime of such magnitude. But as a tax-paying citizen of Wentzville, I am still ashamed that this city elected a man who was pardoned for crimes against the City, one week before being sworn-in.

 

All of the afore mentioned leads to the point of this post. The executive power to override laws is serious, and should be used for subjects of great importance, to flaunt this power on trivial matters is a dangerous commodity. Mayor Guccione has a record of parroting, and a steep learning curve when it comes to realizing his new-found executive powers. It started with Guccione's nine month long "it's my appointment, It's my appointment" speech, when he whined and whined to get his pal, Michael Hays in the Ward 3 seat. What a revolting development that turned out to be.

Anyway, Guccione tested his new found powers by pardoning a convenience store owner for being late on renewing his liquor license. My sources told me that there was going to be no monetary penalty but the store owner would need to wait thirty days before they could reapply. What a vulgar display of abuse of executive privilege, he just bought two or three votes—that is if the store owners even live in Wentzville.

I wonder if that means that anytime, anyone is late on renewing any kind of license, or doesn't comply with a non-criminal code, Guccione would wield his mighty sword of pardon and touch the shoulders of the kneeled non-compliant violator? Through the negligence of the applicant, he or she was granted a pardon from complying with the laws of Wentzville of which we must all acquiesce. C'mon, Is our mayor related to Obama? Evidence is building.

Mayor Nickolas Guccione has made blunders and screwed up on numerous occasions, but this is a poke in the eyes to all responsible business owners in the City. I'd bet that if any of my readers get a code violation or a non-compliance ticket, Guccione would run to you with a pardon in hand especially if your a friend or a registered voter. It must be fun to be the great and all powerful wonderful wizard of Wentzville—or a goose who just wakes up in a new world every day.

PSS: What say?

 

 

 

"Just Because You Say It's So..."

Board of Aldermen meeting of April 10th continued: I touched on Mayor Nickolas Guccione's Mayor's Report this morning but there was more. After his now famous "High Road" comment Guccione went on to say about those who spoke out against him, "I have to bite my tongue but I just ignore it." He just ignores citizens who are unhappy about his unethical behavior and I'm glad to hear that because the sore he created will fester to the point where he will wish he hadn't ignored it.

About the Alderman reports, I'm a little unhappy that four of our six Aldermen had nothing to say about the situation with Guccione. Hays of course wouldn't bite the hand who fed him but he did address the ethics problem on his flyer. He apologized to the Board for the misspelling on it and the ballot, taking blame for it. I give him credit for doing that but that's where it ends. From the way things came down, it looks like Hays had nothing to do with his own campaign literature and Guccione handled everything. That explains a lot, especially the misspellings and lack of proofreading.

Alderman Shryock opened her report with, "Mayor, you opened the topic of the flyer during your report, so we need to have the discussion about you signing the endorsement as "Mayor." Guccione went to Def Con 4 saying, "I didn't do it." I wish I had a dime for everytime I heard him say that over the last six years. Then he kept saying that he gave the printing company his photograph and the letter but; "I never told him to put 'Mayor' on it." I've learned over the years that when Guccione opens his mouth it's probably a lie, but when he's making excuses, he's definitely lying, it never fails. Shyrock went on to say again that they needed to have this discussion and that's when her missiles got through Guccione's comfort level and he shut down, saying, "I'm not going to have this discussion with you."

Alderman Forrest Gosset cut in to say that this is not the proper place to have this discussion. If we are to have it, it needs to be during a work session or a regular meeting discussion item. Guccione looked for help from City Attorney Paul Rost who said, "It isn't on the agenda, it needs to be on it to have a discussion." Guccione was relieved thinking it was over but the Aldermen set it for a discussion item for April 24th. Mark your calendars, this will be a goody.

President of the Board of Alderman, Rick Stoles, during his report said, "If I were to campaign for someone I'd do it as Rick Stokes, not Alderman Rick Stokes. It shouldn't have been 'Mayor'" Then I heard Stokes say something I've only heard about but never actually heard it said in a meeting, the dreaded 'C' word; "I was going to call for a vote of censure but since we are going to have a discussion on the 24th, I will hold it until then."  For those of you who "ignore it," I've provided the definition:

CENSURE (cen'sher) n. 1. An expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. 2. An official rebuke, as by a legislature of one of its members.—tr.v. cen·sured, cen·sur·ing, cen·sures

Guccione was finally very uncomfortable, not only with the few criticisms during open forum but those of Shryock and Stokes. In frustration he said, "Just because you say it's so, doesn't make it so." I think I used that a few times in third grade, how about you?

Perhaps we did something good for our City, standing there in front of the Board complaining about our government, at least I hope so. The three of us put our asses on the line, let's see what comes of it, I'll see you on the 24th when Mayor Nickolas Guccione will have to answer for his unethical behavior. Are there any bets as to whether Hays chimes in? I guess we'll find out where he stands on unethical behavior in politics. I believe this will be the most interesting meeting since that last few of Mayor Lambi's term.