Who's The CEO? — Why It's Billy Bob Nicky G.

 

I am in receipt of an email, I won't say where it came from, but I will say that it is consistent with a great number of letters and emails in my file penned by our Mayor Nickolas Guccione, CEO of Wentzville. I won't try to explain its content because it speaks for itself (or a facsimile thereof), and literates (or illiterates) volumes about his need for control, his lack of communication skills, and the frustration and struggle of a man who is in way over his head. After you read this email and are finished scratching your head, you might be thinking the same thing I have been thinking for about seven years. This document is transcribed exactly as Guccione sent it and received by everyone listed; "To:" without editing. So, without further eloquence, I want to introduce you to; the one and only Billy Bob Shears—Mayor Nickolas Guccione, CEO of Wentzville.

 

"From Nickolas Guccione mayor1@wentzvillemo.org

Subject: DIRECTIVE

Date: February 18, 2014 at 137 PM

To: Directors Directors@wentzvillemo.org, All City Employees everyone@wentzvillemo.org

Cc: Board of Aldermen BoardofAldermen@wentzvillemo.org

 

Today at 8:45 am issued a directive to staff and to all city employees . That you must use the chain of command .MR Robert Bartolotta is the new City administrator .please welcome Mr Bartolotta stop by and introduce yourself.   the directive that I gave and am giving  is if an elected official contacts you for information or tries to give direction to staff or employee .your to tell them to follow the chain of command and go through Mr. Bartolotta and Doug Lee .With the EXCEPTION OF THE Mayor . Also the city attorney if you need to speak to city attorney go through Mr. Bartolotta Most questions asked he may be able to answer. if not he will contact the attorney and get you the answer your looking for this is in an effort to keep cost down .There may be exceptions for some directors and Mr Bartolotta will make that determination .Any questions an elected official may have when asked of Mr Bartolotta to a director that information will be shared with the rest of the Board of alderman so not just one alderman has that info .Not one alderman makes a decision it takes 4 .Anything and alderman wants to bring forward should be done at a Board meeting to see if it has support to move forward .we will not waste staff time if something does have board support .The elected officials can NOT interfere with Day to Day operations of the city with the EXCEPTION OF THE Mayor AS CEO   Thank you in advance for your cooperation .Mayor Nick Guccione         Wentzville"

 

On several occasions over the last two years Guccione has gotten riled up in public meetings regarding "Chain of Command," and slobbering about him being "the CEO of Wentzville," I think he learned that one from Lambi. Now that we have a new city administrator, Guccione can sit on his throne, high atop the mountain, reigning supreme over his subjects, making decrees, proclamations, and directives, unimpeded by having to address the problems of the city. He will also have plenty of time to extort baskets from Wentzville citizens and businesses for the Mayors Ball.

 

I had an opportunity to show this document to a friend of mine who happens to teach at one of Wentzville's middle schools. I asked my friend to read it and watched her squinting and frowning as she read and reread the email. She shook her head and handed it back saying, "If this were one of my students, I would have failed him or her for writing this poorly." I've read literally hundreds of emails and letters written by Guccione over the years, and I can say, without fear of successful contradiction, he has made no progress in his communications skills.

 

Sad to say, I understand most of what Guccione is trying to say here but I think our mayor may have a few difficulties with what he's implying. I'm not so sure he can keep the Aldermen from speaking with the City Attorney, that might create problems—we'll see.

 

Guccione forced Alderman Michael Hays on Wentzville, now he's trying to stick us with Linda Wright and Robert Hussey, both failed candidates. Do you really want the recommendations of a man who appears to be functionally illiterate, and what sort of people are so easily led to following him? Wentzville voters need to think hard about who they elected to represent us to the county, and be careful not to propagate his way of embarrassing us further by electing those whom he is pushing?

 

Think about this: Can you imagine what other mayors, aldermen, and representatives around the county think when they receive a communication from Mayor Nickolas Guccione, CEO/Wentzville? I feel shame just thinking about it. I encourage my readers to share this document with their voting friends.

 



Are These the Good-Old Days?

Coming back after a month-long absence has left me with more questions than answers about some of the strange things going on in city government. But, there are some extreme constants sitting on the board of aldermen, and one of them is my appointed anointed elected official; Alderman Michael Hays. Another remarkably predictable individual is Mayor Nickolas Guccione, he illustrates each day just how far under water he really is. These two gentlemen are frightening because their total lack of knowledge of government and non-engagement in governmental matters leaves Wentzville  crippled at the highest levels. Then there's Aldermen Cheryl Kross and Sonya Shryock, They are the complete opposite. Their actions and reactions are so random and unpredictable that they have become dangerous, as illustrated by their drive to remove the city attorney, audit firm, and attack aggression toward our chief of police. Their actions will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in the coming years.

 

Hays and Guccione are so close and so much alike they could be Siamese-twins. In five years of sitting on the board, Alderman Nickolas Guccione had absolutely no initiatives, and introduced nothing. As mayor for two years, his claim to fame is a double-fine zone experiment and getting the ethic's policy brought back to allow him to take private donations so he can bring more than one basket to the Mayor's Ball. The policy which may will be repealed is what Mayor Paul Lambi plead guilty to, and was consequently fined by the Missouri Ethics Commission.

If Guccione were to put as much effort into bringing city facilities up to code, or making this a Charter City, or fixing employee morale, Wentzville could be a model for the county, instead a lack of humility drives him to seek more stuff to bring to the Mayor's Ball. Feel-good things, these are what our mayor is all about. Budgets, personnel problems, and legal matters are boring, uninspiring, and so fraught with political pitfalls that he steers clear. So, with seven years of pseudo government under his belt, Guccione has put Wentzville on a "double-fine zone" road that leads to his idea of Candyland, where he will go skipping along with his arms full of baskets to the Mayor's Ball. He wants this blog off of his back, but as long as he ignores the business of the city and indulges himself in feel-good legislation, The Wentzvillian will be here to "rat him out."

 

Then there's Hays. This gentleman spent ump-teen years on the Planning and Zoning board doing exactly the same thing he has done for the past year on the board of aldermen ... sleep nothing, but stare blankly at his computer screen. He reminds me of one of those iguanas that sits so still you start wondering if he's breathing, I find myself watching to see if his tongue flicks in and out. This is precisely what his benefactor, Guccione did when he sat in that exact same seat ... sleep nothing. Anytime Hays adds anything to a discussion it's to parrot what someone else already said—don't believe me, just watch him.

 

Hatred and misguided revenge describe best what drives Aldermen Kross and Shryock. Rather than trying getting down to the business of the city, they have focused on upsetting the balance of power in opposing the President of the Board, Rick Stokes. Kross is especially baffling with her voting record, no one knows where she stands, but nine out of ten times when there's a 5-1 vote, she is the dissenter. Last week during the regular board of alderman meeting she was the only one to vote "Nay" to accepting our newest (full-time employee) City Administrator, Mr. Robert J. Bartolotta. Her vote came with the pregnant pause that she has been using with annoying frequently—is she truly just making up her mind at that moment? How is it that Mrs. Kross knows more than the rest of the board, consistently? Some pundits are forecasting that if she continues with her erratic method of legislating into the coming year, her base could diminish significantly making it difficult for her to be re-elected in 2015.

 

By the way, when our illustrious leader, Mayor Nickolas Guccione attempted to read Mr. Bartolotta's name, he stumbled over it all three times and never once got it right. His inability to read the name was nothing compared to the total embarrassment felt for our city when he floundered read a proclamation presented to our Timberland Wolves soccer team after they won second place in the state. Go Wolves! For two years the city has watched Guccione stumble, bumble, and fumble while reading out loud, in public. He should have given it to one of the teenagers being honored and asked them to read it for him. I hate to give him any good ideas, but if he were to let one of the aldermen read the proclamations, it might make Wentzville look better.

Now we come to Shryock, she is running on pure emotion due to her hatred of Stokes and Chief of Police, Lisa Harrison. Surely, she knows she made a huge mistake running for office—illuminated by her withdrawal from the election roll. It's uncertain how she is going to respond backing out of the election, some think she'll throw support via money or campaigning for the long-shot against Stokes, Linda Wright. Others say she cut a deal with Wright and Guccione—support for assistance in getting certain grace with the city. It is a known fact that Shryock and Wright are having conversations, they don't hide it very well.  For myself, I'm really not sure, but I am almost certain that from the dais she is going to publicly trash Stokes and Forrest Gossett—a classless act atributed to only the most petty and hate-driven politicians. Chris Gard may be spared, we'll see.

Shryock is may be going on a witch-hunt to find the phantom who is leaking information to the press from executive session meetings. She's alluded to the her fact that the snitch is Stokes and she may wants him to pay for perceived crimes against the city. I would state under oath that no alderman has given confidential information to The Wentzvillian, wittingly. Carefully worded questions asked of the appropriate individual and a little deductive reasoning is all you need to get the answer you seek. Most people are terrible liars. If she hunts too hard she may find that it was she who divulged the secret location of the new city hall; confidential information that was taken from executive session to The Wentzvillian. The only thing I can say is; when you're in the public eye, quit doing things you shouldn't be doing and maybe no one will find out!

There will probably be very little city business spoken about by Shryock in her last two months on the board, she will could easily spend her remaining days in public office being Guccione's zombie. Guided by the master of trash and Mayor of Candyland, she will could be resorting to his slash and trash tactics for which he has become so famous, he won't get his hands dirty. She needs to talk with some of his past political associates to find out that he blames others and feels no remorse when he throws them under the bus, but she knows that. Shryock will could be doing the dirty work and letting Guccione make a fool of her in the process. I'm sorry for that once "cute little mom" that brought sensitivity to the board, she is showing that politics has the effect of change, even on the nicest of people who get too deeply involved. Shryock entered the political arena for the wrong reasons—personal. Her hope for greatness was thwarted by the gleam in her eye, now it's misguided revenge—in the end nothing will change, no one will benefit, and Wentzville will lose. I would hope she shows good judgment and bows out of political life gracefully and just say "no" to helping Guccione in his quest to destroy any rationality in Wentzville.

I seriously doubt the day will come when Guccione, Hays, Kross, or Shryock are no longer in office that they will have a warm and fuzzy feeling about the time they wasted spent in politics. I know of only a handful of mayors and/or aldermen, even the good ones, who remember their time in Wentzville politics fondly. These are not the good-old days.