Experience Counts

Three days after the election and I’ve been trying to analyze what’s happened and what’s going to happen after the swearing-in of the new Mayor and Aldermen. Today I’d like to focus on the stable of Aldermen and their impact upon the city.

Those elected for the first time are Forrest Gossett and Sonya Shryock. Gossett is an extremely intelligent man with an education in journalism; it’s been a treat speaking with him, he’ll keep me on my toes and I hope visa-versa. A man who understands and can categorically critique what I do, and has done so, calling my work (sometimes) bombastic. At first I was uncomfortable with that moniker until I looked it up and found him correct. He covered many major elections during his days as an editor and has a very good understanding of Government and its inner workings. Sonya Shryock spent 20 years in the real estate industry and comes from a family of Realtors. She understands the engine that keeps home sales going and will be an asset to Wentzville in its effort to fill our 3,500 vacant lots we have as a result of the housing bubble bursting. Re-elected was “Bulldog” Rick Stokes, the resident voters of Wentzville recognize quality and displayed it with his landslide return to the Board.

Seated Aldermen for one more year are Chris Gard and Cheryl Kross both highly capable Aldermen who are not in favor of mediocrity and have a history of challenging the status quo. Leon Tow who was the senior Alderman with 14 years on the Board of Aldermen lost his bid for the top-spot and consequently bequeathed the senior Alderman title to Cheryl Kross who is beginning her fourth year of service. Leon, with his experience served as a stabilizing force on the Board, they looked to him for leadership and questions involving procedures and history of Board actions, which leads me to the point of this writing.

Today, we have the youngest Board of Aldermen I’ve ever known. Having elected a new mayor with highly questionable leadership skills who has only five years of dysfunctionality on the Board will be of no help with policies, procedures, and history of actions to this new board.  The Wentzville City Attorney, Paul Rost; and City Clerk, Vi Skillman will be busy babysitting this Mayor and young group of energetic Aldermen. With only one person on the Board with over two years, there will be lots of questions that were mostly fielded by Mayor Lambi or Leon Tow.

Now we come to the vacated seat in Ward 3, left when Nick Guccione stole the election with lies, mud-slinging, and deviousities, he will probably appoint Rodney Stratman to that seat. As a voting citizen of Ward 3, I do not want another lame Alderman, especially one living right next door to a Mayor as sneaky as Nick Guccione. I want an Alderman I can trust, one who will represent me and the other citizens of Ward 3. It is my opinion that the Board should reject any of Guccione's appointments and put someone in that seat who knows how to represent.

So who should that be? It should be someone with experience, honor, and integrity. There is only one man or woman that I know of who lives in Ward 3 that fits all of those qualifications; Darrel Lackey. Mr. Lackey served as Alderman in both Ward 2, and Ward 3, and was Mayor for two terms. I cannot see any other candidate or more qualified person to serve as my representative in Ward 3. With no Alderman having more than three years on the Board and the possibility of losing both Gard and Stokes to the Missouri State House of Representatives, Wentzville is going to need a strong person on the Board of Aldermen, Lackey has a history of being a strong servant of the people and businesses here.

I have spoken to Mr. Lackey and when I asked him if he would accept such an appointment, he said he would be honored to serve out Guccione's vacated seat. I will be calling my Alderman; Rick Stokes and the Aldermen of the other wards to urge them to nominate Darrel Lackey to serve as Ward 3's Alderman.

I'm appealing to all of my readers to call your Aldermen and ask them to appoint Darrel Lackey to Ward 3. Not only would it provide a stronger Board, it would provide the experience lacking in our current Board. If and when we lose Alderman Gard and or Stokes, we would insure that there would be another "Gard Dog" and "Bulldog Stokes" representing the people of Wentzville who knows how to serve our City.

Final Countdown

As I write this last chance appeal, only 24 hours remain before we go to the polls to elect competent Aldermen and a Mayor who will lead Wentzville through the coming years. We can either build upon the good work of the last two years or take a huge step backward into chaos and partisan squabbling in City Hall.

Today, with the exception of one Alderman, we have an outstanding Board who are dedicated to make Wentzville a better place. That one Alderman is Nick Guccione, he has fought this Board to side with small interest groups at every turn. As we all know, he is running for Mayor and in that effort is doing his best to replace three of our Aldermen with like-thinking drones who know nothing of the challenges facing Wentzville nor care, they are running to be Guccione's pawns in his drive to control our city.

One of my readers gave an assessment of Nick Guccione and I think he or she hit the nail square on the head: "He will identify with whatever groups he believes will help his political ambitions. He has no reason, beyond ambition (and maybe power) to be a candidate." Mark my words, if Guccione is elected, Wentzville and the future of our citizens (and their families) will feel the negative effects long after he is gone. Look at the problems of the last decade and the efforts of our current Aldermen to bring sanity and order back to the city after being saddled with a Board dominated by unthinking people who knew nothing but special interests. It wasn't until just two years ago that Wentzxville elected a majority Board that dug into the problems and began rooting them out of our City. That process and progress will stop if Nick Guccione is elected to be our Mayor. Nick Guccione has dedicated himself to rebuild that Board of unthinking zombies who's sole purpose was, and will be, to follow the lead of their master.

Nick Guccione's recruits are:

Ward 1: Jay Webber

Ward 2: Donna Sherwood and Jeremy Pritchett

Ward 3: Rodney Stratman and Curtis Davis

His plan is to:

Ward 1: To beat Forrestt Gossett and fill the vacated seat of Leon Tow who is running for Mayor with Jay Webber.

Ward 2: Beat Sonyia Shryock with Donna Sherwood (two time loser in Ward 2) and he put Jeremy Pritchett in the mix to split the vote to hedge Sherwoods chances of victory.

Ward 3: Run two opponents against incumbent Rick Stokes who is one of our most productive Aldermen. His plan here is to have Stratman beat Stokes and appoint Davis to Guccione's vacated seat.

If his plan works, he will have recruited a majority of the Board of Aldermen with people who have had no inclination to ever run for office, have no knowledge of government, and whose sole purpose is to be his sock-puppets. This plan is disaster for Wentzville and the voting citizens need to get up on all fours to fight off Guccione's conspiracy.

To avoid this convoluted deception, the voters need not do anything more than vote for:

LEON TOW or DARREL LACKEY

FOR MAYOR

FORREST GOSSETT

ALDERMAN WARD 1

SONYA SHRYOCK

ALDERMAN WARD 2

RICK STOKES, Incumbent

ALDERMAN WARD 3

This slate of candidates will insure that Wentzville will avoid the devious plot of Nick Guccione and continue to cut spending and taxes while bringing back representation to the citizens of our City. We are truly at the crossroads and this election is more important to Wentzville than any in recent history. Put Guccione, Sherwood, and their band of recruits back in their caves where they belong. The future of Wentzville is in the hands of our voters, I hope to see you at the polls tomorrow!

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!

Wentzville Hall of Shame

Looking at the candidates, I noticed that I hadn't said nearly enough about one of our candidates for Mayor; Bill Schuette. When he was Alderman of Ward 2, he was loud, arrogant, and absolutely uneducated in governmental procedures. In his first term he stumbled his way onto the Wentzville Hall of Shame and dragged Nick Guccione and John Luby down with him. He continuously embarrassed himself, other Aldermen, and the City both in public and on record.

With Schuette leading Guccione and Luby it was like watching the Three Stooges, none of them had any knowledge of the City or city government but here they were, large and in charge. This group was elected because they were recruited by Vickie Boedeker in a conspiracy to control the Board of Aldermen (doesn't that sound familiar?) and three Aldermen retired. It almost worked, they were elected to the Board but Boedeker lost her bid for Mayor. With no one to tell them how to vote or act, Schuette took charge, what a disaster. If any Board in Wentzville was ever called dysfunctional, they set the bar. They drove the sane Aldermen and Mayor Lambi insane with ridiculous studies, ordinances, and over-spending. I think it's funny how Guccione makes a point of taking exception to studies today; he, Schuette, and Luby passed more studies in their term than I've ever seen. Only after a barrage of news articles questioning the need for these studies did Guccione change his tune today. It's like a new toy, he brings it up every time the staff proposes one, thinking it will be a feather in his proverbial cap.

It's difficult to talk about Schuette without dragging Guccione into the conversation, they were so close it was like trying to separate coffee filters. Both of them decided to run for Mayor in 2010 and were obviously unsuccessful. Since Schuette gave up his Alderman seat to run, when he lost, he was off the scene. Luby lost his re-election bid and that left Guccione all alone on the Board floundering around like a hooked fish on the river bank flip-flopping around ever since.

After Schuette had lost the election and his seat, he may have had an epiphany himself  that he had made a mistake running for Mayor. That decision subsequently cost him his seat on the Board of Aldermen so he decided to try regaining his seat in 2011. Running against him was Chris Gard, Patrick Vining, and the ever present, bad penny Donna Sherwood. His Ward 2 constituents had been embarrassed long enough and denied his plea to be re-elected and instead elected newcomer; Chris Gard. They also knew about Sherwood and reminded her a second time that they didn't want her anywhere around city hall. I sincerely hope they remember next month to scratch Schuette and Sherwood (oh, and Guccione too) from their vote. I know that the good citizens of Ward two deserve better representation than they had from Schuette or would get from Sherwood.

It's been only one year that we've had a productive intelligent Board of Aldermen and there is only one Alderman remaining from the good-old-boy days; Nick Guccione. If the voters get this right next month we can preserve the integrity of our board by keeping incumbent Rick Stokes, Ward 3; electing Sonya Shyrock or Jeremy Pritchett in Ward 2; and elect Forrest Gossett in Ward 1; then for Mayor we need to elect either Leon Tow or Darrel Lackey. The balance of the candidates on the ballot were recruited by Nick Guccione in an effort to recreate his control of the board just like Boedecker tried. The Guccione recruits are: Jay Webber, Ward 1, Donna Sherwood, Ward 2, and Rodney Stratman and Curtis Davis in Ward 3.

Vickie Boedeker's effect on Wentzville has burdened our city for eight years and we can ill afford another conspiracy to get a foot-hold in our city. If any of Guccione's recruits are elected it will have a huge negative impact on Wentzville for years to come. The only thing left to do is find a new independent thinking candidate to replace Guccione in 2013, then Wentzville will be able to move forward without agendas or conspiracy in our government. I'd agree with Guccione that he's a good and ethical Alderman, but then we'd both be wrong.

The Ticket Is Set For April 3rd

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

MAYOR:

Bill "Lurch" Schuette

Nickolas  Guccione

LEON TOW
DARREL LACKEY

ALDERMAN, WARD ONE:

Jay Webber

FORREST GOSSETT

ALDERMAN, WARD TWO:

Donna  "Bananas" Sherwood

SONYA SHRYOCK

Jeremy Pritchett

ALDERMAN, WARD THREE:

RICK STOKES (incumbent)

Rodney E. "Rod" Stratman

Curtis Davis

Beginning with Mayor, in the order of filing:

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

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

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

WARD 1 Candidates

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

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

WARD 2 Candidates

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

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

Ward 3 Candidates

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

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

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

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