1 Day to the Election

Tomorrow, we all go to the polls to choose how our government will operate for the coming year. Whether we want to have people of good character or people who don't, it's our civic duty to go to the polls and cast our vote. In last year's election 58 percent of those who voted agreed with me that we didn't want Nickolas Guccione to take charge of the highest office in the City of Wentzville. Out of a population of 29,070 only 2,888 people voted—and over four times that number are of voting age. In my opinion, citizens have been lied to so much their perception is that the government is crooked and they feel their vote doesn't matter.

Many cities assist non-registered citizens with the registration process by hosting a registration day in a city facility to educate and register voters. Does Wentzville host such an event, if so I am unaware of it? I believe our City should take a proactive stance on voter registration to enroll those citizens who could and should be voting. Then the next time I hear candidates crying about low voter turnout at least they can say, "We tried."

I have seen elections in Wentzville for a Mayoral race that were decided by seven votes and Aldermanic elections by less. At the State and Federal level perhaps people could say their vote doesn't count, but here it counts. Unfortunately, when we don't vote at this level and people with questionable ethics and morals are ensconced in Wentzville Government it can have a negative effect on higher levels of government in the future. e.g. The first time I met Nickolas Guccione I was reporting for a local magazine and he was running for his first term as an Alderman.  During the interview I asked about his political future and he told me that he wanted to go on to be mayor and after that into state politics. He's reached his second plateau with designs toward state government, unless of course he can get the board to call for a full-time mayor in which case he may retire in his current position. So right here in Wentzville we've allowed the dirtiest politician in recent history an opportunity to grease his way into a place where many say their vote doesn't count. Wentzville needs to be very careful about who it elects.

Cheryl Kross has four years of conservative leadership on the Board of Aldermen. In the opinion of The Wentzvillian, she has earned a third term. If I could vote for Alderman Cheryl Kross, I would.

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross

I hope every registered voter goes to the polls tomorrow to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice. I have respect for anyone who votes, even if it's for a candidate with whom I disagree. When I hear people bitching about our Aldermen, Mayor, or Municipal Judge and then find out they didn't vote, I dislike them as much or more than the greasy politician they allowed to be elected. I will vote and will be working the polls for Darrel Lackey. I believe he will be the best man to represent me in Ward 3 and I'm casting my vote for Darrel Lackey.

Ward 3

Darrel Lackey

There isn't much I can say about the Municipal Judge that I haven't said, but I am extremely interested in seeing Judge Steve Martin re-elected. His opponent Michael Carter is working hard at getting elected by bombarding our mailboxes with literature and working the streets. He even used a Christian Holiday to pander for votes, pretty sick. If elected, Carter will do the same thing he did before, alienate our police force and destroy the Judicial budget. Carter, you may remember, hit all the newspapers a couple years ago being arrested for a DUI but not convicted. The Wentzvillian is supporting Judge Steve Martin a man of high moral and ethical standards for re-election. I will be casting my vote for Steve Martin.

Municipal Judge

Steve Martin

Once again, I hope all of you vote tomorrow, and maybe I'll see you at the polls.



2 Days to the Election, and...

Every year at election time, things get crazy. This insanity has been going on in Wentzville since I can remember and it's always the product of some strong-willed narcissist trying to influence, or manipulate elections. I won't go into previous administrations other than to say; after talking with the old-timers in town, none of them have ever seen a Mayor actively support and campaign for Aldermen candidates until Nixkolas Guccione. No one has ever seen flyers sporting a candidate with a picture of a Mayor supporting him. I cannot fathom that there is not some State statute or Federal law protecting citizens from this type of election manipulation. Personally, I can't imagine any candidate wanting Guccione's support especially after seeing his track record of election ethics.

Nick Guccione has been recruiting and actively supporting candidates in the last two elections. I've checked my list and found that in the last two years he has actively supported seven candidates, four last year and three this year, which includes one Municipal Judge. Of the four last year, none were elected and most of them have a bad taste in their mouths after Guccione lied and turned his back on them, in fact one of them was his own campaign manager. I can only hope that Robert Hussey and Michael Hays are prepared for Guccione blaming them for anything they did under his inept and unethical tutelage. I haven't seen Hussey's campaign flyer yet but I do know that Guccione is already back-peddling on the ethics infractions on the Hays literature.

Michael Hays could be in for a big surprise when the Election Commission and/or other City and State agencies come down on him for his flyer. His problem could easily be something every other disgruntled candidate fell for, being lied to by Nickolas Guccione. Guccione could easily say that he had no part in the content of the flyer (never saw it) and only gave him a personal endorsement letter and say that he didn't know Hays would stick the word "Mayor" on it. Tricky Nicky would have plausible deny ability leaving Hays to take the hit, I hope he has proof of Guccione's involvement or he'll take it alone leaving Guccione to move on to the next sucker.

Guccione is never going to change his campaign tactics or manipulation of our election process unless our Aldermen and City Attorney get more involved. The only thing we, the citizens can do to protect Wentzville is to identify those unsuspecting candidates of Guccione's choice and make sure they do not win the election. Those people are Robert Hussey and Michael Hays who are running for Aldermen, and Michael Carter for Municipal Judge. In this years election, the most damaging mistake could be the election of Carter. It has taken Judge Steve Martin two years to straighten out the Judicial budget mess left by Carter.

For the reasons stated above, it is imperative that Wentzville voters choose the right people to represent us in our Government:

Ward 1

Cheryl Kross

Ward 3

Darrel Lackey

Municipal Judge

Steve Martin



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!

A Great American

It's only four days before we all go to the polls to vote for the candidates of our choice. I want to remind everyone about the importance of this election. We have a four-year term for Mayor for the first time—that's a long time if you realize in the first year, you've made a mistake, so as the Knight Templar said; "Choose wisely."

"Choose wisely," no truer words were spoken regarding this election. We have men running for Mayor who have a wide range of government experience, some great, some not so great. I've had the privilege to know and watch each of them while they were serving our city and want to point out some of the things two of these candidates have done while in public office:

Bill Schuette: Schuette was a recruit of Vickie Boedeker when trying to regain her seat as Mayor for the second time after losing to Paul Lambi. At that time Boedecker had lost Board support and needed to get a new board elected to regain control of Wentzville should she be elected. She lost, but her disciple, Schuette won a place as Alderman of Ward 2. Had the voters known of her plot, Schuette, Luby, and Guccione would never been elected.

Schuette was uneducated about government and I believe had no interest in learning. Some of the ordinances he brought forward and supported were found in violation of state statutes and shot down. Others were destructive and led to changes to the overlay districts regarding sinage and allowing live music in the bars and restaurants on the Wentzville Parkway. Schuette was prone to give advantages and favors to his business friends and did so frequently, The tow contract was changed to give the advantage to a less qualified tow company simply because one of his best friends was the owner. Schuette brought chaos to our Board, he was loud, arrogant, and an embarrassment to the City in other public venues. A year after losing his bid for mayor and his seat on the Board, Schuette tried to regain it but was denied by the voters who were looking for a real represenative.

Nick Guccione: Guccione was also one of those recruited by Boedecker to run and he was elected to Ward 3. He was a butcher at Schnucks grocery stores and had no knowledge of government or procedures. The bad part about his situation is that he never had to learn because Bill Schuette led the recruits with his strong over-confident personality for four years on how and when to vote. Unfortunately for Wentzville, it was the blind leading the blind for four years until Schuette lost his bid for Mayor and consequently lost his seat on the Board. When the other recruits lost their seats, Guccione was all alone with a new group of aggressive well versed people (Aldermen) who believed in Wentzville and proper procedures.

When he ran for a third term and without the Boedecker machine he was lucky that he was unopposed. If someone had run against him he would most assuredly been joining the other recruits fate of losing his re-election. His good-fortune was Wentzville's misfortune, in his first year of his third term he was placed in a position of being behind the 8-ball to perform the duties of an Alderman. Knowing nothing of procedures, forming ordinances, gaining support from other board members, he quietly stumbled along. He followed everyone on the board, not speaking, not bringing forth legislation, and not representing his constituents of Ward 3.

Being a concerned voter in Ward 3, I have watched my Aldermen very closely for over 10 years and I believe that Mr. Guccione doesn't read the Alderman packets, is unprepared at meetings, doesn't have any knowledge of parliamentary procedure, and his record on the Board of Aldermen supports my statement. He watches other Aldermen and listens too much to small groups of citizens who speak in "Open Forum" at City meetings. Mr. Guccione makes decisions based on flimsy and un-researched information by small special interest groups and when he makes the wrong decisions he flips on his vote. His record is riddled with flipping on votes, he even campaigns on it, admitting he was wrong. Mr. Guccione is wrong on almost everything he votes on when he makes his own decisions regarding any subject before the Board.

Guccione is an opportunist and when he sees anything that may give him a political advantage he jumps on it. Siding with Mayor Lambi for the first time in five years is a perfect example. They were on the opposite side of almost everything. Guccione even tried leading a charge to have Lambi pay back the $15,000 (the mysterious check turned over to the attorney) out of his own personal checking account and now he's acting like they were buddies forever. He voted with the other Aldremen to turn the alleged influence peddling complaint against Lambi to the State Board of Ethics Commission, as a matter of fact he made the motion to do so.  Now he's with Lambi calling the entire ordeal "a witch hunt" trumped up by one of his opponents and at the same time discredit not only his opponent but the opponents running against his recruits. He thinks by siding with Lambi, Lambi's supporters will support and vote for him. He is a panderer and seeks any group who might support him, no matter how small or ridiculous, if it means votes, he's there.

He has pulled out all of the stops, he knows that if he is not elected Mayor this year, he will serve out his last year as Alderman trying to live with the things he's said and done. He knows that he will never be re-elected as an Alderman in Ward 3.  Guccione is the only Mayor candidate to resort to mud-slinging and trickery. I completely understand why he does it—it's the only thing he has besides small interests groups to campaign on, his record is completely void of any achievements, it's the only thing he can do. He relies on old newspaper articles and takes things out of context to bash his opponents rather than campaign on his merit. You can't talk about something if you have nothing to talk about.

A great American once said: "Small people talk about other people" "Average people talk about material things, and Great people talk about ideas." In five years of Guccione being an Alderman, I've never heard him come up with a "great idea," but I have heard him "talk about other people," on numerous occasions and spreading slanderous lies and rumors is well within his realm of ethics. I have to appeal to the good voting citizens to think about these words and think about where Nick Guccione stands. After looking at his record and campaign strategies, after looking at those closest to him and his conspiracy to control the Board of Aldermen, and after listening to his words and seeing his lack of accomplishments, any thinking person will come to agree that Mayor candidate Nick Guccione is not a good choice to run our Wentzville!

Candidates Night 2012

There were probably between 150 ant 200 people attended the Chamber of Commerce Candidates Night, last night at the Holt High School auditorium. I was disappointed to see that the radio station wasn't there but life is full of little trade offs. Only two of the candidates didn't make an appearance; Ward 1 candidate Forrest Gossett, who had a confirmed medical emergency and; Rodney Stratman candidate for Ward 3, who insiders said; got cold feet, everyone else was there. I was also disappointed in the quality of the questions asked, many were just lame, as a matter of fact I didn't hear one question that was hard-hitting—you know, it was all generic, "oh, by the way" kind of stuff. Questions could not be addressed to individual candidates and I think that was a big mistake. The Chamber of Commerce could have done a much greater service to the City without this touchy-feely event, but that's another story all in itself.

Each Candidate had an opportunity to give an opening statement and some were revealing while others were just downright laughable. I'm going to start with Ward 1 and run through all the Wards before I get to the Mayor Candidates. I have to warn you, Nick Guccione was running true to form, blaming everybody else for his problems, claiming everything that was good was because of him, and flipping on subjects, he needs a new script writer. Here was some of the questions asked and responses of Aldermen candidates.

Ward 1:

Forrest Gossett, absent. I wish Mr. Gossett had been able to attend because I've heard him speak on the subjects regarding Wentzville and believe he could have given his opponent a lesson in government and the problems facing Wentzville's future.

Jay Webber: Mr. Webber was asked two questions, the first was: "What specifically would you do for the downtown area?" Answer: "There are things that can be done." Second question: "How would you cut taxes?" Answer: "Repeal the sales taxes on the Parkway." Since the Wentzville Parkway and infrastructure was built using TIFFs, CID's, TIDDs, and other tax incentive vehicles on the various developments in securing the coming of  businesses like; Wall Mart, Home Depot, Target, and Lowes, anyone with a third grade education in government financing should know that it can't be done. Mr Webber was a well spoken gentleman who was recruited by Nick Guccione so it's easy to see why he didn't know this, he simply had no intention or self initiative to become an Alderman.

Ward 2:

This ward has three candidates running ; Donna Sherwood, two time loser of this seat; Sonya Shryock, and Jeremy Pritchett, Guccione recruit. They asked these candidates questions and I'm just going to give the highlights. It was interesting to note that in their opening statements, Jeremy Pritchett declared his political affiliation; "I'm Republican." Obviously Mr. Pritchett either didn't know, or didn't care that candidates at the City level do not declare political affiliations.

The first question was: "How would you cut spending?" Sherwood said: "Get rid of unnecessary equipment and stop buying it." Ms. Shyrock said: "locate and reduce waste spending throughout the City." The moderator asked: "What's the most important problem facing Wentzville today?" I was disappointed in all of the candidates answers but one stuck out in my notes: Jeremy Pritchett said: "Parks." I'm no real fan of newspapers and don't read them but I do know that it's been all over the news that a half-cent sales tax was approved by the voters to the tune of 20 million dollars and they are breaking ground on three new parks in the City this year. I guess that "important problem" was solved.

Ward 3:

Three candidates are vying for this seat: Rick Stokes (incumbent), Rodney Stratman (absent), and Curtis Davis. It was noted that Nick Guccione was on the phone with Mr. Stratman asking him to come to the event. He was heard to say: "There's still time, they won't get to Ward 3 for awhile." Sounds like his recruit broke ranks and ran, good for you Rodney. The other Guccione recruit was Curtis Davis a seemingly very nice old black gentleman who introduced himself as the local president of the NAACP and husband of his lovely wife of 57 years. He stated: "I see none of my peoples' here and I want to see more blacks involved." Unfortunately for Mr. Davis, he knew little about City issues and gave the impression he's a throw-back to another generation in time. I truly felt empathy for him as he addressed the assembly trying to answer the questions.

The first question set the tone of the rest of the night for Ward 3 candidates: "Name the one goal you'd like to attain if you are elected." Rick Stokes answered: "Enhance transportation and maintain our current roads." Mr Davis: "The school system. And to make the neighbors in my subdivision cut their grass" He does not know that the school system is a separate entity and Wentzville has absolutely no control over its activities. The other questions were answered with the accuracy of a learned Alderman by Mr. Stokes but Mr Davis when asked about tax incentives such as TIFFs, CIDs, and others he admitted that he didn't know what they were.

Mayor:

Bill Schuette didn't show but that was expected, Leon Tow, Darrel Lackey, and Nick Guccione were there and all but Guccione answered all of the questions. Guccione instead, campaigned on the strangest thing: "I made a mistake voting for Ranken Technical School," he  voted for it three times, attended all of the talks over several months and participated in the writing of the resolution to have Ranken come to Wentzville. Obviously he was either asleep or just following the group (his specialty) rather than listen to these non-existent protesters. "I voted for it but I made a mistake, people don't want to give them an incentive to come to Wentzville." Guccione made this speech twice in answer to two unrelated questions. He went on to say that he'd only made two mistakes but didn't elaborate on the second. He said he voted against Sam's Club because citizens didn't want it. If the truth be known, the unions that are financing his campaign told him that if he voted for Sam's Club, they'd pull their support. Talk about a special interest group having an Alderman in their pocket, Nick, your it!

If I had to pick a winner of the evening, it would have to be Darrel Lackey. He seemed to have a better command of the audience than Leon Tow and (the campaigning instead of answering questions); Nick Guccione. Both Lackey and Tow answered all of the questions and did a very good job of it but Guccione got a "D" on the questions. In my opinion, the only thing Guccione did right last night was find his way to the school. All of the candidates running for office missed a biggie: the unified new city hall and the economic engine it would start if it were in the downtown area.

One other point of interest, Nick Guccione reiterated in public that he was solely responsible for bringing the GM expansion to Wentzville, He said: "They called me, not the city, they called me." He truly believes that GM would not have expanded if it weren't for him. He claims to be responsible for bringing about a whole shift of employees to GM. I think that talking with the UAW and asking for a campaign donation is a stretch and a far cry from convincing decision makers in Detroit to expand their Wentzville facility—and using the GM logo on his literature is still illegal.

The Alderman candidate winners of the night were: Forrest Gosset (Who was in the hospital), Sonya Shryock (who answered all of the questions with sound conservative answers) and Rick Stokes by a landslide.

This has been a dirty campaign season and Nick Guccione and Donna Sherwood led the pack slinging mud rather than campaigning on their merits or qualifications. Should they be elected, it will be a gray day in Wentzville but I'll still be here reporting on their lack of leadership and crazy antics. It should be fun, at least for me.

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!

Twicky Nicky

"Tricky" Nick Guccione is pulling out all the stops to be Mayor of Wentzville. According to the Wednesday, March 21st Suburban Journal, he is accusing all five Aldermen of "carrying out  a political vendetta against Mayor Paul Lambi,". Guccione must sit up nights with his campaign manager Donna Sherwood dreaming up ridiculous crap to launch on his opponents, and now they're trying to discredit a City employee and the entire Board of Aldermen, and of course he had nothing to do with it.

It's a known fact that Guccione is the weakest Alderman on the Wentzville Board and has no, I repeat, NO accomplishments during five years of service (I use the term "service" lightly) other than taking up space and annoying everybody. Oh, I forgot, he did get a court ruling overthrown for his bar-owner buddy which pissed off a number of his sleepless constituents! But, since he has no record of any consequence, the only thing he can run his campaign on is diversion, deception, and discrediting his more competent opponents. This man really wants to be Mayor and nothing is beyond his or Sherwood's realm of dirty stupid crap to pull. As a matter of fact, the only difference between Sherwood's experience and Guccione's, is that Sherwood never held an office

In the Journal article written by Raymond Castile (which I'm surprised they actually printed), "Alderman Nick Guccione, Ward 3, said the board, led by President Leon Tow, Ward 1, has been carrying out an agenda for more than a year to force Lambi out of office in order to give Tow an advantage in the April 3rd mayoral election." This guy is in la-la land to even think that an unnamed City employee, a seven time President of the board, and four other Aldermen are plotting against him with the Mayor being the sacrificial Lambi. He is accusing his opponent of this ridiculous crap because he cannot possibly win on his own merit.

I have to ask: Where was Mr. Guccione while all this was going on, why is it coming up one week before the election? If this is true, why didn't he blow the whistle over a year ago. Could it be that he and Sherwood just thought it up right before he said it January 11th in a closed meeting and saved it to spring on his opponents one week prior to the election? He is a twicky little wascal.

A City employee filed an official complaint against Mayor Paul Lambi and protocol demanded an investigation, and that is exactly what has been going on. What Guccione is really saying is; if a City employee files a complaint about an elected official, don't investigate it, let the complaint fall on deaf ears, don't do anything, business as usual with Guccione. Guccione, Len Tow, and the rest of the Board were acting according to policy and procedure and Guccione in his paranoid style twisted it to say they were scheming against him, everything is about him. In the January 11, 2012 closed session meeting minutes while discussing the process, it states: "Ald. Guccione expressed concern if the Mayor would resign Ald. Tow, as President of the Board, would become Mayor ProTem and give him an advantage in the Mayor's election." Guccione wasn't thinking about the employee complaint or that Mayor Lambi may have done something wrong or illegal, he was thinking about politics—exactly what I've reported on several times over the months. He is all political! Mayor Lambi didn't resign, the City employee complaint was filed, the investigation was turned over to another authority, and Guccione is left with nothing else to campaign on except slash and burn, so what's the reason for his mysterious allegations?

This is an ill calculated desperation move that will have cataclysmic effects on Guccione regardless if he wins or loses, think about it. He has admitted that he doesn't get any respect from the Board regarding his corn-ball non-issues and now he's insured that if he does become Mayor, their respect may have been somewhat diminished. If he doesn't win, he has to sit on the Board for one more year with even less respect and probably no support. He's pulled this stunt in a last ditch effort to get his recruits elected to the Board and when that doesn't happen, he is in serious trouble. If Guccione was a dictator of a small Mideast country, he would be  the reason the rest of the world wouldn't want that country developing nuclear weapons.

He doesn't think about trying to work with the Board, he thinks he needs to get rid of them. Regardless of the fine job this Board has done in the last two years, they just don't fit into his grand scheme of control. Maybe he thinks they're working too hard and it's making him look bad by comparison but that's not a difficult task. It must be something else, something deeper, something more profound, naaaa, he's just nuts!

Darrel Lackey Meet & Greet

The election is just two weeks away and the following "Meet and Greet" was received by the "Wentzvillian" to be posted here for my readers. Come on down to the "Olde Towne Pub" to meet and learn about Darrel Lackey's plans for the future of our city. Click on the following link to go to Darrel Lackey's website for more information about Mr. Lackey: http://www.darrel4mayor.com/

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

"Your Choice Matters"

I was just handed a campaign mailer disguised as a questionnaire sent out by Alderman Nick Guccione and I had to chuckle to myself several times while reading it. Basically, It's a survey asking the citizens of Wentzville their opinion: "YOUR OPINION MATTERS!" It is a list of the the departments in the city and instructions to "Circle your response: Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor." A nifty little diversion from the base truth.

After perusing this mailing, I find that it contains absolutely nothing about what he has accomplished in five years as the Alderman of Ward 3. Instead, he asks you the voter, to grade the city. Of course, if he had  listed only his accomplishments, his photographs would have been the only thing on the paper. It is a trick tool by a tricky guy to divert attention from the fact that he's done nothing in five years except cough, sneeze, and take up space on the board.

I did find what has to be considered a major deception on it though, one bullet point reads: Alderman of Ward 3 since 2007 (Reelected by more than than 77 %.) That was in 2009, in his most recent reelection in 2011 he was unopposed. Had he been opposed, he would have lost in a landslide and be home looking in today.

I guess this questionnaire is his attempt to act mayorally but says nothing about what he's done for the past five years, what he will do if elected Mayor for the next four years, or when he loses what he'll do during his final year as an Alderman. His form gives the impression that he's on top of city government, but in reality it's only a diversion from his total lack of knowledge of what's going on in the city, and nonexistent involvement in the community. I find it hard to believe that anyone who works two jobs has the time or energy it takes to read and study the information it takes to be an alderman, or a Mayor of a city the size of Wentzville, it could be that someone is reading it for him and giving him the highlights.

I urge voters to fill out and return the form, he promises every one who does will be contacted. When he calls you, ask him what he's accomplished during his five years as Alderman, what he'll change if he's elected Mayor, and what his plans are for Ward 3 during his final year when he loses, I'd like to know. You might also ask why he recruited candidates for all of the wards, you may find the answer to that quite revealing about his "want to control the city" attitude, I know the answer to that.

Nick Guccione wants to be a career politician, he told me that personally, and I think you'll agree that there are way too many of those in this country already. After you talk with Guccione and you find just how tedious he is and how little he has done for Wentzville during his career so far, tell him what so many other citizens already know about him—zero. Remember to vote on April 3rd and show Guccione what Wentzville thinks of him; "We don't want a useless career politician taking up space in our city hall!"

The Sword of Damocles

Once again, the Board of Alderman's work session was dominated by the pit bull ordinance. There were 30 or 40 dog-lovers in attendance in support of changing the breed-specific law. It was over an hour before the mayor closed that portion of the meeting to move onto "Staff Updates" and the "Worksession Topic List." I was disappointed to wait until 10:00 pm (after the "Executive Session") to find that my prediction of a press-release was dashed. I now believe that a press-release will probably be issued by the city on Friday to announce the new police chief. I missed it by three days, oh well—some times the magic works—sometimes it doesn't.

I do have good news! The "Storm Water Run-off Fee" ordinance that has been hanging over taxpayers heads like the Sword of Damocles since Lurch (Bill Schuette) hung it there will be brought back for the third, and final reading. Alderman of Ward 1, Cheryl Kross has been working on getting this ordinance put to bed, brought it up again last night. The previous time she wanted to bring it back for a vote (October 2011), Mayor Lambi stalled it for more discussion.

This bill was driven by Lambi and the Lurchettes beginning in 2006 in an effort to make homeowners "pay for the rain." Introduced by then, city administrator Andy McCown, it was picked up by Lurch who decided to put a feather in his cap by saving the city and sticking it to homeowners. If MSD (Metropolitan Sewer District) in St. Louis hadn't been cited in a class action law suit for passing a similar ordinance, he would have thrust a tax sword into Wentzville residents that could not be withdrawn. Voters need to remember that Bill Schuette (Lurch) was the one who fought so hard to impose this unusual tax on our citizens. If he actually files, and his name appears on the April ballot for mayor (or any other office), scratch through his name—it will save you a lot of heartaches later should he be elected.

Without further protest from the Mayor and supported by Aldermen Rick Stokes and Nick Guccione, Kross managed to get it put on the agenda for the first meeting in December (14th). I have been waiting for the third reading for five years and now it looks like it may really happen. It is believed this terrible legislation will be voted down and I'll be watching very closely how the aldermen vote on this issue. This could be a campaign-buster if anyone sides for it. During the discussion, city attorney Paul Rost interjected; "If you are bringing this back to vote it down, ok—if you are entertaining the idea of voting yes, we need to talk." It sounds to me like there are still problems with this absurd tax.

Our elected city officials are very important to the future of resident's finances, electing the wrong people to our government can cost you dearly. Please check the records of candidates to assess for yourselves whether or not they have your best interests at heart. There are several candidates today who say they are going to file who have a record of costing taxpayers more and offering less. Be careful who you pick!

Thank A Veteran Today

There's a lot going on in Wentzville and before the end of the year I suspect there will be some very interesting twists. The rumor mill is once again drumming out messages that another member of staff may be saying farewell and the city will be announcing Wentzville's new police chief possibly as early as next week. The list of possible mayor candidates has tripled and doesn't even include the incumbent Paul Lambi.

Although the first day of filing isn't for another week, Monday was the day prospectives could pick up candidate packets. According to my source, six "could be" candidates picked up the needed forms and information for filing in the mayor's race. The following list (in alphabetic order) is of those who are known to have requested the paperwork:

Nick Guccione

Darrel Lackey

Bill "Lurch" Schuette

Leon Tow

Unknown
The Wentzvillian

This list is by no means an accurate accounting of candidates, that number will be known by the last day of filing January 17, 2012. The one grave disappointment is to see Lurch crawl out from under his rock after a year long absence. It was commented to me that he hasn't served on committees or volunteered any time to organizations to better the city since he first appeared on the scene as an aldermanic plant by Vickie Boedeker six years ago. To see his name pop up as a possible mayor candidate again, is a testament to unthinking people who would support such a disgrace as having him on the ballot, it's a total waste of ink.

The Pit Bull ordinance will be discussed at this evening's "Work Session," and after a couple of house cleaning items, the board will go into "Executive Session." It's the third executive session meeting in a row,  there 's something big cooking in city hall and there could be a press release after this one. The Wentzvillian will keep you informed.

Today we remember those brave men and women who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor on that December morning in 1941, 70 years ago. Our armed services have defended our way of life against tyranny of any sort—that we may carry on our right to live free. The graveyards in Wentzville contains soldiers and sailors from every war since, and including, the American Revolution, please take some time to thank a veteran today.

In Two Weeks It Officially Begins

Filing for municipal offices begins December 13, 2011 and ends on January 17, 2012. In just two weeks candidates for mayor and all three wards will start lining up on the city hall steps to make their candidacy official. More than likely there will be some surprises in store during the coming weeks. The following is a list of candidates that were announced to The Wentzvillian:

Mayor:
Nick Guccione, Alderman Ward 3 has made his candidacy public.
Leon Tow, Alderman Ward 1 has made his candidacy public.

Ward 1: (Vacated by Leon Tow)
Forrest Gossett, Gossett's name was brought in by Alderman Cheryl Kross.
Jay Weber, Weber's name was brought in by Alderman Nick Guccione.

Ward 2: Vann Sample, incumbent is running for a second term.
Donna Sherwood, this will be Sherwood's third try at an aldermanic seat.

Ward 3: Incumbent Rick Stokes is running for a second term.

This is the latest list of highly-suspected or known candidates who have stated their intention of filing. There could be others come forward before filing is closed January 17, 2012. Some names that appeared previously were removed either because they decided not to run or we are unsure if they will register.

For Mayor; Guccione and Tow are going full-bore with fund-raisers and meetings with residents on a regular basis. It needs to be reported that Guccione has the union support and Tow is being backed by the HBA (Home Builders Association). If Paul Lambi is going to run, there is no noise on the streets and he has lost the support of the HBA which carried him through his first four terms. In addition, as reported before, there is an excellent chance that another candidate may announce for the top spot which will shake things up quite a bit and make for an interesting run for Mayor.

As stated above, The Wentzvillian picks for alderman are; Forrest Gossett, Ward 1, and Rick Stokes for ward 3. Should Stokes be opposed, he has our support because he spearheaded the half-million dollar real estate tax cut. The first time Wentzville citizen's taxes have actually been reduced in recent years—maybe ever. On the record, Paul Lambi, Vann Sample, and Nick Guccione minimized the tax cut realization to individual homeowners and therefore opposed it.

Ward 2 is another subject all together. Incumbent Vann Sample, has made some disappointing decisions in recent months by wanting to raise the rent for the Green Lantern Senior Center and vocalizing his disapproval of having Wentzville employees share in their health care. His voting record has been erratic and hard to figure out. The other candidate is Donna Sherwood, this will be her third time trying to capture this seat. In the past, she has campaigned for Vickie Boedeker's unsucessful mayoral bids and Bill Schuette's aldermanic campaigns. Now she is campaign manager for Nick Guccione plus running her own campaign. In all good conscience, The Wentzvillian can't support her effort to become alderman of Ward 2. If push comes to shove and another more viable candidate doesn't materialize, The Wentzvillian would support Sample in this race.

For Ward 3, Matt Garvey has elected not to run and at this time Rick Stokes is unopposed.

This is a very pivotal election please make sure you are registered and get out to Vote on April 3, 2012.

"It's Only a Hundred Thousand Dollars"

Wednesday evening's Board of Aldermen meeting was standing room only, several citizens were even listening to the proceedings from the vestibule. Knowing that the city was going to have the "first reading" of the 2012 budget, I was extremely encouraged to see so many concerned citizens in attendance. The poor shell-of-a-mayor leading the meeting has definitely lost it, our illustrious, high-of-high, all mighty potentate, Mayor Lambi opened by stating: "It is the 16th of December 20,012," But then he corrected himself after everyone was looking at him with furrowed brows, "I mean it's the 16th of November 20,012." The frowns continued even after he stumbled toward steering the meeting back into the 21st century, but everyone there probably agreed that he needs a (permanent) vacation.

To my dismay, the crowd wasn't there to hear about the budget, they were assembled to support revising the pit-bull ordinance. As much as I love dogs, and I do, I'm truly disappointed that these well meaning folks could give a rats-ass about the way the city is spending their tax dollars. It makes me think that maybe they are under taxed. You'd think that in this economy, a dog issue couldn't possibly be more important than their financial welfare. I guess it's true, if you want to make the liberal thinking masses happy, throw them a bone.

One citizen (Mr. Darrel Lackey) out of the 50 or 60 present got up to discuss items on the budget. His concern was the city's employee benefit package. He asked some hard-hitting questions and made excellent points. He was obviously disappointed to hear that the board didn't increase the employee copay portion of their health care benefits citing that very few citizens (if any) pay no health care premiums and only a ten dollar copay. As a matter of fact, most peoples premiums went up this year and they can expect to pay even more this coming year. He went on to say that the city had just increased his water and sewer bill yet the city won't have the employees share in their health care costs. He confirmed that the employees pay zero premiums and asked how much does it cost taxpayers per employee? I don't think the city was really prepared for that question as the mayor looked at the staff and the staff took turns looking at each other. An awkward moment passed when the Assistant Financial Director finally spoke up, "the city pays over $1,300 per employee." Lackey, two term mayor and 13 year veteran of the Board of Aldermen said: "That's not fair! The citizens keep getting increases in their taxes and utility costs yet the employees don't even share in their own health care costs."

It was stated that the city received a $130,000 increase in premiums for health care, Mayor Lambi, Aldermen; Van Sample and Nick Guccione supported the no increase in co pays for employees. Sample justified his decision by saying, "Its only a hundred thousand dollars." Lackey called him on the carpet by saying: "It may be only a hundred thousand dollars to you alderman Sample but that's a lot of money (in the real world)." When Lackey sat down, everyone in the room knew that the Mayor and Aldermen had put themselves in an indefensible position. Minimizing the increase in premiums to the city and supporting a stance not to pass some of these costs on to the employees will be a major talking point in the upcoming election. I'd like to remind our aldermen that $100 large is one-fifth of the cut you proposed  to be made in spending.

The mayor and aldermen are elected officials of the people and intrusted with safe guarding taxpayers money. It's clear to me that the mayor has little regard in this matter but it is disturbing that some aldermen are of the same mind.  If the board desired to do the right thing, they would revisit the employee benefits program to be "fair" to the taxpayers in Wentzville. If they don't, they should be prepared to explain to citizens just why they think; "It's only a hundred thousand dollars" and it's only three or four more bucks on your water and sewer bills.

I'd like to note that The Wentzvillian is averaging almost 3000 page views per month, in that is a sizable number of interested voters living in Wentzville. If you care about the way the city is spending your tax dollars, I hope you attend the next board meeting and call your aldermen with your concerns. Thank you to my loyal readers, and as always I invite your comments.

More Candidates for 2012 Announce Their Bid

The Wentzville election is more than seven months away and five months from the filing deadline but the number of candidates revealing themselves is swelling. The biggest news and most disheartening for Wentzville is that Mayor Lambi stated in a public forum earlier this week: "The only thing Alderman Leon Tow and I have in common is; we are both running for mayor." Not only does this complicate the mayoral race, it also reveals the narcissist that Lambi is. He fervently believes himself to be the best, most invincible mayor that Wentzville has ever had the privilege of electing. Lambi is also a glutton for punishment if he wants four more years of beatings from this mostly conservative board of aldermen.

With Lambi, in the fold, Tow and Nick Guccione will be in the same predicament as 2008 when Guccione and Lurch butted heads with Lambi—in that race Lambi won with only 36 percent of the vote. Had one of the other candidates stepped back, Lambi would have been sent packing two years ago by a landslide. Perhaps his memory is failing when it comes to the small number of votes he received but what the hell, any self respecting narcissist would call a 36 percent win a slam dunk in his favor. If Tow and Guccione are really interested in the welfare of the city, one of them will back off and let the salvation of Wentzville take place. There are a great number of uninformed voters out there and with three in the race, Lambi could sneak back in again. One other problem is; there's a rumor of a fourth candidate—could be a plant from the Lambi camp to further dilute the vote, it's been known to happen.

Of those known or rumored, this is the line-up of prospective candidates (underlined) for the various wards:

Ward 1: Incumbent Leon Tow is vacating to run for mayor.

Forrest Gossett, is a friend of Alderman Cheryl Kross.

Jay Weber, is a friend of Alderman Nick Guccione.

Ward 2: Incumbent Vann Samples was asked if he is going to run for a second term, his reply was, "Why wouldn't I?"

Donna Sherwood, rumored to be campaign manager for Guccione and a one time Lurchette supporting Bill Schuette and ex mayor Vickie Boedeker. This is Sherwood's third run at a seat.

Dianna Wright rumors are coming more frequently that she may run but a new one has surfaced; she could be running for mayor.

Ward 3: Incumbent Rick Stokes is running for a second term.

Matt Garvey, is a friend of Guccione

A third candidate may be in the hopper.

For the record as it lines up now, The Wentzvillian is supporting; Forrest Gossett for Ward 1 and Rick Stokes in Ward 3. I'm waiting to hear more about the candidates from ward 2. Regarding the mayoral race, the term of office is now four years so I urge voters to take a long-hard look at the records of the candidates before casting their ballots—it's going to be terrible to find out that, one year after the election, we have a chimpanzee headlining the circus.

Footnote: Tow made a good showing when he ran for mayor against Lambi in 2006, for more information go to his website; http://www.leon4mayor.com/. Guccione ran third in his bid against Lambi and Lurch in 2008, when his website is available, it will be posted here. Except for the somewhat inconsistent voting of Alderman Vann Sample, the aldermen incumbents have done a good job of curbing spending and cutting the budget.