Meltdown in City Hall

The Board of Aldermen's special meeting of November 29th was a bust, hardly worth attending—that's probably why I didn't. The agenda items were only two: "City Administrator Recruitment," and "Police Chief Recruitment." Those lasted about 15 minutes and then they went into executive session for almost two hours. Sometimes watching legislation is like watching speed bumps, it's no wonder why more citizens don't attend city meetings, it takes a certain kind of screwball. But this doesn't mean there isn't entertainment in city hall because on any given day it is filled with mini dramas.

If you had been a fly on the mayor's office wall Wednesday afternoon you would have seen our mayor at his absolute worst. Code of conduct for elected officials doesn't seem to mean much for our omnipresent all mighty potentate; Mayor Lambi, as he went crazy. I think the pressures of trying to act like a mayor by someone who can't grasp the concept is catching up with our man Lambi.

Here's the way it went down: A citizen and old friend of Lambi's went to city hall to talk with Acting City Administrator, Dennis Walsh about a water bill problem. At the front desk he found that Walsh is no longer officed in city hall so he asked if he could have a few moments with the Mayor. Sitting in Lambi's office, he explained why he was there and the conversation evolved into a discussion of the recent employee benefits talks. He asked why Lambi supported the "no increase" in co pays for employees. Irritated, and in his best smart-ass condescending way, Lambi said: "You are always putting down city employees." His friend rocked by Lambi's statement retorted, "I take offense to your attitude! How can you justify passing these costs onto the taxpayers!"

Walsh and the purchasing manager, Jerry Hillin, arrived at city hall for a meeting with Lambi just as the gloves were being taken off in Lambi's office. Shouting and expletives (that even I wouldn't use) were being exchanged while the office employees and staff listened in the lobby. Finally, before it went to blows, Lambi shouted; "YOU'RE NO FRIEND OF MINE, GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" On his way out, Lambi's ex friend said: "You'll rue the day you treated me this way!" In my opinion, that's one hell of a way to schmooze a taxpaying resident of Wentzville. I wonder if Lambi will get his vote?

You kinda have to feel sorry for Lambi he really is a nice person if you can get him out of his mayor hat. He was originally elected (2004) to dethrone Vickie Bodeker and re-elected (2006) to drive the nail in her coffin by beating her a second time to that old tune: "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead." Then after that he began thinking he was invincible.  Beginning to break promises and  lying to friends and followers became a pass time that lost him a great number of his constituency. In 2008, his third election, Leon Tow gave him a run for his money without even trying. In 2010 he won a split decision by obtaining only 38 percent of the vote but if there had been only one opponent, Lambi would not have been here today. I guess we are fortunate because if he had lost we would have had Lurch screwing things up today. Sometimes blessings come at a high price.

Turning friends into enemies has been a big part of his downfall. His reign of lunacy will lead to a legacy far beneath that which he had hoped to attain. This final meltdown in city hall could cost him any chance at a fifth term. Even some of his closest friends are now looking away and I'm beginning to believe that he finally doesn't want the job of mayor any longer, it's just too hard. With a little training I think he could become a top-notch Wal-Mart Greeter. Maybe he could use one of his $250 "volunteer" tutors to help land the job.

Just Say NO!

I have to talk about something that I've been hearing around town for the last several months, but what prompted this writing was getting a call from a dear friend of mine this morning. I know that our ever-present, all knowing, mighty potentate, Mayor Paul Lambi has been pushing some pretty corn-ball things for the past few years. Things like Incubator Plus, supposedly devised to help small and micro businesses get going and keep going. This venture, and many others, have failed miserably and gone belly-up around here simply because they reneged on keeping  promises made to business owners.

Since his initial election almost eight years ago, Lambi has had a history of backing programs (like Incubator Plus) that look noble on the surface, but there's always some nuance that leaves them somewhat odoriferous. The difference between those earlier dead fish and his latest is that this one smells right up front. After only one minute of my friend explaining this deal, I started scratching my head—and it wasn't dandruff. Let me explain:

Lambi is going around town rounding up individuals as well as business owners to "volunteer" to be tutors for people who want to finish their education; a very worthwhile and noble endeavor. He claims that his organization has hundreds of these so-called "volunteers" lined up to begin tutoring people. In order to be allowed to sign up, the "volunteer" needs to pay $250 for the privilege of getting into the program. I've known a lot of volunteers in my day but I've never known one who paid for it, except in time and talent, or the occasional donation. My confidant said that Lambi's organization will let someone volunteer for free, but their name will be added to the bottom of the list. I have always been under the impression that tutors got paid, not the other way around. I guess the immediate question is; where is all this money going? If I were to guess, it would be Lambi's pocket in the form of a salary.

I wouldn't have brought up this whole subject (frankly I don't give a crap what Lambi does, as long as he does it somewhere else), but I've heard that there are Wentzville people who were approached by the mayor and were afraid not to participate and reluctantly gave in, and some are now angry. One source tells me that some of this business has been carried out in the Mayor's office in city hall. I wonder if there's a name for this; it wouldn't be influence peddling, would it? Wouldn't it be a real hoot if a few of these people would come before the President of the Board of Aldermen (Leon Tow) and lodge a complaint? That could be a very interesting turn of events that could even require Lambi to retain the services of an attorney. I urge any of my readers who felt pressured into participating in this idea to come forward and testify.

I later discussed this subject with several business owners; one in particular summed it up pretty well: "Lambi sounds like he's been eating too many retard sandwiches."

What Happened?

I have intentionally avoided saying anything about the candidates who are running for mayor in Wentzville and I'm trying very hard to stay neutral. Only one of the candidates is seriously troubling; the incumbent Paul Lambi, whom I firmly believe needs to get an eight to five job and get out of politics altogether. At the November 2nd regular session of the board of aldermen something happened that confused me, but that's easy to believe about a guy who can hide his own Easter Holiday eggs.

Before starting, I originally thought the meeting was a work session so I arrived at city hall before 6:00 pm to find I was one of the first to show. Soon after I realized it was a regular meeting that didn't start until 6:30 pm, I could have slept for another half-hour which most definitely agitated my otherwise genteel disposition. As citizens and staff began to file in I noticed the large number of employees taking seats in the chambers, it was almost standing room only. Something was up, what the hell did I miss this time?

I will lay out the facts as I heard them and leave it up to you to decide. I will also try to explain the situation as concisely as I possibly can to keep you from falling asleep, which I almost did; just writing this has me nodding off again. Oh well here goes: If you are a regular reader you know that the aldermen have cut the 2012 budget by a half-million tax dollars and in doing so, employee benefits had to come under scrutiny. It soon became apparent why so many city employees were in attendance. It must be kept in mind that 65 percent of the general fund goes directly to salaries and benefits for Wentzville employees which adds up to nine million of our tax dollars.

With such a crowd I thought it strange during "Open Forum" that no one in the audience stood up to say anything. Then I knew they were there to hear something that I wasn't sure about. The discussion under "New Business" went into a presentation regarding employee insurance where several alternatives were offered, one of which was to implement an employee co pay increase. As health, dental, and vision benefits are free for employee spouses and their families it was thought that a co pay increase would help offset the $130,000 increase in employee health insurance premiums paid by the city using tax dollars. It was stated that Wentzville's employee benefit package is the most attractive in the county.  It was also said that citizens in the private sector have co pays so it shouldn't be an undue hardship for city employees to share in the premium increase and not place that burden on taxpayers.

Aldermen Nick Guccione and Vann Sample vehemently opposed any co pay increase to employees. Interestingly, during the discussion, Alderman Nick Guccione announced that he had invited the employees to come to the meeting and listen in on the proceedings. Even more interesting, Guccione compromised on this matter after a mini filibuster to institute a co pay increase during the October 19th work session. I don't know what changed his mind but I do disagree with the way he invited employees to spring the news on the other aldermen. Of course, Mayor Lambi agreed with Guccione and Sample, jumping in with both feet and smiling from ear to ear the whole time.

There are several ways to look at this situation so I'll leave it up to you to interpret the facts as they are. Guccione denies compromising to allow a co pay increase and I encourage readers to watch the video http://www.wentzvillemo.org/ of the October 19th work session to assess the truth of this statement for yourselves. But the question remains; why did he invite the city employees? I would also be interested to know how many of my readers have free health, dental, and vision care? And as always, I invite your comments.

Shut Up and Sit Down

The board of aldermen meeting of October 28th played for just over four hours. During that time there were glimmers of excitement surrounded by long stretches of tedium but nothing earth shaking. Mayor Lambi did make an ass of himself again (what's new) and I'll discuss that later on. One subject that caught my attention was the one about the lease agreement between the city and the MEAA (Mid East Area on Aging) regarding rental of the building known as the Green Lantern Senior Center.

For those of you who may not know, the MEAA coordinates the Meals on Wheels program and provide lunches and activities for senior citizens in Wentzville. Up until just a few years ago, MEAA used the full kitchen facilities to cook all of the meals. With rising costs, the MEAA had to consolidate and ceased preparation of meals in Wentzville and are now prepared in an O'Fallon facility. It was this crisis that spawned WASSI (Wentzville Area Senior Services, Inc.) board to shore up support and maintain senior services in Wentzville.

During the ongoing investigation of the city's contracts in an effort to trim out excess spending the MEAA agreement was brought forward. Originally signed in 1979 it has been on auto renewal ever since. The terms include a $250 per month rental of the building while the city picks up the utilities.  During the review, it was noted that it cost's the city $50,000 annually to operate the building and  the MEAA pays only $3,000 per year to rent the facility. Alderman Vann Sample of ward 2 pointed out that three thousand dollars is a paltry amount to pay and alluded to increasing the rent to offset city expenditures.

One of the faults of any junior alderman is the lack of history and in this instance, I think Sample should back off before the MEAA is forced to pack it in and take a walk. Opinions vary but I believe it to be good government to subsidize our senior citizens. Sample commented later on the parks project saying he wanted the "sports fields built faster and faster." $47,000 for seniors is a really paltry amount compared to spending $20 million dollars on sports fields and an aquatic center which may have limited appeal for many seniors. This leads me to believe that Alderman Sample cares more for his children's activities than the wefare of our senior citizens in Wentzville.

Lame-Ass-Blunder of the Week

Now for the Lambi "Lame-Ass Blunder of the Week:" In past years our mayor was so easy-going and congenial but that was when the Lurchettes were making law. They let Lambi do nothing and rubber stamp anything he wanted. In today's city hall this board is trying to make him accountable and earn his title. I must add that they are failing miserable simply because Lambi doesn't seem to understand what a mayor is supposed to do and more than likely never will.

While discussing the MEAA contract, purchasing manager, Jerry Hillin was asked questions and offered information. Hillin, a very experienced, thorough and dedicated employee of the city takes direction well but when Lambi (who can't find his own ass with a radar screen) is his boss, he's in deep do-do. When Hillin asked for direction Lambi's temper once again got the best of him, he essentially told Hillin to shut up and sit your ass down. Of course he didn't say it in exactly that way but I'm sure that I'm not the only one who heard it that way. I have never seen a mayor, or alderman for that matter, ever treat an employee with such disrespect in a public meeting. I seriously don't think Lambi is drooling out of both sides of his mouth.

Jump to Conclusions

There are a lot of us that bitch about things in general and in today's time it's easy to bitch about everything but somehow I get the feeling that I'm taking it to a new level—raising the bar as it is. Anyway, I have a complaint, not only about the city but some of their contractors as well.

Complaint

Last night at the regular board meeting in the city I was disturbed about something that I have a little inside information about. Dennis Walsh in his city administrator's report stated that the Vision  (city newsletter) was really messed up. He went on to say; "The printer decided to move photographs into the wrong places so we are no longer going to use him." No hearing, no trial, no consideration that it may not be his fault, merely—the printer is fired.

I have been working in and around the printing industry for more years than I really care to speak of and I've learned a few things about it in that time. Without getting technical, photographs do not change places in documents unless there are anomalies or entities in the source document, or as Walsh stated, the printer intentionally went into the document and moved them. I know this newsletter costs between $2,000 and $3,000 dollars and I cannot believe any reputable printer would eat that cost by intentionally sabotaging the job as Walsh suggested. That leaves me to believe that the source document generated by the contractor's designer is to blame. Of course, the contractor is going to blame it on thier printer simply because that's where the problem surfaced, how else could it be explained. Enough about that for now I have to think about my blood pressure.

SubComplaint (same newsletter, different subject)
Santa Claus Has Just Committed Suicide

I couldn't help noticing the politically corrected front page articles; "Holiday Tree Lighting," "Holiday Parade...," and Holiday Night Lights." What a crock of crap! These things used to be prefaced by the word; "Christmas." I see pictured a Christmas tree, not a Hanukkah bush, or  Kwanzaa pole but a CHRISTMAS TREE! I also thought I saw Santa Claus, not Hanuclaus, or Kwansaaclaus—SANTA CLAUS! Whoever is responsible for this needs to be boiled in oil and burried with a stake of holly through his/her heart. I just wonder how much our Vision newsletter contractor had to play in this, or did the printer do it? Oh, my blood pressure!

SubComplaint #2 (same newsletter, different page)

Let's move on to page 7: The article entitled "Filing Opens for Municipal Offices." The problem here is; there is a picture of an old "holiday tree" next to a "holiday" dumpster. My complaint is that when the printer "moved the photographs," he didn't put Mayor Lambi's photograph (on page 3) in the Dumpster on page 7. I guess we'll have to wait until a few weeks before Easter, I mean "Holiday Sunday" to do that. Hmmm, all of a sudden I feel better.

Bloomer Blow-Out

The Wentzvillian has been accused of unfairly representing our Mayor since I first started blogging about Wentzville government two years ago. I've been called a plethora of names (with and without expletives) by those on the other side of my opinions. The one that hurts the most is one attribited to our first lady of Wentzville, Rose Lambi, when she contemptiously referred to me as the "Devil" (I'm beginning to think she doesn't like me anymore).  I look forward to her continued slander and defamation of my character but I'm going to have to figure out a way to live with myself knowing the way she feels about me.

Talk on the streets of Wentzville is loud that Lambi should get a real job and leave the operation of our city to someone who can lead it forward. Today we have three candidates running for mayor and any of them could do a much better job than he. This morning I received an email from someone who supports the general concensus regarding Lambi's future in Wentzville politics. I'm posting it here unedited:

"Thank you for attending what sounds like awful meetings and keeping your readers informed. I am not a resident of Wentzville, but live in the unincorporated area. I have lived in the area since 1959, I work in Wentzville, I shop Wentzville and do 98% of my business in Wentzville, and therefore pay taxes and have an opinion about things in Wentzville.

I appreciate your honesty and cut to the chase approach in explaining the issues.

I personally think Mayor Lambi needs to increase his pant size. It seems he has outgrown them physically as well as mentally.

Keep it up."

I couldn't have said it better, thanks for reading. The Wentzvillian invites its readers input and looks forward to presenting testimony from our area's concerned citizens.

Hot News in Wentzville Today!

An Element of Truth

The election of April 2012 will bring a huge surprise that could rattle the campaigns of the candidates; Leon Tow, Nick Guccione, and Mayor Lambi (if he decides to apply.) The rumor of having a fourth mayoral candidate is no longer a rumor it has become a near reality. The Wentzvillian was contacted by a long-time resident of Wentzville who wishes to remain anonymous (for now) and relayed some interesting revelations:

"Wentzville is in a very unique position, not only geographically but politically. The election of 2012 offers a window of opportunity which will have a far reaching impact on the future of our city in St. Charles County. Today, Wentzville truly stands at the crossroads.

I've watched our government and stayed current on the positions of our elected officials. For the most part I like what I see. A majority of our aldermen are unified and show great interest in fiscal responsibility and fettered growth, something that I've never seen here before. Mayor Lambi has obviously lost touch, and the candidates running for mayor nether show the same passion as the other aldermen nor the ability to communicate with this board in attaining its goals. The records of these candidates contain no history of fiscal responsibility and fail miserably in communication with the board or citizens of Wentzville.

We need a mayor who is dedicated to fiscal responsibility and the maximization of our resources; personnel, property, and equipment. For far too long, our fully capable city employees have had little or no compass and in many instances had to guess what direction they should take. The mayor is the Chief Executive Officer and he is in charge of an almost dysfunctional operation—that is his fault. His  eight year record shows a fractured ability to lead and little desire to work with the board of alderman in reaching fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, I see no indication that the other candidates have any platform or better qualities than our current mayor. With a new City Administrator and Chief of Police being hired soon, it's a perfect time for someone to step in and take charge of the city.

It is for the reasons I mentioned, I will be running for mayor of Wentzville in 2012. I will bring to the table a vast resume of experience in both the political and private sector. With the term of  mayor being increased to four years there is a launch window to elect a mayor who knows how to lead and when to follow. I trust you will maintain my anonymity until I officially announce my platform within the next few months."

The Wentzvillian will respect this candidate's wishes and not publish the name until notified.