By Joe Koester
Councilman Ward 9
Vitamin B ...
In German, “Vitamine B” stands for “Beziehung.” In English, Beziehung means “Relationship” or perhaps better translated as, “Connections.” Vitamine B is a phrase used by Germans to describe that extra help that comes from knowing the right people. None of us are naïve enough to think that connections are unimportant in business, and since lines between business and government have grown increasingly blurred over the past few years, it is not surprising to hear about a little “Vitamin B” at City Hall. After all, doesn’t it sometimes help to know that this lady or that gentleman or that firm or company is known in the community and has, perhaps, done some good things and might therefore be a good candidate for a City contract? Take the recent contract for City web design that was granted to Quilogy rather than a California based company because Council believes it makes sense to support local businesses; especially those who have proven to be a positive force such as Quilogy has. Quilogy wasn’t the low bid, but they weren’t far from the California bid and they have invested much money in downtown Saint Charles infrastructure and employ our townsfolk. We will be working together with a company that can be reached by foot from City Hall in a matter of 60 seconds rather than a company that is hours away by plane!
This kind of symbiotic relationship makes sense, and since no one on Council is employed by Quilogy, there is no conflict of interest.
Enters Mayor York and Companion, Dr. Alan Williams…
For about one and one half years now (pre-dating this Council) Saint Charles has needed a police chief. A litany of individuals and groups declared their support for Major Robert Lowery of Florissant, including the Mayor-appointed selection committee, the acting City Administrator, Mike Valenti, many on the previous Council, the current Council, and most recently, Dr. Alan Williams, our City Administrator chosen by the Mayor and supported by a majority of the Council (this Councilman not included). Dr. Williams stated to the press that he was ready on February 1st to bring Major Lowery’s name forward as his pick! All indications were that this matter would soon be resolved and a spirit of compromise had prevailed! Now we could look forward to working on anything and everything besides this wedge issue that had lingered for this long while.
Recent History…
Tuesday, February 1, 2005; a closed session at City Hall became heated when Mayor York decided to double-cross the City Council and renege on her word to accept Dr. Williams’ choice for Police Chief regardless of who that might be, including Major Lowery. My first concern expressed to Williams during our personal interview was his ability to act fairly in this matter. I trusted Major Lowery’s resume and credentials and knew that they could stand on their own feet as long as Dr. Williams wasn’t scheming with the Mayor to oppose him without reason. The Council took a leap of faith and reached out to Mayor York by appointing Dr. Williams with the Mayor’s pledge that she would not interfere with the administrator’s choice, nor would she stonewall Bob Lowery if Dr. Williams chose him for the job. In the end, this duo of deceit proved that their word is a slippery thing by playing a game of selective memory and semantics.
For the Record…
During that February 1st meeting, the Mayor asked for one week to think over Dr. William’s choice and consider things. She said that if we gave her this one more week (because 1 & 1/2 years isn’t enough time) she might accept Dr. William’s candidate, thereby, keeping her word. I did have a problem with waiting yet another week, however, I agreed to it if Dr. Williams agreed to bring Major Lowery’s name forward regardless of the Mayor’s final decision. I think it would have been appropriate for the public to see the obstinacy of the Mayor, as well as, her interference with the day-to-day running of the City and to see her lack of faith in the competency of her choice for city Administrator. Dr. Williams is compensated well and learned in City Administration, yet the Mayor chose not to accept his counsel. Certainly, we could have chosen a far less expensive administrator to ignore…one without a $400/month car allowance and lifetime health insurance for three years of work!
Our City has not benefited from the arrival of this administrator; and in fact, the Council put its trust in this man to help calm the tension between police and council. Upon his arrival, Council was told that the police wanted to lay down their arms and pledged not to attack the council and incite more conflict between both sides. For our part, we would need to refrain from placing ads in local papers, taking any type of action that would anger police. We agreed and Dr. William headed back home for a long weekend. During his departure, the Police took out full page advertisements that compared the Council to criminals on the street and enhanced their claims with images of wolves in sheep’s clothing. My name too was included in this ad; that was a surprise since I have never had malice towards the Police and have never considered them with such disrespect.
Fait Accompli…
Together, the Mayor and Administrator feigned cooperation and sincerity only to act in concert to swindle the Council. This utter lack of integrity on the parts of York and Williams was heightened by Dr. Williams presenting us with a candidate for police chief who happened, coincidentally, per chance to be the Mayor’s son’s superior on the Saint Louis Police force, proving that too much “Vitamine B” can be a bad thing!
Follow Up…
It is important for me to state that I have no axe to grind with the Police Department of Saint Charles. I truly believe that most of our officers are dedicated and hardworking and they wish to do their job well and with dignity like any of us would. They want to be treated as professionals and they want to have input in their careers. If they feel that a chief is treating them poorly, they need to know that they can approach Administration and Council to address such issues. The Police Department had no trouble expressing their concerns over Chief King a few years back, and in fact, the force drove Chief King from his position. My concern is simply that the elected leaders of this community do not devolve their authority in police matters to the police department itself, because I cherish a civilian-controlled government on all levels; the alternative is police control that trumps that of the elected representatives of the community. If you would have that, then you would agree to state police over the general assembly and governor, and military over Congress and the President. Our City is a microcosm of both of those layers of government, nothing more, and nothing less.
