I would like to thank Mr. Pat Sullivan, President of the Homebuilder's Association, for his response to my last column. The homebuilding industry is and always has been the backbone of our country. The Homebuilder’s Association is a professional, well-respected organization which gives much back to the community.
St. Charles County is fortunate to have many fine builders such as Greg Whittaker who not only creates their lovely subdivisions, but stand behind their products. The City of St. Charles can now boast that we have a lovely New Town within our boundaries geared to convenience, ease, and a lifestyle for all tastes and ages.
The First Capitol News is the most widely-read paper within the City. We invite Mr. Sullivan to send us monthly updates regarding his industry so we can keep the public informed and present all sides of any growth issues which may arise.
Homebuilding and sensible growth is contingent upon such things as zoning, variances, and City and County ordinances. It is imperative amicable dialogue and negotiations exist, and are ongoing, between the developers and the various political entities to ensure success and profits for the developer while safeguarding the existing quality of life. Occasionally, these two competing interests clash and become problematic.
In any endeavor, time is money, and it must be recognized developers take a huge economic risk at the onset. One of the greatest problems facing these developments is the bureaucratic run-around and frustration of dealing with Planning & Zoning, Public Works, etc. There have been many legitimate complaints directed at both City and Country entities for making the process more time-consuming and torturous than need be.
Most people contribute money to the candidates who share their values. Business people support pro-business candidates; the Pro-Life lobby supports pro-life candidates, etc. It is very costly to run for public office and candidates rely on donations to carry their message to the voters. There is absolutely nothing illegal or immoral about donors attempting to sway elected officials to their way of thinking. Problems arise when the elected officials forget their oath of office. The burden is on the elected official, not the donors.
That being said and agreed upon, I would like to add my granddaddy always told me it is unwise to get in the middle of other people’s feuds. In our last issue, I believe I responded to comments made by Ed Watkins. He was denouncing City annexation and took a few shots at Councilman Rory Riddler. Most of the annexations passed and Mr. Watkins’ candidate for County Council lost.
To my knowledge, the Homebuilder's Association took no shots at Mr. Riddler, the City Council or the First Capitol News. I could not even tell you if they contributed to the 1980’s and put themselves right in the middle of Mr. Watkins and Mayor York’s feud. My granddaddy would say “it is not a safe place to be when the buckshot starts flying”. Prior to Mr. Sullivan injecting himself, Mr. Watkins joined with the Mayor in her feud. It seems silly anybody would be willing to bend over and take all that buckshot in the rear for another. I think she should bend over and take her own buckshot. If the doer of the deeds deserves credit at times, it is pure logic the doer of the deeds should take the buckshot as well.
The greatest fault at work is not the politicians or their donors. It is the middlemen who perceive themselves to be “power-brokers” and run back and forth between the two to get appointments or personal business opportunity. They are not held accountable but receive the spoils. These are the individuals who attack this newspaper and defend the mayor for the indefensible. These are the individuals who have harassed and threatened our advertisers and boast they “will put this paper out of business.”
If the Mayor’s friends believe reporting facts which give a poor impression of our city is wrong, there is an easy solution to the dilemma. Stop doing the things that would shame our city if reported and published.
The Mayor just informed us, in her recent newsletter, she wishes to be invited into our homes for morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea, or evening wine parties so she can explain everything to us. This is the same person who has a history of not returning our phone calls. What happened to her busy social calendar?
