Dear Editor
At last we have a permanent police chief! Many thanks to The First Capitol News staff for staying on this extremely important issue.
I was wondering if the ever-vigilant defender of St. Charles would publish the new chief’s resume, as a public service for all those who faithfully read your paper?
Thanks again,
Derek L. Herbert
Editor
I totally disagree with your opinion about elected officials’ salaries. Mayors, Councilmen, Aldermen and other elected officials make million dollar decisions everyday. These officials make personnel decisions. These officials are our elected stewards of our finances. These officials need to be the best and the brightest our community has to offer.
The current system basically mandates a volunteer system. Paying $25,000 per year for the Mayoral position and $6,000 per year for a Councilman is ridiculous. You will never entice the best and the brightest to lead our City at these rates. Unfortunately most people have families, cars, and houses which need to be paid for. Only people who are retired, have a job which allows them free time, or have an agenda, will volunteer their services to our government. We need the best and the brightest.
In 2007 we should raise the Mayor’s salary to at least $100,000 per year and we should also raise the Councilperson’s salary to at least $35,000 per year. By the way, the sooner the better. People have lives to live and need to plan these things out.
I’d like to see more candidates for Mayor and Council. Not the same people who seem to run for these positions decade after decade.
Thanks
Tony Bethmann
First Capitol News
Loved your spread of the closed restaurants in this weeks issue (March 19 - 25). I have enclosed an image of the A&W store on North Second Street that you did not show. I think it would qualify as the oldest of the stores that have recently closed (50+ years at that location?).
I think it is interesting to note that following the closure of this store, the one on Droste was opened. Then, about 6 months later, you show a picture of it now closed for business (along with the attached Long John Silvers)! I wonder what that was all about?
Keep up the good work and I will continue to support you and your advertisers.
Grant Martin
To The Editor:
I’ve been a business owner in St. Charles County for 21 years and am very excited about our new Convention Center.
During the past 10 years we have participated in events at the convention center downtown St. Louis.
When we heard about the Business Expo for our convention center we definitely wanted to be part of this.
I went to the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce and signed up a week ago. They had 100 businesses registered, hoping for 120, what a great opportunity for the public to come out and learn about businesses in our county and to see our new, beautiful convention center.
We would have liked to participated in the Home and Garden show scheduled for the end of April, however, it had already been totally booked two months ago.
Anyone who has attended the Home and Garden Show at the convention center downtown St. Louis, knows the huge crowd it draws. From my past experience as a vendor I can tell you there were many attendees from St. Charles County. Sales are conducted with sales tax being collected. Business will be conducted at
our St. Charles County convention center with a portion of these funds collected benefiting the City of St. Charles, St. Charles County and the state of Missouri.
Let’s get the word out about this wonderful event . The Business Expo will be on Saturday, April 9 from 10-4 at the St. Charles Convention Center, located between 5th Street and Hwy 94 on the South Service Road, next to Cracker Barrel. Hoping to see you there!
Pat Hamilton
Aaron’s Birkenstock Sales
& All Brand Shoe Repair
Tony,
Did you see the Wed. Journal yet? If not you will have to check out the new news paper inside that will run every other Wed. It is called “The Citizen.” It will tell everyone the truth about what’s happening in St. Charles, NOT like that other newspaper the First Capitol News that does nothing but lie about everything. I noticed that one of the advertisers is the Boones Lick bed and breakfast, wow what a eye opener that was ! I wonder if people should send anonymous letters that we will not ever go into their places of business if they advertise in that rag that puts out that special kind of imaginative truth, you know the one,
Your Only Real Knavish “The Citizen”
Scott K
Dear Valued Donors:
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul St. Louis Council office would like to say “thank you” to all our generous donors in the St. Charles and surrounding area for their donations to our Thrift Stores. We would like to say “thank you” to all of you who have so faithfully supported our mission to help the poor and the needy right in your own community.
Our thrift stores provide low income individuals a dignified choice when shopping for their own and their family’s needs. Without the support of YOU - our generous donors, we would not be able to fulfill our mission.
Thank you again and may God bless you.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul – St. Louis Council
4127 Forest Park Ave
St. Louis, MO 63108
Open Letter to Ed Watkins
Come in Ed Watkins there is plenty of room at the city trough for you and Pattie’s out of town moneyed friends as well as your contributors to your publication. “Democracy At Its Best.”
Let’s talk about what’s right and not about who’s right. Is it right for any Mayor to call a special meeting to sell the old police station for 100’s of thousand of dollars less that what it is worth? Probably legal, but highly unethical, and not good for the taxpayers.
Seeing you are so interested in what’s right for this town I would suggest you get all the past copies of the First Capitol news and let us taxpaying citizens, as well as the moneyed friends of the Mayor know what’s right with this publication and or what’s wrong and who’s right and who’s wrong. I would think if anyone were not being truthful about what is happening in this town they would be a stand up guy like you are (I guess) trying to be. Print the WHOLE TRUTH seeing how the publications other than the First Capitol News have trouble doing this. If this doesn’t work talk to the Mayor, she knows about the courts and lawsuits. Ask her about Mr. Ziegler and Mr. Kielty and Mr. Mayer’s suits. I think she probably can give you some inside info. What’s right or who’s right.
Is it right for any Mayor to transfer large sums of money from one department to another without council approval? ($200,000 Lewis & Clark).
Is it right for any Mayor to issue Executive orders violating our City Charter?
Is it right for any Mayor to sign contracts for very large sums of money without Council approval?
Is it right for any Mayor to lie to the taxpaying citizens as well as her moneyed friends saying she cannot be IMPEACHED?
Is it right for any Mayor to be able to control the news publications (except the First Capitol News) in this town for any reason when it is NEGATIVE to her agenda, be it illegal or just unethical? Is it right for any Mayor, especially Patti, to be involved in another city’s residency policy concerning their police officers? Especially when 2/3’s of our police officers do not live in our fine city and the majority of all city employees do not live in our city? But they take our taxpayer funds for their extravagant raises (police & fire), want to drive our police cars back and forth to work and give the head of the Fraternal order of Police (Top Cop) Tommy Mayer, 200 hours pay to do FOP business, or is it wrong Mr. Ed?
Is it right for Tom Hughes to play the County against the City when it came to developing St. Andrews? The storm water problems could be a very big problem in the future. And then for Hughes to suggest that the people are the ones getting hurt by our Council’s action to keep him from connecting to our sanitary sewer lines when his development is not in our city? Mr. Hughes, the developer who worked against our Council members and spent money, unsuccessfully, to keep them from getting elected and then says they are politically motivated when they do not want county residents hooking up to our already overloaded sewer system.
Is it right the fence straddling restaurateur and license bureau executive, Mr. Sly Corporate xx, Mr. I’ll charge you hotel people $5 per night CVB Director, Mr. Ex Union Leader, Mr. Chairman of Convention Center Commission and the Charter Preservation Committee and others in this community who believe that Liberty & Justice for themselves should come first and then if anything is left the taxpayers can have it.
When the Pledge of Allegiance is said at each Council meeting the last five words say it all – LIBERTY & JUSTICE FOR ALL. That means all taxpayers, movers and shakers included. No more – No less. Simple – Very Simple it’s either like you say Mr. Ed, What’s right or who’s wrong.
I wish your publication could have been around five years ago when the First Capitol News started up and began looking into how our city was being run by our Mayor and the lockstep six. When we had a City Administrator who couldn’t wait for Patti to bring anything forward to help the movers and shakers so he could put his John Henry on it to make it all legal but very unethical in my eyes. We’ve come a long way since the CEO of the CVB was spending taxpayer’s money for concert tickets and giving them to whomever he wanted . He was Mr. “everything will be OK if you just let me operate my way.” I as a taxpayer don’t recall ever being asked if I would like to attend a concert by Mr. Powell at our City’s expense.
Two of the lockstep six are still on the Council as well as Mr. Powell, the CVB Director. I think the CEO of the CVB has bitten off more than he can chew and his little friend has just about lost all her fight. (Amen!)
So you see Mr. Ed, The First Capitol News has been printing what’s Wrong and who was doing what to make it wrong in my eyes and a lot of the taxpaying residents of this fine city. We’ve already got two publications that don’t print what’s wrong and who was wrong in doing what’s wrong be it one person, “Lets say Patti” and or a whole bunch of people – be it our Community leaders and or a big bunch of movers and shakers. Money! Money! Money!
I read your quote by Norman Vincent Peale, I have a quote for you and anyone who would care to read it. It is by John Doe in a book written in 1955 – the 9th printing in 1969.
“IT MAKES LITTLE DIFFERENCE WETHER MEN CONFUSE ARISTOTLE WITH ARISTIDES, BUT IT MAKES A LOT OF DIFFERENCE WHETHER MEN CONFUSE GOLD WITH GOD.”
Respectfully
Bob Bredensteiner
