Secret Document Reveals So Called Environmental Group Interested In Greenbacks
Not Greenspace
Group Includes Millionaires Adolphus Busch IV, Don Musick III, T.R. Hughes,
Charles Hager
Tell Tale Document Discovered During Legal Proceedings
By Tony Brockmeyer
The City of St. Peters informed the First Capitol News of the discovery of a secret document which disclosed a sneak attempt by Great Rivers Habitat Alliance to gain millions of dollars for its operations if it were to obtain control over the controversial Lakeside 370 Business Park Property. This scheme can be compared to the rich and powerful land barons of the early 20th century.
The document was discovered by the City during legal discovery proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Great Rivers against the City of St. Peters in Cole County, Missouri over the city’s use of Tax Increment Financing funds for the Lakeside project, a $350 million commercial development on 1,600 vacant acres owned by the City near Highway 370 and Interstate 70.
The document was from Wayne Freeman, executive Director of Great Rivers and addressed to Great Rivers chairman Adolphus Busch IV and board member Don Musick III. It contradicted years of public statements by the group and its officers that the land should be sold to them and they would keep the property for park development with half going to the City of St. Peters with the balance to St. Charles County and the State of Missouri.
Great Rivers had offered St Peters $5 million for the Lakeside 370 property and in mid-May surprised the St. Peters Board of Alderman by suddenly increasing their offer from $5 million to $12 million. They did not reveal to the City the potential financial gain for Great Rivers and their intent to develop as much as 800 acres on the property. The sale contract offered to the City by Great Rivers called for great Rivers to put up $10,000 as earnest money with closing to come three years after the contract was accepted. Thus Great Rivers would have plenty of time to secure donations and make development deals without having to put up any more of their own money. Last week the St. Peters Aldermen approved the sale of the Lakeside 370 property to Kaplan Development for $50 million. It is expected the sale will be completed later this summer.
“It’s clear from this secret memo that Great Rivers has been planning this buyout for some months,” said Terry Hawkins, president of the St. Peters Board of Aldermen. Hawkins noted, during this period Great Rivers continued to encourage local river communities to support an intended lawsuit to stop construction of a levee proposed to protect the 1,600 acres from a 500 year flood, not indicating to the communities that it was their intention all along to build on the land themselves and not preserve it for flood control purposes.
Hawkins said, “Great Rivers appears to be prepared to continue the deceptions even after the proposed purchase of the property. One of the most disturbing and alarming parts of this secret memo is Mr. Freeman’s description of a scenario where he says how Great Rivers will try and pull the wool over the public’s eyes by using advertising to try and put the blame on St. Peters, telling the public they could only make this deal if development was promised to our City. It is more and more obvious that when it comes to Mr. Freeman - the ends justify the means.”
The secret document describes Freeman’s plan for Great Rivers to disguise its real intentions by telling the public in a full page ad to be purchased and printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the only way Great Rivers could get control of the property was to promise St Peters they could have some development on the land after the sale to Great Rivers.
“I have always felt that the Great Rivers habitat Alliance was not what it seemed to be,” said Alderman David Hayes. “It is now clear from documents recently discovered during litigation that they have been considering their own commercial development of the Lakeside 370 land once they acquired the land under the guise of environmental protection.”
“We’ve said all along based on scientific studies, the levee will not impact flood levels anywhere. Great Rivers must agree because they are willing to build on this land. The shame of it all is they have been deceiving local communities and not revealing their plans all the while attempting to get them involved in Great Rivers’ lawsuit against St. Peters on a false premise,” added St. Peters Alderman Rocky Reitmeyer.
Here is an alleged environmental group formed explicitly to stop our development finally having to come clean as to their true intent. It’s now clear the actions by our Board to not succumb to their pressure and instead move forward with this project in the best interests of the residents of our community was the right decision. We stood up to the incredible pressures generated by Great Rivers who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising, direct mail, billboards, telephone calls, slanted polls, and public relations to try and derail a program that will ensure the economic future of St. Peters,” added Hawkins. The City is awaiting permit approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to begin construction of a levee to protect the development.
Alderman Bruce Holt says after the recent sale of the property to Kaplan Development St. Peters citizens are clearly the winners. “After reading this memo I am now convinced this offer we have is truly the best agreement we could have made. The citizens of St. Peters stand to make millions of dollars in return on their investment from this deal. If we would have signed the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance agreement the GRHA would have stood to make millions from this project,” he explained.
“What we have done for our city and the residents is we have made the best financial decision for the residents,” added Alderman Len Pagano. “It was a tremendous return on our investment.”
The First Capitol News asked former St. Peters Mayor Tom Brown to give us his thoughts on what happened. “This is one of the proudest days of my life,” he said. “I am so proud of our Board of Aldermen and our City staff. They have stood up to the pressure and intimidation from the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance and the misinformation and half truths they have been spreading about this project. This development proposed by St. Peters was for our kids and our grandchildren. It would have provided six to eight thousand permanent jobs, tens of thousands of union jobs, construction jobs for the next 15 to 20 years. Great Rivers Alliance was formed after a group of individuals appeared at one of our Board meetings to speak against this great project. I demanded they identify themselves and where they lived. They were from Ladue, Clayton and Town and Country. Nobody from St. Peters. Nobody from our County. I told them I didn’t think there was even any discussion on this matter. That is when Great Rivers Alliance was born. The next thing we heard about is now it is an ecology issue and Great Rivers Alliance is coming back to do battle with the terrible City of St. Peters who wanted to build a levee. We spent over $1 million dollars with Sverdrup, an internationally known company. They built levees around Earth City and Riverport. The levees held in ‘93 and ‘95. The land was dry. They are experts in building levees and doing this type of work around the world. I presented this to August Busch and to August Busch’s engineering firm. The City has a copy of the letter that came back saying: Dear Mr. Busch this project will not impact you one bit. Still Great Rivers Alliance kept talking about how unsafe it was going to be and all the problems it would create. All these lies and innuendos and half truths. It was kind of like the Gestapo in World War II. I guess they felt if they threw enough - and of course money is unlimited with those people. The City cannot spend taxpayers dollars like they can spend money. They flooded every household in St. Peters with half truths and lies. Letters to our attorney were even stolen from City Hall. I am very happy to hear this. I am very proud of our Board. I am very proud of our staff. They stuck together even without leadership they stuck together. It has been pretty tough. Really, really tough. I am very proud of them. But the underlining fact I want to get across to everybody, this is the proudest day I have had. Leonard Kaplan got one hell of a great deal. But there is no other choice when you have all the problems that you heard from me, facing you. They done well. They done well. But you know the Post and the Journal keeps mouthing Great Rivers Alliance distortion of the truth. Come on people get with the story.”
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Citizens For Responsible Community used As Hired Guns For Millionaires Group
Citizens For Responsible Community used As Hired Guns For Millionaires Group
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance has been using Citizens For Responsible Community and its founders, Carl Maus and Raymond Stone, as their hired guns in attempts to wrest control of some municipal governments in St. Charles County. Stone and Maus formed the organization in 2002.
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance membership includes Adolphus Busch IV as Chairman, Don Musick III as President and Peter von Gontard as Secretary. Other members include T.R. Hughes, a developer and close associate of St. Charles Mayor Patti York, and Glennon Jamboretz of the Glennon Company who has done public relations for the Fraternal Order of Police and the Mayor along with Citizens for Responsible Community. Hughes and Jamboretz are working on York’s legal defense fund. The fund was started by Hughes, Ken Kielty, a former city councilman and former chairman of the County Convention and Sports Facility Authority. Also involved are former Councilman Richard Baum, who was recently defeated by Joe McCulloch in an election for County Councilman, and Father Tillman the Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church.
The fund was started after the City Council began hearings into allegations the Mayor illegally signed a contract without the authority of the City Council as required by Ordinance and the City Charter. The alleged signing of this contract by York could result in the St. Charles taxpayers being indebted to Express Scripts in the amount of $200,000. Mayor York requested the City Council allocate funds for her to hire a private defense attorney. When the Council refused to spend taxpayer dollars defending her until it is known whether or not legal action is warranted, Hughes, Kielty, Baum, Tillman, and Kevin Kast started her legal defense fund.
Over the past couple of years members of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance have given Citizens for Responsible Community hundreds of thousands of dollars to be used as soft money in political campaigns throughout the county. Busch and Musick have given around $25,000 each and Jamboretz has given $23,000 with von Gontard giving a little less. Kielty and T. R. Hughes have also contributed to Citizens for Responsible Community and Hughes has spent money on his own in an attempt to have his candidates elected to the St. Charles City Council. He was successful in the elections of Councilmen Bob Kneemiller, Larry Muensch, Mike Weller and Jerry Reese. The attempts by Hughes to defeat Councilmen Rory Riddler, Mark Brown, John Gieseke, Joe Koester, Bob Hoepfner and Councilwoman Dottie Greer with candidates of his choosing were unsuccessful.
In addition to the St. Charles City Council elections, CFRC have involved themselves in municipal elections in St. Peters and O’Fallon as well as in County Council elections. County Councilmen Joe Brazil and Doug Funderburk have received thousands of dollars of support from CFRC along with State Representative Sally Faith. In a recent County Council special election CFRC spent several thousand dollars attempting to elect former St. Charles Councilman Richard Baum; in this they failed.
In O’Fallon, CFRC involved themselves in the mayoral and city council races. They supported Donna Morrow who was elected Mayor.
In St. Peters thousands of dollars were spent to defeat incumbent Mayor Tom Brown who had been in office 22 years. Brown told the First Capitol News, “Adolphus Busch and his group spent $95,000 in court fees to get Shawn Brown on the ballot and then spent over $30,000 to get him elected.”
Most of the money spent by this group is soft money. Soft money is the money a group spends on a candidate without the limits or restrictions on money collected and spent by the candidate.
When the St. Charles City Council recently proposed Charter Amendment One that would provide checks and balances on Mayoral appointments, CFRC spent thousands of dollars and worked to defeat the amendment.
The group also spent thousands of dollars to help Mayor York win reelection in her campaign against Dan Foust. Even though York was photographed with members of the group and in fact donated money to them, when questioned, she denied any knowledge of the organization or its members. After the election, Maus and Stone attended most of the St. Charles City Council meetings and were given use of the Mayor’s office at City Hall by York. Maus and Stone’s involvement in municipal government has been questioned by many. Neither live in any of the cities in which they have involved themselves. Both live in areas south of St. Charles and East of Hwy 94. We have been unable to locate any members of CFRC who live within the city limits of St. Charles.
CFRC has gained a reputation of conducting dirty smear campaigns against anyone who stands up to them. Several members of the St. Charles City Council have been victims of their wrath and dirty tricks campaigning.
Citizens for Responsible Community and Developer T.R. Hughes were responsible for the development and distribution of exotic literature developed by political professionals. Not only did the CFRC donate money to the political campaigns they were responsible for soft money spent in the campaigns. Soft money in CRFC’s hands is money spent to fool the public and to degrade a particular candidate and sway the public’s opinion to electing the candidate of their choice.
This is done by distorting facts, and telling half truths in an attempt to destroy a candidate or any supporters of candidates who may reveal their secret agenda.
Those close to the political scene believe Great Rivers has been using CFRC as hired guns in an attempt to keep themselves above the fray but believe it has not worked. It did not take long to determine who the money was behind these want-to-be power brokers.
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance has been using Citizens For Responsible Community and its founders, Carl Maus and Raymond Stone, as their hired guns in attempts to wrest control of some municipal governments in St. Charles County. Stone and Maus formed the organization in 2002.
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance membership includes Adolphus Busch IV as Chairman, Don Musick III as President and Peter von Gontard as Secretary. Other members include T.R. Hughes, a developer and close associate of St. Charles Mayor Patti York, and Glennon Jamboretz of the Glennon Company who has done public relations for the Fraternal Order of Police and the Mayor along with Citizens for Responsible Community. Hughes and Jamboretz are working on York’s legal defense fund. The fund was started by Hughes, Ken Kielty, a former city councilman and former chairman of the County Convention and Sports Facility Authority. Also involved are former Councilman Richard Baum, who was recently defeated by Joe McCulloch in an election for County Councilman, and Father Tillman the Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church.
The fund was started after the City Council began hearings into allegations the Mayor illegally signed a contract without the authority of the City Council as required by Ordinance and the City Charter. The alleged signing of this contract by York could result in the St. Charles taxpayers being indebted to Express Scripts in the amount of $200,000. Mayor York requested the City Council allocate funds for her to hire a private defense attorney. When the Council refused to spend taxpayer dollars defending her until it is known whether or not legal action is warranted, Hughes, Kielty, Baum, Tillman, and Kevin Kast started her legal defense fund.
Over the past couple of years members of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance have given Citizens for Responsible Community hundreds of thousands of dollars to be used as soft money in political campaigns throughout the county. Busch and Musick have given around $25,000 each and Jamboretz has given $23,000 with von Gontard giving a little less. Kielty and T. R. Hughes have also contributed to Citizens for Responsible Community and Hughes has spent money on his own in an attempt to have his candidates elected to the St. Charles City Council. He was successful in the elections of Councilmen Bob Kneemiller, Larry Muensch, Mike Weller and Jerry Reese. The attempts by Hughes to defeat Councilmen Rory Riddler, Mark Brown, John Gieseke, Joe Koester, Bob Hoepfner and Councilwoman Dottie Greer with candidates of his choosing were unsuccessful.
In addition to the St. Charles City Council elections, CFRC have involved themselves in municipal elections in St. Peters and O’Fallon as well as in County Council elections. County Councilmen Joe Brazil and Doug Funderburk have received thousands of dollars of support from CFRC along with State Representative Sally Faith. In a recent County Council special election CFRC spent several thousand dollars attempting to elect former St. Charles Councilman Richard Baum; in this they failed.
In O’Fallon, CFRC involved themselves in the mayoral and city council races. They supported Donna Morrow who was elected Mayor.
In St. Peters thousands of dollars were spent to defeat incumbent Mayor Tom Brown who had been in office 22 years. Brown told the First Capitol News, “Adolphus Busch and his group spent $95,000 in court fees to get Shawn Brown on the ballot and then spent over $30,000 to get him elected.”
Most of the money spent by this group is soft money. Soft money is the money a group spends on a candidate without the limits or restrictions on money collected and spent by the candidate.
When the St. Charles City Council recently proposed Charter Amendment One that would provide checks and balances on Mayoral appointments, CFRC spent thousands of dollars and worked to defeat the amendment.
The group also spent thousands of dollars to help Mayor York win reelection in her campaign against Dan Foust. Even though York was photographed with members of the group and in fact donated money to them, when questioned, she denied any knowledge of the organization or its members. After the election, Maus and Stone attended most of the St. Charles City Council meetings and were given use of the Mayor’s office at City Hall by York. Maus and Stone’s involvement in municipal government has been questioned by many. Neither live in any of the cities in which they have involved themselves. Both live in areas south of St. Charles and East of Hwy 94. We have been unable to locate any members of CFRC who live within the city limits of St. Charles.
CFRC has gained a reputation of conducting dirty smear campaigns against anyone who stands up to them. Several members of the St. Charles City Council have been victims of their wrath and dirty tricks campaigning.
Citizens for Responsible Community and Developer T.R. Hughes were responsible for the development and distribution of exotic literature developed by political professionals. Not only did the CFRC donate money to the political campaigns they were responsible for soft money spent in the campaigns. Soft money in CRFC’s hands is money spent to fool the public and to degrade a particular candidate and sway the public’s opinion to electing the candidate of their choice.
This is done by distorting facts, and telling half truths in an attempt to destroy a candidate or any supporters of candidates who may reveal their secret agenda.
Those close to the political scene believe Great Rivers has been using CFRC as hired guns in an attempt to keep themselves above the fray but believe it has not worked. It did not take long to determine who the money was behind these want-to-be power brokers.
Mayor’s Supporters Form Group To Attempt Take Over Of St. Charles City Government
By Tony Brockmeyer
Acting on a tip, an investigation conducted by the First Capitol News has discovered Ken Kielty and Glennon Jamboretz have formed a new political committee in an apparent attempt to take control of St. Charles City Government.
Kielty is a former City Councilman and the immediate past chairman of the St. Charles County Convention and Sports Facilities Authority. He was also the operator of the St. Charles State License Office on Randolph until his recent removal by Governor Blunt. Blunt who replaced him with Ernie Dempsey, the owner of Pio’s Restaurant and the father of State Representative Tom Dempsey.
Kielty is a supporter of Mayor Patti York and was a campaign consultant for her last reelection campaign. His company, Kielty Enterprises, also donated to Citizens For Responsible Community a group of people who do not live in St. Charles but who have attempted to control city government through their campaigns for Mayor York and other City Council candidates.
Jamboretz operates the Glennon Company, a public relations company in St. Louis. He has handled public relations for the Fraternal Order of Police headed by former St. Charles Police Sergeant Tommy Mayer. Mayer was fired recently by Chief Tim Swope. Mayer had stopped City Administrator Allan Williams and had ordered Williams out of his vehicle at gun point and made him lay on the ground. Mayer and his group also supported the Mayor in her reelection campaign. The Mayor has called Mayer, “The Top Cop In The State,” and has traveled around the state promoting Mayer and the FOP. Jamboretz is a member of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance and a contributor to Citizens for Responsible Community.
Our investigation revealed on June 10, 2005, Kielty and Jamboretz filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission a Statement of Committee Organization. Their group is called, St. Charles Citizens For Responsible Government (SCRG) and gives a post office box in St. Charles as their address. (SEE COPY OF FORM THEY FILED ON PAGE 13).
Kielty gives a home address on Dev- onshire in St. Charles and Jamboretz gives an address on Geyer in the City of St. Louis.
The stated purpose of the St. Charles Citizens For Responsible Government is given as SUPPORT RECALL ELECTED OFFICES ST. CHARLES, MISSOURI.
On the filing form the Official Fund Depository for the checking account for the St. Charles Citizens For Responsible Government is PREMIER BANK at 815 West Stadium Boulevard in Jefferson City, Missouri. This is the parent bank of the Premier Bank recently opened in a store front on South Fifth Street in St. Charles.
This is the Premier Bank involved in projects with T.R. Hughes a local homebuilder and member of the board of Great Rivers Habitat for Humanity. Hughes and Kielty are members of a group formed to solicit donations for a legal defense fund for the Mayor who allegedly signed a contract with Express Scripts without the approval of the City Council as required by the Charter and City Ordinances. It has been reported the alleged illegal signing of the contract by the Mayor could indebt the City to Express Scripts for approximately $200,000.
The St. Charles City Council recently rejected an attempt by members of the County Convention and Sports Facilities Authority to name Premier Bank as the depository for the Convention Center. City ordinances and charter leave that authority with the City Council.
We were unable to contact Keilty or Jamboretz prior to going to press.
Acting on a tip, an investigation conducted by the First Capitol News has discovered Ken Kielty and Glennon Jamboretz have formed a new political committee in an apparent attempt to take control of St. Charles City Government.
Kielty is a former City Councilman and the immediate past chairman of the St. Charles County Convention and Sports Facilities Authority. He was also the operator of the St. Charles State License Office on Randolph until his recent removal by Governor Blunt. Blunt who replaced him with Ernie Dempsey, the owner of Pio’s Restaurant and the father of State Representative Tom Dempsey.
Kielty is a supporter of Mayor Patti York and was a campaign consultant for her last reelection campaign. His company, Kielty Enterprises, also donated to Citizens For Responsible Community a group of people who do not live in St. Charles but who have attempted to control city government through their campaigns for Mayor York and other City Council candidates.
Jamboretz operates the Glennon Company, a public relations company in St. Louis. He has handled public relations for the Fraternal Order of Police headed by former St. Charles Police Sergeant Tommy Mayer. Mayer was fired recently by Chief Tim Swope. Mayer had stopped City Administrator Allan Williams and had ordered Williams out of his vehicle at gun point and made him lay on the ground. Mayer and his group also supported the Mayor in her reelection campaign. The Mayor has called Mayer, “The Top Cop In The State,” and has traveled around the state promoting Mayer and the FOP. Jamboretz is a member of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance and a contributor to Citizens for Responsible Community.
Our investigation revealed on June 10, 2005, Kielty and Jamboretz filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission a Statement of Committee Organization. Their group is called, St. Charles Citizens For Responsible Government (SCRG) and gives a post office box in St. Charles as their address. (SEE COPY OF FORM THEY FILED ON PAGE 13).
Kielty gives a home address on Dev- onshire in St. Charles and Jamboretz gives an address on Geyer in the City of St. Louis.
The stated purpose of the St. Charles Citizens For Responsible Government is given as SUPPORT RECALL ELECTED OFFICES ST. CHARLES, MISSOURI.
On the filing form the Official Fund Depository for the checking account for the St. Charles Citizens For Responsible Government is PREMIER BANK at 815 West Stadium Boulevard in Jefferson City, Missouri. This is the parent bank of the Premier Bank recently opened in a store front on South Fifth Street in St. Charles.
This is the Premier Bank involved in projects with T.R. Hughes a local homebuilder and member of the board of Great Rivers Habitat for Humanity. Hughes and Kielty are members of a group formed to solicit donations for a legal defense fund for the Mayor who allegedly signed a contract with Express Scripts without the approval of the City Council as required by the Charter and City Ordinances. It has been reported the alleged illegal signing of the contract by the Mayor could indebt the City to Express Scripts for approximately $200,000.
The St. Charles City Council recently rejected an attempt by members of the County Convention and Sports Facilities Authority to name Premier Bank as the depository for the Convention Center. City ordinances and charter leave that authority with the City Council.
We were unable to contact Keilty or Jamboretz prior to going to press.
RIVERFEST 2005 July 4th Celebration
By TJ Slattery
The Mayor and St. Charles City Council along with the St. Charles 4th of July Committee invites you to come join the fun at RiverFest 2005 , held at Frontier Park July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
The 2005 St. Charles Riverfest promises to be a star-spangled treat for the senses! Riverfest-goers will enjoy the sounds of the best local and regional bands…the smells and tastes of tantalizing summer fare…experience goose bumps from the patriotic parade...and marvel as the St. Charles skyline explodes with two nights of breathtaking fireworks.
Family activities, including craft booths, a full scale carnival complete with rides and games, and continuous musical entertainment on both the Jaycee Stage and the Big Tent in Frontier Park.
Riverfest 2005 Kicks off at 1:00 PM on Saturday July 2nd. Two, Internationally Renowned Fireworks displays will close the event on the evenings of July 3rd and 4th at 9:30 PM. The scenic riverfront provides the best backdrop for fireworks that rival displays anywhere. The displays are choreographed to music and will be simulcast on Lindenwood University’s KCLC-FM radio station at 89.1 FM
The annual parade will kick off the event on the morning of Monday, July 4th at 10:00 AM complete with a military flyover from the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard.
The Parade Route begins at St. Charles High School, proceeds down Waverly to Kingshighway, to Clark Street, to North Main traveling south down Main Street and ending at Bishop’s Landing. This years parade features over 100 units including bands, floats and candy!
A Salute to Veterans. The City Council would like invite all area veterans to Frontier Park on Sunday July 3rd for an additional fireworks display to honor all who have served in the Military and as a special tribute to the individuals currently safeguarding our freedom by serving abroad as well as at home.
New this year Riverfest 2005 will sponsor a Red Cross Blood Drive and canned food drive during the entire event. Just bring a canned good and drop it off at any gate as you enter Frontier Park. The proceeds of this year’s food drive will benefit our St. Charles area food pantries.
The Mayor and St. Charles City Council along with the St. Charles 4th of July Committee invites you to come join the fun at RiverFest 2005 , held at Frontier Park July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
The 2005 St. Charles Riverfest promises to be a star-spangled treat for the senses! Riverfest-goers will enjoy the sounds of the best local and regional bands…the smells and tastes of tantalizing summer fare…experience goose bumps from the patriotic parade...and marvel as the St. Charles skyline explodes with two nights of breathtaking fireworks.
Family activities, including craft booths, a full scale carnival complete with rides and games, and continuous musical entertainment on both the Jaycee Stage and the Big Tent in Frontier Park.
Riverfest 2005 Kicks off at 1:00 PM on Saturday July 2nd. Two, Internationally Renowned Fireworks displays will close the event on the evenings of July 3rd and 4th at 9:30 PM. The scenic riverfront provides the best backdrop for fireworks that rival displays anywhere. The displays are choreographed to music and will be simulcast on Lindenwood University’s KCLC-FM radio station at 89.1 FM
The annual parade will kick off the event on the morning of Monday, July 4th at 10:00 AM complete with a military flyover from the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard.
The Parade Route begins at St. Charles High School, proceeds down Waverly to Kingshighway, to Clark Street, to North Main traveling south down Main Street and ending at Bishop’s Landing. This years parade features over 100 units including bands, floats and candy!
A Salute to Veterans. The City Council would like invite all area veterans to Frontier Park on Sunday July 3rd for an additional fireworks display to honor all who have served in the Military and as a special tribute to the individuals currently safeguarding our freedom by serving abroad as well as at home.
New this year Riverfest 2005 will sponsor a Red Cross Blood Drive and canned food drive during the entire event. Just bring a canned good and drop it off at any gate as you enter Frontier Park. The proceeds of this year’s food drive will benefit our St. Charles area food pantries.
RAMBLING WITH THE EDITOR - Tony Brockmeyer
BRING CANS OF FOOD TO RIVERFEST 2005
The Riverfest 2005 Committee is requesting that visitors to the celebration bring cans of food with them to the activities in Frontier Park on the St. Charles Riverfront. This is the first year they are conducting a food drive for local food pantries according to committee member, TJ Slattery.
ANOTHER BOAT ON THE RIVERFRONT?
The First Capitol News has learned that Convention and Visitors Bureau member, Brian Hill, has made arrangements for a presentation at the CVB meeting on the 23rd regarding a Riverboat on the St Charles Riverfront. We understand the boat is currently being operated in Glasgow, Missouri and has a floating dock on which a restaurant is operated. That is the only details we have at press time.
The St. Charles Empress currently operates from the St. Charles Riverfront in Frontier Park.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMM
Bids were recently received for the power washing of the wooden shingles on the sides of the St. Charles Senior Center on Fairgrounds Drive. I don’t recall the exact amount of the bids but I believe two were received. One for about $9,000 and one for about $11,000. The lower bidder was going to use ladders to reach the wooden shingles and the higher bid was going to use a cherry picker to reach the shingles. It was thought the higher bid was the best bid because apparently the shingles must be power washed from the top down. If they are washed from the bottom up as suggested using ladders, it is feared they would be damaged. It was then discovered City staff had made a mistake in the bidding. State law requires the winning bidder on public works projects to furnish the City with insurance and a bond. Because of the omission by City staff neither bid complied with the law.
New bids were taken and were higher than the original bids. It was discovered by adding the insurance and bond requirements several thousand dollars was added to the cost. I do not believe the first two bidders participated in the second round of bidding. The City staff was perplexed and did not know what to do. A call was made to one of the bidders asking them to reduce their bid. They refused and it was also pointed out it was apparently illegal or unethical to call for reductions after the bids were opened. What to do! What to do! “Maybe,” someone remarked, “we should rebid the job”
We have a better idea. The City owns a power washer. The City also has several vehicles with Cherry Pickers attached. Wouldn’t it be a simple procedure to drive one of those vehicles to the Senior Center and have a City employee use the City’s power washer and wash the shingles? The job could be done in several hours and the taxpayers would see a savings of several thousand dollars.
ATTENTION VETERANS AND ARMED FORCES PERONNEL
On Sunday, July 3rd the City Council is honoring Veterans and members of our Armed Forces during the Riverfest 2005 activities. The City Council approved an additional night of fireworks for that evening.
The June 25th edition of the First Capitol News will be a commemorative edition honoring our Veterans. If you would like your stories or photographs published in that issue we will need to receive them at our office no later than 5pm Tuesday, June 21st. We realize your service photographs are very important to you and all photographs will be returned. For additional information please call 636-724-1955.
The Riverfest 2005 Committee is requesting that visitors to the celebration bring cans of food with them to the activities in Frontier Park on the St. Charles Riverfront. This is the first year they are conducting a food drive for local food pantries according to committee member, TJ Slattery.
ANOTHER BOAT ON THE RIVERFRONT?
The First Capitol News has learned that Convention and Visitors Bureau member, Brian Hill, has made arrangements for a presentation at the CVB meeting on the 23rd regarding a Riverboat on the St Charles Riverfront. We understand the boat is currently being operated in Glasgow, Missouri and has a floating dock on which a restaurant is operated. That is the only details we have at press time.
The St. Charles Empress currently operates from the St. Charles Riverfront in Frontier Park.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMM
Bids were recently received for the power washing of the wooden shingles on the sides of the St. Charles Senior Center on Fairgrounds Drive. I don’t recall the exact amount of the bids but I believe two were received. One for about $9,000 and one for about $11,000. The lower bidder was going to use ladders to reach the wooden shingles and the higher bid was going to use a cherry picker to reach the shingles. It was thought the higher bid was the best bid because apparently the shingles must be power washed from the top down. If they are washed from the bottom up as suggested using ladders, it is feared they would be damaged. It was then discovered City staff had made a mistake in the bidding. State law requires the winning bidder on public works projects to furnish the City with insurance and a bond. Because of the omission by City staff neither bid complied with the law.
New bids were taken and were higher than the original bids. It was discovered by adding the insurance and bond requirements several thousand dollars was added to the cost. I do not believe the first two bidders participated in the second round of bidding. The City staff was perplexed and did not know what to do. A call was made to one of the bidders asking them to reduce their bid. They refused and it was also pointed out it was apparently illegal or unethical to call for reductions after the bids were opened. What to do! What to do! “Maybe,” someone remarked, “we should rebid the job”
We have a better idea. The City owns a power washer. The City also has several vehicles with Cherry Pickers attached. Wouldn’t it be a simple procedure to drive one of those vehicles to the Senior Center and have a City employee use the City’s power washer and wash the shingles? The job could be done in several hours and the taxpayers would see a savings of several thousand dollars.
ATTENTION VETERANS AND ARMED FORCES PERONNEL
On Sunday, July 3rd the City Council is honoring Veterans and members of our Armed Forces during the Riverfest 2005 activities. The City Council approved an additional night of fireworks for that evening.
The June 25th edition of the First Capitol News will be a commemorative edition honoring our Veterans. If you would like your stories or photographs published in that issue we will need to receive them at our office no later than 5pm Tuesday, June 21st. We realize your service photographs are very important to you and all photographs will be returned. For additional information please call 636-724-1955.
THE CITY DESK - Ror Riddler City Council President
Shifting Sands & Secret Memos
Bring On A Flood Of Questions
If they ever wanted to spice up the game of baseball, they could try designating a “switch player”. At any given time in the game, this player would switch sides and start playing for the opposing team. We had a pitcher like that for the Cardinals, or so it seemed to fans at the time. I’m not even sure if it isn’t already a rule in the American League.
Last week in local politics, we saw the equivalent of a New York Yankee tearing off his jersey and going to bat for the Cardinals in the middle of a game. I’m referring to the sudden political conversion of St. Peters Mayor Shawn Brown on the Lakeside 370 development.
Opponents of the development, which include a strange assortment of bedfellows, were shocked when their “star player” suddenly switched sides in the debate. Arguably Shawn Brown would not have been elected Mayor of St. Peters over long time incumbent Mayor Tom Brown without the massive infusion of political cash they provided.
First there were huge sums donated to his legal defense fund (much like one now being set up for our own Mayor). Donations to a legal defense fund can be anonymous and are not required to be reported. Speculation is the money to pay Shawn Brown’s legal bills came from members of the group opposing the Lakeside 370 Development. This money helped keep Shawn Brown’s name on the ballot.
Second, his campaign benefitted from over $100,000 donated to Citizens for Responsible Community, most of the money coming from large donations from just three wealthy individuals; Adolphus Busch IV, Don Musick III and Glennon Jamboretz whose advertising firm worked for Musick. Normally an individual would be limited to donating $300 in the race for Mayor of St. Peters. But there is no State Law limiting what an individual can give to a group like Citizens for Responsible Community. They in turn spent most of the funds they raised running a negative campaign against Mayor Tom Brown to benefit Shawn Brown.
A coalition of political enemies of the incumbent Mayor, environmentalists and millionaire duck hunters were out to seize control of City Hall in St. Peters. Cost was no object. Their only agenda was to stop the rampant development of flood plain ground North of St. Peters. Or so we were told by a complacent mainstream press which doesn’t ask tough questions of old money whose names end in Roman numerals.
As it turned out, defeating Mayor Tom Brown didn’t scare St. Peters into submission. A majority of the Board of Aldermen in St. Peters and the City Administrator were still firmly behind the Lakeside 370 Development. The new Mayor spoke out against the development at every turn, but really couldn’t do much to derail it.
That’s when millionaire homebuilder Tom Hughes appeared on the scene and joined the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance...the group created by Busch and Musick to oppose the Lakeside 370 Development. It seemed strange at the time. Now you had environmentalists, ant-sprawl advocates, millionaire duck hunters, a St. Louis County developer AND now a homebuilder joining forces...but for what?
Then last week it was reported that the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance wanted to buy the Lakeside 370 land for $12 Million from the City of St. Peters. But instead of backing its sale to the group that put him in office, Shawn Brown switched jerseys and hit one out of the park for the home team. He came out strongly in favor of selling the land to developer Leonard Kaplan for a deal totaling approximately $47 Million...nearly four times what the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance had offered.
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance Executive Director Wayne Freeman was fuming as he told members of the press that Shawn Brown would have a lot to “answer” for to the voters. But Shawn Brown apparently knew a lot more about the group which had backed him than they wanted him to know. He was also smart enough to get himself traded from the losing team at just the right moment.
A few days after the sale to Kaplan, the City of St. Peters issued an amazing press release revealing the contents of a “secret” memo from Wayne Freeman to Adolphus Busch IV and Great Rivers Habitat Alliance board member Don Musick. Ironically, St. Peters got its hands on the secret memo from documents subpoenaed as part of defending itself from the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance’s own lawsuit.
Let me quote directly from their press release:
“In a memo dated April 21, 2005, Great Rivers Executive Director Wayne Freeman outlined a plan to take over the Lakeside 370 property and instead of keeping it as floodplain, as they had been proposing for the last two years, they would actually develop properties which could reap the Alliance millions of dollars from the sale of property to developers and “administrative fees.”
“The document was addressed to Great Rivers Chairman Adolphus Busch IV and Board member Don Musick III. Freeman’s proposal led to a surprise offer to St. Peters in mid-May which increased Great Rivers year-old offer for the 1,600 acres from $5 million to $12 million, but did not reveal the potential financial gain for Great Rivers and their intent to develop as much as 800 acres of the property.”
“The secret document describes Freeman’s plan for Great Rivers to disguise its real intentions by telling the public, in a full-paid ad to be purchased in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that the only way they could get control of the property was to promise St. Peters that they could have some development on the land after the sale to Great Rivers.”
Talk about uncovering a smoking gun! These guys need to move to California and hire Michael Jackson’s attorney.
The discovery of the memo raises a flood of questions, washing away the levee of credibility they had tried to build through buying political friends and smearing the reputation of those who stood in their way. I would like to know who they had lined up to develop the 800 acres? Who stood to pocket that rich prize? When exactly were they going to tell all the people who believed in them, and really do care about environmental issues, that they had sold them out?
Now I have always believed that if something looks like a duck and walks like a duck, that it is probably a duck....or in this case a competing development meant to make someone rich, while promising to protect some ducks! And what the heck, if you can TWIST the truth and blame it all on the other guy go ahead. It’s enough to make we want to go the ballpark and order a Coors Light.
Bring On A Flood Of Questions
If they ever wanted to spice up the game of baseball, they could try designating a “switch player”. At any given time in the game, this player would switch sides and start playing for the opposing team. We had a pitcher like that for the Cardinals, or so it seemed to fans at the time. I’m not even sure if it isn’t already a rule in the American League.
Last week in local politics, we saw the equivalent of a New York Yankee tearing off his jersey and going to bat for the Cardinals in the middle of a game. I’m referring to the sudden political conversion of St. Peters Mayor Shawn Brown on the Lakeside 370 development.
Opponents of the development, which include a strange assortment of bedfellows, were shocked when their “star player” suddenly switched sides in the debate. Arguably Shawn Brown would not have been elected Mayor of St. Peters over long time incumbent Mayor Tom Brown without the massive infusion of political cash they provided.
First there were huge sums donated to his legal defense fund (much like one now being set up for our own Mayor). Donations to a legal defense fund can be anonymous and are not required to be reported. Speculation is the money to pay Shawn Brown’s legal bills came from members of the group opposing the Lakeside 370 Development. This money helped keep Shawn Brown’s name on the ballot.
Second, his campaign benefitted from over $100,000 donated to Citizens for Responsible Community, most of the money coming from large donations from just three wealthy individuals; Adolphus Busch IV, Don Musick III and Glennon Jamboretz whose advertising firm worked for Musick. Normally an individual would be limited to donating $300 in the race for Mayor of St. Peters. But there is no State Law limiting what an individual can give to a group like Citizens for Responsible Community. They in turn spent most of the funds they raised running a negative campaign against Mayor Tom Brown to benefit Shawn Brown.
A coalition of political enemies of the incumbent Mayor, environmentalists and millionaire duck hunters were out to seize control of City Hall in St. Peters. Cost was no object. Their only agenda was to stop the rampant development of flood plain ground North of St. Peters. Or so we were told by a complacent mainstream press which doesn’t ask tough questions of old money whose names end in Roman numerals.
As it turned out, defeating Mayor Tom Brown didn’t scare St. Peters into submission. A majority of the Board of Aldermen in St. Peters and the City Administrator were still firmly behind the Lakeside 370 Development. The new Mayor spoke out against the development at every turn, but really couldn’t do much to derail it.
That’s when millionaire homebuilder Tom Hughes appeared on the scene and joined the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance...the group created by Busch and Musick to oppose the Lakeside 370 Development. It seemed strange at the time. Now you had environmentalists, ant-sprawl advocates, millionaire duck hunters, a St. Louis County developer AND now a homebuilder joining forces...but for what?
Then last week it was reported that the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance wanted to buy the Lakeside 370 land for $12 Million from the City of St. Peters. But instead of backing its sale to the group that put him in office, Shawn Brown switched jerseys and hit one out of the park for the home team. He came out strongly in favor of selling the land to developer Leonard Kaplan for a deal totaling approximately $47 Million...nearly four times what the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance had offered.
Great Rivers Habitat Alliance Executive Director Wayne Freeman was fuming as he told members of the press that Shawn Brown would have a lot to “answer” for to the voters. But Shawn Brown apparently knew a lot more about the group which had backed him than they wanted him to know. He was also smart enough to get himself traded from the losing team at just the right moment.
A few days after the sale to Kaplan, the City of St. Peters issued an amazing press release revealing the contents of a “secret” memo from Wayne Freeman to Adolphus Busch IV and Great Rivers Habitat Alliance board member Don Musick. Ironically, St. Peters got its hands on the secret memo from documents subpoenaed as part of defending itself from the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance’s own lawsuit.
Let me quote directly from their press release:
“In a memo dated April 21, 2005, Great Rivers Executive Director Wayne Freeman outlined a plan to take over the Lakeside 370 property and instead of keeping it as floodplain, as they had been proposing for the last two years, they would actually develop properties which could reap the Alliance millions of dollars from the sale of property to developers and “administrative fees.”
“The document was addressed to Great Rivers Chairman Adolphus Busch IV and Board member Don Musick III. Freeman’s proposal led to a surprise offer to St. Peters in mid-May which increased Great Rivers year-old offer for the 1,600 acres from $5 million to $12 million, but did not reveal the potential financial gain for Great Rivers and their intent to develop as much as 800 acres of the property.”
“The secret document describes Freeman’s plan for Great Rivers to disguise its real intentions by telling the public, in a full-paid ad to be purchased in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that the only way they could get control of the property was to promise St. Peters that they could have some development on the land after the sale to Great Rivers.”
Talk about uncovering a smoking gun! These guys need to move to California and hire Michael Jackson’s attorney.
The discovery of the memo raises a flood of questions, washing away the levee of credibility they had tried to build through buying political friends and smearing the reputation of those who stood in their way. I would like to know who they had lined up to develop the 800 acres? Who stood to pocket that rich prize? When exactly were they going to tell all the people who believed in them, and really do care about environmental issues, that they had sold them out?
Now I have always believed that if something looks like a duck and walks like a duck, that it is probably a duck....or in this case a competing development meant to make someone rich, while promising to protect some ducks! And what the heck, if you can TWIST the truth and blame it all on the other guy go ahead. It’s enough to make we want to go the ballpark and order a Coors Light.
THE PEOPLE SPEAK - Letters To The Editor
To The Sports Editor
Mr. McMurran:
I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the exceptional way that you covered the St. Charles High School baseball season. I truly believe you played a great part in their success. You brought this team to the attention of the St. Charles area. This is a GREAT bunch of kids and they truly deserved the limelight that YOU gave them. I will admit that I am a little impartial,(my son is Brian Randazzo) but I have heard from SO MANY St.Charles residents that have said that they began following them and rooting for them and I believe it was because of the spin that you put on the articles.
This team was not given many upbeat articles in other papers(if they even received an article), no-one but you headed their final article with the fact that they were 2nd in the state , which really is quite an accomplishment!
Thank you for the wonderful words you wrote about my son, I have always known Brian to be a wonderful young man, but now the rest of St. Charles does!!! It was a great ride and I thank you for coming along with us!!!!!!
Kathy Randazzo
Dear Editor,
In response to the comments regarding the recent Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in St. Charles, we would like to mention several items that may be of hope and healing to the community.
From its very inception, our country has built its foundational principles on our abiding passion for freedom. It has been one of the very pillars of our society. The free exercise of conscience, provided that conscience does not infringe on the rights and liberties of others, is gratefully upheld. The freedom of worship falls in that category, and it is upon that subject that we wish to make a few remarks.
St. Charles County has long been a rather homogonous community. But in recent years we have been witnesses of a remarkable “westward expansion” as significant numbers of people have moved out here from St. Louis County and elsewhere. The increase in population has also brought an increase of diversity. In addition to cultural and ethnic diversity, peoples of varying faiths now make St. Charles County their home, bringing fresh values, vitality and perspectives with them.
The Interfaith Partnership of St. Charles County, (working under the Interfaith Partnership of St. Louis), welcomes those of all faiths. Our mission is to promote peace, respect and understanding among people of all faiths. We promote unity, respect, dignity, and peace through regular dialogue groups, community service, and celebrations of faith. While holding dear the tenants of our own particular faith, we reach out to those who believe differently than ourselves in a spirit of friendship and mutual understanding. To those of all faiths, we would like to say – thank you for making St. Charles County your home. All are welcome here. All are safe here. We are among friends.
We encourage the community of St. Charles County to continue to show respect and dignity to those of all faiths. This is one of the greatest freedoms that our country stands for, and we are grateful heirs to those who sacrificed much so that we may enjoy that freedom today.
For more information about the Interfaith Partnership of St. Charles County, please contact Beth Rodriquez, Project Coordinator of Interfaith Partnership, at bdrodriguez@interfaithpartnership.org
Deborah Coffey, Chairman
St. Charles Chapter of
Interfaith Partnership of St. Louis
Dear Editor:
Have you ever noticed other publications in town consider disputes between the County Executive and County Council as mere spats or disagreements while calling all disputes between the City Council and Mayor of St. Charles battles or warfare?
D. Lammers
St. Charles
To The Editor,
We cannot forever hide the truth about ourselves, from ourselves. Which brings me to the question of how I’m living my dash. (-) You know the little line between the year you were born and the year you take that final step into eternity. Let’s say 1951 - and counting. You see what that little line represents is your whole life and what you did for the good of mankind.
I’ll say right up front I do not intend to judge anyone - that is not my job. I do have eyes to see and ears to hear and breath to breath given to me by my Creator as well as everyone else.
The reason I am writing this letter is because I see the turmoil this town is in and I know that I’m not the only one seeing this turmoil and down right division of us, the taxpaying people. I see a whole lot of deceit, deceit, deceit and a whole lot of not telling the truth when it comes to the people paying the bills, You know the taxpayer. This all did not start yesterday, nor will it stop tomorrow. There was a recent quote, “The best and brightest don’t pursue politics, but the ego-driven, power hungry do.” I wonder if the Mayor knows somebody on her team feels that way about her? I will quote another ‘new’ member of her team - Father Rich Tillman a member of her legal defense solicitation team. Quote or not this was printed in the April 7, 2005 St. Charles Borromeo bulletin. I think it may be a good piece of advice as this legal defense solicitation fund moves forward. He (the writer) is paraphrasing John 10:5 out of the Book of Truth, the Holy Bible. “Do you follow Jesus, the good shepherd, or do you follow a stranger? Before you answer, think about ‘strangers’ that Jesus warned us of: Greed! Fame! Riches! Power!
We pray that we may faithfully follow Jesus and not be let astray by materialism, greed or personal gain.
So when all you (FOP) friends and followers of Patti get together at Pio’s for her legal defense solicitation fund you may want to keep that little memo in mind and what the real reasons are for you being there.
Now see - I just put a little bit more on my “dash” right or wrong in everyone’s eyes. I feel real good and hope for the best for everyone involved.
May God bless you as he does myself and my wife.
Bob Bredensteiner
Mr. McMurran:
I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the exceptional way that you covered the St. Charles High School baseball season. I truly believe you played a great part in their success. You brought this team to the attention of the St. Charles area. This is a GREAT bunch of kids and they truly deserved the limelight that YOU gave them. I will admit that I am a little impartial,(my son is Brian Randazzo) but I have heard from SO MANY St.Charles residents that have said that they began following them and rooting for them and I believe it was because of the spin that you put on the articles.
This team was not given many upbeat articles in other papers(if they even received an article), no-one but you headed their final article with the fact that they were 2nd in the state , which really is quite an accomplishment!
Thank you for the wonderful words you wrote about my son, I have always known Brian to be a wonderful young man, but now the rest of St. Charles does!!! It was a great ride and I thank you for coming along with us!!!!!!
Kathy Randazzo
Dear Editor,
In response to the comments regarding the recent Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in St. Charles, we would like to mention several items that may be of hope and healing to the community.
From its very inception, our country has built its foundational principles on our abiding passion for freedom. It has been one of the very pillars of our society. The free exercise of conscience, provided that conscience does not infringe on the rights and liberties of others, is gratefully upheld. The freedom of worship falls in that category, and it is upon that subject that we wish to make a few remarks.
St. Charles County has long been a rather homogonous community. But in recent years we have been witnesses of a remarkable “westward expansion” as significant numbers of people have moved out here from St. Louis County and elsewhere. The increase in population has also brought an increase of diversity. In addition to cultural and ethnic diversity, peoples of varying faiths now make St. Charles County their home, bringing fresh values, vitality and perspectives with them.
The Interfaith Partnership of St. Charles County, (working under the Interfaith Partnership of St. Louis), welcomes those of all faiths. Our mission is to promote peace, respect and understanding among people of all faiths. We promote unity, respect, dignity, and peace through regular dialogue groups, community service, and celebrations of faith. While holding dear the tenants of our own particular faith, we reach out to those who believe differently than ourselves in a spirit of friendship and mutual understanding. To those of all faiths, we would like to say – thank you for making St. Charles County your home. All are welcome here. All are safe here. We are among friends.
We encourage the community of St. Charles County to continue to show respect and dignity to those of all faiths. This is one of the greatest freedoms that our country stands for, and we are grateful heirs to those who sacrificed much so that we may enjoy that freedom today.
For more information about the Interfaith Partnership of St. Charles County, please contact Beth Rodriquez, Project Coordinator of Interfaith Partnership, at bdrodriguez@interfaithpartnership.org
Deborah Coffey, Chairman
St. Charles Chapter of
Interfaith Partnership of St. Louis
Dear Editor:
Have you ever noticed other publications in town consider disputes between the County Executive and County Council as mere spats or disagreements while calling all disputes between the City Council and Mayor of St. Charles battles or warfare?
D. Lammers
St. Charles
To The Editor,
We cannot forever hide the truth about ourselves, from ourselves. Which brings me to the question of how I’m living my dash. (-) You know the little line between the year you were born and the year you take that final step into eternity. Let’s say 1951 - and counting. You see what that little line represents is your whole life and what you did for the good of mankind.
I’ll say right up front I do not intend to judge anyone - that is not my job. I do have eyes to see and ears to hear and breath to breath given to me by my Creator as well as everyone else.
The reason I am writing this letter is because I see the turmoil this town is in and I know that I’m not the only one seeing this turmoil and down right division of us, the taxpaying people. I see a whole lot of deceit, deceit, deceit and a whole lot of not telling the truth when it comes to the people paying the bills, You know the taxpayer. This all did not start yesterday, nor will it stop tomorrow. There was a recent quote, “The best and brightest don’t pursue politics, but the ego-driven, power hungry do.” I wonder if the Mayor knows somebody on her team feels that way about her? I will quote another ‘new’ member of her team - Father Rich Tillman a member of her legal defense solicitation team. Quote or not this was printed in the April 7, 2005 St. Charles Borromeo bulletin. I think it may be a good piece of advice as this legal defense solicitation fund moves forward. He (the writer) is paraphrasing John 10:5 out of the Book of Truth, the Holy Bible. “Do you follow Jesus, the good shepherd, or do you follow a stranger? Before you answer, think about ‘strangers’ that Jesus warned us of: Greed! Fame! Riches! Power!
We pray that we may faithfully follow Jesus and not be let astray by materialism, greed or personal gain.
So when all you (FOP) friends and followers of Patti get together at Pio’s for her legal defense solicitation fund you may want to keep that little memo in mind and what the real reasons are for you being there.
Now see - I just put a little bit more on my “dash” right or wrong in everyone’s eyes. I feel real good and hope for the best for everyone involved.
May God bless you as he does myself and my wife.
Bob Bredensteiner
CONSERVATIVE FACTOR Alex Spencer
If one waits long enough, the truth always surfaces and that truth always bares the motives, schemes and goals of all involved. The root of all evil does appear to be one thing only-money, money, and more money. When people become obsessed with money, they can never get enough. They lay down any integrity and ethics they ever possessed and never look back. It is a devastating sickness that erodes the soul and devastates everything and everybody that has the misfortune of being in the vicinity.
The citizens of St. Charles County have been duped and made fools of under the banner of, “Let us preserve the green space. We can not allow the City of St. Peters to develop near the duck habitats around Hwy. 370.”
These wealthy conservationists who purport to save land for parks have just been exposed for greed that has surpassed anything we have yet seen transpire by any developers in the history of this county. They used the services of advertiser, Jamboretz, Citizens for Responsible Community (Moss and Stone), Mayor York, and until recently, St. Peters Mayor Shawn Brown, to attempt to defeat any effort by the City of St. Peters to develop this proposed area.
When this group of do-gooders made an offer to purchase the land to “preserve the green space,” they started at $5,000,000 and eventually raised the bid to $12,000,000. During discovery, documents just became public which show the true design of these people and rather than save the land from development, they intended to develop it themselves and make countless millions of dollars.
They lied to every taxpayer in this county, they lied to the City of St. Peters, and they spent a fortune defeating Mayor Tom Brown for reelection. They thought they owned Shawn Brown and they put him in as mayor of St. Peters. They appear to be ugly animals that have no ethics or moral compass whatever. These are the type of individuals who should never be listened to regarding what is in the best interest of the people of this county. They don’t care about anything but their own ambitions and how they can make a buck.
Right in the middle of all this muck is our own mayor, Patti York. It appears that her signing illegal contracts and being led around by the nose by a rogue cop is just the tip of the iceberg. That is mere child’s play; this is serious low-down dirty as it gets politics. Many of the same individuals who are involved in the St. Peters scandal are listed on her Legal Defense Fund. That is not a coincidence.
This is the first time in the history of St. Charles that a mayor has had to use a professional advertising giant to paint a false picture of what she is actually doing while pretending to serve the citizens of St. Charles. The mayor’s actions do not match her words. It appears we have a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
This is also the first time in our history that a newspaper has been created by wealthy individuals for the sole purpose of serving our mayor in her continued false presentation of facts in order to control and dupe the public. That tabloid has also attacked the city of St. Peters for their efforts to develop the Hwy. 370 area.
This is also the first time in our history that groups of citizens are going door-to-door to obtain signatures to put the question of recalling this mayor before the voters.
There is definitely a big stink at City Hall, but it isn’t the majority of the City Council producing the stench. It is the mayor and her four little boys, Kneemiller, Weller, Reese, and sometimes Muench.
People have been asking for months, “What is really going on that is so big and involves so much money for these people to behave like this? It has to be more than just the Convention Center.” I believe we are finally getting closer to the answer to that question.
The citizens of St. Charles County have been duped and made fools of under the banner of, “Let us preserve the green space. We can not allow the City of St. Peters to develop near the duck habitats around Hwy. 370.”
These wealthy conservationists who purport to save land for parks have just been exposed for greed that has surpassed anything we have yet seen transpire by any developers in the history of this county. They used the services of advertiser, Jamboretz, Citizens for Responsible Community (Moss and Stone), Mayor York, and until recently, St. Peters Mayor Shawn Brown, to attempt to defeat any effort by the City of St. Peters to develop this proposed area.
When this group of do-gooders made an offer to purchase the land to “preserve the green space,” they started at $5,000,000 and eventually raised the bid to $12,000,000. During discovery, documents just became public which show the true design of these people and rather than save the land from development, they intended to develop it themselves and make countless millions of dollars.
They lied to every taxpayer in this county, they lied to the City of St. Peters, and they spent a fortune defeating Mayor Tom Brown for reelection. They thought they owned Shawn Brown and they put him in as mayor of St. Peters. They appear to be ugly animals that have no ethics or moral compass whatever. These are the type of individuals who should never be listened to regarding what is in the best interest of the people of this county. They don’t care about anything but their own ambitions and how they can make a buck.
Right in the middle of all this muck is our own mayor, Patti York. It appears that her signing illegal contracts and being led around by the nose by a rogue cop is just the tip of the iceberg. That is mere child’s play; this is serious low-down dirty as it gets politics. Many of the same individuals who are involved in the St. Peters scandal are listed on her Legal Defense Fund. That is not a coincidence.
This is the first time in the history of St. Charles that a mayor has had to use a professional advertising giant to paint a false picture of what she is actually doing while pretending to serve the citizens of St. Charles. The mayor’s actions do not match her words. It appears we have a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
This is also the first time in our history that a newspaper has been created by wealthy individuals for the sole purpose of serving our mayor in her continued false presentation of facts in order to control and dupe the public. That tabloid has also attacked the city of St. Peters for their efforts to develop the Hwy. 370 area.
This is also the first time in our history that groups of citizens are going door-to-door to obtain signatures to put the question of recalling this mayor before the voters.
There is definitely a big stink at City Hall, but it isn’t the majority of the City Council producing the stench. It is the mayor and her four little boys, Kneemiller, Weller, Reese, and sometimes Muench.
People have been asking for months, “What is really going on that is so big and involves so much money for these people to behave like this? It has to be more than just the Convention Center.” I believe we are finally getting closer to the answer to that question.
ThAT'S MY OPINION - Councilman Bob Hoepfner
Hello again out there. We are back for another week in review. I was thinking about our municipal court judge, Mr. Barklage. I haven’t heard any more about Mr. Barklage holding two positions. That as Municipal Judge and on the Board of Trustees for the Junior College District. I still believe this is wrong. That's the way I interpret the law. But then again I am not a student of the law. Like yourself I am usually the victim.
You know, these judges take great liberties. They don’t give you the law, they give you their opinion of the law. For instance, did you hear about the guy who had 8 or 10 DWI’s and is still out driving around? Perhaps endangering the lives of our fine citizens. Now I am not here to say our municipal judge would do something like that.
However, I know of a case where a pit bull chewed off the ear of another dog. The pit bull is allowed to continue to run loose. What I find strange about this is the owner of this animal was ordered by the judge several months ago to construct a pen under our vicious dog ordinance to contain his animal. The ordinance also calls for a $100,000 liability bond for the dog. The dog must be photographed and a danger sign posted on the fence.
My friends, not only was none of this done but the guy doesn’t even show up in court. My question is, why hasn’t the judge cited this guy for contempt? The police cannot even confiscate the dog.
The pit bull is still allowed to run loose on weekends in the neighborhood. Now, I am not trying to influence the court. But I don’t understand why the judge, at the next court date, wouldn’t follow the city’s laws and do something with the owner of this animal. Does it take a child or senior citizen being attacked by this dog before the judge will react?
Well, this brings me to the point where I need to tell you my friends. The Council has talked about a second judge because obviously this judge can’t handle the work load. I am going to press for a second judge. We will leave this judge for speeding violations and have the second judge handle domestic, nuisance and code violations. That way we can get some public interest judgements handed down.
This my friends, is a classic example of we the public being the victim while our protection under the law is being ignored.
In closing, far be it for me to ruffle the feathers of this judge. Hopefully he can see the bigger picture and accept constructive criticism and do the right thing for the public.
That's all for this week. Remember, call me any time, 949-0956 or stop by 425 Nantucket. I am always happy to speak with our fine taxpayers.
You know, these judges take great liberties. They don’t give you the law, they give you their opinion of the law. For instance, did you hear about the guy who had 8 or 10 DWI’s and is still out driving around? Perhaps endangering the lives of our fine citizens. Now I am not here to say our municipal judge would do something like that.
However, I know of a case where a pit bull chewed off the ear of another dog. The pit bull is allowed to continue to run loose. What I find strange about this is the owner of this animal was ordered by the judge several months ago to construct a pen under our vicious dog ordinance to contain his animal. The ordinance also calls for a $100,000 liability bond for the dog. The dog must be photographed and a danger sign posted on the fence.
My friends, not only was none of this done but the guy doesn’t even show up in court. My question is, why hasn’t the judge cited this guy for contempt? The police cannot even confiscate the dog.
The pit bull is still allowed to run loose on weekends in the neighborhood. Now, I am not trying to influence the court. But I don’t understand why the judge, at the next court date, wouldn’t follow the city’s laws and do something with the owner of this animal. Does it take a child or senior citizen being attacked by this dog before the judge will react?
Well, this brings me to the point where I need to tell you my friends. The Council has talked about a second judge because obviously this judge can’t handle the work load. I am going to press for a second judge. We will leave this judge for speeding violations and have the second judge handle domestic, nuisance and code violations. That way we can get some public interest judgements handed down.
This my friends, is a classic example of we the public being the victim while our protection under the law is being ignored.
In closing, far be it for me to ruffle the feathers of this judge. Hopefully he can see the bigger picture and accept constructive criticism and do the right thing for the public.
That's all for this week. Remember, call me any time, 949-0956 or stop by 425 Nantucket. I am always happy to speak with our fine taxpayers.
Fire Station Open House
Open House at Fire Station Three
Scott Freitag
St. Charles Fire Department
The St. Charles Fire Department will hold our annual open house at Fire Station 3, 2817 Elm Street, on Saturday, June 18th, from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. Firefighters and members of Healthy Communities St. Charles County will be on hand to fit children and adults with bicycle helmets. Helmets will be for sale for just $5.00 the day of the open house.
Summer is the time of year that people are back on their bikes taking to the roads and trails for a day of family fun. Without a helmet, the day can turn tragic quickly and without warning. That is why it is important for the fire department and healthy communities to send the message that a properly fitting bicycle helmet can save your life in an accident. A helmet provided to a young man at an area grade school last year saved his life just weeks after being fitted with the helmet by fire department personnel.
We invite the community to come by the firehouse and learn more about helmet safety and other services provided by the St. Charles Fire Department. Fire trucks will be on display.
Scott Freitag
St. Charles Fire Department
The St. Charles Fire Department will hold our annual open house at Fire Station 3, 2817 Elm Street, on Saturday, June 18th, from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. Firefighters and members of Healthy Communities St. Charles County will be on hand to fit children and adults with bicycle helmets. Helmets will be for sale for just $5.00 the day of the open house.
Summer is the time of year that people are back on their bikes taking to the roads and trails for a day of family fun. Without a helmet, the day can turn tragic quickly and without warning. That is why it is important for the fire department and healthy communities to send the message that a properly fitting bicycle helmet can save your life in an accident. A helmet provided to a young man at an area grade school last year saved his life just weeks after being fitted with the helmet by fire department personnel.
We invite the community to come by the firehouse and learn more about helmet safety and other services provided by the St. Charles Fire Department. Fire trucks will be on display.
Fireworks Prohibited in St Charles Parks
Fireworks Prohibited in
St. Charles City Parks
For the safety of all visitors to the St. Charles City Parks, possession or discharge of fireworks within our Parks is prohibited at all times. Park User Safety and/or Park Facility Protection are of paramount importance to the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board. Violators of the Fireworks Policy could result in being cited, charged, and/or arrested for the unlawful possession and/or use of fireworks in any of the City of St. Charles Parks and illegal fireworks could be confiscated.
We encourage everyone to join the Riverfest activities in Frontier Park July 2nd, 3rd and 4th. A professional fireworks display will take place July 3 and 4 at 9:30 pm. Please leave your personal fireworks at home and come to Frontier Park and enjoy continuous musical entertainment, games, carnival rides crafts, lots of food and refreshments. Canned food items will also be collected to help stock local food pantries.
A copy of the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board “Fireworks Policy” can be obtained from the Administration Office in Blanchette Park, 1900 W. Randolph Street, 636-949-3372.
St. Charles City Parks
For the safety of all visitors to the St. Charles City Parks, possession or discharge of fireworks within our Parks is prohibited at all times. Park User Safety and/or Park Facility Protection are of paramount importance to the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board. Violators of the Fireworks Policy could result in being cited, charged, and/or arrested for the unlawful possession and/or use of fireworks in any of the City of St. Charles Parks and illegal fireworks could be confiscated.
We encourage everyone to join the Riverfest activities in Frontier Park July 2nd, 3rd and 4th. A professional fireworks display will take place July 3 and 4 at 9:30 pm. Please leave your personal fireworks at home and come to Frontier Park and enjoy continuous musical entertainment, games, carnival rides crafts, lots of food and refreshments. Canned food items will also be collected to help stock local food pantries.
A copy of the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board “Fireworks Policy” can be obtained from the Administration Office in Blanchette Park, 1900 W. Randolph Street, 636-949-3372.
COMMENTS & COMMENTARY by Charles Hill
I was not in attendance at a recent meeting of the County Convention and Sports Authority and the City Council, but I did have a report given to me. The person relayed to me a comment made by Councilman Mike Weller of Ward 5. Weller spoke about the Partners for Progress Dinner to be held at the center and how these events would keep the center in business and how these events were great.
I would like to tell Weller he is dead wrong. He needs to look at how the debt is paid. Weller would have us all believe these type of events are the cash flow to pay the debt. Weller doesn’t get it.
The Convention and Sports Authority and the City’s portion of the debt service is dependent upon taxes generated from the sale of hotel rooms. While Weller’s lack of understanding is not unusual for him, those in attendance should have reminded him of that fact. Corporate dinners are good for the center and I hope they continue, but the goal has to be to limit the amount of shortfall and operations and debt service.
On a side note. Why is Steve Powell allowed to continue with the City and the Convention Center? He has taken another job in another city. Can you say conflict of interest? To top it off, Powell has been reported to have said he agreed with the holistic approach to marketing the City. Steve if you would have been this open and understanding when you worked for the City you might still be the director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Another interesting tidbit. Julie Guftaston is the PR company hired by John Q. Hammonds Convention Hotel. You might remember Julie was contracted as the CVB’s PR director as well. Wonder how she landed that job with so many other companies in the area? Could it be that Steve urged them to hire her? Makes one wonder.
I would like to tell Weller he is dead wrong. He needs to look at how the debt is paid. Weller would have us all believe these type of events are the cash flow to pay the debt. Weller doesn’t get it.
The Convention and Sports Authority and the City’s portion of the debt service is dependent upon taxes generated from the sale of hotel rooms. While Weller’s lack of understanding is not unusual for him, those in attendance should have reminded him of that fact. Corporate dinners are good for the center and I hope they continue, but the goal has to be to limit the amount of shortfall and operations and debt service.
On a side note. Why is Steve Powell allowed to continue with the City and the Convention Center? He has taken another job in another city. Can you say conflict of interest? To top it off, Powell has been reported to have said he agreed with the holistic approach to marketing the City. Steve if you would have been this open and understanding when you worked for the City you might still be the director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Another interesting tidbit. Julie Guftaston is the PR company hired by John Q. Hammonds Convention Hotel. You might remember Julie was contracted as the CVB’s PR director as well. Wonder how she landed that job with so many other companies in the area? Could it be that Steve urged them to hire her? Makes one wonder.
History Surrounds Us: Missouri’s First State Capital
By Lynndi Lockenour
From the outside it looks like just another old brick building along Main Street, but inside the walls are filled with history. Taking a tour of the Missouri’s First State Capitol grounds is comparable to taking a trip back in time. The renovated rooms are decorated to look like those of the 1820’s, featuring replicated furniture and tools.
Eleven rooms in the Capitol complex have been restored to their original state and nine rooms are complete with furnishings from the 1821-1826 time period. The Peck brothers’ residence and general store have been restored and furnished as they might have looked in the 1800s. Dried animal pelts hang from the ceiling as an illustration of merchandise needed in the 1820s, which could be found at the Peck Brothers Dry Goods Store.
The general store seems to be a favorite among the hundreds of children who visit on field trips every year from local elementary schools said Dave Klostermeier, Natural Resource Manager 1. “I play guessing games with the children when they come into the store,” he said, “to see if they could guess what the tools in the store were used for in the 1800s.”
Before Missouri was granted statehood on August 10, 1821, various locations in St. Louis had served as the seat of government for territorial affairs. As statehood became a certainty, the search began for a site to become the permanent seat of government. An underdeveloped tract of land located in the center of the state overlooking the Missouri River was chosen to become “The City of Jefferson,” Missouri’s first permanent capitol.
However, until the new capitol could be built, the legislators needed a place to meet. Nine cities competed for this honor of hosting the temporary seat of government for the state. Among these cities was St. Charles, which was ideal because it was booming with trade activity from its location on the Missouri River and Boones Lick Road. The citizens of St. Charles at the time pledged that if their city was selected, they would provide a free meeting space for the legislators.
On November 25, 1820, Governor Alexander McNair signed a bill, which made St. Charles the official first state capitol. The first meeting of the legislators was held on June 4, 1821.
This free facility the citizens provided was on the second floor of two newly constructed adjoining Federal-style brick buildings. The Peck brothers, Charles and Ruluff, owned one of the buildings where they operated a general store on the first floor. Klostermeier said the building wasn’t always as primitive as it looks now. “Now we think of it as being run down,” he said, “but in its day they sold fine items like silk here.”
Chauncy Shepard owned the adjoining building, where he ran a carpenter shop on the first floor. The second floor of the building was divided and used as the Senate and House of Representatives chambers, an office for the governor and a small committee room. During the use of this temporary space, four Missouri governors ran state affairs from St. Charles until the new Capitol was ready in Jefferson City.
A movable wall divided the legislative chambers with the 43 House of Representative members on one side seated in benches and the 14 senators seated on the other side at tables. These tables were covered with a green cloth similar to which pool tables are made of that Klostermeier said was common at the time. “The green color was the best since it reflects the least light, but absorbs the most,” he said, “so it was good on their eyes and it made for an easy writing surface for quill pens.”
In the 1900s the buildings and neighborhood surrounding the first state Capitol slowly started to decay. The building that now makes up the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site was acquired in 1960. From there the state began a 10-year restoration project that initiated the revitalization of St. Charles.
The Capitol is located at 200-206 South Maine Street in St. Charles and charges a small fee of $2.50 for anyone over the age of 13 and $1.50 for those ages 6-12. Tours are available Monday - Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and on Sundays from 11a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information call 636-940-3322 or visit their website at www.dnr.state.mo.us.
From the outside it looks like just another old brick building along Main Street, but inside the walls are filled with history. Taking a tour of the Missouri’s First State Capitol grounds is comparable to taking a trip back in time. The renovated rooms are decorated to look like those of the 1820’s, featuring replicated furniture and tools.
Eleven rooms in the Capitol complex have been restored to their original state and nine rooms are complete with furnishings from the 1821-1826 time period. The Peck brothers’ residence and general store have been restored and furnished as they might have looked in the 1800s. Dried animal pelts hang from the ceiling as an illustration of merchandise needed in the 1820s, which could be found at the Peck Brothers Dry Goods Store.
The general store seems to be a favorite among the hundreds of children who visit on field trips every year from local elementary schools said Dave Klostermeier, Natural Resource Manager 1. “I play guessing games with the children when they come into the store,” he said, “to see if they could guess what the tools in the store were used for in the 1800s.”
Before Missouri was granted statehood on August 10, 1821, various locations in St. Louis had served as the seat of government for territorial affairs. As statehood became a certainty, the search began for a site to become the permanent seat of government. An underdeveloped tract of land located in the center of the state overlooking the Missouri River was chosen to become “The City of Jefferson,” Missouri’s first permanent capitol.
However, until the new capitol could be built, the legislators needed a place to meet. Nine cities competed for this honor of hosting the temporary seat of government for the state. Among these cities was St. Charles, which was ideal because it was booming with trade activity from its location on the Missouri River and Boones Lick Road. The citizens of St. Charles at the time pledged that if their city was selected, they would provide a free meeting space for the legislators.
On November 25, 1820, Governor Alexander McNair signed a bill, which made St. Charles the official first state capitol. The first meeting of the legislators was held on June 4, 1821.
This free facility the citizens provided was on the second floor of two newly constructed adjoining Federal-style brick buildings. The Peck brothers, Charles and Ruluff, owned one of the buildings where they operated a general store on the first floor. Klostermeier said the building wasn’t always as primitive as it looks now. “Now we think of it as being run down,” he said, “but in its day they sold fine items like silk here.”
Chauncy Shepard owned the adjoining building, where he ran a carpenter shop on the first floor. The second floor of the building was divided and used as the Senate and House of Representatives chambers, an office for the governor and a small committee room. During the use of this temporary space, four Missouri governors ran state affairs from St. Charles until the new Capitol was ready in Jefferson City.
A movable wall divided the legislative chambers with the 43 House of Representative members on one side seated in benches and the 14 senators seated on the other side at tables. These tables were covered with a green cloth similar to which pool tables are made of that Klostermeier said was common at the time. “The green color was the best since it reflects the least light, but absorbs the most,” he said, “so it was good on their eyes and it made for an easy writing surface for quill pens.”
In the 1900s the buildings and neighborhood surrounding the first state Capitol slowly started to decay. The building that now makes up the First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site was acquired in 1960. From there the state began a 10-year restoration project that initiated the revitalization of St. Charles.
The Capitol is located at 200-206 South Maine Street in St. Charles and charges a small fee of $2.50 for anyone over the age of 13 and $1.50 for those ages 6-12. Tours are available Monday - Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and on Sundays from 11a.m. until 4 p.m. For more information call 636-940-3322 or visit their website at www.dnr.state.mo.us.
Park Board Makes Their Feelings Known Regarding Use of Metro Parks Funds
Park Board Makes Their Feelings Known Regarding Use of Metro Parks Funds
A recent article in the St. Charles County Post (June 10, 2005) titled “Fountain Lakes still has shot at Express Scripts” stated that the St. Charles City Leadership may be utilizing Grant Revenue Sharing Funds from the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District to attract a business into the City. At this time, the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board cannot view the project positively or negatively because we have not been informed of the possible project.
The St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board has unanimously passed the attached resolution to continue administering the funds based on facts. The Board has administered these funds since the inception of the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District when it was approved by the majority of the voters on November 7, 2000. As described in RSMO 67.1754, the Cities within St. Charles County receive these funds from the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District in the form of Grant Revenue Sharing. By the St. Charles Parks and Recreation City Charter, all grants designated for Parks and Recreation shall be administered by St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board.
Therefore, the Grant Revenue Sharing Funds have been allocated for projects listed in the 2006 – 2011 Capital Improvements Plan as approved by the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board on May 18, 2005. There are no alternate sources of revenue for these projects and if the Grant Revenue Sharing Funds are removed, these projects will stop or will not be built to their full potential.
Through the unanimous vote of Resolution #3-2005 on June 15, 2005, the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board has requested a legal opinion of the proper administration of the Grant Revenue Sharing Funds from the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District. Until such time that a legal ruling is rendered stating that the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board does not have the right of approval over said funds, the Board will continue with projects as planned.
A recent article in the St. Charles County Post (June 10, 2005) titled “Fountain Lakes still has shot at Express Scripts” stated that the St. Charles City Leadership may be utilizing Grant Revenue Sharing Funds from the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District to attract a business into the City. At this time, the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board cannot view the project positively or negatively because we have not been informed of the possible project.
The St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board has unanimously passed the attached resolution to continue administering the funds based on facts. The Board has administered these funds since the inception of the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District when it was approved by the majority of the voters on November 7, 2000. As described in RSMO 67.1754, the Cities within St. Charles County receive these funds from the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District in the form of Grant Revenue Sharing. By the St. Charles Parks and Recreation City Charter, all grants designated for Parks and Recreation shall be administered by St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board.
Therefore, the Grant Revenue Sharing Funds have been allocated for projects listed in the 2006 – 2011 Capital Improvements Plan as approved by the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board on May 18, 2005. There are no alternate sources of revenue for these projects and if the Grant Revenue Sharing Funds are removed, these projects will stop or will not be built to their full potential.
Through the unanimous vote of Resolution #3-2005 on June 15, 2005, the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board has requested a legal opinion of the proper administration of the Grant Revenue Sharing Funds from the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation District. Until such time that a legal ruling is rendered stating that the St. Charles Parks and Recreation Board does not have the right of approval over said funds, the Board will continue with projects as planned.
MY COLUMN - Mike McMurran Sports Editor
Soon, the ballpark known by generations, as Busch Memorial Stadium will be no more. There are valid arguments, on both sides, as to whether or not a new stadium is needed, but looking at the progression of the construction of Busch III makes such arguments a moot point.
My first game was at Busch I, in 1964. Never will I forget what most impressed me as I walked into the stadium for the first time – the vast ocean of green. The Cardinals had just traded away one of their more popular pitchers for a little known outfielder by the name of Lou Brock, and I was going to see him play in person. Funny, I can still remember which Cardinal was at each position: 1B-Bill White, 2B-Julian Javier, SS-Dick Groat, 3B-Kenny Boyer (my favorite), LF-Brock, CF-Curt Flood, RF-Mike Shannon, C-Tim McCarver. I think, maybe, what “hooked” me was that the Cardinals made it to the World Series my first year of being a fan. Not only did they make it to the Series, they played the big, bad New York Yankees. Roger Maris, Mickey Mantel, Whitey Ford, Elston Howard – it doesn’t get much better than that. Oh, yeah it does – the games were played during the day, and we were allowed to watch them, at school, on TV.
These memories all came back this past weekend as I was lucky enough to see the Cardinals and Yankees play each other for the first time in St. Louis since 1964. It was something I had been looking forward to for years. For the longest time I would say “I just hope I live long enough to see another Cardinal/Yankee World Series,” that is until it almost happened.
Lynn and I were at game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Cardinals and Braves; the Cardinals held a 3 games to 1 lead. Prior to the game the deciding game of the American League Championship Series was shown on the jumbo screen in right field – the Yankees won, earning a pass to the World Series – then it hit me – the Cardinals were one win away from a Cardinal/Yankee World Series. All of a sudden the quote “I just hope to live long enough to see another Cardinal/Yankee World Series” seemed like a, like a death wish. I had been saying it for so long, thinking it would never happen, that I really thought it would happen long after I was dead and gone.
Luckily for me, the Braves came back and won the final three games of the Series, and the Cardinal/Yankee Series never was. I learned my lesson and have never since uttered the infamous quote. Being at the Cardinal/Yankee regular season game was the next best thing, maybe even better considering it threatened not my mortality.
So Busch Stadium II will be no more after this season; man do the memories come flowing out: I was at game 7 of the ’82 World Series (yes I have the stubs), Lou Brock’s 3000th hit (no stubs), Bob Forsch’s first no-hitter (no stubs) and Mark McGuire’s grand slam on opening day – the only grand slam on opening day by a Cardinal in Busch II.
What better time to introduce my “Busch Memorial Stadium II All Cardinal Team.” 1B-Keith Hernandez, 2B- Tommy Herr, SS-Ozzie Smith, 3B-Kenny Reitz (its my team, I’ll name who I want), LF-Lou Brock, CF-Willie McGee, RF-George Hendrick, C-Ted Simmons. The starting pitcher would have to be Bob Gibson, with Bruce Sutter getting the save.
My first game was at Busch I, in 1964. Never will I forget what most impressed me as I walked into the stadium for the first time – the vast ocean of green. The Cardinals had just traded away one of their more popular pitchers for a little known outfielder by the name of Lou Brock, and I was going to see him play in person. Funny, I can still remember which Cardinal was at each position: 1B-Bill White, 2B-Julian Javier, SS-Dick Groat, 3B-Kenny Boyer (my favorite), LF-Brock, CF-Curt Flood, RF-Mike Shannon, C-Tim McCarver. I think, maybe, what “hooked” me was that the Cardinals made it to the World Series my first year of being a fan. Not only did they make it to the Series, they played the big, bad New York Yankees. Roger Maris, Mickey Mantel, Whitey Ford, Elston Howard – it doesn’t get much better than that. Oh, yeah it does – the games were played during the day, and we were allowed to watch them, at school, on TV.
These memories all came back this past weekend as I was lucky enough to see the Cardinals and Yankees play each other for the first time in St. Louis since 1964. It was something I had been looking forward to for years. For the longest time I would say “I just hope I live long enough to see another Cardinal/Yankee World Series,” that is until it almost happened.
Lynn and I were at game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Cardinals and Braves; the Cardinals held a 3 games to 1 lead. Prior to the game the deciding game of the American League Championship Series was shown on the jumbo screen in right field – the Yankees won, earning a pass to the World Series – then it hit me – the Cardinals were one win away from a Cardinal/Yankee World Series. All of a sudden the quote “I just hope to live long enough to see another Cardinal/Yankee World Series” seemed like a, like a death wish. I had been saying it for so long, thinking it would never happen, that I really thought it would happen long after I was dead and gone.
Luckily for me, the Braves came back and won the final three games of the Series, and the Cardinal/Yankee Series never was. I learned my lesson and have never since uttered the infamous quote. Being at the Cardinal/Yankee regular season game was the next best thing, maybe even better considering it threatened not my mortality.
So Busch Stadium II will be no more after this season; man do the memories come flowing out: I was at game 7 of the ’82 World Series (yes I have the stubs), Lou Brock’s 3000th hit (no stubs), Bob Forsch’s first no-hitter (no stubs) and Mark McGuire’s grand slam on opening day – the only grand slam on opening day by a Cardinal in Busch II.
What better time to introduce my “Busch Memorial Stadium II All Cardinal Team.” 1B-Keith Hernandez, 2B- Tommy Herr, SS-Ozzie Smith, 3B-Kenny Reitz (its my team, I’ll name who I want), LF-Lou Brock, CF-Willie McGee, RF-George Hendrick, C-Ted Simmons. The starting pitcher would have to be Bob Gibson, with Bruce Sutter getting the save.
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