Saturday, November 18, 2006

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FEDERAL GRAND JURY SUBPOENAS ST. CHARLES CITY RECORDS

Including Records of Illegal Signing Of Express Scripts Contract By Mayor York

By Tony Brockmeyer

The First Capitol News has learned that a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena has been served on the City of St. Charles asking for City records including the records of the illegal signing of a contract with Express Scripts by Mayor York. (see Illegal Contract Draws Fire, February 5, 2005; By 10-0 Vote City Council Initiates An Investigation Into The Unauthorized Signing of Insurance Contract By Mayor, February 26, 2005; Unauthorized Signing Of Contract By Mayor Could result In Her Impeachment, Council To Hold Hearings Subpoena Witnesses, March 19, 2005; Mayor Attempts To Mislead Residents, April 9, 2005; Hearing Regarding Mayor’s Alleged Illegal Signing of Contract Will Be Held May 4th at 6pm, April 30, 2005; Kneemiller, Reese, Weller Refuse To Vote For Subpoenas In Hearing On Alleged Illegal Signing Of Contract By Mayor York, May 7, 2005; Express Scripts Demands $200,000 from City - Mayor York Signed Contract Without Council Approval, May 13, 2006; all can be found at ..
firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com) Minutes of the meetings can be found in the records at St. Charles City Hall.

We have also learned that the City Council has approved an expenditure of approximately $25,000 that was used to hire a private attorney to make sure that the City complies with the subpoena in the proper fashion.

Because of the Fifth Amendment, the federal legal system has to use grand juries to bring charges, at least for certain offenses. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires charges for all capital and “infamous” crimes be brought by an indictment returned by a grand jury. The amendment has been interpreted to require that an indictment be used to charge federal felonies, unless a defendant waives his or her right to be indicted by a grand jury.  The Supreme Court has held that this part of the Fifth Amendment is not binding on the states, so they can use grand juries or not, as they wish.
If a defendant waives his or her right to be indicted by a grand jury, the prosecutor can charge them by using an “information.”  An information is simply a pleading that accuses the defendants of committing crimes, just as an indictment does.  The difference between an indictment and an information is that a grand jury must approve an indictment, while a prosecutor can issue an information without the grand jury’s approval or, for that matter, without ever showing the information to the grand jury. 
Since most federal prosecutions involve felony charges, grand juries play an important role in enforcing federal criminal law.
Federal grand juries are composed of between 16 and 23 individuals. Sixteen is the minimum and 23 is the maximum number that can constitute a federal grand jury.       
Since grand jury proceedings are secret, grand juries meet in private, which means they usually meet in areas that are not accessible to the public. Federal grand juries meet in special “grand jury rooms” that are located in generally out of the way areas of a federal courthouse.  Grand juries use subpoenas to gather the evidence they need to use in deciding whether crimes have been committed.  They can subpoena documents and physical evidence and they can subpoena witnesses to testify. 
In the federal system, grand juries are more likely to hear testimony from federal agents than from police officers, but they do sometimes hear from police officers, as well.  They are most likely to hear from police officers when they are investigating, drug trafficking or corruption in local government.
In the federal system, witnesses cannot be accompanied into the grand jury room by their attorney. 
Since witnesses have not been indicted, they have no constitutional right to counsel, since the Sixth Amendment right to counsel only applies after someone has been indicted
When it comes to a federal grand jury subpoena, U.S. attorneys, the federal government’s chief prosecutors, can convene grand juries to present evidence to indict someone for a crime. In a grand jury proceeding, there are no judges or defense attorneys. The U.S. attorneys present evidence and call and question witnesses in front of the jury. The jurors do not reach a verdict of guilty or innocent, but vote on whether the evidence and witnesses presented support the indictment sought by the federal prosecutor.

Several elected officials refused to comment citing the secrecy proceedings of a grand jury.

Since the proceedings of grand juries are secret, we were unable to obtain any further information regarding the subpoena served on the City of St. Charles.

Conventional Wisdom The Big Loser On Election Day

By Tony Brockmeyer

Looking at the results of the November 2006 general elections. It appears that the big loser was conventional wisdom.

Conventional wisdom before an election, is those statements that so called political experts make trying to gaze into a crystal ball to predict the results.

Both before and after an election the political spin doctors are working overtime trying to imprint their unique brand of partisian politics on the race for results. The First Capitol News would like to look at a couple of conventional wisdom nugget's that we feel faired particularly bad this election cycle.
The first of these is the conventional wisdom that St. Charles County is “solidly” Republican. In fact, our voters are remarkably independent when given good candidates to vote for. Remember this was a county where Ross Perot received 39 percent in his first bid for President. That was the highest percentage he received in any county in Missouri.

Attorney General Jay Nixon, Democrat, has consistently carried St. Charles County by a good margin. This is a fact most Republican political pundits would like you to ignore. It is also the reason Jay Nixon is the odds on favorite to be Missouri’s next Governor.

In a recent column by would-be pundit John Sonderreger, he was again pressing the point that because most County offices were retained by Republican candidates, the county was still heavily Republican. This is pure wishful thinking on John’s part given the actual results. Not only did Democratic County Council members Joe McCulloch and Cheryl Hibbler retain their seats against strong and well funded Republican challengers, but several Republican held State Representative seats were too close to call until the wee hours of the morning.

Chief among these was Ken Bierman in the 17th District. This Orchard Farm school board member, running for the first time as a Democratic candidate against an opponent with 10 times the money he had to spend, came within one tenth of one percent of winning the upset of the year. Democrat Tom Green was locked in a close battle with State Representative Sally Faith who edged him one point nine percent. St. Charles City Councilman Joe Koester kept Majority Floor leader Representative Tom Dempsey biting his nails until the last results were in. Koester captured 47.17 percent of the vote in a district the Republicans thought was one of their safest to retain. He too was at a disadvantage in fund raising. Dempsey had hundreds of thousands of dollars at his command and still was forced to scramble and put out negative mailers against Joe Koester as late as two days before the election.

Claire McCaskill, despite a relentless barrage of negative mailers, television ads and electronic phone calls, all attacking her family, finances and credibility, managed to reduce Senator Talent’s previous winning margin in St. Charles County.

Talent received 4,000 less votes county-wide then he did the last time he was on the ballot. Keeping the race close in St. Charles County contributed heavily to McCaskill’s overall win. She may also have been helped by the stem cell initiative, which despite a spirited campaign by religious organizations targeted to this County, ended the night in a virtual tie among county voters.

Locally there were examples of the upset of conventional wisdom on two issues. The first of these was proposition A. While narrowly missing their required 4/7th’s mark it carried a majority of 55 percent of City voters. Councilman Mike Weller had predicted that voters south of Interstate 70 would oppose the measure because of the proposed site of the Community Center would be perceived as too far to go. Voters south of Interstate 70 approved of the issue 55.8 percent compared with the approval north of 70 of 54.6 percent of voters. In other words, people south of 70 were even more in support than those north punching a huge hole in Weller’s theory. Likewise Councilman Bob Hoepfner, who campaigned heavily against the proposal going so far as to arrange to send electronic phone calls to leave his recorded message on answering machines throughout the City and running ads in other publications. But when it came time to count the ballots at Hanover, in his area, gave the measure over 60 percent support. The highest precinct support was Montclair where it received a 60.79 percent approval.

The Council had promised voters that the issue would be on the ballot and supporters of a community center consider this vote as giving them a mandate to move forward. The issue will receive further study and refinement over the next four or five months. Expect to see a community center project on the drawing boards before too long.

Finally there is the issue of the Mayor’s salary. Tuesday night the spin doctors were really trying to explain away the will of the voters. Councilwoman Dottie Greer stated that her voters were “confused” and somehow unable to figure out the issue. This same sentiment was echoed by the Mayor. Councilman Mike Weller, who supports a high salary for the next mayor, stood by his position though he admitted that it was out of step with the message from voters. Councilman Bob Hoepfner, who had originally wanted to pay the new Mayor $150,000 per year, was strangely silent during the debate Tuesday night. At least he had less of a problem understanding what the voters meant when they voted down the highest pay range by over 80 percent.

Council members Rory Riddler and Mark Brown both pointed out that had the issue of retaining the current form of government being placed on the ballot as they had proposed, the voters likely would have overturned the previous narrow vote in favor of this radical change in government. Councilman John Gieseke, who has announced his bid for mayor, told the First Capitol News, that he will recuse himself on any vote relative to what the city should pay it’s next mayor.

Conventional wisdom among the movers and shakers has been that the Mayor’s salary must be at least $120,000. That prediction along with most of what passes for conventional wisdom in St. Charles county politics was turned on its head by the voters on November 7th.

Hodaks Win Judgement Of Over $1 Million From St. Peters & Former Mayor Tom Brown

By Phyllis Schaltenbrand

Late Tuesday, in the Federal Appeals Court of the Eastern District of Missouri, a verdict of $375,000 was returned against the City of St. Peters and a verdict of $1 million was returned against former St. Peter’s Mayor Tom Brown in favor of Brian and Karla Hodak who had operated a bar and restaurant in St. Peters.

In 2004, the Hodaks’ filed a federal lawsuit against the City of St. Peters, its former Mayor Tom Brown, and several officers of the City’s police department. The Hodaks claimed the City and Tom Brown violated their due process rights and their first amendment rights by revoking the Bar’s license. Brian Hodak also claimed his civil rights were violated by City police officers when they arrested him in October 2001 for assault and resisting arrest.

On March 14, 2006 a jury In United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri decided in favor of the Hodaks and against the City of St. Peters, Tom Brown, Sergeant Timothy Kaiser, Officer Charles Cason and Officer Robert Treadway.

On July 26, 2006, U.S. District Court Judge E. Richard Webber entered his order reversing the jury verdict against the City of St. Peters, Tom Brown and the above listed police officers.

In rulings made earlier this year, Judge Webber dismissed the Hodak’s claim that their due process rights were violated by the City’s revocation of their liquor license. At that time, Judge Webber also dismissed Brian Hodak’s claims against City police officers that he was falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted. A jury trial was conduced on the only remaining claims, that the Hodaks’ first amendment rights were violated by the City in retaliation for Brian Hodak’s public criticism of the City and Mayor Tom Brown, and that Brian Hodak’s civil rights were violated by City police officers using excessive force against him in effecting his arrest for assault and resisting arrest.
Following the 6-day trial in March 2006, the jury returned a verdict exonerating the actions of the City’s police officers on Mr. Hodak’s claims. After the evidence was closed, the City requested the Court dismiss the Hodaks’ only other claim-the retaliation claim-because the Hodaks failed to present any evidence showing the City violated their constitutional rights.
After return of the jury’s verdict, the City renewed its request to dismiss. Judge Webber agreed with the City and ordered a new trial on the retaliation claim set to begin October 30, 2006. In his Order, Judge Webber also denied Hodaks’ requests for attorney fees and for a reversal of the jury verdict exonerating the police officers.
The City has always maintained that its actions and the actions of its police officers did not violate anyone’s constitutional rights. The City vigorously defended the lawsuit from the beginning and welcomed a jury trial on the claims. Judge Webber’s order is a further confirmation of the City’s position it has maintained throughout this lawsuit.
The First Capitol News contacted Karla Hodak shortly after the verdict was released. Ms. Hodak referred all inquiries to their attorney who did not return any of our calls.

Express Scripts Files Suit Against City

By Phyllis Schaltenbrand

On November 7, 2006 in St. Charles County Circuit Court Express Scripts, Inc. filed suit against the City of St. Charles.

In their suit, Express Scripts alleges that on or about June 22, 2004, Express Scripts and Defendant City entered into a written contract entitled “Prescription Drug Program Agreement” and that they have fully performed all of their obligation to the City in accordance with the term and conditions of the Agreement. The Agreement was for a period of three years from June 22, 2004 until June 22, 2007. The City purported termination of the Agreement effective January 31, 2005 and that this was a material breach and has caused Express Scripts to incur damages for which the City is liable. In their suit Express Scripts alleges damages in excess of $25,000.

This matter relates to a contract that Mayor York signed with Express Scripts without City Council approval and in violation of the City Charter and Ordinances. The matter was being investigated by the City Council until a number of Council members refused to issue subpoenas to obtain the information.

The First Capitol News has learned that in October a Federal Grand Jury Subpoena was served on the City demanding records involving this transaction. (see related story on page one of this edition)

In an executive session, Tuesday evening, the City Council approved funding to hire a special attorney to defend the City in this suit.
Prior to filing suit Express Scripts had made written demand on the City for $200,000 in damages.

For additional information regarding the illegal signing of the contract with Express Scripts by the Mayor please see our archives at; firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com
(Illegal Contract Draws Fire, February 5, 2005; By 10-0 Vote City Council Initiates An Investigation Into The Unauthorized Signing of Insurance Contract By Mayor, February 26, 2005; Unauthorized Signing Of Contract By Mayor Could result In Her Impeachment, Council To Hold Hearings Subpoena Witnesses, March 19, 2005; Mayor Attempts To Mislead Residents, April 9, 2005; Hearing Regarding Mayor’s Alleged Illegal Signing of Contract Will Be Held May 4th at 6pm, April 30, 2005; Kneemiller, Reese, Weller Refuse To Vote For Subpoenas In Hearing On Alleged Illegal Signing Of Contract By Mayor York, May 7, 2005; Express Scripts Demands $200,000 from City - Mayor York Signed Contract Without Council Approval, May 13, 2006; all can be found at firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com)

RAMBLING WITH THE EDITOR - Tony Brockmeyer

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Filing for the office of Mayor has not yet closed but the games have already begun. The Convention and Visitors Bureau requested approval from the City Council for two advertising contracts with two television stations to advertise Christmas Traditions on South Main Street. The contracts with Channel 30 and with Channel 2, two of the least watched stations in the area, were for over $25,000 each. What is interesting about the contracts is that both called for live interviews with the Mayor. Do you think the Convention and Visitors Bureau thought an interview with the Mayor on television would increase the number of visitors to Christmas Traditions? Or do you think the CVB was playing up to the Mayor by giving her television coverage, paid for by the taxpayers, so she would have an advantage over the other two candidates in the February primary mayoral election in which she is an announced candidate? The Mayor has shown in the past that she is not above using taxpayer funds to promote herself or to attempt to crush her adversaries. Charles Hill mentions in his article that the local restaurants will have to do $5 million in business to recover the $50,000 that was approved. The businesses on South Main Street probably should order in additional merchandise so it is available for the large influx of visitors they will have because the Mayor is being interviewed on television.

LIONEL I WOULD BE CAREFUL

I hope Lionel, the mayor’s husband, reads the story about the judgment of $1 million against former St. Peters Mayor Tom Brown and $375,000 against the City. The Hodaks claimed the Mayor was attempting to put them out of business because of letters they were writing to the newspaper. This verdict and judgment sure gives us some ideas.

What brings this home is Midwest Waste has told us Lionel has called and visited their offices in an attempt to have them stop advertising in the First Capitol News. We also know of other businesses that have been contacted in attempts to stop their advertising in our publication. A Main Street merchant told us he was told by the publicist for Hot Summer Nights that the Mayor would not patronize his establishment because he was advertising in this paper and if he wanted her business he would have to write her a letter of apology. He told us his advertising in our newspaper brought him more business than the mayor ever could and he thought it was disgusting that the person who was supposed to be the community leader was using such tactics.


BOB SAYS HE IS YOUR CHAMPION BUT THINKS YOU ARE HIS CHUMPS

Councilman Bob Hoepfner wants you to believe that he is the champion of rights for the taxpayers and the fiscal watchdog for the city. He even had us believing that for a while, until we learned otherwise. Bob wants you to believe he is your champion while all along he believes you are his chumps. He is interested in what is good for Bob not what is best for the taxpayers. He spouts his rhetoric but while out of the public eye his actions speak otherwise.

Bob was against allowing Michael Sellenschuetter to hook his development (outside the city limits) onto city water and sewers. Then suddenly he changed his vote. I am sure it was not because he got the plumbing on several homes in the development. He was against allowing TR Hughes to hook up his development (outside the city limits) onto city water and sewers but then changed his vote. I am sure the fact that TR Hughes workers performed several thousand dollars work at his home had nothing to do with that. Those are just a couple of examples. Others can be found in our archives at firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com.

During the past election campaign, thousands of recorded telephone calls went out to city voters from Bob encouraging them to vote against the Community Center proposal. Caller ID indicated the calls were from Survey St. Louis. That is the company owned by Thomas Smith, Legislative Director for State Representative Tom Dempsey (R) 18th District.

Smith is the subject of an investigative report by the First Capitol News where it was found that he was the treasurer of more than 10 Republican Legislative District Committees.

As treasurer of these committees, Smith collected and disbursed several million dollars to various candidates as well as to businesses owned by him. See our archives, firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com and in the search area type in MONEY LAUNDERING.

Smith was also a member of the St. Charles Park Board and when his term expired and the Council would not approve his reappointment by the Mayor, he refused to step down. Hoepfner was against the reappointment of Smith, I wonder if he will vote for his reappointment now. Smith was also heavily involved in the attempts to recall Councilman Mark Brown and Councilman Dottie Greer. Both attempts were plagued with fraud, forgeries and misrepresentation.

THE PEOPLE SPEAK - Letters To The Editor

Mr. Brockmeyer,

Many thanks to you for carrying such complete coverage of next Sunday’s Crescendo Concert Series event, the Diane Bish organ concert at Foundry Art Centre. We could not have asked for more – three distinct references in our announcing the Target grant, in the ad space we purchased, and then our writing to cover next Sunday’s event, of course.

We feel the fruits of our efforts are becoming more apparent with greater audiences, more recognition, and expressions of appreciation for what we’re doing heard more often. The role played by First Capitol News in helping us along to meet that end is truly supportive and important to us. I know I speak for the other members of the Crescendo Concert Board in thanking you.

With best regards,
Beth Morris

CAse In Point By Joe Koester, Councilman Ward 9


In contrast to the many investigations the GOP launched of the Clinton administration, “when Bush came into power there wasn’t a scandal too big for them to ignore.” Congressman Henry Waxman

The midterm elections punctuated the feelings of the majority of Americans. Frankly, the election results have brought us hope in a system that most of us sense has grown more corrupt in the past twelve years rather than less corrupt as promised. The broken “Contract with America” has now made it through the electoral litigation system and the judgment rendered by voters from coast to coast is that the GOP is guilty of breaking its contract on all counts. The empty claims by the GOP that they held a monopoly on morals and ethics has ceased and hopefully, after so many years, the moral taglines that they have used to trump sound reasons to vote Democrat have waned too. Remember - Democrats don’t want to take your guns, kill babies, or revive the Soviet Union!

Locally, the Democrats did much better than the mainstream media gave credit for. Democrats ran competitive races on shoestring budgets. Imagine if we get election reform that allows real competition – debates about issues rather than endless mailers that convince by way of their sheer volume. Go ahead and check out the expenditures of both sides in St. Charles County – you will see that Democrats did very well on anemic budgets collected mainly from working people and local businesses. You will see that the GOP was flooded with special interest dollars that allowed them to send out more than three times the mailers, pay for polling and automated telephone calls, buy billboards, by news ads, - advertise their candidates ad nauseum; it was truly RC Cola versus Coca-Cola. It is true that we fell short in most local races; however, local Democrats did their part to help elect Democrats to higher office on a state and federal level.

My sincere thanks go out to everyone who supported my campaign including (but definitely not limited to): Sara Schneider and Eleanor and Larry McCune. Several volunteers helped put rubber bands on literature, walk door-to-door, or make telephone calls. Campaigns are bigger still and I thank each voter who placed his or her trust in me on Election Day. Furthermore, I want to thank those who allowed me to put up a campaign sign – I appreciate that this simple act takes a measure of courage.

For the most part, the campaign remained about issues. As the challenger, I kept my message simple – stop special interest legislation and help bring equity to our schools. Of course, I wanted to send out a host of other mailers about many issues such as Lindenwood and stopping predatory lenders, but neither money nor campaign advisors would allow tackling too much for a single campaign.

Of course, I wasn’t happy when a mailer stated that I was trying to “hurt seniors” when actually I was trying to use limited resources to help those seniors who may need help the most. Or when a weird mailer stated, “Top Secret – What Joe Koester and Rory Riddler don’t want you to know.” First, Mr. Riddler wasn’t running for office and second, what the mailer contained I wanted everyone to know! Our city’s interests were not represented when state legislation forced us to give away our sewer service without annexation by the recipients of that service. Furthermore, two more claims were bogus – the residents of St. Charles Hills were never in jeopardy of losing service as claimed, our focus was on new development and simply bringing 230 high-end homes into our city to help pay their fair share of taxes for the necessary upgrading of sewer treatment plants.

This leads to the other misrepresented issue, namely, that 230 homes paying a slightly higher sewer rate somehow is a win-win situation for our city. This “benefit” doesn’t come close to the real benefits that annexation would have brought including: added population to our town which can be helpful in obtaining federal grants and assistance; overall added value to our community for bonding issues; and the real estate and property taxes that would have more than made up for the 200 plus homes that Lindenwood’s acquisitions have removed from our books. Finally, a last-minute mailer called me a liar – no explanation, no examples, just name calling at its best or worst. Our campaign’s mailings focused on special interests and education. In other words about voting records and issues – never once did we question the honesty of the other candidate, nor did we simply call names.

Overall, I was happy with the elections - everyone has to admit, it is good to see challenges again in St. Charles County. The Two Party System works better with two parties. Our system will become stronger with campaign finance reform. That may be a long ways off, but you never know...remember when the Berlin Wall came down about fifty years before we thought it would?

City issues were interesting — the higher the pay for the mayor, the stronger the vote in opposition. Also, the community center received a majority vote, however, not the four-sevenths vote necessary to issue bonds. The charter amendments passed. St. Charles County had about 60% of registered voters go to the polls.

THE CITY DESK - Rory Riddler, Councilman Ward 1


Name Change May Be In Order
For Founding Father Of Florissant

Since the 18th Century, the people of Florissant have honored the name of Francois Dunegant as their founder and first Spanish Commandant of this historic community. There is even a city park named for him. While the man so honored is the same, it appears the history books will have to be rewritten somewhat. New evidence has uncovered what is likely the original spelling of the surname of Florissant’s most distinguished historic personage and with it, new details of his life and family.

Unearthing this 220 year old mistake began as a collaborative effort between myself and Florissant’s Mayor Robert Lowery. Like St. Charles, Florissant takes pride in its French Colonial roots. Knowing my interest in historic research, I was asked to help pull together a biographical sketch of what was then known of the life of Francois “Dunegant” at the behest of the Mayor in 2004. What bothered me as an amateur historian was the lack of details of Dunegant’s life prior to coming to St. Louis and ultimately Florissant. There simply weren’t any other Dunegant family records or histories outside of St. Louis and Florissant. Most knowledgeable people knew the name was probably misspelled, but variations that were tried didn’t pan out.

For ex-Police Chief turned Mayor Lowery, this was the ultimate cold case. But it also presented a challenge to someone use to uncovering the facts. I was asked to do further voluntary research and try every angle to help uncover Florissant’s true heritage. Recently we made a major breakthrough.

The break came not from the numerous variations on the spelling of Dunegant we had tried, but from researching his “dit” name. Both Francois and his brother Charles shared a “dit” name. The French term dit can substitute for a hyphen in double family names or can be a nickname or alias of sorts. It can also refer to land owned or inhabited by an ancestor, or the name of an ancestor. The practice of using dit names is archaic, but was widespread among the French settlers of New France. Our own Louis Blanchette, the founder of St. Charles, had a dit name as well. Blanchette was called “the hunter”.

The Dunegant’s dit name was Beaurosier. Previous Florissant histories had not speculated on the meaning, and there was no direct translation available, however, it is most likely a compound word. “Beau” for beautiful and “rosier” meaning a rose bush, bed or arbor.

It seemed to be a strange “nickname” for someone to share with their brother on the frontier of civilization, so I focused on trying to uncover anyone who shared the same dit name Beaurosier. Following the dit name provided the break we were looking for.

In genealogical records I was able to find a Francois “Lunegent” who was born in Treguier, Bretagne (Brittany) and married to a Louise Ouimet who was born in 1724 in Sault-au-Recollet. The records show the couple were married on the 19th of February 1748 at Notre Dame in Montreal.

The marriage record lists this Francois Lunegent’s father as Bertrand Lunegent dit Beaurosier and his mother as Francoise Goiselout. There are also listed the names of Louise Ouimet’s parents, Pierre Ouimet and Marguerite Brault Pommainville.

We knew that the Francois who founded Florissant was named after his father and that his mother was Louise Ouimet. These were most likely his parents. We also knew that Florissant’s Francois was born in 1752 so the ages were right for these to be his parents.

It was the Beaurosier dit name that led to the Lunegent spelling of the name.

But this particular genealogical record only listed the birth of a daughter to this couple; a Charlotte Beaurosier Lunegent Boursier. Even with a match for the father’s first name, the mother’s name and the corresponding dates, we did not have a direct link to Florissant’s Francois that we could prove.

As the Mayor, a former long-term Police Chief would say, we needed more collaborating evidence before changing the name on a park and in the official histories of the region. Armed now with the spelling as Lunegent, I undertook further research and soon got the break we needed. Translating a notation from a work called, La Population des Forts Francais d’Amerique du XVIII Siecle or roughly The Population Of The 18th Century American Forts by Marthe Fairbault-Beauregard, I found the here-to-fore elusive baptismal record of Florissant’s founding father.

In Volume I, page 31, there is a notation about a baptism that occurred on the 9th of December in 1752. It took place at Fort Frederic and states that Marie Coulon de Villiers, wife of M. Douville, a Lieutenant of Infantry and second in commend of the fort, was the godmother for the baptism of a Francois Michel Luenegaud (corrected in document to Lunegent). This Francois it states was the son of a Francois and Marie Louise Quimet.

Here was the additional evidence we needed. We had a son whose name matches, being born to parents whose names match those of our Francois and born in the right year. We also now have two separate sources for a Lunegent spelling. Lowery had also learned, in his years of police work, that there comes a point where the evidence makes its own case.

This same French document said that the Lunegents were “inhabitants des cotes voisines”. While an obscure reference today, a 1611 French dictionary lists voisine as meaning neighbors. Cotes can be a slope, hill or shore. I would speculate this meant that the Lunegents were living at this time on a neighboring shore to Fort Frederic.

Fort Frederic in 1752 was an imposing stone fortress, with a multi-storied massive keep, much like a medieval castle. It was located at Crown Point on Lake Champlain in New York, an area then under French control. The fort was abandoned when the French pulled out in 1759 and they dismantled it so the British could not use it.

What brought the Lunegents inside Fort Frederic may have been the birth of their son or for protection during an incident in the French and Indian Wars. Francois Lunegent’s birth inside the fort, explains why his baptismal record was not with other Church records which recorded his parents marriage and the birth of a sister.

While the genealogical record first found, did not list Florissant’s Father as having the same dit name, but only listed the grandfather’s, a third document clears that up as well. It is a record from France that shows a Francois Lunegent dit Beaurosier, from St. Jean-Kerdaniel in Cotes d’Armor left France with a destination of Quebec. This area is also in Brittany.

As a footnote to the story, this area of Brittany is known as the ‘rose’ granite coast. A nearby town today is described as being famous for its beautiful ‘flowered’ houses covered with trellises of flowers. Perhaps with more research we can establish that the Beaurosier dit name and the memories passed down from father to son of their homeland may have influenced the naming of Florissant itself.

What brought Francois Lunegent, the father of Florissant’s Francois to New France? Records show his occupation at the time of his arrival being a “Soldat dans les troupes de la Marine, campagnie de St. Ours.” He arrived as a member of the French Marines and his company assigned to the village of St. Ours. These early records also show his birth date in Vers of 1723 and his first mention in the military records of New France in the year 1745. The military records add a further twist to the mystery, spelling his last name Lunegan, though including the dit name Beaurosier.

Previously we knew that our Francois had a brother named Charles who also came to St. Louis. His name in our local histories appears as Charles Dunegant. But he is listed in early French records of Quebec as being born Charles Lunegent dit Beaurosier in the year 1759, so that we now know Charles was Francois’ younger brother by seven years. Records from Quebec show Charles was likely born in the Village de Longueuil, placing Francois in this lower village of Montreal at the time. In September of 1760 Montreal surrendered to the British. Still to be uncovered is what happened to the Lunegent Family from 1759 (when Francois was 7) till he began farming in St. Louis in 1768 at the age of 16.

The dit name Beaurosier also led us to records that indicate Francois may have had as many as three sisters. Charlotte, who was previously cited, married a Prosper Desgroseilliers on February 17, 1772 and the couple had five children. A Marie Louise Lunegent married a Thomas Fissiau Laramee in Beauhamois, Quebec and their marriage record indicates she was born in 1750, also at Fort St. Frederique. And a Marguerite Lunegent Beaurosier married a Jacques Dorais in Montreal and her date of birth in 1749 and dit name also make her a likely older sister of our Francois as well.

So how did Lunegent of Lunegan get to be Dunegant in Florissant records? For one thing, he was illiterate. A contemporary described him in later life as being embarrassed that he could not read or write. He would have been only eight years old when Quebec fell to the British in 1760. The disruption of the war would likely have interrupted his formal education.

Our Francois did, however, affix a signature to official documents. Many people who could not read or write learned to copy their own signature. It appears on these documents to be Dunegan, So we are left with a further mystery. Did Francois Michel Lunegent dit Beaurosier, the founder of the City of Florissant, change his name for some reason? Was it taught to him as an adult the wrong way? Or was it being signed by others for him? I think it unlikely he changed his name because he was trying to hide. If he wanted to change identities, he would have changed his dit name as well. Keeping his dit name showed he was proud of the name of his father and grandfather whom he inherited the name from.

On September 13, 1825, Lunegent died at the age of 73 and was buried in the parish cemetery. The burial register of St. Ferdinand’s records that Du Negant (as it was listed) “…was the founder of this village.” Perhaps the priest may not have been as familiar with the rough French spoken by the older inhabitants of the newly Americanized Florissant. It isn’t such a great leap from Lu to Du. These mistakes are common to anyone who has done any genealogical research on their own family, it is just a little more unusual in a historic personage people thought they knew so well.

Mayor Lowery said he will recommend to the City Council modifying the name Dunegant by adding Lunegent as the predominant variant or original spelling. He would also like to see the memory of Francois Michel Lunegent dit Beaurosier recognized in a statue depicting the founder of Florissant. The Mayor added, “I believe an accurate portrayal of Francois should one day grace our community and perhaps, help make up for getting his name wrong all these years.”

COMMENTS & COMMENTARY by Charles Hill

By Charles Hill

Well I have given the new CVB Director time to get his feet wet. I have to say, new director same CVB. This week they spent over $50,000 on TV ads for Christmas Traditions on two of the least watched stations in the market. Just so you know why you should care, this tax is paid by you everytime you eat at a restaurant in the City. It is called a tourism tax trying to hide the fact that in essence the City residents pay an extra tax to support a few local merchants who can't figure out how to make it on Main Street without the subsidies that you provide.

Councilman Hoepfner talks about tax relief, if he really wanted to give tax relief take the tax off our local residents. Continue to tax the hotels but not the restaurants where we all eat . This $50,000 means they need to have $5,000,000 in sales from Christmas Traditions in the restaurants in town just to break even. That's not going to happen. Just one more little sercret that you might want to know. The businesses on Main Street who recieve millions in tax subsidised ads don't pay a tourism tax. That's right the shop owners get all the benefit without collecting a tax. Wouldn't it make more sense to tax tourist related businesses on Main Street and not Church's Fried Chicken on West Clay. They sold the tourism tax by making us all think the tourists would pay the freight, they aren't, we are.

The season is upon us to be giving, so Main Street, please start giving us a return on our investment. The fact is tourism hasn't paid us a dime yet. Remember all the money that was promised to the residents by having the Convention Center? Why is the city telling everyone they are broke?

THE VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS By Jerry Haferkamp

The View From The Cheap Seats
By Jerry Haferkamp

I’m writing this column on Veterans’ Day. On this day and on Memorial Day in particular I am prone to thinking about the guys I served with in Vietnam that didn’t make it back alive.

While searching a web site on the Vietnam “wall”, I found the name of the first soldier in our company who died in Vietnam just 53 days after his arrival. He was one of 8 killed and 27 wounded when a company sized Viet Cong unit ambushed one of our convoys. We trained in the States as a unit and deployed as a unit, so we knew each other pretty well. His name was Robert Lyle Stebner. Prior to leaving the States, I remember him telling us that his wife became pregnant during one of his recent leaves. He joked that she wanted a son to remind her of him in case he didn’t make it back. In a few months it was no longer a joke. His loves were his wife and his classic ’63 Studebaker Avanti.

Thinking of her leads me to today’s column.

I want to give a heartfelt salute to the veterans who possibly didn’t wear a uniform. There are many out there right now living with the daily question of whether they will see their soldier, sailor or Marine again. Some are parents of those currently deployed and there are even a few who remember the days worrying about their son or daughter in Vietnam, or Grenada, or Somalia. Some are spouses that are holding down the home front while raising children without their “other half”.

While I was in Vietnam, my wife joined a group called the Waiting Wives. They would get together to go to dinner or just play cards and talk. I hope such groups still exist.

Whether you agree with this war or not, these men and women in uniform are doing what they need to do and are trying to make us safe.

For those of you who have a relative or just a friend who is serving or has served in the past, “Thank You”. You are the rock that supports them and although they may be too busy to write, I know they are thinking of you. We did. I thank you as well as them on this Veterans’ Day.

I’ll close with a quote I recently read and believe says it all:

“Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G.I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom”

That’s the view from the cheap seats.

Be Careful Who You Flash By Dan Sonderman

Be Careful Who You Flash

By Dan Sonderman

Normally when someone gets pulled over it’s for speeding or other minor violations, not so for one St. Charles County resident. Mike Klos, an auto service technician at Lewis and Clark Career Center, was issued three different tickets from two different police officers. One ticket was from New Melle and two were from the St. Charles County Sheriff’s department, for flashing his high beams.

According to Klos he was with his wife and two children driving home from New Melle northbound on Highway Z, when he saw a motorist with their high beams on. Klos flashed his high beams to alert the other motorist, seconds later he was pulled over. The police officers thought he was warning other drivers of a speed trap. Klos said he tried to explain to the officers he was warning another motorist they had their high beams on, but they didn’t listen.

“I was told that I was illegally flashing my lights to warn other cars of radar,” he said. I attempted to ask about the radar but was told rudely and abruptly to ‘shut up or you’re going to jail’”.

Klos also complained that the officers were rude to his wife and children. One of the officers allegedly said “too bad you are going to miss Halloween with them [his children], since one of Klos’ court dates was on Halloween. “I’m a regular old guy,” Klos said. “Not some punk kid with a smart mouth.”

Klos was issued two citations from New Melle one for unlawful use of high beams and failure to properly display registration tabs on license plates. St. Charles County Sheriff’s Deputy also issued citations, they were later dropped.

When asked if issuing a citation for flashing high beams was excessive Aaron Burkemper, New Melle Chief of Police, said, “not at all, it was up to the discretion of the officer.”

According to the Missouri stature 307.070: Every person driving a motor vehicle equipped with multiple-beam road lighting equipment, during the times when lighted lamps are required, shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, directed high enough and of sufficient intensity to reveal persons and vehicles at a safe distance in advance of the vehicle, subject to the following requirements and limitations: Whenever the driver of a vehicle approaches an oncoming vehicle within five hundred feet, or is within three hundred feet to the rear of another vehicle traveling in the same direction.

Darren Marhanka, Professor of Criminal Justice at Lindenwood University, said that it not uncommon to issue a citation for warning other motorists of radar. But it was uncommon for two different jurisdictions to issue the same citation.

“Usually one jurisdiction will defer to the other,” he said. “That is really unusual, I’ve never heard of that.” Before becoming a Professor, Marhanka was a police officer in North St. Louis County for 18 years. Marhanka said he used to write citations for motorists warning of radar.

Klos said he was pulled over approximately two miles outside of New Melle’s jurisdiction. According to Burkemper, if the violation happens within the officer’s jurisdiction, the officer is allowed to follow the suspect for a few miles.

“Sometimes it’s safer to wait until they are outside of jurisdiction to make a stop,” Burkemper said. “Some of the roads out here are not safe to stop on.”

Said Klos, “They do what they want out there [in New Melle] and nobody does anything about it.”

Marhanka has this to add.
“If he was flashing his lights to notify another motorist of potential danger [driver with no lights on] then it would be alright,” he said. “Yes it’s against the law, but if you see a person drowning in the middle of a lake and the lake says no swimming, do you jump in there to save them or do you just let them drown?”
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FIRST CAPITOL COUNSELING BY DR. HOWARD ROSENTHAL


Dr. Howard Rosenthal

The Easiest Way to Pick A Really Bad Counselor Or Therapist!

Dr. Howard Rosenthal

Now that the World Series is history I figured it might be best to stop obsessing about baseball and pine tar and go back to supporting my Ebay addiction. While surfing the auction site I came upon a listing that would allow me to secure a Ph.D. in counseling for $225! Hey, not bad. I mean, compare that to my 11 or 12 year stint in college and grad school (you lose track when you go to school that long), replete with a 10 year student loan.

Should you see a counselor or therapist with an Ebay degree? Sure, when you decide it is okay for your pet parrot to perform a root canal on you!

You could ask a therapist where he or she snared his or her degree. Nevertheless, with a glut of colleges and universities, how would you know if the school was for real? Moreover, a helper can have a boatload of degrees, but still be unqualified to help others.

Instead, I suggest you ask to see the therapist’s license. Licenses are conferred by the state, not the federal government. The license should be displayed in the helper’s office. Popular ethical credentials include licensed psychiatrist or psychologist, LPC or licensed professional counselor, and LCSW, licensed clinical social worker.

Most states have licensing websites where you can check out whether your therapist, chiropractor, or even the guy or gal who cuts your hair is properly credentialed.

Dr. Rosenthal is the author of numerous articles and the new book Therapy’s Best, Practical Advice and Gems of Wisdom from Twenty Accomplished Counselors and Therapists. His website is www.howardrosenthal.com.

MAIN STREET FINANCIAL - Kevin Daniels, Vice President


Budgeting For Smarties! (PART I)

Surprisingly, I hear a very common question at my conference table from people whose income seems to span broad range. Here is the question: “Will you help us with a budget?” It follows my explaining that their salary statistically falls into the top incomes the world to which they will likely reply, “Well it doesn’t feel like it!” We all become accustomed to living on what we make and no one enjoys a budget. I think the problem with budgeting is this: It does not work with much longevity for most families. So they fail, or feel like they have failed when the kids get sick and there is an extra $350 in prescriptions and emergency deductibles that was not “budgeted”. Who could have known? And moreover, what are they to do? Forego the child’s treatment? Probably not.

This is a two part article on budgeting that I hope helps take the number crunching out of your already busy day. Try this simple idea that allows “on-the-run” budgeting. I believe that you will find it difficult to keep a spreadsheet in your purse or wallet and retrieve it each time you want to know if you can buy a candy bar at the gas station. This “on-the-run” budgeting process uses four categories of spending (budgeting) . The categories are: 1) Mandatory expenses 2) Cash Expenses, 3) Savings Expenses and 4) In-The-Hole Expenses. Under this structure all financial expenditures should fit into one of these four categories. Let me explain:

1) Mandatory Expenses: For many this will be the largest category of expenditures. Grab a scrap piece of paper and start adding up everything to which you are already committed that is not an optional expense. In other words, write down expenses for the things that you must have to live. You have likely already made the decisions about most things in this category. For example, the house payment is not optional in most households, it is a mandatory expense that you are going to pay! The electric bill, gas bill, prescriptions, car expenses, gasoline etc. would all be examples of these mandatory expenses or those that are necessities for nearly every one. (Side note: While I think you can get carried away with this idea, you may want to consider what I have seen some clients do. They place as many mandatory expenses as possible on credit cards. Why you say? Because these are going to be paid each month in full regardless and many credit cards will give you mileage, coupons, purchase points, awards etc.
“I think the problem with budgeting is this: It does not work with much longevity for most families.”
Be careful with this one, it can be a dangerous game if the balance is not paid in full each month.) One final note on mandatory expenses: add to your list a provision for savings as part of this category. If you think about for a moment, savings really is mandatory, but the amount is up to you! And you are going to need this when you get to category three.

2) Cash Expenses: Our second tier expenses are cash expenses. Here’s how the cash account works: After we have established our mandatory expenses, we have second tier expenses like lunches, clothing, entertainment, and literally most other expenses that do not fall in the first tier mandatory category. We decide in our initial calculations how much cash each person gets for the month and withdraw that amount at the beginning of the month, every month. How much cash you might ask? Well that depends on many, many factors such as savings, needs, upcoming expenses etc. but mostly it is simply what we can afford. The key here is to use cash. The expenses in this category are never credit purchases… never! We use cash and when it is gone, we do not go back to our well (or bank account), we simply spend no more and try to hang on until the first of the next month. It should work like an allowance. When our children run out of money and want to buy something, we simply tell them they must wait until they get their next allowance. We can do the same with our own money as adults.

It is important to realize that this cash may be spent on anything and we do not have to feel guilty about spoiling ourselves if funding for our luxury comes from our cash account. And since finances seem to top
the controversy list in many marriages, his and her cash accounts remove much of the heated debate about the necessity of expenditures. Consider this, she gets a pedicure even when funds are tight because it comes out of her cash account. He buys expensive game tickets without remorse, because it comes right out of his cash account. (Notice I did not say he pays part of the bills and she pays part because I do not advise dividing the marriage, especially over finances.) One more thing, I have found that when funds are tight, this method can actually strengthen the marriage as one partner helps the other during a tough month. Sacrifice is not all bad!

Next week we will look at the other two categories of expenditures. For now, get those numbers together!

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Budgeting For Smarties (Part II)

Last week we discussed a budgeting technique that helps take the number crunching out of your already busy day. This simple budget idea allows “on-the-run” budgeting for busy folks. As I said last week I think the problem with budgeting is this: It does not work with much longevity for most families. Keeping a spreadsheet in your purse or wallet is difficult to retrieve each time you want to buy a fountain drink at the gas station. This budgeting process uses four categories of spending (budgeting) which are: 1) Mandatory expenses 2) Cash Expenses, 3) Savings Expenses and 4) In-The-Hole Expenses. Under this structure all financial expenditures should come from one of these four. Here is a short re-cap of what we discussed last week:

1) Mandatory Expenses: This is the largest category of cash outflows that encompasses those expenses to which you are already committed and that are not an optional expenses like a house, the gas bill, the trash collection etc.

2) Cash Expenses: Our second tier expenses are cash expenses. They contain most other expenses that do not fall in the first tier mandatory category. The key here is to always use the cash allowance for the month, never use credit for these expenses and try as hard as you can to avoid taking out more for the month. Like a child’s allowance, if you are out of money this month wait until next month when you get another allowance.

“I think the problem with budgeting is this: It does not work with much longevity for most families.”







Now let’s pick up with the third tier:

3) The Savings Account: Stay with me, any expense that is not part of the first two tiers, (Mandatory expenses and Cash Expenses) has to next come from savings. A new car, a vacation, a high definition television or items that that were not a part of the first two tiers, MUST come from savings. No savings, no expenditure! Often these are big-ticket items that are less frequently purchased. Now you see why we say the savings component is part of our mandatory expense!

4) In The Hole Expenses: This is the “we are digging ourselves a hole” account. This is borrowed money for items that are not a necessity. A five bedroom home for a family of two, may be handy, but it is hardly a necessity. A new car is gratifying, but a used one may serve the purpose. There may be a time you elect to borrow funds for a purchase that you really cannot afford just know these expenses are digging a financial hole for your household. If you could afford them they would not be purchased with someone else’s money. These expenses certainly may cause rough seas for your financial future, so avoid them if you can!

So there you have a budgeting process that is not one size fits all. Hopefully it is one that categorizes buying into four simple pieces that do not require a computer analysis to buy a hamburger. I think you may find that under this plan, spending is curbed towards the end of the month and you will think twice about your cash purchases! You may want to give it a go for 6 months or so, if all is working well, give yourself a raise. If you find that money is still woefully short, my guess is those mandatory expenses have long been too big and may require a serious review. Good luck with your new budget!

FIRST CAPITOL NEWS SPORTS - MIKE McMurran Sports Editor

he elections are behind us, finally, and for the most part I was happy with the results. It is interesting that in Jennings, where I teach, I am viewed as a radical, old school type, conservative teacher. Here in beautiful Saint Charles I am looked at by most of my friends as a radical, left wing nut. Like I always say: “Its all relative.”

Tom Green’s loss broke my heart. He is a good man and was a great state rep. I didn’t agree with the fact that “out of towners” were behind the recent recall of two councilpersons. I equally disagree with recruiting students from Mizzou, who live in Lincoln County, to work the polls in St. Charles City. As I was working the polls for Mr. Green that is exactly what I found working for Sally Unfaithful – a graduate student from Mizzou. If you cannot find people from your own district to work the polls for you, how strongly can they believe in your message? Of course that’s just me, I could be wrong.

The failure of the bond issue for a civic center in St. Charles City rubbed me the wrong way, initially, then I thought about it and finally came to grips with what I think went wrong. I think the majority of the residents in Saint Charles City do not have confidence in the City Council. Individually they all seem to be competent, pleasant people; collectively they are anything but, and I think most residents are well aware of just that! From my perspective they were putting the cart in front of the horse by attempting to pass the bond issue prior to announcing to the public where the facility would be located. Regular readers of this column know that I contacted both Mr. Riddler and Mr. Kneemiller on this very subject and both suggested to me that something would be in the works within 6 months. That was 8 months ago.

I strongly disagree with the Blanchette Park site as I live on the southern extreme of beautiful St. Charles City. The St. Peter’s RecPlex would be far closer to my house than the proposed north-side site. I really think a more centrally located site would be better for all involved; certainly those in the 4th ward of Saint Charles City.

Personally I supported the bond issue, as I have been a proponent of a civic center for some time now. St. Peters has a beautiful facility, maybe the nicest in the region. O’Fallon has a facility their residents can be proud of; Saint Charles has absolutely nothing!

Just as I supported the bond issue, in 2004 I supported Mr. Kneemiller – I even had one of his signs in my front yard. No longer can I say that is true. As stated, individually Bob Kneemiller is a great guy; both personable and almost always pleasant. As a member of the City Council he has proven himself to be ineffective. The allegiances he has formed in an attempt to be productive have done just the opposite – they have become counter-productive to the daily operation, and more importantly to the future of beautiful Saint Charles City.

I was neither born nor raised in Saint Charles, but my children were and are. I can no longer sit back and watch the petty differences of a few individuals hold up the progress of this great city. I used to laugh when I heard our governing body referred to as “Silly Hall.” I am not laughing any longer.

Therefore, with the support of my lovely wife Lynn as well as my three children, Maggie, Joe and Dee, I am announcing my candidacy for the St. Charles City Council’s 4th Ward.

I’ve now been writing for this fine weekly for two years. In covering the local high school sports beat I have met some really neat people. Most of them simply shake their heads when talking about Saint Charles City Government. I hope to change that. Enough said – for now!

And now for some sports. Last August I did a series on two city residents both of whom at the time were recently named head football coaches at their respective schools: Cory Nesslage of St. Charles High and Ryan Wallace of Jennings. Nesslage graduated from St. Charles and played college ball at Lindenwood. Wallace graduated from Zumwalt South and played college ball at Missouri Valley.

This season Wallace’s Warriors completed what most would consider the greatest football season in Jennings’ history. Not only did the Warriors beat Ladue for the first Suburban East title in the school’s history, Wallace’s squad finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, and they came within 27 seconds of what would have been one of the biggest high school football upsets in recent history.

When talking about his Warriors, Wallace speaks in very deliberate, calculated sentences. Wallace could have easily “run the score up” against a number of his opponents this season – but that is not his style. He did just the opposite. He veiled his true offensive scheme, keeping to the very basic of basics. He knew he had to beat Ladue and Clayton to win the conference title. What good would it do to beat, shall we say Cleveland NROTC by a score of 44-0 – allowing the Rams and Greyhounds to see what he really had up his sleeve. No, Wallace did an excellent job of making people think that his team was mediocre – until it was too late and they had you marked for the kill. “Parkway North” are two words that Wallace and his Warriors will not forget soon – if ever. Congratulations to St. Charles City resident Coach Ryan Wallace and his Jennings Warriors on a great football season. This year’s team has set the standard by which future teams will be measured.

mcmurran@charter.net/314.280.9189

Saturday, November 04, 2006

FRONT PAGE FIRST CAPITOL NEWS - November 4, 2006

Please click on image to enlarge. To read entire edition please scroll down.

Councilman Gieseke Declares His Candidacy For Mayor

By Phyllis Schaltenbrand

Councilman John Gieseke (Ward 8) has announced his candidacy for Mayor of Saint Charles. When the new mayor takes office in April of 2007 the government of St. Charles will change from a weak mayor, strong city council, and city administrator form of government to that of a strong mayor. The new mayor will assume many of the powers now granted the City Administrator, including the hiring and firing of department directors and city employees.

John Gieseke has lived in St. Charles for thirty years, since 1976. He is a graduate of St. Charles High School and the University of Missouri, Columbia. Gieseke is serving his second term as the Councilman from the Eighth Ward. He is married and the family lives in New Town. His wife Rhesa is the district manager of White House Black Market. “I am very proud of my wife and her success and appreciate all she does for our two children, Jack and Gillian, who keep her and I both busy.” John Gieseke is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. After graduating he worked as a respiratory therapist at St. Joseph Heath Center. John then moved to medical supply sales and moved up to a Regional Sales Manager and moved to Milwaukee for 2 years. After the birth of his son he and his wife moved back to St. Charles. John and a life long friend then operated a hotel in Earth City. Currently John is employed as the St. Louis Regional Manager for LandAmerica Commonwealth Land Title Company.

John Gieseke stopped by our office the other day and gave us an opportunity to interview him about this important political decision in his life to seek the Office of Mayor.

First Capitol News: Let’s start with why you are running for Mayor?

JOHN GIESEKE: I think it is time that the City of St. Charles takes a new direction that is positive, not divisive. A direction that allows for strong economic growth without having to depend on gaming revenues as heavily as we have. A direction where the economics of the community will help support our school districts. An economic direction that will give us the resources to improve our infrastructure. One that will make the City of St Charles the true leader we should be in the region.

FCN: You have a diverse employment history how does that prepare you for the job of Mayor?

JG: I have been able to lead in each and every job. I actually started working as a lifeguard, old Blanchette was one of the pools. Cathy who still works at the parks was one of my supervisors. I have been able to adapt and learn new business practices. The one thing that applies to all of them is the customer should be the focus.

FCN: What do you see as your greatest accomplishment as a councilman?

JG: There are quite a few. I guess the big one would be standing up for the residents who live on Elm Street when the city wanted to tear up every yard during the reconstruction of the street. I fought to protect their yards and property. On the more fun side I think just helping with the development in the ward has been incredible. There is so much more to come. Expanding the park system at Fox Hill is high on the list. I guess its hard to pick just one thing.

FCN: What do you see as St. Charles greatest asset?

JG: St. Charles has the most diverse population base in St. Charles. That's what I think makes this city great. People make city's great and our focus should be on the people who live here. When you drive through the city you see new and old, starter homes to cluster homes. Each resident is the best spokesman for the city. I grew up here and remember riding my bike to the Dairy Queen on second street. That area has changed so much in the past thirty years because of the people and the efforts to revitalize their neighborhood. Our future depends on the people of the city.

FCN: As we see from recent political campaigns, candidates have gotten down and dirty. Much of the campaign material is filled with lies and misrepresentations. Are you prepared for a campaign like that?

JG: I can tell you from my campaign’s standpoint that we are taking the harder road and that is the high road. I am not going to get down in the dirt with anybody that runs against me. I am not going to go after families and things that have nothing to do with St. Charles. I have a vision of what I believe is great for St. Charles and if people disagree I am not going to destroy the other candidates just to make myself look good.

FCN: Those are strong words but what happens when the campaign is filled with misrepresentations against you made by the other candidates?

JG: I will respond to any negative or untruth if it is worthy of response. If not worthy I have trust in people to see through that. Any misrepresentation of my record will be met and I will respond with the truth. I am not going to get down in the sand box and do a tit for tat.

FCN: What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing the next Mayor of St. Charles?
JG: Of course because we are going to go to a strong mayor system there will be a cultural change within city hall. I think making sure the citizens are not lost in that cultural change is the hardest thing the next mayor will have to deal with. The next mayor will have to make hard decisions because things cannot be done the same way in city hall. The residents cannot be the last thing thought of in city hall. The citizens must be first and then we should work backwards from there.

FCN: We have heard some people remark that a city professional administrator should be in charge of the city rather than someone elected with no experience. Do you think you are qualified to be mayor?

JG: I am a citizen of the City of St. Charles. The current system has no accountability to the residents by the city administrator. Residents can’t fire the city administrator. They can complain to elected officials but if the administrator does not want to listen they can’t make the change and things still stay the same. Under the new system it is the mayor who will be accountable. A mayor will have direct control over getting potholes fixed, sidewalks installed or repaired and sewer backups repaired. With a strong mayor form of government you have an elected official accountable to you and you have a voice in your government.

St Charles is an example of why a city administrator is no good. The administrator is not accountable to the residents. As somebody who has been in the private sector I have been in management positions and have had the ability to grow professionally. That experience translates easily into public life in running an institution like a city. As long as you follow management rules, and people are held accountable, and rules followed, and customers come first, I think it would not be a hard change going from a private to public sector job. Surround yourselves with people who make good decisions and you will always be okay.

FCN: The sales tax in St. Charles is not growing, but it is growing in adjacent cities. What can you do about it?

JG: I can look to the ward I represent and say that the growth of sales tax has grown in our ward. A lot of sales tax revenue for the city is coming from our ward because we are bringing in different business that generates sales tax. Problems come when a city starts asking businesses, “How can we get you here, what do we have to give you to come here?” That then puts more burden on the residents. Instead we should be selling the businesses on the city and on why they should want to come here and how strong our economy is because of our residents discretional spending.

What do we have to do to get you here? Wrong way to go. Identify companies that will not need incentives to come in and go after them. Investment groups, let them run with it. They are the ones that know what to do because they do this for a living. Government is not good at deciding on winners and losers. Investment groups can usually pick a winner because they have the experience and contacts. We have to stop taking prime pieces of real estate and giving them to non-profits. We need non-profits but they do not need to be in high profile locations. Locations that could increase our tax base and provide relief to our taxpayers. We need to be conscious of that and be careful of taking some prime property off the tax rolls.

FCN: What are your feelings about Lindenwood University properties? They have taken about 200 pieces of property off the tax rolls.

JG: Many of the homes purchased by Lindenwood University and taken off our tax rolls were starter homes. Homes that would be available for families to move to St. Charles. I think it is evident that with the decrease in population we do not have enough starter homes available. The population of our schools is decreasing. Take 200 homes, that is a loss of 400 kids who would be going to our schools. We need to look for opportunities to create more starter homes. We just wait for things to happen. We took personal property off our tax rolls so it did have a profound effect on our economics.

FCN: What are your feelings about Lindenwood University?

Lindenwood is one our largest employers and it brings in 12,000 plus people each semester. It does expose the city to families and people from outside the St. Charles area. It is probably one of the best tourism attractions we have. I haven’t agreed with all of the tactics the university has used in securing property and the things they did to grow. They were not as conscious of the city as they should have been and the effect they had on the city. Lindenwood University does have some positive effects for the City of St. Charles. Our children can attend a four-year university without ever having to leave home. A lot of cities can’t say that. While I respect the things that Lindenwood University is attempting to do and the direction they are going, I don’t believe we should place their needs above the needs of the residents of St. Charles.

FCN: Under the current leadership in our city, economic development appears to have stalled. What would you do to jump-start it?
JG: First and foremost I would stop trying to place a square peg in a round hole. I would take my focus from just South Main and tourism and would expand it to go to areas in the core of our city and see what we could do to expand in our city core for the people who live here. It is pretty simple for economic development. We have allowed our infrastructure to deteriorate where investment money no longer comes in. If we take care of sewers, streets and sidewalks and maintain fire and police and do our core job and do it well, the investment will come. We have to understand it is just not tourism. Plenty of people out there, with money in their pockets, are spending in other areas. We don’t have the places for them to spend those dollars. Most people need a place to shop. Current economic development officials in our city would say lets focus on that. How long have they been there? Why did they not focus on it before?

Elm Street is an example. We have let it deteriorate instead of keeping it up. Randolph Street had to be rebuilt instead of keeping it up. If we have problems with our roof at home we patch it. That is what we should do to our streets. We are not doing that and we are not keeping up. People with money looking to invest in our community discover this city does not care about infrastructure. They are not going to invest here. If the city does what it is supposed to do, and does it well, the money will come. Stop thinking we are developers and let the investment groups do what they do best. Invest in our community.

I remember going to St. Charles Dairy. We now have no dairy but St. Peters has two. What happened to our butcher shops? They are in St. Peters. We no longer have a local bakery like Cottage Bakery. What about clothing stores? We just have Thro’s on North Main, where once there were half a dozen clothing stores. We have allowed them to slip away. A lot of things we used to have in our city we have allowed to slip away, replaced with pawnshops and check cashing places that do not lend to the identity of St. Charles.

FCN: If money were no object what would you like to do for the City of St. Charles?

If money was no object I would make sure every single street, sidewalk, sewer, everything in the City of St. Charles, would be at a good standard so people could say I am darn proud to be in the City of St. Charles and look at how good our city is. We consistently and constantly are looking for ways to rebrand the city. The city that works that never sleeps, where history comes alive. If we did what we were supposed to do the civic pride would overwhelm our stores because then people would be telling everyone go to St. Charles. We have had no effort to build city pride. Residents feel a disconnect between the gold building and themselves. If money was no object we could rebuild in a way our civic pride could be rebuilt. Currently we have an administration that believes money is no object when it comes to certain people and special interests. There has been too much of our tax dollars squandered on special interest projects. That money could have paid for so much to help more people in the city or could have decreased the tax burden on the residents.

FNC: If people want to be involved in your campaign how can they reach you?

JG: The best way would be through e-mail jhg426@hotmail.com. Or they can call me at home at 636-946-0877. Please keep in mind that that is my home phone and my kids may answer. I am ready to talk to anyone on a one to one basis. I am also available to meet with any neighborhood group. I am available. If you see me out knocking on doors in your neighborhood please feel free to talk to me.

Ethics Complaint Charges Dempsey Campaign Misappropriated State Funds

By Tony Brockmeyer

An ethics complaint was recently filed against State Representative Tom Dempsey, his campaign committee and state employee Thomas Smith, Jr. of St. Charles who is Dempsey’s Legislative Director. It raises serious allegations that Tom Smith was being paid by the State of Missouri at the time he was working on the reelection campaign of Representative Dempsey.

The complaint follows a Sunshine Law request made by the Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party in September, requesting all public records containing proof of hours worked by Thomas W. Smith from January 1 to August 31, 2006. The records received from the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives show that Smith receives approximately $50,000 per year as “Legislative Director”. His time sheets are all approved and signed by Representative Dempsey.

The ethics complaint alleges that Thomas Smith was working for Dempsey’s reelection since the end of the Legislative Session in May of this year. There are no records indicating that Smith spent any time working in Jefferson City since May and yet he was paid the same salary each month as if he were. The complaint says that the Dempsey campaign failed to list Thomas Smith’s time working for the campaign as a contribution to the campaigns required under Section 130.031.

Smith has been the subject of an ongoing series of investigative reports by the First Capitol News. Records indicate that he handled millions of dollars through dozens of committees registered at his home on Monroe Street. His name appears prominently as Treasurer for these committees on mailers attacking various Democratic candidates.

Smith also ran three unlicensed businesses from the same address including one called Survey St. Louis. These businesses were paid tens of thousands of dollars from various campaign committees during the same period Smith was allegedly working for the State of Missouri.

The Ethics Commission complaint was filed by Carol Diller of St. Charles. Mo. Diller told the First capitol News, “I don’t consider myself a politically active person but since I moved to St. Charles six or seven years ago I noticed certain things that have been happening in the City that have given me reason to be concerned. Primarily, the thing that really shocked me was when Mr. Dempsey put forward a bill in Jefferson City involving the City of St. Charles requiring us to provide sewer service.to the St. Andrews development outside the city limits of St. Charles. Then I thought, nobody is paying attention. then I found out from reading in the First Capitol News that Tom Dempsey’s aide was operating several businesses and committees from a house on Monroe collecting money and disseminating it to candidates in attempts to apparently hide it. I checked with the Democratic State Committee and they informed me that Tom Smith, Jr. an employee of the State of Missouri is working apparently actively working for the campaign of Tom Dempsey while being paid as a state employee.”

Asked to comment on the most recent allegations, Councilman Joe Koester, who is challenging Dempsey in the November 7th election said, “I don’t see how Tom Smith could have been wearing all these hats, running surveys, doing mass mailings for dozens of candidates, organizing fundraisers, putting up signs and managing millions of dollars of special interest campaign contributions being laundered through dozens of committees and still have been working full-time for the State of Missouri.”

“Tom Dempsey is the one who signed off each pay period that Tom Smith was working for the State of Missouri taxpayers. If he can’t prove that Tom Smith was engaged full-time on public business, then it is a case of Tom Dempsey and Tom Smith conspiring to defraud the taxpayers. This deserves a full investigation by the Ethics Committee, Missouri Attorney General and local prosecutors here and in Cole County.”

Sally Faith Tied To Mudslinging Against Tom Green

By Tony Brockmeyer

Investigation into campaign mudslinging political flyer links Representative Sally Faith and Thomas W. Smith, Jr. Legislative Director for State Representative Tom Dempsey, to negative mailings sent out against Faith’s opponent, Tom Green.

Campaign reports disclose Representative Sally Faith apparently participated in an elaborate scheme to attack Green and make it appear that the mailings came from an independent committee, Gateway To Victory whose treasurer is Representative Tom Dempsey’s Legislative Director. Green said, “I can’t believe they are brazen enough to try and fool the voters again. Green was referring to a last minute slanderous flyer that was mailed out against him in the election two years ago. In that election Green was the incumbent representative and was opposed by Sally Faith. A flyer was sent out just hours prior to the election accusing Representative Green of vacationing in Alaska on taxpayer money. After the election was over it was proven that representative Green has never been to Alaska and never used taxpayer funds for any vacation. That flyer is the reason for a pending slanderous lawsuit filed by Green in the St. Charles County Circuit Court. Court records reveal that there have been unsuccessful attempts by the other side to get the lawsuit dismissed. The lawsuit is scheduled to be heard on January 23, 2007.
It would appear that “Gateway To Victory Fund”, headed by Dempsey’s Legislative Director Smith, violated Chapter 130.031, RSMo, when printing and mailing a flyer and by concealing the “Committee to Elect Sally A Faith”, as the source of the mail piece of campaign literature mailed during October 2006 for the November general election for State House District 15. It would also appear that Representative Sally Faith, a candidate, in conjunction with the “Committee To Elect Sally A Faith”, a candidate committee, further violated Chapter 130.031, RSMo, by paying “Survey St. Louis”, owned by Thomas W. Smith, Jr., Dempsey’s Legislative Director, $5,000 to print the mail piece while inaccurately reporting the purpose of the expenditure as telephone research.

Thomas W. Smith, Jr. serves as both treasurer of “Gateway to Victory Fund”, that paid for the mailer and owner of “Survey St. Louis”, the company that received $5,000 from the Committee To Elect Sally A Faith.

Based on that information it would appear the purpose of inaccurately reporting the expenditure from the “Committee To Elect Sally A Faith”, was to violate Chapter 130.031 RSMo concealing the purpose of the expenditure and to further conceal the “Committee to Elect Sally A Faith”, as the source of the campaign’s direct mail piece that was slamming Green.


Tom Green told the First Capitol News that he is glad this is being disclosed and feels, “It is important the voters know Sally Faith’s connection to the parties responsible for this slanderous, misleading attempt to once again smear my good reputation. I am not surprised that they continually send out lies about my family, my record and me. I would hope they would stop this type of campaigning.”

Tom Green further said, “People who are close to the political scene understand that when a candidate gets desperate they sometimes stoop to any level in an effort to win a campaign. What people don’t know is what it is like for your kids go to school and suffer through the emotional trauma that this type of mudslinging campaign causes.”

The campaign reports filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission show that payments were made by Sally Faith to Dempsey’s Legislative Director Smith and one of his many firms shortly before each of the recent negative mailings were received by the voters. The reports show that Sally Faith paid Dempsey’s Legislative Director, Tom Smith’s firm, “Survey St. Louis”, and then “Gateway To Victory”, whose treasurer is Dempsey’s Legislative Director Smith, paid for the negative mailings. The mailings show they were paid for by “Gateway to Victory”. The First Capitol News contacted a print mail house that prints and mails political literature and they confirmed the amounts of money transferred were about the same amount of money it would take to mail the negative mailings.

In their latest filing with the Missouri Ethics Commission dated October 30, 2006 the “Committee To Elect Sally A Faith”, reports another payment of $2,440.64 to Smith’s “Survey St. Louis”, and a payment to Faith of $2,722.25. The payment to Smith’s company is marked invitations. The same report lists payments to, “For All Occasions” for $826.93 for invitations and a payment to Minuteman Press for $790.03 for invitations. The payment to Faith was marked reimbursement but it was not noted what was being reimbursed.

Allegations have been made concerning alleged misappropriation of state funds by Dempsey and his legislative director, Thomas W. Smith. See the story on the front page, “Ethics Complaint Charges Dempsey campaign misappropriated state funds.”

Green told the FCN,” I am very proud of my record and accomplishments serving the residents of the 15th Representative District. Green pointed to the new interchange at Highway 70 and 94, the sound wall along the Page Avenue Extension and the bike trails.” He also pointed out he would resume working on road building issues, restoring Medicaid benefits to people who have been cut out of the program and fighting for homeowners who are having problems with builders. “I have worked to accomplish the needed policies for our schools, healthcare and our transportation system. I am committed to raising a family in a safe and prosperous St. Charles County. As a State representative for the 15th District I would like to promote issues that affect our residents in a positive way.

Attempts to contact Sally Faith and Tom Smith were unsuccessful.

Editors note …. We were unable to locate businesses licenses for Survey St. Louis, the company owned by Dempsey’s Legislative Director along with several other companies registered to him. Additional information on Smith in our series, “Money Laundering or Smart Politics. The People Have a Right To Know” can be found on the Internet in our web log at .. firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com. Our new web site is under construction at firstcapitolnews.com. Take a look at it and give us your opinion while it is still being created. Breaking news on a daily basis can be found on the Internet at our web log …
Firstcapitolnews-today.blogspot.com. Please refer all comments to our e-mail address … firstcapitolnews@aol.com.

EDITORIAL ENDORSEMENTS

Our 2006 Editorial Endorsements

We Proudly Recommend:

JOE KOESTER, running for State Representative in the 18th District, has shown himself to be a hardworking and sincere City Councilman. His opponent, incumbent Tom Dempsey, traded any concern for the taxpayers of St. Charles to champion a millionaire home builder. Our landmark series on money laundering has shown how millions of special interest money has been funneled through committees under the control of Dempsey political ally and state employee Tom Smith. Most disturbing of all is over $32,000 the Casinos have donated to try to keep Dempsey in office. Recently Dempsey’s campaign tried to smear Joe Koester as being against Seniors, when it was Dempsey who pushed through the Governor’s legislation to cut 93,000 Missourians, mainly Seniors, from the Medicaid rolls.

TOM GREEN is running for his old State Representative seat in the 15th District. This is a rematch between Green the Democrat and Sally Faith the current Republican incumbent. Two years ago, Green lost narrowly after the Republican Party of Missouri accused him in a campaign mailing of taking a taxpayer funded trip to Alaska. There was just one catch. Green has never been to Alaska in his life. This bold-faced lie cost Green his seat and voters can right that wrong here in the 2006 election.

KENNETH BIERMANN is running for State Representative in the 17th District. Kenneth is known for his long time service to the Orchard Farm School District as a Board member and volunteer. He is in a David and Goliath race against Republican incumbent Nancy Schneider whose political war chest is far larger. But Biermann, like Koester and Green, has been making the poor performance of Republican legislators in funding our schools a central theme. Change is needed if progress in this area is to be made.

JOE McCULLOCH is running for a second term on the St. Charles County Council from the 5th District. Once the lone Democrat, Joe was joined by County Councilwomen Cheryl Hibbler from O’Fallon, who won in a special election to fill an unexpired term on the Council. Joe is the brother of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch. His father was a police officer killed in the line of duty when Joe was just a kid. Following a distinguished career in law enforcement himself, Joe became an attorney. As County Councilman, Joe has shown himself able to look beyond partisanship and work with the majority to get things done, but also as someone willing to stand up and just say no when the need arises.

PROPOSITION A is a no tax increase bond issue to build the kind of first class Community Center the residents of St. Charles deserve. Other smaller communities around us have such facilities to offer year-round recreation, sports and entertainment to their residents. As the second largest city in the St. Louis Area, St. Charles has lagged behind in this important area. The list of amenities offered in the facility is long and has something for all ages, from an indoor walking track to an indoor aquatics center. We urge everyone to VOTE YES FOR PROPOSITION A to move this project forward.

RAMBLING WITH THE EDITOR - Tony Brockmeyer

CHECK IT OUT!
Since November of 2004 the First Capitol News has placed stories and columnists from our weekly editions on our web log otherwise know as a blog. We continue to place each edition on the blog. It can be found on the Internet at
firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com.

In addition, since February of this year we have provided our readers with a daily update of breaking news. That web log can be found on the Internet at
firstcapitolnews-today.blogspot.com.

We are now creating an additional web site. It is currently under construction and can be found at firstcapitolnews.com

When you have an opportunity we ask that you visit our web site and let us know what you think of it. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. You can e-mail your suggestions to us at our e-mail address, firstcapitolnews@aol.com.

At firstcapitolnews.com you will find the entire edition of the First Capitol News. It is a rather large file so please be patient. It takes a couple of minutes to open. You will then be able to read the paper or download it onto your computer to read later.

Adobe Acrobat is needed to read the edition and is available free on the Internet.

We also intend to keep updating our web logs, firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com, and firstcapitolnews-today.blogspot.com.

We intend to keep our readers up to date on breaking news that concerns the residents of St. Charles.

Check it out, firstcapitolnews.com and let us know what you think.

Thank you for reading the First Capitol News. Please continue to patronize our advertisers.
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Case In Point By Joe Koester, Councilman Ward 9



Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. Oliver Wendell Holmes

The past several weeks now I have spent nearly every free moment walking door to door to meet fellow Saint Charles residents. Along my route I have met so many good people who are willing to give a couple minutes and chat about why I am running for office. I appreciate the civility that most everyone practices in this town regardless if they are Republican, Democrat, or Independent.

As is the case in most all races for a public office, records get distorted or taken out of context and it can take some time to explain events, but I have encountered patient people who are willing to hear arguments and ask questions.

Not all time spent at homes around town has been discussing politics. I have run into fellow St. Charles High graduates, met some fellow brewers, talked and learned about some Saint Charles history and even met residents who remember my grandparents when they lived at the corner of Elm Street and Kingshighway. I have met those who still refer to Clay Street and seen several Saint Charles Dairy milk delivery boxes displayed on porches around town.

I regret that I do not have the time to meet everyone before Tuesday to discuss the issues and to listen to thoughts and ideas that often arise when adults take time to truly share in meaningful dialog. Unfortunately, most campaigns boil down to mailer after mailer that turns into an adult version of name-calling rather than addressing issues. Unfortunately too, there is no “truth in advertising” clause in a campaign which often results in the guy with the most money being able to manufacture “truth” that only needs to remain “facts” for a couple of weeks. For the candidate who cannot buy fifteen mailers, about the only thing left to do is walk and meet people. Again, thanks to everyone willing to take time from their busy schedules to talk about local issues. Daylight Savings has certainly cut back the time the candidates can dedicate to walking door-to-door (any candidate who must work during the day, at least) since no one goes door to door after dark out of respect for the homeowners, but your two or three minutes time is appreciated since you have the same busy schedule as the rest of us.

THE PEOPLE SPEAK - Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor,

I have just received a glossy mailer from some Jefferson City campaign committee attacking Joe Koester for wanting to make the utility rebates income based.

As I mentioned in one of my columns last month, this would be the best way to see that the limited funds we have to use would be utilized for those who really need the rebate. There are many over 62 who don’t need the rebate and making the program income based would allow using the limited funds for those that could use a little help.

The logic, or lack thereof of these mailers is that we should all get something if anyone gets something. I guess if they were in an accident where two people required ambulances and two didn’t, they would want the uninjured two to get an ambulance ride just because the two injured did.

I am not writing this as an endorsement of Joe Koester. As I have stated in my columns, I am a conservative who is still trying to remain a Republican in spite of the party rapidly loosing touch with the citizens, especially in St. Charles. However, if that is all these outsiders have on Mr. Koester, they should crawl back under their rock and shut their pie-holes. Their own mailer points out that those who really need the rebate would still receive it. This kind of stuff makes them look like desperate fools.

Jerry Haferkamp
St. Charles

Voters,

Remember taxpayers, elections are just around the corner. Just a moment to talk about the October 17 City Council meeting, although the fireworks have calmed down, it seemed that nothing has changed. The Mayor has given her reasons for vetoing the bill to sell surplus computers to the Wentzville Police Department for $25. She says they can be used as trade-ins for new ones and get about $500. She says the taxpayers should get all the benefits they can. I would only hope that she would have used that same logic when employee health insurance was included in the plans that she signed. I do believe these would have benefited the taxpayers more. The Mayor has also continued to try to put her cronies on the City committees, even the ones who have sued the City and was involved in the re-call fraud investigations.

We need to remember the things that our county, state and city elected officials have done to the city residents and vote accordingly. You may think that your vote don’t matter, but it is the strongest thing that a non-millionaire has.

Walter Dietz

Fellow citizens,

As a former election judge of 12 years, I feel you should be aware of something happening in Rich Chrismer’s office. The new touch-screen voting machines are run by a technician, not by a judge.

The election judges do not know how to operate the touch-screen machines and were not instructed how to operate them. A technician does the entire process, yet the judges have to sign-off on the beginning and ending for tapes from the machine. I didn’t! The technician has been trained in the basics of the touch-screen machine, she/he is not a specialist. So, why weren’t the judges taught the basic of this new machine?

There is no room for a “secret” voting machine in our Democracy. I feel the citizens deserve to know what is happening in Rich Chrismer’s office of elections and to our Democracy. Maybe, it’s time for a change! Think about it before you vote on Tuesday, November 7, 2006.

Sincerely,
H.M. Bixler
St. Charles

Dear Editor,

I read with amazement a piece of literature that was recently delivered to my door. The current, albeit appointed Sheriff of St. Charles County, states in this piece of literature that his “dedication to citizen protection and professional investigations” has earned respect from area law enforcement agencies. I failed to find ANYWHERE, in ANY of the current sheriff’s material, where he has any experience in investigating crimes or in his protecting of citizens. The only experience that I find he lists is two years of service as a uniformed deputy from 1974-1976, during the “Good ole boy” era.

Furthermore, this same literature lists (six) areas/issues that he will concentrate on. He will continue, maintain or pursue one or more of these issues. To continue and or maintain would indicate that as an appointed sheriff, he never instituted these programs to begin with. To pursue would indicate, he has an idea, but apparently has not instituted it over the one and a half years he has been in office. The issue that he wishes to pursue as he states is in fact a website.

I have researched every newspaper article and piece of literature distributed during the primary election related to the current sheriff and have only found one single mention of a website. That article appeared several days prior to the primary election in a voters guide where the slightest mention of a county website was found. Ironically, the current appointed sheriff was able to create a website when it was advantageous to him as a candidate. It is apparent that the current sheriff had to adopt one of his opponent’s (Ed Copeland) ideas to have something to offer the community.

As stated in his own writings, the current sheriff has credentials that are based solely on his being appointed to the position and programs such as the Air Metro and Highway Interdiction unit were in fact inherent. Take away the political appointment to the office of sheriff and this man is a nobody!

Donita Meyer
St. Charles

Dear Editor,

I would like to speak briefly on a controversial subject here in Missouri today – the stem cell initiative. Numerous people have asked me why I oppose Amendment 2. How can I be against the curing of disease? How can I?

There are many of us who believe that human embryos – whether resulting from cloning or from fertilization – are human beings. Therefore, we must fight with everything at our disposal to prevent their deliberate destruction.

There are a multitude of cures being achieved here and now today with the use of adult stem cells that do not require the destruction of human embryos.

Therefore, I shall vote NO on Amendment 2.

Glen Dashner
St. Charles