Friday, February 09, 2007

FIRST CAPITOL NEWS - FRONT PAGE February 10, 2007

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THE ENTIRE EDITION OF THE FIRST CAPITOL NEWS INCLUDING ADS CAN BE FOUND AT firstcapitolnews.com. There is no printed edition this week just on line. The February 17, 2007 edition will also only be found on line at firstcapitolnews.com.
Thank you for being a loyal reader of the First Capitol News.

Gieseke's Grass Roots Campaign Comes Out On Top

Gieseke’s Grass Roots Campaign Big Winner


St. Charles Councilman John Gieseke was the big winner in the mayoral primary election held Tuesday.

Out of 43130 registered voters in the City of St. Charles, 7219 cast ballots or 16.74 percent. This is a higher amount than the 10 percent predicted by the election authority.

Gieseke received 2747 votes or 38.85 percent of the votes cast. Mayor Patti York came in second with 2254 votes or 31.88 percent. The loser was former Mayor Grace Nichols with 2070 votes or 29.27 percent.

Gieseke ran a grass roots campaign and was out spent by the other two candidates by almost two to one. “I am very proud and thankful for the residents of St. Charles who worked very hard to help me in this election,” Gieseke told the First Capitol News. “I have pledged to return the city government to the people and will continue to work towards that goal.

The two candidates who received the largest number of votes in the primary, Gieseke and York, will face each other in the general election on April 3rd. The winner will then be the full time Mayor.

At the City Council meeting Tuesday evening the Council approved a salary of $60,000 for the Mayor an increase from $24,000.

RAMBLING WITH THE EDITOR - Tony Brockmeyer

THANK YOU

We would like to thank our loyal readers for braving the cold weather and voting Tuesday in the St. Charles mayoral primary election. We would also like to thank those of you who voted for John Gieseke.

John Gieseke will face Mayor Patti York in the April 3rd general election as she attempts a third term.

St. Charles voters will have the opportunity on Tuesday, April 3rd to decide if they want to continue with what they are currently experiencing with York or if they want to move forward with a professional, efficient, progressive government with John Gieseke as Mayor.

YORK FAILED THE TEST

There was an interesting statement in another paper from York. In it she said Gieseke was, “untested.” What she failed to mention is that she was tested and she failed the test.

The most important lesson I learned covering York over the past seven years is that she lies. And when you catch her in a lie she attempts to lie her way out of the lie.

WHAT SHE WANTS YOU TO THINK SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR

York’s campaign literature lists a number of accomplishments she claims are hers when in reality those accomplishments became reality because of the efforts of a lot of people.

She wants the public to believe that she is responsible for the Convention Center & Hotel, Justice Center, Arts Center, Veterans Memorial, Dog Park, New Town, Bass Pro, Commercial & Industrial Boon of the 370 Area, the Casino expansion & Hotel, upgraded interchanges and school resource officers. That is not true.

She also wants you to believe that she is responsible for the best police department, best fire department, best emergency medical, best parks & recreation, low tax rate, etc. Again not true.

WHAT SHE IS REALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR

What is she responsible for? She is responsible for calling a special meeting to sell the old police headquarters for $150,000 less than the highest bid. If you drive by that building on West Clay you will see a York for Mayor sign on the property. That sign location has cost the taxpayers at least $150,000.

She is responsible for delaying the appointment of a Police Chief for over a year because she could not get the votes for her favorite candidate.

She is responsible for illegally signing a contract, without City Council approval, with Express Scripts. A lawsuit is now pending against the City with a demand of more than $200,000 in damages.

She is responsible for allegedly diverting over $15,000 in taxpayer money to the recall efforts of Councilman Mark Brown and Councilwoman Dottie Greer.

A story in another publication quotes the mayor as saying she was never involved in those recall efforts. Another lie. She was heavily involved with those recall efforts in which the police discovered fraud and forgeries and in which arrests have been made and charges brought forward.

She is also responsible for the infighting and bitterness between members of the City Council.

I could go on and on with her actual accomplishments that she doesn’t want you to know about until I would probably bore you. However, if you would like additional information you can research York in the archives of the First Capitol News at firstcapitolnews.blogspot.com. Just type York or Mayor in the search area.

OUR NEXT PRINT EDITION WILL BE ON FEBRUARY 24. Online Weekly at
firstcapitolnews.com

THE PEOPLE SPEAK - Letters to the editor

Dear Editor:

I was quite disappointed that you did not print my response last week which pointed out some inaccuracies.

Although I may not still be a candidate after Feb 6, I still think it is important to correct the record. Your latest edition Feb 3-Feb 9, also contained some inaccurate statements:
(1) I have never suggested closed door meetings of the full council. What I suggested was communication between the Mayor and council members behind closed doors to avoid the acrimony. I am totally in favor of full debate of issues and council members voting their conscience instead of deciding what their faction is going to do before the meeting and then attacking the other side on the council floor.
(2) I have been having fireside chats all over the city to hear what citizens have to say and let them know my positions on issues. It has been a valuable experience. If I am still in the race I will continue to meet with any and all who wish to do so.
(3) I have serious plans to work with neighborhoods and have never mentioned the words “affordable housing”. I don’t know where you got that.

Thank you for your attention.

Grace Nichols

Editor’s response,

Your letter was received too late for inclusion into our last edition.

Call it what you may but closed door meetings between the Mayor and council members is still a violation of the sunshine law. I would have thought that being a former Mayor and retired Judge you would have known that. One of the problems in St. Charles has been too many closed door deals being made for friends and special interests and then trying to convince the public otherwise.

I think it is admirable you are concerned enough to have fireside chats with residents. We never criticized them. We were just pointing out how interesting it was that the attendees of your chats had previously been strong supporters of the Mayor.
If you go back over some of the statements you made you will find the words “affordable housing.”

Dear Editor,

I returned home from Washington, D.C. where hundreds of thousands of people gathered from all over the United States to March for Peace on the National Mall at the Capitol. All of them there for one reason, to stop the escalation of this war, save our brave men and women putting their lives on the line every minute of every day and bring them home. Since we marched the deaths reached 3,090 by Friday, many more were wounded and lots of Iraqi’ men, women and children were killed and wounded as well, 127 dead yesterday. Last night I watched a program titled “Combat Hospital” and cried as medic's fought to save horribly wounded men and women sent to war by our government under false intelligence and I’ve watched the Libby trial reports about how this administration wanted Sadam so badly that they even went after Joe Wilson , who reported Sadam was not trying to get Uranium from Niger, and his wife to keep the truth from the American people . Now the media is being manipulated again with almost the exact same rhetoric so that we will support another escalation into Iran. When Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney tell me I am hurting the troops by trying to end the war and bring them home or that I am encouraging the terrorists, it has nothing to do with the truth and they know it. For all those who believe this war is just, there are many who say they should go there themselves and fight and let our son’s and daughters come home. I say no one should be there, no one should die or lose a limb or have their brains and insides shattered by this war and there should be no more hate mongering to advance political agendas. A friend told me the Peace March made him want to puke. It’s the death and maiming that makes me want to puke, the children dying and the mothers crying. It makes me sick enough to write letters, join peace marchers and plead with my government to listen to the majority of it’s citizens and please, end it now.

Sandra Vago

THE CITY DESK - Rory Riddler, Councilman Ward 1


Terrorism & Gang Violence…
Children Of The Same Environment

Last week a man born in Jordan, who had been living in St. Charles County, was arrested in St. Louis on charges of buying illegal weapons from undercover agents. The “suspect” (and I use that term loosely) had purchased several fully-automatic weapons, a claymore mine and grenades. According to press reports, he apparently had told agents he needed them to go to war.

He was then promptly released on $50,000 bond.

Rewind. What?!

Are there no secret prisons? Was the hotel for suspected terrorists full at Guantanamo? Is it their busy season?

Apparently the man had a more plausible explanation for the judge and prosecutors than the jihadist holy war that immediately came to my mind.

His lawyer explained that he was simply buying the illegal weapons to sell to street gangs. That explains everything. Nothing to look at here folks…move along now.

Which prompts my first question. Why do we seem to care more about Americans being killed by terrorists from overseas than by gangs on the streets of every large American City? We should be as outraged and demanding answers. Perhaps more importantly, we should be looking at the causes and attacking this homegrown problem at its roots. Which could perhaps help point the way to more effectively combating international terrorism at its source.

I’ll use St. Louis to make my point. Not because it is simply the closest major metropolitan area with gang violence, but because it is, and I am sad to say, one of the worst in the nation. St. Louis had 129 deliberate murders in 2006, ranking it as one of the most violent cities in the nation. It represented a drop of just two from the previous year, but St. Louis County went up by seven to 35.

St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa attributed part of the high rate to a certain “gangster” attitude that any perceived slight should be met with violence and a corresponding retaliation. In the Middle-East they call it simply an “eye for an eye”.

Over half of the killings in St. Louis occurred in just two of the nine police districts and these were the two on the North Side where gang violence predominates. North St. Louis has become a killing field where too many hearts have become hardened to the violence and too many people look the other way out of fear.

Would more police on the street help? A military “surge” if you like?

Not necessarily. New Orleans, with its own bad reputation for gang killings, experienced nine murders in the first eight days of this year. The murders occurred despite the presence of 300 National Guardsmen and 60 Louisiana State Troopers that have been on hand to assist beleaguered local police. While the police force is down from its pre-Katrina strength of 1,700 to just 1,400 officers, the population of New Orleans has been cut in half. So, in theory, you could double the number of police officers in St. Louis and it would have no appreciable impact on the murder rate.

So what do St. Louis and New Orleans (post-Katrina especially) have in common? The answer is hopelessness.

Twenty miles down Interstate 70 from St. Louis is St. Charles County. Last year we had one…yes only one, homicide in 2006 in a county with a population nearing that of the population of the City of St. Louis.

Poverty is obviously one of the root causes, but poverty alone doesn’t breed violence. Many of us grew up in families of limited means and turned out just fine. But one thing we always had in abundance was hope…the American Dream.

St. Charles County was recently recognized as being the top county, out of 115 in the State of Missouri, for children and youth services. Twenty miles down the road, the City of St. Louis has the highest incidence of infant mortality in the State.

One of the most important factors in my opinion is education. Give a child a good education and you give them hope they can succeed, that they can make something of themselves. St. Louis City Schools have failed and failed miserably to give children either hope or a good education.

The drop out rate for St. Charles County is 2.6% compared to the State average of 3.7. The cumulative drop out rate for the City of St. Louis is 61%!

While I applaud moves by the State of Missouri to now take over the management of the St. Louis Public Schools, it begs my second question…what took them so long?

Case In Point By Joe Koester, Councilman Ward 9

Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.
Heinrich Heine

A Post column from John Sonderegger dated February 4th, 2007 did a good job trying to make the City the bad guys when a car dealership decided to move to O’Fallon; you know, the one under the water tower. John Gieseke did a good job clarifying the facts of the matter; however, I wanted to respond here to some things quoted in the piece.

First of all, the concerned residents of Olde Towne Estates didn’t see the jovial, humorous Trenary as seen on TV. Residents were treated as annoyances in the way of what a businessman wanted to do. The neighboring residents wanted to protect their property values and the current zoning laws for the adjacent property. Any one of us can appreciate this. Simply put, had Trenary been at the West Clay site and then a subdivision put in that in turn complained about the dealership as a neighbor, it would make sense to defend the business. When the opposite is true, it makes sense to defend the neighborhood. Trenary stated, “We’ll try to take our sense of humor out that way.” Sadly, had more humor and humility been afforded the working men and women who are his customers right from the start, perhaps an early compromise could have been reached regarding the relocation of the dealership. Several alternative locations with highway frontage were offered up, but for the auto dealership, it was this spot or no spot at all.
A further quote continues, claiming that the current City Council legacy will be that, “they ran another auto dealer out of town.”

I’m thinking....no, I’m quite certain that not only did we not run Trenary out of town, this council has not run any dealership out of town. It is true that our City does not wish to allow any more used car lots in town. Could that be what he meant? You see, by “running out of town” the dealership owner meant “didn’t allow a blank check to a powerful businessman.” By the way, if you doubt his power, just see the aforementioned column – eleventh paragraph. It reads:

Now, if you eat lunch at Pio’s and you hold court there with Ernie Dempsey and his pals, you’d think the local pols would treat you with more respect than Trenary was afforded a couple of years ago when he wanted to buy property along West Clay Street...”

This sentence tells you that the columnist is taken with such power and connections to even mention this and it also lets you know that Trenary was well connected to the good-old-boy network that runs much of our government. I can say that I was glad that John Gieseke resisted the awe that a Pio’s-eating, local celebrity brings to the table and instead he chose to do the right thing (“do the right thing” - those words have been forever altered in the local vocabulary). John chose to support the local homeowners who like their quiet streets and want to keep them that way. These homeowners are our neighbors and live among us – not in Town and Country. For many, their home’s value means a safer retirement and for our town’s future, favorable neighborhoods mean new families who will call our town home.

Today, a beautiful development inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright is being constructed on the West Clay site where, had it not been for concerned residents, a sea of cars would have taken out old-growth trees and a well-built building. Today, several new businesses already call the building home and work continues to add more businesses and towards the back of the property housing - including senior housing.
Where Trenary’s business is departing underneath the water tower, a developer is interested in developing new retail. Our City has an opportunity to clean up First Capitol Drive which should be our main objective for the next three years.

It needs to be said too that Trenary stated, “I’m still a friend of St. Charles.”

I’m glad to hear that – I’m no enemy of Trenary. His plan couldn’t get through planning and zoning. That’s all there really is to the matter. I wish Trenary continued success at his new location. I pray that the American car manufacturers can stabilize their market so that down the road, Trenary still has a product to sell. I know I have been happy with my GM product for years now.

FIRST CAPITOL NEWS SPORTS - MIKE McMurran Sports Editor

There seem to be a couple of rather hot issues regarding local high schools’ athletic programs. The first has to do with St. Charles West’s boys basketball program. It seems some took offense to the recent one-sided West victory over Timberline. On a local high school chat site, the following was posted:

“Some of you may have seen the SCW/Timerland game last night. If you did, am I the only one that came away with a sour taste in my mouth in the manner in which the SCW coach managed that game.”

The individual took offense to (a) West coming out of the starting gate and scoring 30 points in the first quarter and (b) Kramer Soderburg taking “almost every shot.” If I may be so professional: HOG WASH!

The coach the writer is referring to is Terry Hollander; Coach Hollander is without a doubt one of the classiest, most professional coaches I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. What Coach Hollander is doing is preparing his Warriors to compete in what is arguably the toughest district in the entire state – possibly in any class. He would be doing his players an injustice if he gave them a “night off” because of facing a weaker opponent.
I’ve watched a Hollander practice in past seasons – it’s nothing less than a basketball clinic. The conditioning and skill building are ever present.

The blogger continued:

“Timberland ran out 3 sophomores in their starting lineup, obviously a younger team. SCW jumped all over them early to the tone of 30-4 in the first quarter. Even with this lead, SCW remained in a full court press and Soderberg was the only shooter every time down the court.”

Wow. Talk about exposing one’s ignorance. Please remember for 6 years I served as the a.d. at beautiful Jennings High School. During that time period I suspect I attended over 100 games per season (freshman, j.v. and varsity – boys and girls) and found there are a couple of unwritten rules in basketball. 1. Starters pretty much play the entire first quarter. An exception might be if the 1st player off the bench checked in at, shall we say the 4:00 mark every game. Such is common. Coaches will tell their first team: “You had better play hard the first quarter, ‘cause that might be all you play.” Coach Hollander’s starters simply did as they do best. Period.

Another unwritten rule in basketball deals with players the likes of Kramer Soderberg (and Josh Harrelson of High and Zach Plackemeier of Duchesne). Presently Soderberg is averaging 26.6 points per game, Plackemeier 24.6 and Harrellson 19. The unwritten rule is, during a blowout, as was the case against Timberline, you allow your star player to “get his points.” In Soderberg’s case “his points” would be 27. Against Timberline he had 31. You really cannot expect Hollander to call time out the moment Soderberg scores his 27th point – you expect him to remove the kid the next time the play stops. I suspect that is precisely what happened against Timerland.

It seem that others are simply jealous of the success the Warriors are having. You don’t hear Coach Wacker complaining – oh, maybe because he has been around the sport long enough that he recognizes the unwritten rules of which I have spoken.

Another unwritten law of high school sports is that private schools recruit. From my perspective as someone who has been involved in high school sports for over 20 years allow me to offer my version of that unwritten law; “Private schools recruit more successfully than public schools.” There is not a high school coach, a.d. or official worth his or her weight that doesn’t know that undue influence is, and has been rampant for, at least, the past 30 years. Not all schools, at least not in all sports, are guilty – but more are than are not. Deal with it!

Unfortunately, some small out-state school are trying to deal with it by proposing separate state championships for public and private schools. On the spring’s Missouri State High School Activities Association’s ballot, just such a proposal will be voted on. If it passes I think you will see the rivalry of West vs. Duchesne and High vs. Duchesne fall to the side of the road. If the schools succeed in passing the issue, there would be (a) no reason for private schools to join MSHSAA, and (b) no reason for public and private schools to play each other. What a step in the wrong direction! Am I the only one here old enough to remember the mid-60’s when the Public High League Champion would play the Catholic Athletic Conference Champion in football for a mythical state title? While I’m at it, the biggest injustice is that, shall we say Orchard Farm’s vote counts the same as Howell North’s vote. Orchard Farm has under 500 students while North has over 2000.

In the St. Louis Region the private and public schools get along pretty well. West plays DeSmet annually in basketball – and heck, Duchesne plays in an all public school conference. Such is not the case statewide. Pay close attention to this topic, it very well could change the face of high school sports in Missouri.

Mike McMurran: 314.280.9189 mcmurran@charter.net


Boys basketball
Class 4 District 7 hosted by St. Charles High
By: Mike McMurran
Sports Editor

St. Charles High first year athletic director Julie Williams had no way of knowing hosting her first district basketball tournament might be this large. “Of course it all depends upon who makes it to the finals, we know who is seeded where, but that means very little once the tournament begins,” she offered in a telephone interview. For the record the seeding is as follows: St. Charles West (20-3) was seeded 1st, followed by St. Charles (16-6), St. Francis Borgia (16-7), who just happens to be the defending Class 4 State Champions, Duchesne (10-11), St. Dominic (11-10) and Pacific (8-13).

First round action begins on Monday, February 19 with Duchesne and Dominic tipping off at 3 p.m., followed by Borgia and Pacific. The semifinals will be played on Tuesday with West taking on the winner of Duchesne and Dominic and St. Charles battling the Borgia/Pacific winner.

The St. Charles High gym has a capacity of 1800 – if West and High make it to he finals that number will be tested. “The title game will be played on Thursday evening at 7 p.m.,” Williams noted, “We will open the gates at 6. A lot was learned last from last year’s finals at Duchesne,” she said.

This year the boys and girls title games will be played on separate evenings, with the girls playing on Friday evening. “That allows more people to see the games,” Williams said. “This way we don’t have to clear the gym out after one game – which in itself is a logistical nightmare. This way moms and dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and aunts and uncles will get a chance to watch a district title game. Many districts have been doing it for some time,” she concluded.

Admission for all district contests is $4 per person.


St. Charles West Continue Scoring Beyond the Three-Point Line

By Louis J. Launer

It’s always a great feeling to be on top, even tied for top in the case of St. Charles West and St. Charles High School. Last week, St. Charles West had their scare as they faced Duchesne, now playing the role of spoiler in the GAC North Conference. The Pirates and the Warriors are tied for first in a fight to the finish. Although St. Charles West dominated the game last week against Duchesne, the Pioneers did come up with a rally—just enough to scare the Warriors.

That didn’t stop the Warriors “Raining 3s,” meaning their three-pointers that Brian Mauer, Kramer Soderberg and Jeff Ellis continue to do game after game. Although the Warriors led big at the half, the Duchesne Pioneers came back in the third quarter and cut the West lead down to 4 points with a minute and a half remaining.

A basketball team needs to stay focused, even when they are interrupted by the intermission. West remained focused and in the 4th quarter last week Soderberg and Maurer scored two three pointers and gave St. Charles West a 72-56 win over the Pioneers.

Even the fans of the Warriors and the St. Charles West Concert Band participate in the action. During the game last week, West fans and the band donned rain ponchos. Despite the fact that it wasn’t raining indoors, the rain gear is symbolic of the three point scores that their “raining” threesome continue to do for West as they try to get closer to earning a spot in the Missouri state tournament.

SODERBERG DOMINATES OVER TIMBERLAND. Kramer Soderberg scored 31 points in what became a one-man domination over Wentzville Timberland Tuesday night at St. Charles West. Brian Mauer had ten points and Jeff Ellis had 9. The Timberwolves were not a match for St. Charles West, who played on all cylinders. St. Charles West won, 72-40.