Case In Point
“The Love of Money is the Root of All Evil”
November 15th, 2005 was a night of hypocrisy at its finest. A group of well-financed citizens came to city hall and ranted about how the five of us (you know the names by now) have been intimidating and vengeful ever since election of April 2004. Never mind that two of the original “intimidators” now vote in lockstep with three other council members and have taken great measures to exact revenge on councilman Brown by stalling any solution to flooding in the Pearl Ridge Subdivision; forget that the recall is financed by an out-of-town P.R. firm and local developer that have spent more money than the ten council members spent combined in their original election. Forget too, that it is their man, Bob Hoepfner who pushed for the mayor’s removal from the dais after she personally campaigned against him! Forget that it was this same group who had an airplane fly over Mark Brown’s neighborhood party with recall banners in town and the same group that has started an advertisement sheet with the sole purpose of attacking any council who stands against their agenda. Forget that one of their own called a constituent of mine and threatened him with physical harm if he saw him alone on the street…
No, it is the five council members, they claim, who have been intimidating and vengeful!
Here are the events that make us so awful:
Denying a county development access to our sewage treatment without annexing into our City…
Moving the mayor to an administrative position per the request of one of their own, Mr. Hoepfner…
Inheriting a vacancy in the chief of police position and then fighting for the candidate that we all (each and every councilman agreed he was the best candidate along with a separate selection committee and the administrator) believed was the best choice.
How dare we! There were always struggles on council from the start, but nothing that wasn’t run of the mill – politics as usual.
The original seven members who were interested in doing right by our City prevailed on new health insurance and the result has been a savings of more than $700,000 in the first year! This alone in the face of rising health care costs is a positive move for Saint Charles – but not so in the eyes of those backed by big money who mostly come from outside of our city borders. Their spin is that we should not have rocked the boat and simply wasted $700,000 too much and just got along. Oh, and do business with their select friends.
Part of the bizarre conflict that I now find myself in the middle of goes back to a Byzantine feud between Ken Kielty and Rory Riddler and perhaps as few as two people understand this war.
About two or three years ago, I made an attempt to get to the bottom of this battle royal and got nowhere. Rory says that the hatred is one-sided and that he doesn’t hate Ken. Kielty agreed to go out for a beer sometime and elaborate his reasons for hating Rory so much. To date, I know as little about this conflict than I did back then.
But, back to the current council five-to-five split. Early on, movers and shakers pigeonholed council and since I knew Riddler, I was considered a plant. Arriving new to council I sided with those pledging to cut waste in our city budget. Rory had always been helpful and an advocate at city hall. Had my former councilman had been Bob Kneemiller, I probably would have had the same sentiment towards him. There is much that was done prior to my service on the council that I’m sure I would have disagreed with Mr. Riddler on. There is much I have agreed with Mr. Kneemiller on.
Having said all of this and digressing greatly, one thing has become obvious to me in my short time on council – money, not elections, determine who guides city government. I admit my naïveté in just how important money is at this level in every aspect of what happens at city hall.
Money buys public sentiment; news coverage and news slant this way or that way. Money can buy special state laws and new elections when the outcome isn’t what you like.
Certainly, it would be more honest to do away with wards and simply create sponsorship – the top ten highest bidders would install their own yes-men in city hall. The top dollar bidder would pick mayor.
So then, on November 15th, the usual voices claimed intimidation on the part of five council members. They misspoke. They meant to say, audacity – as in, “How dare you have the audacity to challenge our reign!” Many of these guys play the victim while rage and hate streams from their pens and mouths. The whole time this goes on, no one claiming to be Christian supports or attempts reconciliation, forgiveness, or charity. We have plenty of Crusaders around town, where are those in the role of Saint Francis?
So, for the record, I was told that in lieu of the Clerk swearing me in, Judge Lohmar was asked to swear in a couple of council members. The Judge was dad’s friend and I thought it an honor if he performed the duty. This, and not revenge, was why I asked Lohmar to swear me in (what would I have been seeking revenge for?).
It was Bob Hoepfner’s recommendation that the mayor should be seated with administration rather than with legislators and it was he who told us that he had spoken with the mayor and she agreed.
If St. Andrew’s were annexed I would have voted for this development hooking into our city sewers; my vote had nothing to do with Mr. Hughes’ support of my opponent. That is his right – I have no malice towards either him or my opponent!
It was because I felt Bob Lowery was the superior choice presented to us that I fought for his appointment, not for a petty fight with the mayor and certainly not to mindlessly oppose the police!
To this very day, I do not seek revenge on anyone; I do not have hatred towards anyone regardless of his or her politics. I am doing the best for my community, not my business or pocketbook. Can everyone involved in these things say the same before pointing fingers?
I do not measure my hometown in terms of personal profit potential, but rather, what is best for the long-term welfare of my community!
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Luke 6:41-43
