Phyllis Schaltenbrand
When the Citizen Empowerment Committee announced their recall effort against City Councilwoman Dottie Greer they had a precise list of “reasons” why they launched their effort. Since then, an article has surfaced that would indicate those never were the real reasons behind the recall effort and that the committee misled voters as to why they were being asked to sign petitions against both Councilwoman Greer and Councilman Brown.
Top on their list of reasons for the recall of Dottie was her vote to support a cell phone tower in her ward.
It seemed like a pretty ludicrous reason to recall someone since FCC regulations have taken much of the control over where cell phone towers go out of the hands of local officials. Also, it isn’t like we don’t experience “dead zones” with cell phone service in St. Charles. It wasn’t even controversial at the time. Only three people showed up to protest the cell phone tower permit before the City Council. For her part, Dottie Greer worked with them to try to disguise the tower as much as possible.
Also on the list was the supposed high crime of voting to move the Mayor from the dais to a chair next to the City Administrator. It was a move the Mayor first agreed to and then recanted. How soon everyone seems to have forgotten the facts. The change was first proposed and strongly championed by Councilman Bob Hoepfner. He had just come off a bruising re-election campaign where the Mayor was personally going door-to-door working for his defeat. Now that Hoepfner has been, shall we say, “taken in” by the Mayor, his name gets left out of stories on television or other newspapers. Let’s call it selective amnesia.
The supposed list of reasons to recall Mark Brown was even thinner than the wafer thin complaints against Dottie Greer. It seems Brown had referred to the Public Works Department as a cesspool. He didn’t single anyone out, but six mailings have gone out against him, telling the voters of his ward, over and over again that Mark Brown has to be recalled because he called the Public Works Department a cesspool. If using tough words is a crime, let’s lock up Dick Cheny and Howard Dean.
Last week, a paid political insert in the Journal, disclosed the real reasons for the recall and the strategy that had been in place and funded by millionaire developers from the beginning. It was simply to take control of the City Council.
But the question for voters to ponder is why they didn’t admit that from the beginning? Why mislead residents of the 3rd and 7th Wards by making up a list of groundless reasons?
The same paid political insert, the official mouthpiece of millionaire homebuilder Tom Hughes, also announced that a mysterious citizen has been “recruited” to lead the climactic battle against good and evil in the days to come. Readers of the First Capitol News won’t have to hold their breath in suspense. We believe the great “leader” they have “recruited” is none other than long time Hughes friend and confidant Kevin Kast. His new role as citizen advocate for the rich and famous is the run-up to his being “recruited” later in the year to run for Mayor. That is provided the powers that be can get the salary of Mayor raised to at least $120,000 a year. Which is funny because this same article said the person being “recruited” wasn’t in it for personal gain.
That of course is bad news for supporters of Mayor York. It seems the power brokers have decided she hasn’t been up to the job and are ready to give her a testimonial, a gold watch and an offer to help her clean out her office in 2007. How soon before this same “paid” political insert starts attacking the Mayor to pave the way for their personal political savior? More to come.
