THE SECRET SOCIETY
Reprinted from the April 6, 2004 edition of the First Capitol News
THE CONSERVATIVE FACTOR BY ALEX SPENCER
In reference to the opinion article Tony Brockmeyer that starts on page one of this edition of the First Capitol News we have decided to re-print a Conservative Factor article by Alex Spencer that first appeared in the First Capitol News on April 6, 2004.
“We’re here for the city because ‘the people’ are not qualified to make decisions.” This is a direct quote from a “good old boy” interviewing candidates for the upcoming city council election. He further stated that approximately 20 years ago, he and nine other men organized to select candidates for public office and get them elected. They do not meet in a public forum and fairly present all the candidates to the public so that the public can make an informed decision. They meet in the basements of their homes. They select their slate of candidates, then issue summons to all the candidates. The candidates who are listed on their slate leave with an envelope containing donations collected from their friends. The candidates who are not on their slate are intimidated and insulted. One candidate was asked, “Who do you think you are to run for this office?” He was also asked to leave by the “back door.” Did these pompous, self-serving individuals believe the man to be a servant or something even less? That candidate had entered through the front door, and much to his credit, he refused to leave by the back door.
As insidious and undemocratic as this may appear, I would like to assure everybody that they do not wear sheets, pointed hats, or disguise themselves in any way other than attempting to convince others that they are smarter than anyone else, especially the stupid voters, and that they are THE POWER behind everything. They have never burned anything in anybody’s yards and are legends only in their own minds, not the voting public. If they had real power, they would not attempt to intimidate and demand why certain people would dare run for a public office. They would simply inform the candidates that they would not be permitted to run for office and they would be obeyed.
Now that would be real power. I believe that throughout history this brand of power has been called a dictatorship. Obviously, these good old boys do not understand that this is a democracy which guides our future.
In recent years, the original group of 10 good old boys have allowed a few more individuals to join their ranks and three of them are women. This was most likely a token act to accommodate the changing times and not appear “chauvinistic”. But they are all “good old boys” regardless of their anatomy. They do not have a name for their group and they do not file as a political action committee with the state. For clarification, I will give them a name and will refer to them as the “Secret Society.” Although their activities have never been a secret to political pundits and business people these past 20 years, the voting public is totally unaware.
The Secret Society allegedly told the candidates whom they interviewed that the current St. Charles City Council is “a laughing stock and an embarrassment to the city.”
Gould, Kneemiller, Baum and Muench are now city councilmen and are a part of the slate and received donations from this group. The Secret Society also gave us Mayor York, not once, but twice. Do they also believe these individuals to be an embarrassment or only the candidates who do not obey them? The members of this group work as Realtors, Developers, CPA’s, Lawyers, and “Consultants”. Some were very involved in the Fountain Lakes Project.
The Secret Society has backed every losing project which has sucked away our tax dollars. They led the charge to convince the voters to approve the new Convention Center. Their latest project is the Aquatic Center. The state auditors need to take a hard look at who earns money and benefits from these projects and why certain zoning changes are approved which make little if no sense.
The Secret Society has individually written letters to editors to sway us to vote for a change in the City Charter to give the Mayor more money and more power. They have gotten everything their hearts desired from this mayor and the majority of the current city council. Where has the mayor failed them and why do they want the next mayor to have more power? The Secret Society is putting forth extreme effort to change our City Charter.
Are these individuals truly community leaders or are they merely fleas who hop from one host to another? One apparent constant here is that they always land on the host with the fattest blood supply, whether it be fellow business people or the City.
Most of us do not object to their using business people and their moneyed friends for whatever. That is their business and a private matter between the users and the used. However, when their activities become a liability to the taxpayers, it is time to give them a reality check and rein them in. This city simply can no longer afford to continue to support the Secret Society.
Some of this little gang of important people who do not think we have enough sense to vote without their direction are as follows: Hyatt Bangert, Bill Weber, Tom Hughes, John Deal, Ed Pundmann, Nancy Matheny, Ray Harmon, Ernie Dempsey and Don Boehmer. And guess what, some of them do not even live in the City of St. Charles. Their slate of candidates whom they want us to vote for are as follows: Larry Muench, Gary Robinson, Bob Kneemiller, Michael Weller, Richard Baum, Tom Kuypers, Dan Gould, Pat Porterfield, Rod Herrmann, and Bo Hagen.
The candidates whom these people do not want us to vote for are as follows: Bob Hoepfner, John Gieseke, Joe Koester, Dottie Greer, Paul Corbin, Robert Dodd, Bob Scherr, Rory Riddler, Jerry Reese, and Mark Brown.
Are you going to let this secret society make your decisions for you? I’m not!
