How Petty Has O'Fallon Become?
(Sorry for the lack of pics -- the City of O'Fallon is so cheap, I couldn't even find pics of their elected officials on their website!)
Just last year, the city of O'Fallon elected a new mayor and majority on the Board of Aldermen. "The old guard has to go," declared this group of candidates. They all joined hands and took out a number of incumbent aldermen, as well as grabbing the mayor's office.
Most of the candidates were political newcomers. Many of them got involved in city politics because of an ill-fated redevelopment plan that reeked of eminent domain abuse from the prior board and mayor. Randy Hudson was one such person who was affected by this land grab. It's not difficult to understand why he ran for the Board of Aldermen when his own alderman was supporting a plan that most in the area were against.
Donna Morrow, the "pipeline lady," ran for mayor with no political experience under her belt, other than incessant griping to the city about where pipelines were located, cashing in on the hysteria of a pipeline issue in St. Peters. Interestingly, Morrow had ended her relationship with her boyfriend, Mark Powell, and moved in with her mother during the campaign.
She gets elected mayor, Powell starts coming to BOA meetings to essentially heckle her and her cronies on the board, and then he files for the board for this year's election. Funny thing is -- the city has found a way to remove him from the ballot! He has a trash bill that isn't up to date, so the city used a method that is little used -- unless you're in St. Peters -- to remove someone from the ballot. Outstanding fees or taxes owed to the city!
Did they give him the opportunity to pay that bill? Nooooooo ... just promptly and quietly removed him from the ballot. Must have been one whopper of a bill, wouldn't you think? No, again! It's an outstanding bill for $37.66! I don't know whether this guy is republican or democrat, but he's obviously been rather petty in his constant attempts to ridicule his former betrothed, and I believe the city of O'Fallon has been equally petty in removing him from the ballot over thirty eight bucks! I mean ... it's not even a PAST DUE bill!!
Meanwhile, amidst claims of on-duty police escorting aldermen to banquet centers to retrieve more booze for a Fourth of July celebration, the city hires Florissant Police Chief Robert Lowery, Jr. to be its third city administrator in a year. Apparently, the Lowerys and the Morrows go way back. But Lowery is a cop, not trained as a city administrator. Dealing with bond issues, human resources, public works -- that's not his thing. Of course, this falls on the heels of the refusal of St. Charles Mayor Patti York to hire Lowery as police cheif -- er ... um ... CHIEF in that city, even though her dissenters on the city council tried to force her to.
Now, things have gotten so bad in O'Fallon that Alderman Hudson, presumably a member of the majority on the board, has admitted that he has been tape recording conversations involving city business for almost a year, to "cover his butt."
Seems that now, Morrow no longer enjoys the comeradery of a majority of the board.
More to come as this continues to unfold. People are coming out of the woodwork to file for office -- not because they want to serve their community -- but because they want to take someone OUT of office!
Sounds like the new mayor's fort is crumbling quickly ... it ought to be a real interesting year!
Just last year, the city of O'Fallon elected a new mayor and majority on the Board of Aldermen. "The old guard has to go," declared this group of candidates. They all joined hands and took out a number of incumbent aldermen, as well as grabbing the mayor's office.
Most of the candidates were political newcomers. Many of them got involved in city politics because of an ill-fated redevelopment plan that reeked of eminent domain abuse from the prior board and mayor. Randy Hudson was one such person who was affected by this land grab. It's not difficult to understand why he ran for the Board of Aldermen when his own alderman was supporting a plan that most in the area were against.
Donna Morrow, the "pipeline lady," ran for mayor with no political experience under her belt, other than incessant griping to the city about where pipelines were located, cashing in on the hysteria of a pipeline issue in St. Peters. Interestingly, Morrow had ended her relationship with her boyfriend, Mark Powell, and moved in with her mother during the campaign.
She gets elected mayor, Powell starts coming to BOA meetings to essentially heckle her and her cronies on the board, and then he files for the board for this year's election. Funny thing is -- the city has found a way to remove him from the ballot! He has a trash bill that isn't up to date, so the city used a method that is little used -- unless you're in St. Peters -- to remove someone from the ballot. Outstanding fees or taxes owed to the city!
Did they give him the opportunity to pay that bill? Nooooooo ... just promptly and quietly removed him from the ballot. Must have been one whopper of a bill, wouldn't you think? No, again! It's an outstanding bill for $37.66! I don't know whether this guy is republican or democrat, but he's obviously been rather petty in his constant attempts to ridicule his former betrothed, and I believe the city of O'Fallon has been equally petty in removing him from the ballot over thirty eight bucks! I mean ... it's not even a PAST DUE bill!!
Meanwhile, amidst claims of on-duty police escorting aldermen to banquet centers to retrieve more booze for a Fourth of July celebration, the city hires Florissant Police Chief Robert Lowery, Jr. to be its third city administrator in a year. Apparently, the Lowerys and the Morrows go way back. But Lowery is a cop, not trained as a city administrator. Dealing with bond issues, human resources, public works -- that's not his thing. Of course, this falls on the heels of the refusal of St. Charles Mayor Patti York to hire Lowery as police cheif -- er ... um ... CHIEF in that city, even though her dissenters on the city council tried to force her to.
Now, things have gotten so bad in O'Fallon that Alderman Hudson, presumably a member of the majority on the board, has admitted that he has been tape recording conversations involving city business for almost a year, to "cover his butt."
Seems that now, Morrow no longer enjoys the comeradery of a majority of the board.
More to come as this continues to unfold. People are coming out of the woodwork to file for office -- not because they want to serve their community -- but because they want to take someone OUT of office!
Sounds like the new mayor's fort is crumbling quickly ... it ought to be a real interesting year!
posted by Administrator at 10:57 AM
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