Meet The Candidates

The mayoral race in O’Fallon should give residents reason to be concerned. If you are looking for a new face or a fresh start you are out of luck. The three candidates have been involved in O’Fallon politics in one shape or another for the last few years and, in Bill Hennessy’s case, it has been a decade. The past couple of years with Mayor Donna Morrow and CA Bob Lowery at the helm, and Hennessy and Pierce Conley serving on the council, have been one embarrassment after another for the city Here is the low down on your candidates.

Bill Hennessy – Hennessy has been entrenched in O’Fallon politics for over a decade and he knows how to play the game although he ran into his match with Lowery when Hennessy led the charge to remove the him. Politics aside, one thing we can't overlook with Hennessy are his links to the corruption that was rampant in the Renaud years.

A look at Hennessy's campaign finance documents show he has contributions from a who’s who of O’Fallon’s questionable past to the tune of over $19,000. Names from the past such as Paul Renaud, Patrick Banger, Steve Talbott, McBride & Sons and the law firms of Brad Goss and Keith Hazelwood have all contributed to Hennessy just to name a few. Hennessy not only is linked to Renaud by campaign contributions but he also sat on the council during the years the Renaud administration was handing out freebies to developers, at the taxpayer expense, whether legal or not. We have no indication Bill has changed his ways

Hennessy does have one positive over the other candidates, he has publicly stated he will get rid of CA Bob Lowery if elected. Both of the other candidates have indicated they will keep Lowery on and as long as Lowery is in office the residents will come in second place to Lowery's own self interest.

Jim Frain – Frain is trying to portray himself as the new guy; the fresh face to O’Fallon politics, the truth is he has been being groomed for this opportunity for the past couple of years. Frain is the “chosen one” in the eyes of Bob Lowery, Donna Morrow, Adolphus Busch and friends. Frain has been assisted and propped up by Lowery and Morrow every chance they could. Don’t believe us? Just think for a second how this self proclaimed “outsider” and political newcomer all of a sudden becomes the 2007 “Ambassador of the Year” and the 2008 “Citizen of Achievement Award Winner” in the City of O’Fallon. Frain is the benefactor of money from Busch and Company as well, which just happened to be Morrow's main supporter.

The ties run even deeper. Heading the Pravda division of Frain's campaign is lead propagandist and Busch benefactor 'The Scoop." The Scoop bills itself as a newspaper but it has been nothing more than a shill for Lowery, Morrow and whatever other politician is in its favor at the moment. Another tie between Frain and Morrow/Lowery is his new hangout, the Trigg Banquet Center. The Trigg is owned by one of Lowery's long (only?) time friends and apparently you can find Morrow and Frain up there a lot working on the campaign together. Here's a hint though if you go looking for Jim, he likes to park around the back so no one knows he's there. So much for transparency in your administration eh Jim.

Frain also has ties to Renaud's regime as well. He was an active supporter of Alderman Bob Fischer who was one of Renauds "yes" men. As for honesty lets just say Frain ain't know Abe Lincoln. At a recent mayoral debate, Frain told voters the majority of his contributions were for $250.00 or less. However, according to his campaign finance information dated 2/26/09 all 5 contributors donated OVER $250 each. Frain also has some very high profile, high dollar donations including $4500 from the Busch Family (Belleau Farms), $4500 from Don Musik, a friend of the Busch Family and $1000 from the Attorney in Florissant Ronald Brockmeyer. Brockmeyer was appointed by CA Lowery's daddy Mayor Robert Lowery.

Pierce Conley -While Conley has raised the least amount of money his track record has been very clear, he will put the needs of the builders/developers ahead of the residents of O'Fallon every time. And why not, Conley works as a real estate agent for Luetkenhaus Properties and more breaks for builders and developers means more houses for Conley to sell. In addition, Conley's boss, Bill Luetkenhaus, may be able to teach Conley a thing or two about making a buck off a public sector job. Luetkenhuas was also a lobbyist for Alliance Water and Sewer which went after the contract in O'Fallon in a long hard fight. Rather than recuse himself from the battle because of the obvious conflict of interest Conley went to bat for Alliance during the contract debate. Finally, we've been told Conley demanded that the city install a police scanner in his personal vehicle at taxpayer expense, a great use of our money when we can't afford to hire enough cops. It seems Conley shares the same self centered disposition and selfishness of Lowery, a perception we think you would share if you watched Conley's performances at council meetings.

So there you have it. Maybe one of these candidates will surprise us but this thing doesn't look pretty. And remember, when you're voting for the least of three evils you're still voting for an evil.

Pierce Conley's son bites ear in fight according to police.

O'Fallon Councilman and mayoral candidate Pierce Conley's son was charged Monday with second-degree assault. According to a story on Stltoday.com, James P. Conley, 29, of the 2500 block of Breezy Point Lane bit part of another man’s ear off during a fight Sunday. James P. Conley was being held Monday in lieu of a $25,000 bail.

Pierce Conley and Jim Frain snub O'Fallon voters

If you were looking for leadership or a break from the same ole political gamesmanship in your next O'Fallon mayor it looks like you'll have to look to someone other than Pierce Conley or Jim Frain. Here's the story;

A couple of weeks ago The O'Fallon Observer emailed each of the candidates for city council and O'Fallon Mayor. The email read as follows;

• The O’Fallon Observer requests that you send a picture (jpeg) of yourself along with a brief (300 word) bio/editorial as to why you are seeking elected office. Please include the office you are running for, and if you are running for a council position please include the correct ward.
  
  In addition we are asking all candidates to answer these three questions. Please be brief but specific.
  1) What do you see as the biggest problem the City of O’Fallon faces and how will you specifically deal with it?
  2) What is your definition of open and transparent government?
  3) What specifically will you do to reduce spending/expenses within city government?
  The O’Fallon Observer requests that this bio/questionnaire be returned to ofallonobserver@gmail.com no later than Wednesday, March 18th in order to get them formatted into the paper and out by March 23rd.

The Observer was offering the candidates a free platform to communicate their message to O'Fallon residents, something we viewed as a service to the residents. However, it seems Pierce Conley was insulted by this offer. The Observer has learned from several sources that Conley has been approaching the candidates asking them to join in his boycott of our request because he doesn't want to "legitimize" The Observer.

If Conley's juvenile "I'm going to take my ball home and play without you" attitude is any indication of what kind of a mayor he will be we are in for another embarrassing 4 years. Conley's reaction also suggests a continuation of the politics of favoritism which has run rampant in O'Fallon for years. Conley had no trouble responding to a similar request from a local paper that will only print positive stories about Conley and his buddy Bob Lowery. We can only assume Conley is upset with The Observer because of our criticism of Lowery although Conley has never contacted us to report one factual error or inaccuracy.

As for Frain, it appears he is willing to play Curly to Conley's Moe. After initially indicating he would respond Frain changed his tune after he was approached by Conley and sent an email stating "I have decided to provide you with my campaign website in lieu of responding to your questions." Way to show your leadership ability and independence Jim.

The sad part is that rather than viewing our email as a service to O'Fallon residents, Conley and Frain see it based on their own personal interest. Why should we expect them to act any differently if elected?

Is a "small opposition group" in O'Fallon conspiring to get rid of Lowery?

In our last post, Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we reviewed the show put on by O'Fallon Mayor Donna Morrow, CA Bob Lowery and councilman Pierce Conley at the March 12th city council meeting. The 3 act rehearsed play was an attempt by Lowery and his supporters to make the council look bad in how they handled Lowery's recent suspension. So what did Lowery have to say at the meeting? Here are some of the highlights with our comments;

• “Since my reinstatement, questions continue to linger regarding my reputation..." "This is not only disheartening for myself and my family but I also believe that the public has a right to know what transpired and what’s contained in that report.” We agree with Lowery on this one. The public does have a right to know and the council should hold a public hearing in which Lowery is questioned under oath about the allegations against him. We posted a small sample of some of the questions we would ask in our last post.


• “Never did I believe that volunteering my time to assist a nationally-based group that would help endangered children would become an issue...” Lowery was talking about his involvement in a group called Global Training Partnership (GTP) and the issue is whether this constituted secondary employment which is a violation of the O'Fallon ordinance governing the CA. Lowery's statement implies GTP was a non profit organization founded to help find missing children and Lowery's role was simply as a volunteer. The evidence contradicts Lowery's claims. First, even Lowery admits GTP is intended to become a for-profit group. In a statement to the Post-Dispatch on January 26, 2009 Lowery stated if the partnership does become a for-profit venture in the future, he would petition the city council for a waiver allowing him to hold secondary employment. While most people would call their initial start up time setting up a company an investment Lowery tries to spin this as volunteer work. Sorry Bob but this one is to easy to see through. In addition, before this story broke the web site listed GTP as a private partnership "organized to provide law enforcement officers with training that will enhance their investigative performance and skills." The web site listed Lowery as a "principal" in the partnership. No mention was made about missing children or that this was anything but a for-profit company. As soon as the story broke the web site went down and has undergone several changes to fit Lowery's story. It's ironic how Lowery handled this because any good cop knows the cover up is usually the surest evidence of guilt.


• Lowery went on to claim he had “an impeccable and unblemished record of accomplishment” but that his “name and reputation was run through the mud.” Earth to Bob, no one has an impeccable and unblemished record...at least not in the last 2000 years or so.


• Finally, Lowery lays all the blame on this to a “a small opposition group” that he doesn't identify. O'Fallon's version of a "vast right wing conspiracy" we guess. However, when 75% of the current council felt Lowery should be suspended, numerous former members of the council wanted Lowery fired, the Mayor wanted to fire Lowery at one time, ex employees have sued Lowery and we are told a large majority of current employees want him fired we think the "small" is more wishful thinking on Bob's part than reality.

In truth, Lowery's statement was filled with many of the attributes one might argue are the reasons he should be fired; duplicity, the willingness to exploit whatever good he has done to his own advantage, paranoia and his incredible egotism. Let's hope the council has the resolve to end this show once and for all.

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends

We hope you were able to attend the show last night at city hall but for those of you who missed it here are the highlights;

• Act 1-Bob Lowery tried to read a prepared statement in which he talked about the ordeal and public humiliation he has gone through as a result of his recent suspension. We say tried because it appeared as if Lowery didn't even believe some of what he was reading. Act 1 ended with Lowery requesting a release of a investigative report which he claims was done on him. Lowery said he doesn't know what the investigative report says.



• Act 2- In a bit part, Councilman (and mayoral candidate) Pierce Conley immediately followed Lowery's act by motioning for the report to be released. The motion was seconded by Bill Gardner but all six of the remaining councilmen voted against releasing the report until they got clarification from legal counsel about any possible ramifications.



• Act 3- Mayor Donna Morrow joined in this rehearsed play next and requested staff to put together the costs for this investigation for the next meeting.
  

Throughout the play the counsel looked completely shocked and unprepared for what was transpiring before there eyes. They allowed Lowery, Morrow and Conley to play there little game with little or no reaction. And what about the show itself? To start with it was based on a false premise. As CA Lowery serves at the pleasure of the mayor and council and if 6 members of the council want to fire Lowery they can do so with or without cause. I have not heard or read one negative comment made by a council member about Lowery during his tenure. Thus, Lowery's "I am the victim" act was just that, an act.

In addition, Lowery put on this little play with his allies to make the council look like bullies. Can you imagine doing that to your boss while he sits by silently? What the council should have done is told Mr. Lowery that while they had intended to do this in private they will be more than happy to raise some of their issues in public per Mr. Lowery's request. I then would have asked Mr. Lowery some direct questions such as;

1. At least 3 employees have alleged that you showed favoritism to certain developers and that you ordered them to ignore the law on occasion. The taxpayers were required to pay each of these employees. Do you know how much this cost the city?
   
2. You stated in a deposition that you deleted emails related to city business. Was your statement true and under whose authority did you do this?
   
3. You claimed that Chief Schulte "retired" on his own although Chief Schulte and the evidence suggest otherwise. Please tell us if you and the mayor approached the Chief first and , if so, under what authority you did this?
   
4. The city entered into a settlement agreement with Chief Schulte yet no one seems to know how much this costs the taxpayers. Do you know this figure? What authority did you have to enter into such an agreement?
   
5. We have received numerous complaints from city employees regarding your "leadership" style, do you wish to comment?
   
6. We have received numerous complaints regarding your interference with the police department, do you wish to comment?

We could go on but the fact is if Lowery wants to play this game call his bluff, do it in public and then take the appropriate action for all to see. We'd rather see a reality show than the sit com we were subjected to last night.

Organization to Promote Open Government Launches March 12th

The Missouri Sunshine Coalition will hold a reception and program March 12th in Columbia at 2:00 PM. The group's Mission Statement states:

1. Members of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition believe the best form of government is that which operates in a free and open environment, giving its citizens unfettered access to information as to its activities and the use of its public funds.
2. We believe government exists to serve its citizens, and access to such information should be simple and at minimal cost.
3. The Missouri Sunshine Coalition exists to support citizens of this State in their efforts to exercise their rights under the Missouri Sunshine Law, which is premised on the foundation that “It is the public policy of this state that meetings, records, votes, actions and deliberations of public governmental bodies be open to the public unless otherwise provided by law.”

Let's hope the coalition follows through on it's mission to help out citizens in their fight for transparency in government. If so, we can expect to see the Sunshine Coalition spend a lot of time in O'Fallon.

Settlement Agreement Indicates Schulte Was Pushed Out

Pursuant to a Sunshine Law request The O'Fallon Observer has obtained a copy of the settlement agreement entered into between ex Chief Jerry Schulte and O'Fallon. Mayor Donna Morrow and CA Bob Lowery have claimed that Schulte left the city on his own while Schulte indicated he was pushed out. Those who want to review the entire document can do so by clicking here. The document itself lends further support to Schulte's statements that he was asked to leave and brings into question once again the credibility of Lowery and Morrow. Here are some of our observations;

• Employees who retire or quit of their own free will do not enter into settlement agreements. Generally, these types of agreements are reserved for employees who are "offered" an early retirement package or workers who were fired and assert a wrongful termination claim.
  
  
• The settlement agreement includes language that Schulte is releasing various claims he may have against the city including a claim for wrongful termination. If Schulte truly retired he would not have any claim against the city and there would be no need for this agreement much less a release of claims clause.
  
  
• It is probably inaccurate to say that Schulte was "forced" out because neither Morrow or Lowery has this power. Morrow would need the support of at least four councilmen and Lowery simply does not have the power to fire the Chief. However, Lowery and Morrow do have the ability to make life miserable for a Chief they want out and if they approached Schulte about leaving, as Schulte has claimed, his options were to stay, fight and risk getting nothing or work in a hostile envirnment. Working in such a hostile envirnment is something we understand the employees at city hall know all to well. Thus, while Schulte was not "forced" out the door by the Mayor and Lowery you can bet they pushed him as close as they could get him.
  
  
• Why is Schulte still being paid? Again, if he really retired there would be no reason to pay him so this is another indication he was pushed out. However, since Morrow and Lowery had no right to fire the Chief what right do they have in using taxpayer dollars to buy something they could not do legally? This is a clear abuse of power on their part and the council should be demanding answers.

Finally, the settlement agreement is silent on one important aspect, how much money is the city paying Schulte. As part of our Sunshine Law request we asked for this number and we're told by City Clerk Pam Clement that "Vicki Boschert will provide the total amount you requested." Vicki Boschert sent us the following in an email;

• The City does not have a document, to my knowledge, that compiles the total cost of the severance agreement provided to Jerry Schulte . Pam and I discussed this earlier today and I am providing you with information in which you may be able to utilize to calculate the costs. This is the best document that I have to provide you with the information you are looking for. This is a copy of the wage budget that was utilized to estimate what the total maximum costs for this position would be. The only benefit item not listed on this document is the health insurance and the reason for this is because the City is self-insured and we pay actual claims.

I guess when you're spending other people's money you don't need to worry how much.