Like a cat with nine lives Bob Lowery has survived the latest attempt to remove him as City Administrator of O'Fallon...for now. Lowery was suspended with pay a little over a month ago by the council but was back to work Thursday night after a closed session. While the council and Lowery have been tight lipped about the suspension here is our best attempt at unraveling the latest O'Fallon fiasco.
Mayor Donna Morrow appointed Lowery CA in 2005 and is a Lowery supporter as of today. We say "as of today" because Morrow wanted to fire Lowery after he allegedly went behind her back in an attempt to annex Busch Wildlife. The annexation attempt was criticized by state and local leaders, environmental groups, O'Fallon residents, Mayor Morrow and most of the members of the council. To many the biggest concern was that Lowery was overstepping his bounds as CA by making policy decisions for O'Fallon, a concern Morrow raised publicly at a council meeting. However, since that day Morrow has become a Lowery supporter again although she has never explained her change in position.
Without Morrow's support the council needed at least six votes to suspend or fire Lowery. We know that Pierce Conley, who is running for mayor, is a Lowery supporter, and it is also believed that Bill Gardner supports Lowery as well. This would then require all six of the remaining council members to take action to suspend/fire Lowery. Since Lowery was brought back Thursday night it is evident that at least one of the six members who voted to suspend Lowery was "persuaded" to change his vote and rumor has it that in fact two council members, Rick Lucas and Mark Perkins, changed their votes.
This is at least the third attempt we are aware of to have Lowery fired and you can rest assured this won't be the last. One of the candidates for Mayor, Bill Hennessy, is believed to be in favor of terminating Lowery and if he is elected it would then only require four members of the council to vote in favor of Lowery's removal.
As the Observer sees it
The fact that Bob Lowery still has a job today is a testament to his Machiavellian abilities as a politician. However, his political abilities seem to end at keeping his job in that he has been anything but good for O'Fallon and it's residents. His tenure has been marked by allegations of back room deals, favoritism, meddling with the police department and low employee moral. At least three former employees have filed lawsuits alleging Lowery wanted them to disobey the law for certain favored businesses/developers and the city/taxpayers have paid each of these employees a settlement. Just recently Police Chief Jerry Schulte stepped down with a severance package amidst rumors he was forced out by Lowery and Morrow, a claim Lowery and Morrow denied. However, Schulte said the decision for him to retire was made by the mayor and city administrator. Schulte then reapplied for the Chief's position after Lowery was suspended, adding more credence to Schulte's version of what happened.
Morrow's once promising tenure as mayor is over in April, ending her four year term of flip flops and failed leadership. Bob Lowery should exit right behind her so we can focus on finding a City Administrator who is more administrator than politician.
Mayor Donna Morrow appointed Lowery CA in 2005 and is a Lowery supporter as of today. We say "as of today" because Morrow wanted to fire Lowery after he allegedly went behind her back in an attempt to annex Busch Wildlife. The annexation attempt was criticized by state and local leaders, environmental groups, O'Fallon residents, Mayor Morrow and most of the members of the council. To many the biggest concern was that Lowery was overstepping his bounds as CA by making policy decisions for O'Fallon, a concern Morrow raised publicly at a council meeting. However, since that day Morrow has become a Lowery supporter again although she has never explained her change in position.
Without Morrow's support the council needed at least six votes to suspend or fire Lowery. We know that Pierce Conley, who is running for mayor, is a Lowery supporter, and it is also believed that Bill Gardner supports Lowery as well. This would then require all six of the remaining council members to take action to suspend/fire Lowery. Since Lowery was brought back Thursday night it is evident that at least one of the six members who voted to suspend Lowery was "persuaded" to change his vote and rumor has it that in fact two council members, Rick Lucas and Mark Perkins, changed their votes.
This is at least the third attempt we are aware of to have Lowery fired and you can rest assured this won't be the last. One of the candidates for Mayor, Bill Hennessy, is believed to be in favor of terminating Lowery and if he is elected it would then only require four members of the council to vote in favor of Lowery's removal.
As the Observer sees it
The fact that Bob Lowery still has a job today is a testament to his Machiavellian abilities as a politician. However, his political abilities seem to end at keeping his job in that he has been anything but good for O'Fallon and it's residents. His tenure has been marked by allegations of back room deals, favoritism, meddling with the police department and low employee moral. At least three former employees have filed lawsuits alleging Lowery wanted them to disobey the law for certain favored businesses/developers and the city/taxpayers have paid each of these employees a settlement. Just recently Police Chief Jerry Schulte stepped down with a severance package amidst rumors he was forced out by Lowery and Morrow, a claim Lowery and Morrow denied. However, Schulte said the decision for him to retire was made by the mayor and city administrator. Schulte then reapplied for the Chief's position after Lowery was suspended, adding more credence to Schulte's version of what happened.
Morrow's once promising tenure as mayor is over in April, ending her four year term of flip flops and failed leadership. Bob Lowery should exit right behind her so we can focus on finding a City Administrator who is more administrator than politician.
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