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.