Local gasoline pricing, just click here.

An up to date gasoline pricing site that you can use to defray your trip costs.
Just click on the header for the site!


By the way the newest addition to the Ford family, Haley Ford, arrived today at 3:38 PM! Mother and daughter are doing well, as are all the other relations, except me. I have a low grade fever and will not be able to see her for a couple of days, but better to error on the good side as they say.

I trust no one here can find fault with any portion of this missive!

Tom Ford

No. 135

The more things change, the more they stay the same!

During World War II, {1941-1945} the Japanese developed a way they thought would demoralize the American forces.
Psychological warfare experts (?) developed a message they felt would work.
They gave the script to their famous broadcaster "Tokyo Rose" and every day she would broadcast this same message packaged in different ways, hoping it would have a negative impact on American GI's morale.
What was that demoralizing message? It had three main points:
1. Your President is lying to you.
2. This war is illegal.
3. You cannot win the war.
Does this sound familiar? Is it because Tokyo Hillary, Tokyo Harry, Tokyo Teddy, Tokyo Nancy, etc. have picked up the same message and are broadcasting it on TokyoCNN, TokyoABC, TokyoCBS, TokyoNBC etc., to our troops?
The only difference is that they claim to support our troops before they demoralize them. Come to think of it, Tokyo Rose told the troops she was on their side, too!


From a post by a lawyer friend in Texas, for those of us old enough to remember "TOKYO Rose", it sure seems right to me!

Tom Ford


No. 134

Robinson, Myers, and Dailey will be attending the retailers meeting!

Someone a while back on this blog was wondering what it cost for the Mayor and Mr. Myers to fly to Vegas for the retail convention. They also asked why Ms. Ellen Dailey would not be going instead as she is the economic development person.

I direct you attention to the April 27, 2006 edition of the Suncrest Call which has a front page article on the trip! It seems that the reader's question was a bit early (how did you know,) as they don't leave until late May, and Ms. Dailey will be with them!

This looks like a great chance to bring some new blood into Crestwood, and I for one am happy to see them all go! Who better to be there than two decision making representatives of Crestwood, and one economic development specialist to advise them on the best stores to attract.

By the way, all the financial information you wanted as to the cost of this trip is in the article. I think the "sales to cost ratio" is well worth the funds spent on this one.


Tom Ford

N0.133

Like "Cajun recipe's"?, read the new "Dales Blog" on site!

Forget the fact that these folks are "opinionated", and read the recipe's. These ought to give you pause to pick up some anti acid!

Tom Ford

No. 132

Gasoline costs, or what we can do about it (from a friend at F.S.U.)

If one more person who regularly commutes 20+ miles, alone, in a 3000lb, 8+ passenger, 10- MPG vehicle complains to me about the price of gas -- and all of their screw-ball conspiracy theories thereby associated -- I'm going to tell them where to stick it!

For those who failed mathematics: supply and demand are by definition, NOT mutually exclusive. We can be swimming in oil, it can be raining gasoline, but if demand is high, then prices will be high. PERIOD!

In a market economy, just because you have plenty of something, that doesn't mean it's cheap. It just means suppliers won't run out. Prices go down when demand goes down and that won't happen until the people who drive Duelies, massive SUV's, full-size vans, and luxury cars as everyday commuters -- jack-rabbit, pedal-to-the-metal, stop-n-go, rush-hour-lane-dancing, and NASCAR-style blocking all the way -- get something a bit more fuel efficient and learn to drive like civilized human beings -- not road-crazed refugees from Mad Max. I'm not suggesting we all cram ourselves into Yugo's but, how about something that gets 20MPG or better? and, learn an accelerator/brake position between full-stop and floored. You've got to be reasonable, here.

Either that or, better yet, just quit complaining about the price of gas and do something about it -- use less!

Sorry. Rant mode off. I'm sure everyone here drives sensibly and has a vehicle appropriate to their daily needs.


From a good friend (Geoffrey, the cruel conservitive,) who is a professor at F.S.U., and I think well worth posting!


Tom Ford

N0. 131

Our next holiday for our Mexican friends!

Please click on the header for a game for the kids to play, I hope they, and you enjoy it!

Tom Ford

No.130

A change to the Crestwood Independent!

To the fine citizens of Crestwood. It would appear that no matter what I say someone is not going to like it, so from now on I will monitor this blog. I will forget the "swim club", City hall, the Church, and whatever else elevates your blood pressure, as I will not be reporting on any of it, I will leave that to you.

It is indeed unfortunate that some do not want to see the facts, but only what they want the facts to be, but hey that's life in Crestwood! Some say I want to ruin this City (for whatever reason,) but that's silly, as I too am a homeowner.

Enjoy your time on the blog, but remember that personal attacks will be removed by me.

Tom Ford

No.129

A public service announcement for parents of young children.

Last updated: 4/21/2006 5:20:10 PM
By Erin O'Neill

KSDK-The outbreak of mumps in the Midwest continues to spread. It's raising questions about the disease and the vaccine used to protect against it. So far, more than 1,000 cases of mumps have been reported across the Midwest and more are expected.

Doctor Michael Williams is the Director of Communicable Disease Control and Emergency Preparedness for the St. Louis County Department of Health. Friday, he spoke to the Immunization Coalition of St. Louis about the mumps and he answered some frequently asked questions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the current outbreak of mumps in the U.S. is the largest in more than 20 years. Why now?
"You have immune folks and non immune folks and no problem as long as the virus doesn't come around. But it was introduced into Iowa from an outside source and it found those that say 10-percent that weren't immune and the outbreak began."

If you've already had two does of the MMR vaccine measles, mumps and rubella, do you need another?
"No there's no recommendation for additional vaccine for folks who've had two MMR's. Now for folks who've had only one it makes sense to go ahead and get the second one because the second dose would raise the likelihood from you being immune from about 80 percent 90 percent."

Why are mumps cases seen largely among people in their late teens and early 20's?
"It seems to me tied to travel and spring break and we have the potential that it was inoculated into a group in which a lot of traveling that's going on. It's a fact college kids share a lot of saliva. They share drinks. They kiss, they hang out together, close relationships and as a result there's a lot of saliva exchanged and so mumps because it's transmitted that way can be easily transmitted in that group."


What if you don't know if you've been vaccinated for the mumps? Will it hurt to have another MMR?
"It won't hurt to have two MMR's". Williams says if you've already had the mumps typically you won't get them again.


So far, mumps cases have been reported in seven states: Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma And Wisconsin. There are no confirmed cases in St. Louis. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite; followed by swelling of salivary glands. The parotid salivary glands (which are located within your cheek, near your jaw line, below your ears) are most frequently affected.
The best way to prevent the spread of any virus is to make sure you're up-to-date on vaccines. Children should get two doses of the MMR vaccine. The first at 12 to 15 months of age and the second at 4 to 6 months of age.


KSDK


No. 128

I wonder if they need a private pool for the swim team?

AFFTON (from the Post Dispatch)

Et tu, Cor Jesu? A deal cut by Cor Jesu Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school on Gravois Road, has some residents feeling betrayed.

Cor Jesu officials announced Tuesday a deal to buy 3.35 acres from the Gravois Co., a holding company of five local developers. Officials said the land, next to the school's athletic fields, was important for expansion plans. The cost of the land was not made public.

But as a part of the deal, school officials withdrew their opposition to the Gravois Co.'s real estate development, slated to be built across from Grant's Farm. The developer is trying to get St. Louis County to rezone 90 acres there to make way for the project, called the Villages at Gravois Creek.
Advertisement


For the past several months, Cor Jesu has been a significant part of a neighborhood drive to stop the project. The school's reversal has angered many who fought alongside it.

"We definitely feel betrayed," said Diane Forthaus. "We worked with them, and beside them, for the same fight. Suddenly they make a deal and that's it. It just doesn't seem right."

Opponents of the Villages have contended that the 444-unit development would be too dense for the area. They said it would add too many people and cars to already troublesome traffic and flooding problems.

While Cor Jesu never hid its desire to buy some of the land being sold to the developers, officials publicly agreed with residents about problems with density.

On Wednesday, Cor Jesu board member Thom Digman seemed shocked to hear residents were angry.

"We didn't betray anybody," he said. "We just tried to make the situation better."

According to an e-mail sent out Tuesday by the Cor Jesu principal, Sister Sheila O'Neill, the deal means the school would share an entrance with the development. This would allow the school to close its current entrance.

O'Neill went on to say that the developers had agreed to address the school's safety concerns by working with with state officials to get a stoplight at the entrance and work to add additional lanes to Gravois Road, for turning.

The next County Council meeting on the issue is scheduled for May 2. Council members are expected to vote as a committee on the proposal then. If approved, it will move to the full council.

No.127

Affton, and the County Police!

If you have friends in Affton, it might be better to visit on Saturday rather than on Friday. Please click on the header for information.

Tom Ford

N0. 126

A Tiger by the tail? Well, let's all be at the BOA meeting on 4/25/06!

As I see it, nothing will happen in open session on April 25,2006, but look for an "executive session" after the meeting to discuss this mess!

I for one, will be interested in the final outcome, as I am against any private club, swim, gun, poker, or whatever benefiting from a TDD, TIF, CID, or any other taxpayer financed program as a privete club! And please save your comments about how "you deserved this", or "you just got what should come to you", as this won't fly with me!

If you wanted a "private pool", well fine and dandy, you pay for it! Don't put the burden on Kohl's shoppers, or anyone else, you, and only you, should be responsible for re-paying that debt, not the citizens of Crestwood!

Tom Ford

No.125

TIF, CID, TDD, and the BOA!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it appears that the BOA may be voting very soon on combining the three political sub-divisions known as the "TIF, CID, and TDD" into one entity.

On the surface this doesn't look so bad, until you consider that each has a different sunset, with the TDD being the longest (40 years.) This means that we could be indebted to the TDD for the entire project should they wish to use it, as it has the longest sunset date. Also combining the three clouds the issue of what district is paying for what, as they will all be commingled.

I don't know about you folks, but in my mind, this should not be allowed to happen! I also wonder why we plan to commingle at the time we may start selling the bonds (from a project completed three years ago,)as they have to be sold sometime. I am wondering why it has taken three years to get around to selling these bonds in the first place, and for that matter how we are planning to do it.

I feel we all should be calling our respective Alderman, and ask them for a full accounting of this project, and what bond is paying for what part of the project! If they do vote to commingle, it will really be hard to get a straight answer from anyone, and this is too much money spent for that!

When you view the TDD which took in the swim club, we have another opportunity which will be interesting, as at least three (could be four) Board members are members of, have close relatives, or hold stock themselves in Rosebrook Realty (swim club,) so they will have to recuse themselves from voting on the issue at all! In fact we may not have a quorum present to hold the vote period when you consider that the TDD is a major part of this issue.

Please call your Alderman, ask him for his/ her take on this subject, and if, like me you feel that commingle is not the right way to do this, tell them so, and then attend the Alderman meeting to watch this play out.

Tom Ford


No.124

Decorate an egg for the Easter Bunny (for the kids!)

Please click on the header to be directed to a card that will allow your children to decorate their own eggs for the holiday!

To all our Christian friends, Happy Easter!
To all our Jewish friends, Happy Passover!

May we all have a blessed day here in Crestwood!

Tom Ford

No. 123

T.I.F. Financing, and the Missouri state legislature!

Please click on the header to be directed to a very interesting article from the Kansas City Star, reference T.I.F. projects. It could be the boys in Jeff. City will end this program.

Tom Ford

No. 122

The "BLOG" breaks the 10,000 hit mark!

Wow, not bad for a small town blog that "only has two, or three readers". Keep it up folks, were on to something here!

Tom Ford

No. 121

A letter to the CCFFR from Missouri State Ethics Commission!

STATE OF MISSOURI
MISSOURI ETHICS COMMISSION
P.O. BOX 1254
JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI 65102

March 14, 2006 573/751-2020
1-800-392-8660
Jim Murphy
Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility
9314 Cordoba Lane
Crestwood, MO 63126

Re: Complaint No. 06E008

Dear Mr. Murphy:

Please be advised that at the March 14, 2006, meeting of the Missouri Ethics Commission, the complaint filed against the Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility was considered.

From the facts presented, the Commission determined that the organization did not receive or make expenditures in excess of the $500 reporting requirement and is not a committee as defined by Section 130.011 RSMo. Therefore they were not required to file campaign finance disclosure reports. The Commission voted to dismiss this complaint.

Sincerely,

R. F. Connor
Executive Director

RFC:jh






No. 120

A thought before the Easter holiday! Not written by me, but I liked it, and thought you would too!

All I Need to Know About Life I Learned

From the Easter Bunny...........................

Don't put all of your eggs in one basket

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears

There's no such thing as too much candy

All work & no play can make you a basket case

A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Some body parts should be floppy.

Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans

Good things come in small sugar coated packages.

The grass is always greener in someone else's basket

An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.

To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell

The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

Happy Easter!

No. 119

Our new Mexican restaurant, "Las Margaritas"

Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our newest restaurant to Crestwood. Located at 304 Watson Plaza, Crestwood, Las Margaritas is open for lunch, and dinner seven days a week. They feature an awesome happy hour from 4:00 to 7:00 PM, and the food is excellent!

Please stop in and say hello, and when you do tell them you heard about them on the "BLOG"


Tom Ford

No. 118

Deleted posts!

I deleted four posts that in my opinion crossed the line into "personal attacks", or off the subject today. One of them was directed toward a sitting Alderman. I believe I told all of you that I would do that two days ago when I read the blog each day.

Please, if you want your message heard, stay on message, no personal attacks, no matter what you think of someone. If you need to vent, call the party and tell them personally, were not going to do it here!

Humor is always appreciated, as is factual remarks, ON MESSAGE", hate mongering is not.

Tom Ford

No. 117

The Bland camp mis-represents Wallach in April 3rd campaign flyer!

At almost midnight last night, we received the offical report of Richard Bland's being named the victor at yesterdays election. The final count was:

Richard Bland 338
Darryl Wallach 310

Difference 28 votes

A difference of 28 votes. This victory cannot be a proud moment for Richard Bland

On Monday, April 3rd flyers were taken door to door in Ward 1 telling the potential voters things about Darryl Wallach that were not true. Some of our voters changed their minds because this flyer told them that Darryl Wallach supports eminent domain. They also were told he was largely funded by outside special interest. The firemen who backed Mr. Wallach in no way consider themselves to be an 'outside interest'. There are other misstatements in the folder. Well the election is over, these lies cannot be changed because Mr. Bland has been declared the winner.

The truth of the matter is all residents will be fully informed (with proof from previous newspaper articles). The lies told about Darryl Wallach have cost him the election. That's the sad part. However, this is not where this story ends. When the citizens are made aware how the election was won, they are going to be very unhappy knowing they were lied to. All the talk about an honest new start for our Board of Aldermen!

Thankfully Darryl worked hard to get our Prop S passed because he knew how badly we needed these funds. Mr. Bland to my knowledge never said either way how he felt about the tax increase. No danger of losing a vote by being upfront and honest with the voters. I can only surmise by reading his flyer that his reference to outside special interest means our firefighters. Who else could he be referring to?

Faye Clark
Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility

No.116

Congratulations to the new B.O.A members!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please allow me to congratulate the new Alderman, and especially Mr. Chris Pickel, who put forth an excellent campaign! We all know that in the heat of battle several sentiments come forth on both sides, but today is the day we must put aside our differences, and work together for Crestwood. To those who voted, and worked for me, thank you, to those who voted for Mr. Pickel, thank your for voting your beliefs.

Crestwood needs all of us working toward the same goal's if she is to prosper, so what say we do that, get behind Mayor Robinson, and the new board, and move forward.

The Crestwood Independent will remain in effect for ideas, suggestions, and the news and views of Crestwood, so please use it, it's your site.


Tom Ford
Ward Two


No.115

ELECTION DAY, APRIL 4th,2006!!

Ladies and Gentlemen of Ward Two, and indeed crestwood. Tomorrow is the day we can all exercise our right to vote, we have seen the photo's from Iraq showing voters who stood in line for hours just for their chance, and came away proudly with the purple badge of courage on their finger!

It has been a hot and heavily contested race in Ward Two (as, I am sure were the others.) Citizens of Crestwood have filled this "blog" with comments covering everything from the police building to who knows what. At times both sides were more than emotional about issues they were passionate about, but that's America! The founding fathers fought over the Constitution for years before ratifying it, so the time spent here discussing our issues is small indeed.

On April 5th.,2006 some of the candidates, will have prevailed at the ballot box, and some will not. The ones that do will need all of our support, prayers, and assistance to bring our town through the problems it faces, and move ahead to bigger and better things.

We have had our differences during this election, and we may always have differences, it happens, that's one reason there are different parties, and different personalities running for office. We all love Crestwood, or we would have moved out, or never moved in in the first place. As I said above, on April 5th. We must put aside our differences, and work with the Mayor, Mr. Meyers, and the new board members period. To that end, I am requesting that should Mr. Pickel be elected, my supporters join me in offering whatever assistance he needs to do his job well. If I should be elected, I would likewise ask for his support as well.

This "blog" will continue on after the election, it has been a vehicle that allows our citizens with a computer the opportunity to articulate their feelings, and ask the questions they are interested in. Is it a perfect tool? No, probably not, as no one knows how many contributions are from whom, and how many citizens are using it. I can tell you that in the last fifty one days we have had over 8494 hits, or a average of 166.54 per day. Are they the same people? There is no way to tell, but it is being read by someone. I hope to use this blog (as it gets better known,) as a tool for Crestwood citizens to put forth their ideas, their concerns, and help the City officials decide what's best for Crestwood.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank you for all of your posts to me, positive, and negative over the past three month's. This campaign has been a learning experience for me (your never to old,) and I have met some of the nicest people in St. Louis County, namely Crestwood residents on both sides of the political fence. I thought I knew what a campaign would be like, but I can assure you I had no idea. I do now, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Good luck to ALL of the candidates tomorrow, may we have a turn out that rivals the mayoral race (54%), and by the grace of God---------MAY CRESTWOOD WIN!!


"My name is Tom Ford, and I want to be your Alderman from Ward Two"

Tom Ford
Ward two

No. 114

A letter to Chris Pickel from the C.C.F.R.

I would like to address this to Mr. Pickle. I read last week what you had to say about the Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility group as that you felt we had a 'special interest'. Now Mr. Pickle, just what would you think that would be. You also said that a person would be hard put to find anyone who advocated fiscal irresponsibility. I can prove to you that your assumptions are incorrect. I know you are on the P&Z board and have been since the time you voted for the CUP for the private swim club. I also have read all the legislative guidelines about whether or not you and one other should have voted on that, considering the vote was 4-2 and you and one other won the vote. Now I am reading other documentation that questions that decision. I believe it was Mr. Golterman who made the determination that you should have been allowed to vote. As you may or may not know, many of Mr. Goltermans determinations don't always agree with what other lawyers have to say on certain issues.

So that you understand for once and for all, the Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility are a group of law abiding, tax paying, citizens in Crestwood who pay very close attention to BOA meeting minutes, P&Z reports, ordinances, etc. In fact I would bet it is safe to say that many citizens are paying closer attention to the City's affairs than are some of our aldermen.

The BOA minutes of November 12, 2002 would be something you and your friends may read again. You are wrong about fiscal irresponsibility. All thru these minutes there are examples of our aldermen and women saying things such as: I never realized we meant to vote on this tonight, I really need more time to research this, Why the big push for this tonight, I'm not ready to vote for this. But then a little more pushing from MS. Joy Howard and our board seemed to just throw up their hands and Guess What-they voted it in, then and there, after all the talk about not tonight, we're not ready. Did you say in the newspaper we'd be hard put to find someone ready to be fiscally irresponsible. This one boa minutes are just one of TOO many filled with such irresponsibility.

Other than those two items, I have found a couple of things that I know you have done to be politically and socially unacceptable. In your letter to the 'Call' in which you said you overstated what you thought Mr. Jeff Schlink said about being an active member of St Elizabeth of Hungary Parish. What possible difference would it make which church a candidate belongs to. Aren't we NOT supposed to mix politics and religion. But the thing that you did that I found unforgivable was to issue this overstatement so that it got to the readers too late for them to read as the election was over and your friend, Mr. Kelleher had already won.

The other thing that gives me and many others grief was you unbelievable conduct at the mayoral debate. A few of we women who were sitting behing you and Mr. Kelleher, listenening to you both loudly make fun of Roy Robinson and actually distracting many of us so that we couldn't hear the actual debate because you were so amusing yourselves. And now on you flyer you say, I look forward to working with the Mayor, etc etc. I'm sure you must understand how difficult this is to believe after what we have witnesses. You know talk is cheap. Witnessed behavior stays with people forever.

If you should win this election and you and Mr. Kelleher are sitting up there all good buddy buddy, I do hope you will conduct yourselves better than you did at the mayoral debate.

Faye Clark
Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility

No.113

Who's the more qualified candidate to serve as Ward Two Alderman?

Just when we all thought the bickering was coming to an end, what to my wondering eyes should appear but several little kid's passing out flyers from my "worthy opponent". As it should be at this state of the campaign, however let's examine point by point his flyer.

1. "Experienced in managing multi-million dollar budgets": Well I am, stop by my home, and I will show you last years, and year to date. Opponent says he is, but has anyone seen it? No you say? Well?

2. "Eager to bring 20+ years of marketing and public relations experience to the board to help Crestwood move forward": Ok, well how about 31 years of experience in the business world (management,) 11 years of it responsible for the employee payroll?
Has my opponent ever been responsible for making sure the employees are paid? Well no, he lives in a corporate world (SBC,) where he gets a check, and probably has no idea where it came from.

3. "4 1/2 years on the "Planning and zoning commission": Nine months experience on the Planning and zoning commission, but with 31 years in the construction related industry, I am able, ready and willing to see a project over budget on the spot! That's why I would never have voted for it, and would have advised my fellow commission members not to do so either.

4. "If elected may have to abstain from any vote relating to City budgets, personnel issues,benefits, ETC. Due to conflict of interest with City Personnel": Interesting that he mentions that detail. I would like to quote from a letter to the BOA from Mr Golterman, dated July 18, 2001. This memorandum was sent a few days after Messrs. Green, Pickel, and Kelleher voted to grant the C.U.P. to the Swim Club. Mr. Green stated that he called for the Ok from Mr. Golterman, and Mr. Golterman acknowledges his call, and his findings. However Mr. Golterman backs up his findings with a document from the RSMO:105 covering "conflict of interest, I quote verbatim, "Provisions applying specifically to judicial and quasi-judicial city positions". "The conflict of interest statute prohibits a municipal judge or a person in quasi-judicial position (EG. a board of adjustment member, P & Z member)from participating in proceedings where the official or a closely related party or where the official has a direct or indirect financial interest"! You will please note that it includes P & Z board members, and if you were a swim club stock holder, or a relative of a swim club stock holder or member, you had a very definite "Conflict of interest"! I requested these documents on a FOIA form, and it took over a week to find them, but there here now, so please feel free to come and examine them anytime! Now back to where I said this is interesting, He states that I "may have" a conflict of interest, but he has removed all doubt, he seconded the motion, and he voted for it! We know what he will do, go for the "conflict of interest every time as long as it benefits him, and his friends.

5. "95% of campaign support comes from Crestwood residents & family members": That's good, but from whom? He lists $1075.00 from persons giving $100.00 or less, and that's legal, he also has donations of $ 4.00 from anonymous donors, again OK. Now let's examine mine, I listed all direct donations of $100.00 and up, including $135.00 from the Prop. "S" people that was used for postage (600 letters sent @ .47 which included prop. "S" letters, and my letters.) Mr. Millford, will you please tell us, as I have, who made those contributions?

6. "Endorsed by the Suncrest Call, and CWA local 6310": Most all of us receive the Call, so please judge that for yourself! Now, reference the Communication Workers Of America, that's great, however it was not long ago (according to his supporters,) that being endorsed by a union (me) was a very bad thing indeed, read the blog. Are we to believe that my opponent has undergone an ephiany in recent weeks when it comes to "union" support? Boy's you cant have it both ways, union support is good, or its bad, which is it? And while your at it, please look into the fact the SBC has two or more unions representing their employees, I.B.E.W.for the working crews, and C.W.A. for management, and supervisory personnel?. Can some one clairify the difference for me?

ladies and Gentlemen, take a close look at both of us, don't believe everything you read and hear, call both of us before Tuesday, and then make up your own mind as to whom you want to represent you! Call me @ 314-341-2307 (cell), or 314-965-5792 (home), and I will be happy to discus the issues, or you can stop by for a visit (call me for directions.)

"My name is Tom Ford,and I want to be your Alderman from Ward Two"

Tom Ford
Ward Two

No.112

Crestwood Citizens For Fiscal responsibility speak on the campaign.

My thoughts on this aldermanic race as we come into the home stretch.

As I am reading all the comments on the blog, I realize that some people are trying to undermine the candidates by associating them with the Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. I explained this somewhat as a comment on the blog but thought this would be a better way to go. We have never been a committee. We had no need to be a committee. We were and are a group of people working for the betterment of Crestwood. Why some of you see that as a bad thing is beyond my comprehension.

One of you was so very concerned that you reported to the Missouri Ethics Commission that 'what' you thought we were doing something you thought wrong. Of course, whenever a complaint is filed, the Missouri Ethics Commission is obligated to follow up on that complaint. I'm very sorry to tell you (1) your suspicions were wrong, (2) the Executive Director, R. F. Connor writes and I'm quoting here.

From the facts presented, the Commission determined that the organization did not receive or make expenditures in excess of the $500 reporting requirement and is not a committee as defined by section 130.011 RSMo. Therefore they were not required to file campaign finance disclosure reports. The Commission voted to dismiss this complaint.

In closing we are as of this date a registered, legal committee: Same name! We choose to do this at this time because there is another group who wanted to use this name for interest that are not ours. So to the people so concerned with our organization, it is now registered, and that gives us the ability to become involved in more serious matters in the future. Thank you for being so interested in what we are doing, we hope to do even more good for Crestwood in the future.

Anyone still needing more information: you can write Mr. R. F. Connor, Exec. Dir. MO Ethics Commission P.O. Box 1254 Jefferson City, MO 65102

Thank you, Faye Clark
Crestwood Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility

No.111

What say we help Fenton stop this "Tax grab" known as "the tax formula"?

If you would be so kind as to click on the header, you will see that Fenton is moving toward changing the status of the "Tax Formula" that has pulled almost a million dollars out of Crestwood each year!

I don't know about you, but I see a million per year going into our general fund! Now that is just what we need to pay off the funds, and get back on track here!


I know that my family can't afford a home in "Ken and Barbie" land (Wildwood,) and now Jennings is planning to build a center larger than St. Louis Mills, so why are we sending them Crestwood money? Well, it seems that ole Buzz Westfall had to save his political future, so he (and other's,)came up with this scheme to loot the muni's with shopping centers of a "little bit of the proceeds" to save other's in the county! Now if I remember history correctly, that is the Marxist, Lenin theory of "from each according to their means, to each according to their needs"

Ladies,and Gentlemen, we have all (myself included)been on the band wagon this election season about "cutting expenses", "fiscal responsibility", "better management of the funds", and well we should be! That said however, look at the energy this Blog has created in Crestwood! In the last seven week's we have had over 8,000 hit's! We have all read the posts, some positive, some negative, but all in the spirit of one thing, move Crestwood forward!

The election is in the hands of the voters, as it should be, and that will be decided on Tuesday, April 4th. But what if we harness this energy, work together, and work hard to stop this "tax grab"? I think it can be done, and to that end I would like to challenge all of you to join your elected officials, and Fenton so we can get the county's hands out of our pockets!

Chris Pickel and I have our differences, but we both have a vital interest in Crestwood, and we both want what is best for Crestwood, we just come from two very different camp's. I think that this is one issue though that we can both agree on, and that is stop the county from spending what is rightfully Crestwood's money in places that are not in the vital interest of Crestwood!

I urge all of you to go out on Tuesday and vote for the candidate of your choice, and when that's done, let's ALL get behind the winner, and tell the county, and the state, no more free lunch on Crestwood, we can start April 5, 2006!

My name is Tom Ford, and I want to be your Alderman from Ward Two"

Tom Ford
Ward Two

No. 110