Mr. Mike Anthony's observations in this weeks Call! (click here)
While it's no secret that I have been an ardent supporter of "his Honor" the Mayor in his first term, I find that he has "changed," and not for the better!
I read Mr. Mike Anthony's column in this weeks Call Newspaper, and I believe it's right on the money! You are no doubt also aware that I have, of late been a citizen who questions his (the Mayors) ability to lead in these trying times!
I look upon the decisions made on that Dias, the lack of tolerance for our elected officials, the way he cut's citizens off when he doesn't like what they have to say as well as the questionable comment's in public, and I think we have the wrong man for the job, period!
Let's look at what has happened in the past few months since his second term. Were not back, were broke, there is an Ethics investigation involving quite a few souls at City Hall, the Crestwood Courts is now hiring starving artist's to place their wares (free) in the Dillard's end to attract someone, ETC, ETC!
Mr. Anthony has called for a new regime in Crestwood, and I agree! We have several Alderman seats up this April, and we must make some changes to survive!
In my humble opinion, we retain Alderman Nieder (Miguel is not up yet) and get two new people in Ward one, retain Mr. Kelsch, replace Mr. Pickle in Ward two, replace two in Ward four, and render the Mayor impotent from any further decisions before were all doomed!
My friends, this is a wake up call for Crestwood, either we get some new blood in there or we continue to live (in what a resident called it,) "the kingdom of Roy!"
Your thoughts please!
Tom Ford
NO. 576
I read Mr. Mike Anthony's column in this weeks Call Newspaper, and I believe it's right on the money! You are no doubt also aware that I have, of late been a citizen who questions his (the Mayors) ability to lead in these trying times!
I look upon the decisions made on that Dias, the lack of tolerance for our elected officials, the way he cut's citizens off when he doesn't like what they have to say as well as the questionable comment's in public, and I think we have the wrong man for the job, period!
Let's look at what has happened in the past few months since his second term. Were not back, were broke, there is an Ethics investigation involving quite a few souls at City Hall, the Crestwood Courts is now hiring starving artist's to place their wares (free) in the Dillard's end to attract someone, ETC, ETC!
Mr. Anthony has called for a new regime in Crestwood, and I agree! We have several Alderman seats up this April, and we must make some changes to survive!
In my humble opinion, we retain Alderman Nieder (Miguel is not up yet) and get two new people in Ward one, retain Mr. Kelsch, replace Mr. Pickle in Ward two, replace two in Ward four, and render the Mayor impotent from any further decisions before were all doomed!
My friends, this is a wake up call for Crestwood, either we get some new blood in there or we continue to live (in what a resident called it,) "the kingdom of Roy!"
Your thoughts please!
Tom Ford
NO. 576
posted by Crestwood Independent at 17:22
34 Comments:
I agree with you completely. I also wish you and Martha D. would run for office. At least we would know for sure that both of you stand for sound government/decisions and would listen to the residents. We need someone we can believe and who hasn't lost his credibility...
("were back-were not back" "we need a tax increase" "I wasn't for a tax increase" "anyone can call up and get info posted in the city newspaper" "I have a plan" "it's a small group that's not legitimate" etc.etc.) How embarrassing!
Roy, if it takes 6 we will give you 6.
Whose seat would Martha run for, if she chose to run?
Not that it matters, I would support her efforts any way I could after what the Mayor has done to her and our City
Martha could run against Gregg Roby whose term will expire next year.
If Roby doesn't file, maybe Martha should!
Hey Roy. Take a hint from across the river.
"When you have no confidence from the people, in a democracy there's nowhere else to go but to resign,"
I do not know anything about Mr. Kelsch except this.
1. He works not to far from Tom Ford
2. He was appointed by the Mayor
3. He wants to run the Sappington House Kitchen
4. He has never voted with Aledermen Miguel or Nieder on a critical issue.
5. His seat is up in April 09
6 I guess he could run for Pickel's seat?
Anyone know anymore about his positions on anything than this?
12:25pm BLOGGER: Alderman Kelsch is all that indeed, However, I still am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he shows me otherwise.
At this point I don't feel he is in that pocket of "His Honor," or anyone else. He may be guilty of listening to Alderman Pickle as he is new, but that will change as he get's more experience (I hope!)
Ward two has been the refuge of the Swim Club, St. Elizabeth crowd (with the exception of Tim Trueblood) since I moved here, and we must shake that up next time out with a really great candidate!
Therefore I am shopping for a fresh face in ward two who will do ALL the wards business, and not just the select few, any ideas will be greatly appreciated!
Tom Ford
A bit of wisdom from the distant past!
Could be the rise and fall of Crestwood?
What have we learned in 2 millennium?
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."
- Cicero - 55 BC
What have we learned? Evidently nothing!!!
Tom Ford
Tom, do you fancy yourself some sort of ward boss? Are you taking a page of out of the Illinois governers playbook and shopping the seats? You must be very powerful in Crestwood!
6:20 PM blogger: To quote Mark Twain, " I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would be an affront to your intelligence!"
I am a citizen of ward two, down in the part where we NEED representation because we do not belong to the "correct" groups! Ergo, we will shop for a candidate that will listen to us, and not the type we have seen in the past!
Powerful? Well I doubt it, but I did get your BP up, so who knows?
Tom Ford
Don't you worry about Tom, we are just talking about positions for different wards and are "thinking out loud". He isn't trying to imply that he is powerful.
Besides Miguel and possibly Nieder, we should change everyone including Kelsch. I'm sure he is a nice man but if that's the way he has voted in the past, that's the way he will align in the future. He can then run the Sappington house, if approved, and not have any conflict of interest.
This weeks CALL is an interesting example how Crestwood's leadership is putting their collective heads in the sand.
After hearing their City Adm.'s 5 yr plan that outlines the next five years of in the red spending they approve the 2009 budget with it's 2% increase in spending. Then they approve a group of promotions and re create the position of Parks Dept Head. All this done knowing they will have to borrow over $600,000 to balance the 2009 budget. The fact, that the 5 yr plan calls for a 2% increase in spending each year, while showing a decrease of income each year seemed to not effect or raise questions from anyone but Alderman Nieder.
What is going on?
tim
trueblood
Your points are excellent Tim. Excellent. You hit the nail on the head.
Atta boy Tim! Head in the SAND is not quite how I would have said it though, I was thinking of another area!
Tom Ford
Here is an example from Tuesday night's discussion of the budget which demonstrates the board's unwillingness to listen to reason:
Alderman Miguel proposed that the salary for a police department position be removed from the budget since the city administrator indicated that the position would not be filled. Simple enough - why keep it in the budget if it is not going to be used?
Alderman Kelsch asked whether, if the position was removed from the budget, the city could hire someone for that position if the need arose. He was told no, and citing safety concerns he (and the other aldermen) decided not to support Alderman Miguel's proposal.
Alderman Nieder pointed out that should the police department find a need to fill the position at some point in 2009, the police chief could always approach the board and ask for the budget to be amended to allow the new hire.
The board had the opportunity to
trim the budget (knowing that their concern about safety was a non-issue) and still chose NOT to make this cut. What does that tell the taxpayer?
Martha Duchild
"What does that tell the taxpayer?"
That even though they know, due to Staff presenting them the true and correct situation, that the City is in the red, they still spend money like drunken sailors on shore leave.
(No offense meant to Mr. Ford or other sailors, if taken, let the record show, I'm sorry if I offended you.)
It seems they are setting us up for another request for a tax increase.
tim
trueblood
That's exactly what they are doing and why they formed the most recent committe.
I think we should form a committe to to find out exactly why we need so many committes. Do I have a second?
Also, adding department heads, raises, promotions and extra pay for individuals that are not yet qualified. They, the City Adminstrator and BOA, just don't get it.
That's what you get when you hire someone with no experience as an administrator. Of course, no one would be hired that cannot be "controlled". Wait till the new "6" gets in.
"I think we should form a committe to to find out exactly why we need so many committes. Do I have a second?"
You have a second!!!
If anyone reads the Call and honestly believes what is written I feal sorry for them. The Call forgot to print why one of the past Mayors of Crestwood really left office. How can the BOA hire a City Administrator with any education,or backround in that field? If someone thought that Roy Robinson was a bad choice for mayor why didn't anyone run against him?
Any paper that reports using statements in quotes like the CALL is a paper whose report can be trusted to be the truth.
The reason no one ran against Roy is he keep the real condition of the City and its real needs and his mishandling of the City hidden, so no one felt there was a need for change.
How interesting it is shortly after the filing date was passed did Roy revers his pre-filing date positions.
For some one who is upset over a paper forgetting to publish something, you sure have forgotten a lot about Roy's actions in the last 12 months!
I second that!!
11:20 AM blogger: Mr. Trueblood, as a former Sailor I assure you that no offense would ever be taken reference your message!
However if your reference to the "gang of 7" on the Board draws any ire may I suggest that you remind the offended of the words of Mark Twain, "I am loathe to speak ill of any man, but I am forced to say he is a politician!"
Tom Ford
To 1:19 PM Blogger on 12-13.
I have to agree with you. Only the uneducated would believe everything written in the CALL.
1:19 PM, December 13, 2008
Maybe no one wanted the job ... I cannot tell you why Robinson did not have any opposition in the last election.
The problem is...everything written in that article is the TRUTH and FACT.
It's all quotes and exactly what he has said. There is no getting around that fact at all.
Say what you will about everything else...those are undisputed facts.
If you don't belive it then you must also think the governor of Illinois is innocent of any wrongdoing.
8:39 PM blogger: For goodness sake, please do not cloud the issue with "truth and fact!"
His Honor's minions believe what they want to believe. Just wait till they find out he is not Santa Clause, and the elves are just ordinary Alderman.
Tom Ford
I am stunned to read in the Times that the City, under Roy's leadership, has applied for economic stimulus funds proposed by President Elect Barrack H. Obama!
Just like the BIG 3 and BIB Government, need someone eles to bail them out but never make cuts to help themselves.
9:08 AM blogger: "Stunned?" Why this reminds me of the movie "Casablanca," when the police prefect said, " I am shocked, shocked to find gambling going on the the back room!"
Please don't be shocked, it's what socialist liberals resort to when they don't wish to take real responsibility!
In our case, I don't think they are "socialist's" just a "gang of seven" who really have no clue, or don't care what the citizens want, they know what's best for the great UN-washed!
Hold on to your......... this should be quite a ride when reality set's in up there.
Tom Ford
Just exactly what a community down on its luck should do ... pay a new CA 92,000/year and then appoint a bunch of new dept. heads and give everyone a raise. (Is it time to buy a new fleet of cara again?)Thousands of people a day being laid off all over the cities,state, nation and we get largesse fever. A salary nowdays is a blessing, a raise a miracle. Crestwood, ya better smarten up. Tis the time to get wise. This committee is not going to fool a single taxpayer. The pending election is no reason to pass the buck. Get busy aldermen NOW! You weren't elected to collect a salary and let someone else/committee do the dirty work.
Mr. Nieder is the kind of aldermen who uses common sense, but then Crestwood Boards know nothing of common sense, do they? As for Mr. Kelsch, well Ward 2 has had enough of St. E's, Swim Clubbies. His precedessors from there left a bad impression and reputation. Mssrs Pickel and Bland and Kelsch collect their salary and vote in tandem. Anything close to a consensus of opinions with others is considered a miracle. Aldermen are so aloof that no one even attends the meetings any more.What it seems like is that this board likes to pass the city operations and decisions off to a committee of one kind or another.
Employee morale is of course important, so is constituant morale.
Let's face it. The majority of the board have been wimpy. They don't stand up to the mayor when he's hiding things from citizens. They just go along with it to appear like everything's OK. Everything's not OK. Either some aldermen are wimps or just burned out. Guess we'll know when we see who files to run for office in April. It's easy to see why they're in favor of all these committees. They don't want to be bothered to develop ideas and make recommendations that they were elected to make. They want someone else to do it for them so they can say the citizens want these things. Sure, handpicked citizens picked by the board. That's not a reflection of the community at all. The committee is a shell game and passing the buck at its clearest.
It's not easy standing up to his Honor, but it can be done.
You have to believe firmly in what your position is and not back down.
The key is to get him to explain and defend his position instead of allowing him to tear your's down by lumping you into an imaginary underground group that wants Crestwood to fail. Deal with reality not political statements and hold fast to the Charter's position of who runs the City, IE: the Board of Aldermen, not the Mayor.
I find it interesting, in light of the most recent two Board approved committees, that when I asked the Mayor and the then members of the BOA to form an Citizens advisory group to over see how the tax dollars were being spent, I was told by the Mayor that was the Boards job not the citizens. Now we have his honor's blessings on a committee of citizens looking for ways to increase the income of the City. Kind of ironic isn't it?
tim
trueblood
5:41 PM blogger: Well Mr. Tim, it's the "Crestwood way" under the leadership we now have!
If it's not his idea, it must be wrong period!
Please note that the new committee seems to be in direct accord with "His Honor," and as such will miraculously find a real, and present danger" unless a tax increase is enacted, and now!
Tom Ford
It is not the job of a committee to resolve budget issues. It is the job of the BOA. In the case of this BOA, they simply want to pass the buck and let a committee scream FIRE! How lame.This is exactly what is wrong with the city now. No leadership when the chips are down.
9:07 PM blogger: You hit the nail on the head that time!
NO LEADERSHIP in some Wards have lead us down the path of doom for some time now! We have but two Aldermen (Miguel and Nieder) who have tried, and tried to sound the alarm only to be shot down by "His Honor" and others!
Are we going to change this in April? God I hope so!
Tom Ford
Post a Comment
<< Home