CU (see you) at the CA Workshop?

Hello and Happy Wednesday everyone!

In case you were not aware, there is a council workshop meeting this Tuesday (12/4) at 6:30 in the council chambers at City Hall. The sole topic is the City Administrator position and ordinance.

I was at the meeting Monday and Julie Stone from E-W stated it was a typical ordinance.

Which leads me to ask what needs to be changed? I remember Owensby stating he wanted to weaken the position so that Ol' Empty could have more power.

But, exactly what changes would they want to make?

Council Clusterf***

Last night’s meeting was long. Most of that can be attributed to a long, drawn-out debate over a St Louis County’s Traffic and Highway proposal for Midland Blvd.

The proposal is being made due to the Hwy 40 construction. St Louis County is estimating that traffic on Midland will increase from 15-20% during the construction. Here is what they proposed:


Burns and Midland:
Remove the stop sign on eastbound Midland at Burns. This will allow for smoother flow of traffic.
Because of the limited sight distance at that intersection, they would like to make Burns one-way between Midland and Holtwood (southbound only). Thus, you could only turn onto Burns from Midland, but won't be able to get to Midland from Burns.

W Milton and Midland
They would like to remove the four-way stop and replace it with a traffic light.


Regarding the latter proposal, I personally believe it would be better if they just made it a two-way stop (for Milton traffic). The four-way stop was a good idea when Legion pool was still up and running. Now, that intersection really shouldn’t be treated any different than the others. Also, Midland is pretty straight there, so sight lines should not be an issue.

Now the other issue (Burns and Midland) is bit more contentious. The owner of Carol’s Corner spoke and thought this might be damaging to her business. Council members questioned if this could be kept two-way but limited to right turn only on Midland (not advisable because of sight concerns).

The council also brought up that they were not happy that this was coming to them at the last minute. However, these changes are minor considering some of the MAJOR changes made to some roads to facilitate the Hwy 40 project.

I am not sure if they thought the one-way was a bad idea (heck it’s good enough for Our Redeemer and All Souls on Sunday) or if they were just punishing the guy because they felt slighted. Whatever their thoughts, it was voted down unanimously.

Empty Schneider said he has to “look out for the residents and businesses” of the community. Doesn’t “looking out” include making travel through the city quick and efficient? Does “looking out” for businesses meaning pandering to one of his buddies (Carol’s Corner)?

I, personally, do not feel that this will hurt any business. Usually businesses are hurt when there is construction directly at the entrance to/from their business (think about the seemingly never-ending Lackland Road project). People will hesitate to drive through construction as it may damage tires and their autos. However, I hardly think people will shun Carol’s Corner because they may have to go around the block to either arrive or leave.

Another concern is how this appears. It makes it look as if Overland is completely uncooperative with other government entities. We have looked fool-hardy enough in the recent past (probably a reason County wasn’t rushing to come over here) and thsi follishness continued with voting this down yesterday.

The Good Ol' Boys and Chuckie Baby

Just when one thinks that there is an end to the "Good Ol' Boy" system at city hall, one attends the council meeting last night and discovers otherwise.

At the end of the meeting (new business?), Les Dills asks that the council give Chuck Boone a raise for doing duties as PW Director. Tim "I never met a good ol' boy I don't like" Jones couldn't second the motion fast enough.

Now, mind you, there was no mention of how much of an increase. There was no mention if this was a temporary salary adjustment until the city actually hires a qualified and competent Public Works Director.

Conlon correctly mentioned that the city should wait until a CA is in place, along with a comprehensive Human Resources policy, before adjusting any salaries.

This was voted to bring up at a future workshop meeting.

City Administrator search toddles along

At the last workshop meeting (11/19), MT Schneider announced that there would be a workshop meeting on Tuesday, December 4 where the sole topic would be the hiring of a City Administrator.

Before this was announced Owensby asked if anyone can apply for the job. Of course, anyone--qualified or not--is welcome to apply for any job in America. Whether they should be given due consideration is another story.

However, the most distressing thing was Ol' Empty promising that ALL candidates/applicants will be reviewed by the ENTIRE council.

What?!

1. What is the point of E-W Gateway?
Are we not engaging their services to do the preliminary legwork and weed through all the nonsense, unqualified candidates.

2. What is our guarantee that the process will be apolitical if our entire council gets to vett all applicants?

3. What is to stop a completely unqualified candidate (ala Frank Munsch) from being considered?

4. What is to stop each and every one of us from applying for the job?

More City Hall Incompetence

The agenda for tomorrow's meeting has yet to be posted on the city hall website. This is in direct violation of Judge Sherry's order regarding meetings of the city council.

Considering some of the "last minute deals" pushed through before, we have plenty of reasons to be leery of the hiding of this agenda.

Ol' Empty pretends to be above the law all the time. But, does he really think he is above a judge's order that stated meeting notices and agendas must be posted online, too?

Overland, For What Are You Thankful?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. A day we set aside to stuff ourselves with food and pass out on the couch watching football. We also take time to ponder on those things for which we are grateful.

As an Overlander, for what are you thankful?

I'll start:

I am thankful that next year Owensby's term is up and there is that possibility that he will be voted out. I think this is likely this year because Owensby has embraced those things he previously ran against. Ward 3 people will remember.

Speed Trap City we are NOT

A story in the Journal shows that we are surrounded by cities listed on a NATIONAL speed trap registry:

Based on an online poll by the NMA and from comments submitted by motorists, the area's top speed-trap sites are in Charlack, St. John, Edmundson, Woodson Terrace, Bel-Ridge and Breckenridge Hills. Overland did not make the list.

Perhaps if it works for those cities, we should get in on the action! ha!

Wag the Dog Workshop

For those that missed the pop-up on the City Hall website:

There will be a COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING on November 19, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

Topics for discussion:

• Employee Insurance Benefits
• City Liability Insurance

I have heard that the city clerk has stated that the Benefits/Insurance issues are priority items and need to be passed by the next city council meeting (Monday, 11/26). If it was so priority why wasn't it brought up at the last workshop meeting? Is this like PoolPro where we wait to the last minute to discuss issues so that they are rammed down the throat of the citizens (without proper debate)?

Where's the CA discussion? I am disturbed that this is missing since the council voted to have a workshop meeting dedicated to this discussion at the beginning of the month. This was the perfect opportunity. All other pending items for the 11/26 were discussed at the previous workshop session (11/5). Is this urgency of insurance/benefits a ploy to keep the CA issue off the agenda?

I have a feeling that this is a case of the tail wagging the dog.

Or, perhaps another case of inefficiency at city hall. As in, "why are we always waiting until the last minute to do these things"?

CA Arguments

You know I am a girl who likes to broaden my horizons as well as one who likes to keep my finger on the pulse of what is happening. As part of that, I am a regular reader of Tony Messenger of the Springfield News-Leader. This allows me to read about Missouri news without a St. Louis slant.

While on the News-Leader site tonight, I came across the following: "City Should Cast for Top Talent". It gives some good arguments on the case for professional management, including how it is not only worth the salary but worth the money spent on the search.

Will You Tolerate a Watered-Down CA?

Next Monday, November 19, the city is to have a workshop meeting. I assume it will be the one that concentrates on the City Administrator position.

One thing they want to do is review the ordinances. I can only assume this is to water-down the qualifications and/or responsibilities.

Do you want an over-paid office manager or do you want someone who will lead the city foward?

Do you want someone that the people and the city council can hold accountable for what is happening at city hall? Or, do you want just another position filled, with no real meat to the job?

Sometime this week, take the time to write your city council member and let them know how you feel about the CA position?

Oh, by the way....they finally established those city e-mail addys for the council members:

Ward 1
eediecumanale@overlandmo.org
jerrymay@overlandmo.org

Ward 2
marybethconlon@overlandmo.org
jeffoconnell@overlandmo.org

Ward 3
peggykeller@overlandmo.org
kenowensby@overlandmo.org

Ward 4
timjones@overlandmo.org
lesdills@overlandmo.org

UK or US?

Exactly why does Man About Town/Rich Knode post their YouTube videos on the UK version instead of the US version?

If he is such an anglo-file, perhaps we can change Knode's name to "Spotted Dick".

Coming Soon to an "Empty" Mailbox

According to this story in the Post, the Missouri Ethics Commission will soon be sending letters to MT Schneider and his ilk as part of their investigation of over-the-limit campaign contributions.

The article states that the investigations will be held "off the record" until the case is finalized. However, even if "ol' Empty" claims a hardship for his pre-July 19 contributions, there is no disputing his post-July 19 over-the-limit contributions are illegal.

C'mon Empty! Do the right thing and give back those donations! Or, do you have to wait until the Missouri Ethics Commission FORCES you to do the right thing?

PoolPro: Dead or Not

Please read this story in the today's Post. Reading this makes one think that the Pool Pro thing is not dead. If it is not dead:

Was MT Schneider lying to the Journal, who reported with quotes from him that it was dead?

Was the lie about PoolPro NOT coming a diversionary tactic to keep those opposed from organizing any effort to keep them from coming?

I truly hope that the Post is just behind on reporting this issue, but....

DillsProof

Someone on chat posted the following:

Also, there is some talk about Councilman Dills and his comment about folks going to the boat therefore not paying for trash.....is there any recording of this or is this strictly hearsay???

While we may make fun, we really don't post gossip as content for this blog. The post by Nellie provided a link to the video. In addition, Rich Knode was there taping the workshop, if you don't trust Sailor's version.

I guess we could make it real easy. I was previously provided with audio and divided out Owensby's Munsch comment. I used the same audio and divided out Dill's comments.

He pretty much says "people can't pay their trash here, but are paying Maryland Height's trash out at the boat". Audio of this is here.

Dills: Hypocrisy or Slime?

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to watch Sailor's video of the October 29 City Council workshop. During the debate on how to help those who cannot pay for their trash, Les Dills states something about people were "spending their trash money at the boat".

Casinos! Yes, that is the reason why no one can pay their trash bill. It's not the rising cost of living, the lowering of wages in comparison. It's not that gas has been over $2.50/gallon for months. It's not the skyrocketing cost of healthcare, including prescription meds. It's not like we haven't seen an abundance of foreclosures in North County. No, sir--according to Les Dills it's because of slots!

(Someone cue the "It's the economy, stupid")


I just find the whole thing ironic, considering the man had to be bullied into paying his property taxes by those on this blog and the Contrarian's. Maybe ironic isn't the correct word is the word I am looking for here. Perhaps HYPOCRISY is better!

Here are some experienced folks!

According to a story on KMOX this morning, University City is laying off 21 employees. Surely some of those folks had positions similar to those in which we are hiring.
Surely this would be a better alternative than the "watering down of qualifications to hire friends of Empty" plan we got going now.

The Suburban Journal as Empty's PR Firm

Every week, I am amazed by the Suburban Journal and their blind efforts of just printing whatever MT Schneider tells them as fact.
This week's case in point--buried within the News Briefs section--is a story about the pool company pulling out of the Midland property. It's about mid-way down the page under the Overland heading.

While the story details about the child care in the near vicinity, there is no mention of Cold Water Creek that abuts the property or the many residents within a square block of this property. Both of these were major objections during the meeting. Also, no mention about the outside storage tanks of cholorine--oustide storage that is prohibited by city ordinance.

MT hopes we can find another developer. Hopefully, this time he will not just use a "development for development's sake" take, but use some common sense about appropriate businesses to locate in that plot of land.