Ad Check: Ridolfi is for the old guard but not

I'm completely confused by the Ridolfi campaign. Her Localite ad denounces the current administration for not taking appropriate actions. But, Schneider's adjacent ad says he received an endorsement letter from her.

Which is it Lisa? The mayor is causing the city to fall behind? Or, he should be re-elected? You can't have it both ways.

Police: Cop charged in man's death had pushed him down steps

Crap!
This isn't good news.
Thoughts go out to the families involved.

Voter Guide now on the Post-Dispatch website

The Voter Guide is now on the Post-Dispatch's website.

It provides a brief biographical sketch and the candidate's top three priorities. (Though some people seemed to list at least 5 things for their top three priorities.)

http://elections.post-dispatch.com/voter/stlouiscounty.asp

Overland is about midway down on the page.

Here's a Story....

It's not about man named Brady.

But a man named Schneider. And a man named Dills. And a former Public Works Director.

The PW director was what we might call "highly qualified". He had a PhD in Engineering. He had great ideas. He wanted Overland to be a success.

Id been wondering what happened to the Public Works Director as I hadnt seen him around in a while. Here's the scoop I got from a friend of Les Dills.

Les had a buddy that wanted to buy the old IGA (on Lackland near Simms).

Les asked the PW Director to inspect the building and detail everything that was wrong with the purpose that the buddy could go to the seller and demand a discount. Or, basically, the PW department was Les and his buddy's personal inspection and bullying service.

Les and the PW Director get into a discussion about this situation one day. The discussion comes to a stand still. They were not going to come to an agreement. So, realizing the standstill and in an effort to get on with his work, the PW Director asked Les to leave his office.

Les was not going to stand for not getting an immdiate real estate deal for his buddy. He went crying to Schneider.

Now, Schneider had his own issues with the PW Director. See, the PW Director wasn't much for incompetence in his department. And incompetence he had in the friend of Schneider, Sherry Middlecamp.

Now to keep you up with this, Sherry is the friend of Mike's he had hired by the Police Department. The Police Deparment was too serious of an area to put up with her ineptitude. So, instead of firing Sherry they fire someone in Public Works and give her that job. The Public Works Director wanted a professional department. So, in a professional manner he tried to deal with Sherry. To the point he attempted to write her up several times. Each time, Schneider stopped the process. His friend needed a job, so much so that he was willing to risk Overland's future on making sure she had one.

All of this comes together and Schneider attempts to fire the Public Works Director. Those of you paying attention in the Pruzner era, remember that isn't really a power of the Mayor. He must consent with the City Council.

Eventually, Schneider strong arms his way with the council and has the highly qualified Public Works Director fired.

So, where does that leave Overland?

Many businesses who were considering coming to Overland immediately withdrew their plans. (This includes Dunking Donuts--a store that caused quite a stir when they opened in Kirkwood today. That could've been us. We could've been a contender.)

Any resident, business owner, and potentional resident/business owner now has to deal with the ineffective and incompetent Sherry Middlecamp to deal with Public Works. Another reason Overland is going nowhere fast.

Overland once again has an anti-new-business reputation with real estate agents, developers, and future business owners.

Nice work Schneider and Dills!

It must be Spring, because the Flip-Flops are here!

Shocked to see that the agenda for last Monday's meeting included a revisit of the Respionsible Contractor ordinance. This ordinance was first passed in 2008. Then, last September was repealed by a 5-3 vote.

Among the 5 voting to repeal were Les Dills and Tim Jones. So, not only shocking to see that the subject is coming up again but shocked that it is Dills and Jones who brought the proposal to the table.

It's On. It's Off. It's On. It's Off. It's enough to keep any contractor away from Overland. It's enough to give the people of Overland whiplash.

Luckily, the issue was tabled. As it should be. It's obviously very controversial and it was never workshopped. But, then again when is ANYTHING being workshopped anymore. These guys are running on cruise control.

Team Player or YesMan?

I spit out my coffe when I read Lisa Ridolfi's current Localite Ad. Her big push seems to be that she is a "team player". But, what exactly does that mean?

One can only assumes that she will just be a rubber stamp for whatever the establishment puts in front of her.

Do we really need another city council member without a mind of their own?

MT mayor with an MT ad

Now that the new Localite is out and election season seems to be in full swing, it is time to start dissecting those advertisments.

First up, the empty mayor: MT Schneider.

His March localite ad seems to be as empty as his time in office. The ad, like the candidate, lacks substance or any campaign issues. It just shows he and his wife and talking about what a great time they are having as Mayor and First Lady of Overland.

I guess if MT Schneider hasn't done anything AND isn't planning on doing anything, his ad should reflect that (and it does).