I’m sitting here in the audience at the start of O’Fallon’s twice-monthly City Council meeting, and City Administrator Robert Lowery Jr. is still persona non grata.
Lowery’s name plate has been removed from the dias, and Assistant City Administrator Greg Smothers has been sitting in Lowery’s chair.
The council put Lowery on paid administrative leave in January and city officials have refused to say why.
The Post-Dispatch published a story in yesterday’s edition recapping much of the recent brangling at City Hall. (Brangling. Look it up.)
Should the City Council take action on Lowery’s job or continue allowing him to collect a paycheck ($141,000 yearly) while staying home?
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Francis Howell my have fired the principal, however they are left with the sister, the patron. I have been an educator for over 29 years. My mother just retired from the profession after teaching 50 years. Our family are consumate educators. So why would Shelley jeopardize her career by simply warning a child caught smoking pot? There is no plausible reason. She is not crazy, student-centered, but is of sound mind. Francis Howell has been described by a non-educator in this fashion, “a clique of bullies, without leadership to stand up to the bullies.” Just the leaders we want fashioning the minds of our children.
There is a crime in this situation–I have to pay taxes to this clique…
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We all know that the O’Fallon city government is a joke (Hopefully with the upcoming election things will change). The question is why it is a joke. I would like to propose that one reason is the fact that they act like a bunch of kids in high school. What is with covering up someone’s name plate with a sign or even removing it? Who cares if there is an empty seat? Do you really think someone is going to see that and say “Wow, I wonder where so in so is?” The whole idea of pretending that reality doesn’t exist is something that O’Fallon needs to get past. Secondly, perhaps there should be term limits for mayor and council members. It seems like most of the folks in those positions are in it mainly for personal gain instead of serving their city. Finally, we should create a position whose job it is to stand up in front of the council and remind them that they are acting like a bunch of knuckleheads whenever it is needed. I don’t know about everyone else but I’m tired of paying the high tax rates I pay only to have low brow representation and being laughed at by our neighbors.
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To the Moderator:
While Mr. Lowery is an “employee at will”, there are overiding state statutes that come into play concerning government employees. Keeping a lawsuit out of the picture is where the Council is heading. I do not agree with “paying someone off”. If there is enough evidence to oust him, then make it so.
The intimidation of some of the City staff is another issue that I wish would come into full disclosure.
I still am asking, “If a Council person was doing something illegal, why hasn’t that surfaced in detail?” Smoke and mirrors is all that I see comming from the Morrow, Lowery, Conley group. Thank the Lord that April is approaching (and not soon enough).
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Hey Get Real I won’t try to guess who you are but what in my previous post wasn’t factual?
Are you saying the following?
a) Smothers would stick his neck out for Morrow and Lowery and be so stupid to hire Carl Maus for economic development?
b) Do you think if that happened the council wouldn’t be upset?
c) And are you saying that Carl Maus’s committee (Citizens For Responsible Community) didn’t help finance Donna Morrow’s campaign?
Your attempt to discredit people who know the truth will do you little good. You post make little sense but it’s obvious your seething of hatred and fear.
It’s time for the reckoning, man up.
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I think Get Real should get back to work and stop wasting the taxpayers money by playing politics. I think the City Council should have the computer department run some diagnostic review and report back to the Council who has been posting on blogs during work time. I suspect Smothers may have some answering to do. The unreal hatred toward Shipper and Busken is because they made him very uncomfortable about his blind following of Bob. Smothers will eventually pay for his allegiance to the Bob. I think the Council should review Smothers handling of the trash system. What a complete debacle. Has any other municipality ever depreciated the value of a trash truck? They don’t pay taxes on it, so why would you ever need to depreciate anything on the City budget?
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I have known the Lowery family for years.I wish I knew what is really going on in that administration .No as far as the salary is concerned.Why collect a pay check if your not there????
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I just read that Smothers may be apppointed as the economic developer by Morrow on her way out the door. Okay, let’s review the “economic development” record of the Morrow administration. They gave up BaratHaven out of spite, losing tax revenue for the city. What else? Can’t think of anything. So Smothers will continue the city on its path of self-destruction. It would be great for the surrounding cities if Smothers is appointed, as O’Fallon will continue to run development off. But at least Adolphus Busch will be happy! Gotta keep the super-rich smilin’!
By the way, I wonder if Steve Ehlmann will swear in the next mayor? As you may recall, he did the swearing-in for Mayor Morrow. I don’t know why, but he did. I wonder if he regrets that? Well, at least he didn’t swear in Shawn Brown.
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Getnby is the Quitter Shipper.
Erasr is the Quitter Busken.
Both trash talk, always have.
Neither produces facts.
Go figure.
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Would Smothers be so stupid to stick his neck out for Morrow and Lowery. Both whom are on their way out. I think if Smothers hired Maus it would upset the council very much. Let’s not forget who Carl Maus is, His committee helped financed Donna Morrows campaign.
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Smothers knows he is on the way out also and will do whatever he can to protect his job in the short term. The new mayor, which will be Hennessy, will then go in and clear house. If he doesnt, he will constantly be undercut by members of staff. Lowery knows that his demise is inevitable also. He is trying to set himself up for additional money during his ‘transition’. I am sure the City will move forward under Hennessy, but believe me, I am no fan of his (the others will be much worse). I would love to see a video of Bob being escorted out of City Hall. I also think that the current administration should be investigated for wrongdoing and actually prosecuted.
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Lowery is not there but still pulling the strings. See Morrow wants her aide, Carl Maus, picked to be the city’s Economic Developer. She knows Maus is out of job when she leaves. So to keep him and Adolphus Busch happy she wants him in a City Job that will keep employed after April. She is telling Lowery to tell Smothers to hire Maus this week. The burning of the City as she exits is in full swing. Maus has no credentials to be in Economic Development much less in charge.
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God save us all if Lowery returns. If Lowery come back he will feel very empowered. The terror will just be starting. The city did not seem mind firing others and then paying settlements. At least Lowery would be some other poor municipalities problem.
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Brangling is not in Webster’s dictionary. If Robert lowery Jr. needs ajob maybe daddy cab get him one in Florissant.
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Hi Jim.
You are, of course, completely correct. Except that you aren’t.
Mr. Lowery, Jr. can be “unappointed” at will (unappointed? deappointed? have an appointedectomy?). All the council needs to do is make up their minds one way or the other, and actually DO something.
You know what? What if they offered Mr. Lowery the same deal that was offered to former Chief of Police Schulte? Offer him cash to leave “voluntarily” or he’s out with nothing.
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What amazes me is all of the vitriolic comments concerning this issue.
If the Council feels that there might be a reason(s) for dismissing the City Administrator, then it is in the interest of the citizens for them to do their due dilligence in investigating this and come to a logical conclusion. Unfounded (and not stated) allegations of a “Council person” lead me to wonder what is really going on.
Putting someone on administrative leave while an indepth process is proceeding is not only protecting the city but Mr. Lowery at the same time. From what I read and hear, this is not cut and dried as would be if there were a felony committed this is performance based.
There are issues here that are both personal and personnel in nature. They do not need to be debated in the media in fairness to all concerned.Give the process a chance and then live with the outcome.
I have my own opinion as to what I hope the outcome will be, but it is not up to me, it is up to the individuals whom we elected to office. I trust and hope that their decision will be what is best for the city.
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Perhaps “brangling at City Hall” would have been better. I probably won’t use the word in conversation ever, but at least I, too, learned a new word. Thanks to copyeditor June Heath!
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Make a decision either way, dragging this out is silly and only causes further speculation that it is only a political power play. If you have cause fire him, if you don’t bring him back and move on for the next two months. Let the next council and mayor hire someone to their choosing and hopefully it will be someone that can move the city forward .
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Of course the Council should take action on Lowery. I would be for a very open and public hearing so that the citizens of O’Fallon could hear why Bob Lowery should be fired. Anyone who hears the evidence will wonder what took them so long to fire this guy.
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So that WAS you in the front row last night. You and your laptop.
But about the meeting and the appearance of Mr. Smothers. At least this time there was someone in the chair. At the last city council meeting, Mr. Lowery’s name plate was (intentionally or not) covered by the C.E.R.T. sign.
I think you may have misused “brangle”. To quote June Heath, the copy editor that chose to use the word:
“… I then thought of “brangle,” which is defined in our Webster’s unabridged dictionary (2nd ed.) as “to dispute contentiously; to squabble.” The word “squabble” would also have been acceptable, but not quite angry enough, with a connotation of fighting over something petty (”to quarrel noisily over a small matter; wrangle”). The issues in the story aren’t petty.”
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-editors-desk/the-editors-desk/2009/02/copy-editor-explains-using-brangle-in-headline/
Substituting either of the discarded alternatives – wrangle or squabble – causes the sentence to fall apart, does it not? I believe a more accurate use would be, “The Post-Dispatch published a story in yesterday’s edition recapping much of the recent brangling at City Hall.”
I brangle, he brangles, they brangled, we are brangling. Well, we could be brangling if this is taken too seriously.
But I could be mistaken.
See you in two weeks.
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