Angry Voters

Reading today's Post-Dispatch, I couldn't help agree with Tony Messenger's article about (R) Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts and the good news for Missouri Republicans. I said I agreed, not that I liked the idea.
Remember 2005. The voters in South County were angry. They had just recently approved a tax increase to improve services for the Mehlville Fire District by a large margin. But just a short while later, they elected "reform" candidates Arron Hilmer and Bonnie "Nod" Stegmann by a large margin. They also elected " reform" candidate Karl Frank, Jr., to the Mehlville School District Board of Directors.
The interesting thing about these candidates is that they are political opposites. Hilmer/Nod is an extreme,anti-tax,tea- bag type, conservative Republican and Frank is a pro-tax, liberal, Democrat.
So how did these diametrically opposed "reform" candidates both get elected at the same time. The answer is anger.
In the fire district race, we had a series of articles by the daily newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reporting on influence by local labor organizations and supposed wasteful spending. In addition, the weekly area newspaper, always ready to get funding from whatever source it can, supported Hilmer. The message was simple. There's waste. Save your tax money,vote for me. To top that off, Republican state legislators saw to it that St. Louis County's re-assessment notices were mailed just days prior to the election.
All the while, Frank, supported by the same weekly paper with absolutely no ethics, was saying the same exact thing. There's waste. Save your tax money. Vote for me.

Since that election, we have seen the opposite approach to public governance. Hilmer will not spend a nickel more more, or even a quarter less, to maintain emergency services for our area.* Unless of course, one of his buddies like Rep. Mike Leara or the Hendricks Family can make a hundred grand off of it.

Frank on the other hand, doesn't mind the risk of bankruptcy for either the school district or his family. Frank hasn't met a tax dollar he couldn't spend. Hell, if the district doesn't have the money, borrow it.

What do these men have in common? They were elected by anger, not common sense.

Mehlville School District Awards

At the school district’s annual award’s ceremony last evening, Cindy Christopher, Tom & Mary Jane Correnti and I were presented with the Distinguished Service Awards.

I’m not a big fan of awards. They’re nice, but receiving them is always a bit awkward. I’m sure there are many deserving volunteers out there haven’t had anyone spend the time to submit an awards package. I admit that it’s nice to be recognized for service to your community, especially when I was chosen for the same award last year. When I received a call last Friday from the district’s Community Relations’ Department informing me of my award, I told them I’d be there.

Imagine my surprise to receive the following e-mail from Mehlville School Board member Karl Frank, Jr. on Wednesday, the day before the awards’ ceremony.

Cindy, Mike, and Tom,
I know I am the last person you ever care to hear from on issues such as this, but I am writing with a request. Let me first say that I can really care less about the Distinguished Service Award, and whether or not you guys receive the award. I do what I do for the outcome, not the recognition, which is why all of my awards and certificates are in a box in my storage room downstairs.I know that you did not solicit recognition from the district either. I know that you were nominated by a supporter or supporters and the committee, upon which I served, scored those nominations the highest of the other seven nominations. Therefore, you are the winners of the DSA.What I am writing to ask you is that you consider refusing the award, not on my behalf, or on the behalf of other board members, but on behalf of progress for the Mehlville School District. Cindy, you were always the first to say that this is about the children, and it is, especially this request. While if we operated in a bubble, and had all of the funding we needed, and the greatest of personnel in place to educate the children of our community, things would be a lot easier, but as you know, we do not. We do not operate, nor educate, in a vacuum.Right or wrong, your acceptance of the DSA will cost this district an enormous amount of political capital, and that is not capital for my sake, or the boards sake. It is a political capital that has been built over time that has allowed us to communicate our message of education effectively, and is largely responsible for our ability to secure an additional $5 million a year for operations. All I am asking is that we set personalities aside, to be magnanimous, and to truly put the district ahead of all of our needs. Please don't reject this idea out of hand. Think on it for a little bit. Weigh the pluses and minuses.I hope that you will see this the way that I do for all of our benefit.Sincerely,Karl-- Karl Frank, Jr.karlfrankjr@gmail.comOwner - Karl Frank, Jr. Consultantshttp://www.karlfrankjr.comDirector - Mehlville Board of Educationhttp://mehlville.karlfrankjr.comCell. - 314.518.7352

Karl was right about one thing. He the last person I care to hear from! I wish our school board all the luck, but with Karl aboard, they’re going to need it.

Farewell Patrick Wallace

The new Mehlville School Board was at work less than an hour and fired their first person, the district's public relations man Patrick Wallace. This wasn't unexpected as Karl Frank , Jr. has made his intentions known that he wanted Wallace fired prior to joining the school board three years ago. Frank thought that Wallace had campaigned for someone else in his first attempt for the board. During Frank's tenure as a school board member, he has also sought to fire Wallace for his refusal to violate copyright laws. Wallace would not authorize the Call Newspapers to print the MHS senior picture without permission from the owner.

Mehlville Budget Forum Postponed Till After the Election

I am not afraid to put myself where my decisions are. How can we be public officials and not be willing to stand up to oversight and scrutiny? It comes with the territory. It is part of the job...and yes; it is part of being child-centered. Thank you,
Karl Frank, Jr.
Vice-President Mehlville Board of Education.

On March 7, the Mehlville School Board was told that their budget’s balance projections in just two years are 2.9 % below what’s allowed by law. They held a candidate forum on March 10th and no disclosure was made of the problem. No mention was made of the dismal budget projection at the school board meeting held on March 13th. The board didn't even discuss the problem before they met in an emergency closed session meeting on March 25th, yet they demoted their chief financial officer. They scheduled a forum to discuss the budget crisis on April 1st. They postponed that discussion and meeting. The district will hold an election on April 8th. The board will meet to reorganize on April 16th with their new board members. The board plans to hold their rescheduled budget forum on April 19th. It will be a month and twelve days after the board was informed about the impending budget problem before they plan to discuss it.

Mr. Karl Frank, Jr., are oversight and scrutiny just buzzwords to you?