Irony and Hubris in Lake St. Louis

Lake St. Louis has just voted to open up their checkbook. At the Board of Alderman meeting tonight, Monday March 2nd, the Board voted  5-2 to authorize spending taxpayer dollars to retain attorneys for a lawsuit against....voters. 

It still seems a bit surreal to me. My jaw still seems to be stuck open. The Acting Mayor took great pains to explain that it was not about Red Light Cameras. They say they have no intention of installing the money-making cameras. 

Instead, says Mayor Shweikert, it is about not letting anyone tell them what they cannot do. Not even their citizens. THEY run the city, and no little citizens or voters are going to tell them what to do. 

So they are suing the voters, 73% of whom voted to change the County Charter to forbid Red Light Cameras. It is not about cameras, it is about power. And hubris. 

I think I may have been the only attendee not there in an official capacity. To say the Board of Alderman meeting was sparsely attended would be an understatement. Perhaps people already see the futility. Perhaps they believe the old adage that you can't fight city hall. Maybe they are unaware or just don't care. 

Whatever the reason, it is tragic. The irony is incredible.  My city is taxing its citizens and then spending that tax money on attorneys to sue those very citizens for having the audacity to try to control their government. 

The vote was not unanimous. After the meeting I thanked the two rational members of the Board, Tony Zito and Jason Law. Kudos to them for doing the right thing. 

The other five aldermen are listed below. 

These folks voted to use our tax money to sue us. If you get a chance, look them up and let them know what you think of that. And perhaps we should all start attending these meetings.