A message to first time candidates.

Three  years ago my family, friends, supporters and I embarked on a successful  
political campaign for public office. In hindsight that three years seems  like a
lifetime ago.  It required a lot of hard work not only on my part but  also on the part
of my family, friends and my newly found political  supporters. My goal was a
simple one and that was to reverse the trend in  O'Fallon where the best interest
of a select group of builders and developers were being put before the best
interest of the citizens of O'Fallon. The reversal began in 2004 and I  hoped to
continue the reversal. Many of the problems our city is struggling with today stem
from the decisions made during the Renaud  administration.

In O'Fallon a successful candidate needs to work very hard and have a good
message or have a lot of money. Unfortunately in  O'Fallon the average citizen
does not donate to campaigns. So the candidates who receive the most money
are those who will accept it from special interests. Those special interests give
their money to candidates who will put the special interest needs before the
citizen's. Don't underestimate that.

In O'Fallon, the special interest  that has invested the most money in our elections
have been members of the  Home Builders Association and/or executives from
the companies that are members. Not only do they give directly to candidates but
they also give to Political Action Committees. Committee's like Citizens For
Responsible Community                                           and Citizens for Truth In
Government                                             . These committees in turn invest in these
favored candidates. Another prominent special interest  group has been
Adolphus Busch and his wealthy clan of duck hunters.

Beware new successful candidates. Just because you have you're
constituents and the city's best interest at heart doesn't mean all of your
supporters feel the same way.  Some of them will want to gain personally from
supporting you. If you don't  deliver what they want they may work to destroy you.
At the very least they will turn against you. In others words don't be fooled into
taking the money  from a special interest group even if they tell you they support
the same  things you do.

That's the mistake I made when I took campaign money from  Citizens For
Responsible Community. At that time most of the money for the 2005 election
CFRC received came from Adolphus Busch's duck hunters group.  Since then
CFRC has taken a lot of money from various Homebuilders / Developers. In fact,
some O'Fallon candidates received checks in 2005 from Carl Maus with the
name Hyland Green LLC. To the best of my knowledge no one, including myself,
cashed the checks after learning that Hyland Green was tied to
development/building in O'Fallon. In hindsight one can see what  a good decision
that was in light of the problems O'Fallon now has for issuing building permits for
homes built in Hyland Green on top of a public road.
                                              As well Carl Maus is now the Mayors assistant at city
hall.                

One  of the red flags to look for is someone who takes credit for getting you or
others elected. Unless they have donated tens of thousands of dollars to your
campaign they are full of hot air. If you were the financial underdog in a
successful campaign you got elected because of your hard work and  because of
your position on the issues. Some are a little more subtle and  try to convince by
advising / lobbying you as if you're their best friend. Hyping you as a candidate or
attacks on your opposition in their insignificant publications has very little effect
on your success also. I can list many, many candidates who they supported that
didn't get elected and many candidates they attacked that got re-elected. The
one thing that has always troubled me is the large number of people who involve
themselves in O'Fallon's election who don't live in O'Fallon.

If you refuse the special interest money you will never be considered a part of the
team. Despite the so-called camaraderie your fellow  council members exhibit
with you. They will always feel uncomfortable with  you and will work to eventually
replace you with someone like themselves.  Someone who has accepted the
money. Someone they can trust.

In closing. Take the path less traveled and you won't be sorry. Be alert and stay
on your toes. Go with your gut feeling regardless of what someone with so-called
more experience or a so called political science degree tries to  tell you.
Understand the role ethics play. Be part of the solution and not part of the
problem. Raise the ethical bar for yourself and enjoy the experience. You will
come in contact with some of the best and some of the worst people you will ever
meet in your life.

Good Luck!

Terry Busken
Former  O'Fallon Ward 2  Alderman                    
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