Exposing Corruption, Injustices and the Truth.
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| O'Fallon Watchdog |
Exposing Corruption, Injustices and the Truth.
Morrow Flexes Muscle - Could It Be, ‘The Pipeline Lady Is Back?’
By Mary Ann O'Toole Holley
Mid Rivers Newsmagazine
Well before the fallout from the failed coup to annex the St. Charles County Research Park and Busch Wildlife,
some residents were reacting to O’Fallon Mayor Donna Morrow’s renewed demeanor saying the “Pipeline Lady
is back.” At the O’Fallon City Council meeting held earlier this month, there was no doubt: The O’Fallon chain of
command has shifted — again.
Morrow acquired the nickname after gaining a reputation as an outspoken opponent of high-pressure pipelines
built in Winghaven’s residential areas and ran for mayor on a platform of “open and honest government.” At the
last council meeting, Morrow chided City Administrator Bob Lowery Jr. for moving forward with the annexation
without her knowledge and the knowledge of the majority of the council. The Mayor campaigned on the
dangers of high pressure petroleum pipelines yet she has done nothing as Mayor to increase the safety to our
citizens from these hazards. If the Mayor is serious about open and honest government the why does she
allow the city to charge $17,000 for public records? If the mayor is sincere she should provide the information
requested at a reasonable fee and inline with the Missouri sunshine law.
She put Council President Pro-Tem Bill Hennessy in his place when he referenced himself as “president,” and
asked for clarification from City Attorney Kevin O’Keefe that the president pro-tem does not chair City Council
meetings, except in the absence of the mayor — blocking a trend former President Pro Tem Peter Cantwell
boldly took. Mayor, let Bill Hennessy chair as many meetings as he wants. He often comes across as
suffering some type of self-induced impairment and is very entertaining to watch. Not to mention provides
material for the watchdog.
Since the meeting, she has taken another step asking Lowery to submit a daily journal of who he meets with and
what he discusses.
“I have not had any private words with Mr. Lowery because I have learned that working in a possibly hostile
environment, you have to make sure you have your T’s crossed and I’s dotted,” Morrow said in a one-on-one
exclusive interview with MRN. “I have been betrayed and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with that.” The
Mayor is absolutely right about the hostile work environment as a matter of fact the city is being sued in
Federal Court by two former employees because of it. The Mayor has betrayed her allies in the past so it
should come to no surprise to her that she would be subject to betrayal at some point herself.
Morrow said Lowery and Hennessy violated the rules of protocol, courtesy and structure of the government in
their actions with the annexation.
“I have an oath of office, and what disturbs me is Bob Lowery (before the annexation controversy) sent an email
to all elected officials after meeting with Councilman Bill) Hennessy. It was also sent to media outlets, and
Hennessy spoke with five other members of the council. Why wasn’t I spoken with?” Morrow said. “Mr. Lowery is
not following state statues in terms of council president pro tem, and is not respecting that five council members
need to be informed and make a decision.” Isn’t it about time our public officials put their personal agenda’s
aside and begin working together to solve the cities many problems? How about it Bill and Bob?
Morrow said she wants taxpayers to know how their money is being spent and what directions are being given.
She wants the City Council to stand behind direction, but now, she and several council members say they don’t
know that they can trust staff to work in the best interest of taxpayers.
“Maybe that’s what underlies this whole situation. I have been a resident of O’Fallon for more than seven years.
Lowery has been a resident for a little over a year. I understand the past, present and future, as do the majority of
the council,” Morrow said. “I don’t know that Lowery really understands the obligations from the past and where
we are right now. All of us don’t earn the salary he earns. I’m having a hard time as a single woman trying to stay
afloat in O’Fallon, and I’m not the only one. The median income in O’Fallon is $60,000. We need to think with that
mindset. Where residents are the loudest and strongest is in my hands and the council’s hands, and we need to
think of it in that light.”
The Busch wildlife annexation issue cost taxpayers in funding with legal fees, staff wages and mailings, and
when it was over, it was a fiasco that left the majority of council scratching their heads, asking how did we get
here, she said. Lets not forget the embarrassment to our city this issue has caused. What’s even more
amazing after Bob Lowery and Bill Hennessy wrongfully created this mess without the consent of the Mayor
and the rest of the Council. They then decided to make yet the decision not to annex without consulting the
rest of the Council.
“I think this new direction is a case of the pendulum. When I came in the city was in the hands of the residents.
We had stopped concessions, evaluated annexations, etc. Then the pendulum swung the other way, where the
council said we have to develop, plan for the future, not get hemmed in,” Morrow said. “Now after the elections in
April, I feel we have middle-of-the-road, experienced councilmen who have been in and gotten their feet wet. I’ve
been in office two years, now the pendulum is in good method, and we can begin honest discussion as long as
the council has full awareness of issues. They need to start looking at each issue is a battle, and we need to be
focused on each issue and deal with it. We need to start questioning what has been done in the past, and has it
been done correctly. I think the council realizes we need to fully evaluate things.” This may be wishful thinking
since we only have one new councilmen after the April election. We are seeing way to many 6-2, 5-3 votes
mostly on issues that promotes Bill Hennessy’s agenda and his campaign supporters.
There was a period, however, when Morrow seemed to be taking the backseat on issues, allowing Lowery to
take the lead. Morrow had, for a long period, been conspicuously silent.
“A lot of it was that I was in the minority,” Morrow said in the one-on-one interview with MRN. “I had a council that
was being controlled by others, and I was very disappointed that the councilmen wouldn’t have open and honest
discussions with me. Some of the information, I did find out, but unfortunately, since I had new members in, they
weren’t necessarily getting the story of how things had evolved.”
Morrow said since then, opinions and communications with some council members has changed.
“I think Busch wildlife has brought home the idea for a need for full, honest communication. I think this is where
they (the council) realize they want to do their jobs right, and to get background information they’re starting to
table things for further discussion because council packets and background information are being given to them
at the last minute,” Morrow said. “That is a big concern. I don’t think each of the councilmen is showing respect to
the other councilmen.” Morrow distinctly remembers former Councilman Peter Cantwell’s lament of “rational,
responsible and respectable government,” a mantra that became Cantwell’s response to a prior board who
fought adamantly against some issues and often held heated debates at council meetings. Interesting enough
despite Peter Cantwell’s mantra. He was anything but rational, responsible and respectable. Makes you
question anything that came out of his mouth. It's Peter's way or the highway. Let’s not forget his role in the
Busch Wildlife annexation and the Mall development failure at Hwy D & DD. No wonder the citizens of ward
three sent him packing.
“Rational, responsible and respectable government? The problem was some council members were letting one
side convince them of the argument without hearing from the other side,” Morrow said. “Somebody came in and
was trying to build future greatness for the city, and they had the council thinking they could do that. When the
budget meeting took place in October, they started seeing how really tight things are in the city. They got calls for
guard rails, street repairs, and they started seeing things were tight.” What the Mayor is talking about here is
that council members Pierce Conley, Jeff Schwentker, John Haman and Rick Lucas have for the most part
been in lock-step with Peter Cantwell and Bill Hennessy. Peter and Bill with the help of a select group of home
builders helped get these men on the council. This gives these supporters unbelievable access to these
officials who only get one side of an issue. A twisted view that almost always conflicts with what’s in your best
interest.
Morrow used the example of relying on home equity loans to describe the city’s financial situation. Why borrow
money against one’s home to do improvements, when you already have credit card debt and other loans.
“In the city, we basically have a home equity loan. We annexed all this land to fuel residential growth, and we still
have all these loans out there in the form of sewer taps and infrastructure that we’re paying off from revenue to
the city. We have given away sewer taps, formed Tax Deferred Districts (TDDs and CIDs), where we paid for
streets ahead of time and we’re not getting our money back for 20 years,” Morrow said. “So we’ve taken out a
home equity loan, and now we want to take out more loans by giving more tax abatements. At the same time the
commercial concessions are going to be in conflict with what we want for the good of the city. What good does it
do if we approve a half-cent sales tax for sewers and parks, and a new development wants a half-cent rebate for
20 years? The point is, you want to increase sales tax revenues, but why do you have to give back to the
developers?
“When I came into office, we had the Missouri Audit of 2002, and suddenly our debt load was revealed as $152
million,” Morrow said. “These concessions, annexations, building the Rascals’ stadium… How do you pay off this
$155 million home equity loan, give things away, run the city and plan for the future?”
Morrow says residents want city services, streets repaired, nice parks and police protection. She says residents
deserve to have what they came to O’Fallon to get, not to have their money finance future developments.
“Each of the council members needs to understand this: Are you looking out for the good of the residents or the
betterment down the road that will hurt the present,” Morrow said.
Councilmen in the dark
Councilman Daniel Christoff agrees with Morrow, saying the council is often in the dark when votes on important
issues are called for, but those who are privy to the information ahead of time vote against tabling an issue until
the matter can be researched by everyone on the council. .” In all honesty the Mayor has been just as guilty as
Lowery and Hennessy in not sharing information with other elected officials and staff? What comes around
goes around.
“There are times when they bring us packets five minutes before a meeting, and we have five minutes to vote on
a bill with no prior discussion,” Christoff said. “We ask to have it tabled, and they (other council members) just
want to call for a vote and put it through. I can’t speak for others, but I just want to do what’s best.”
Christoff said he, Councilmen Bill Gardner and Jeff Yelich wanted time to review the issue of political involvement
by city staff before voting, but as usual, they received the information five minutes before the meeting.
“We wanted to table it, read the packet, disseminate the information and vote at a later date,” Christoff said.
“Again, we could not get it tabled.”
It was the same with the bill to prevent gambling and alcohol from taking place at City Hall, Christoff said.
“Our request to table got shot down with a 5-3 vote,” Christoff said. “I didn’t write the bill. I don’t know if they
meant bingo or putting a casino onto the back of City Hall.”
Christoff said he believes there is an alliance between councilmen Jeff Schwentker, Bill Hennessy, John Haman,
Pierce Conley and Rick Lucas that almost predetermines the results in favor of the five.
“I think Yelich and Gardner have the same ideas as I do: To listen to our constituents and take the information,”
Christoff said. “But basically we have this 5-3 thing going. I can’t speak for the other council members, but things
have changed since Cantwell left. I don’t know if it’s for the better or worse. It seems like there’s more dissention
than before Cantwell left. I see no reason why we can’t table an issue and come back to vote in two weeks.”
Morrow said city staff also needs to speak up.
“We have had a breakdown in honest communication and trust. There has been some mention of fear of
speaking out within the staff,” Morrow said. “I am working to repair that; the majority of the council is beginning to
see that; and hopefully the council will learn they don’t need to make knee-jerk rash decisions — that they can
take the time to make informed decisions.” Mayor Morrow did you forget city employees have been fired and
harassed for being truthful under your watch. If you would have taken action. The city would have been spared
two Federal Lawsuits. Even you stated earlier in this article that there is a hostile work environment at city hall.
How about those employees that where doing the right thing? After telling them that you had their backs you
betrayed them. Maybe city staff will be more at ease when they see our elected officials begin to lead by
example.
No more one-man shows
Morrow said when the former council agreed to hire Lowery as city administrator in 2005, she nor the council
moved to give control of city assets over to another individual.
“Now, what we’ve gone through is, we’ve given over control of the trash transfer station and are talking about
(selling) the water sewer plant. This is where it will be most important to have informed councilmen who think this
through thoroughly,” Morrow said. “Did they have time to think through the trash transfer station? They didn’t even
have a chance to review a final contract. They were working on what Lowery and Assistant City Administrator
Jack Strick were advising them to do.”
Morrow said she told the City Council at the time that they weren’t giving the Recycling Commission time to
review — “that they gave Lowery a vote to sign a contract that they hadn’t even seen the final wording on.”
“I think we need to review this. They got blindsided on Busch Wildlife and they need to see what else has been
done out there, and to review it more closely,” Morrow said. “Maybe a state audit for 2001 should be called for. In
terms of our responsibility for a municipal government and spending taxpayers’ money, we have a bigger burden
than a private corporation does.”
Morrow said the city is in a serious financial situation because O’Fallon helped fuel the housing boom with
special concessions. The Mayor is correct but should have included the pursuit of personal agenda’s of power
by elected officials has caused irreparable harm to our city.
“I guess if you explain it in terms of a football game, I finally feel we’re at the start of a new quarter. We’re
educated and I know what the playbook is of the other team, and now my job is to make sure we have a
balanced game,” Morrow said. “I am more interested in serving the citizens than taking away green space for
sprawl and acting as financiers for developers. If this is not the direction we want to go, residents need to tell
their elected officials. The only way we can have trust with city staff is to have open and honest government.”
Bottom line Donna Morrow is the Mayor of O’Fallon and has the power to affect change good or bad in this
city. It’s good these very serious problems and deficiencies are being discussed and coming out in the open.
Maybe this is a genuine attempt to do the right thing for the citizens. All to often parties are motivated by
politics and /or trying to rewrite history. Either way as always we will be watching.
By Mary Ann O'Toole Holley
Mid Rivers Newsmagazine
Well before the fallout from the failed coup to annex the St. Charles County Research Park and Busch Wildlife,
some residents were reacting to O’Fallon Mayor Donna Morrow’s renewed demeanor saying the “Pipeline Lady
is back.” At the O’Fallon City Council meeting held earlier this month, there was no doubt: The O’Fallon chain of
command has shifted — again.
Morrow acquired the nickname after gaining a reputation as an outspoken opponent of high-pressure pipelines
built in Winghaven’s residential areas and ran for mayor on a platform of “open and honest government.” At the
last council meeting, Morrow chided City Administrator Bob Lowery Jr. for moving forward with the annexation
without her knowledge and the knowledge of the majority of the council. The Mayor campaigned on the
dangers of high pressure petroleum pipelines yet she has done nothing as Mayor to increase the safety to our
citizens from these hazards. If the Mayor is serious about open and honest government the why does she
allow the city to charge $17,000 for public records? If the mayor is sincere she should provide the information
requested at a reasonable fee and inline with the Missouri sunshine law.
She put Council President Pro-Tem Bill Hennessy in his place when he referenced himself as “president,” and
asked for clarification from City Attorney Kevin O’Keefe that the president pro-tem does not chair City Council
meetings, except in the absence of the mayor — blocking a trend former President Pro Tem Peter Cantwell
boldly took. Mayor, let Bill Hennessy chair as many meetings as he wants. He often comes across as
suffering some type of self-induced impairment and is very entertaining to watch. Not to mention provides
material for the watchdog.
Since the meeting, she has taken another step asking Lowery to submit a daily journal of who he meets with and
what he discusses.
“I have not had any private words with Mr. Lowery because I have learned that working in a possibly hostile
environment, you have to make sure you have your T’s crossed and I’s dotted,” Morrow said in a one-on-one
exclusive interview with MRN. “I have been betrayed and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with that.” The
Mayor is absolutely right about the hostile work environment as a matter of fact the city is being sued in
Federal Court by two former employees because of it. The Mayor has betrayed her allies in the past so it
should come to no surprise to her that she would be subject to betrayal at some point herself.
Morrow said Lowery and Hennessy violated the rules of protocol, courtesy and structure of the government in
their actions with the annexation.
“I have an oath of office, and what disturbs me is Bob Lowery (before the annexation controversy) sent an email
to all elected officials after meeting with Councilman Bill) Hennessy. It was also sent to media outlets, and
Hennessy spoke with five other members of the council. Why wasn’t I spoken with?” Morrow said. “Mr. Lowery is
not following state statues in terms of council president pro tem, and is not respecting that five council members
need to be informed and make a decision.” Isn’t it about time our public officials put their personal agenda’s
aside and begin working together to solve the cities many problems? How about it Bill and Bob?
Morrow said she wants taxpayers to know how their money is being spent and what directions are being given.
She wants the City Council to stand behind direction, but now, she and several council members say they don’t
know that they can trust staff to work in the best interest of taxpayers.
“Maybe that’s what underlies this whole situation. I have been a resident of O’Fallon for more than seven years.
Lowery has been a resident for a little over a year. I understand the past, present and future, as do the majority of
the council,” Morrow said. “I don’t know that Lowery really understands the obligations from the past and where
we are right now. All of us don’t earn the salary he earns. I’m having a hard time as a single woman trying to stay
afloat in O’Fallon, and I’m not the only one. The median income in O’Fallon is $60,000. We need to think with that
mindset. Where residents are the loudest and strongest is in my hands and the council’s hands, and we need to
think of it in that light.”
The Busch wildlife annexation issue cost taxpayers in funding with legal fees, staff wages and mailings, and
when it was over, it was a fiasco that left the majority of council scratching their heads, asking how did we get
here, she said. Lets not forget the embarrassment to our city this issue has caused. What’s even more
amazing after Bob Lowery and Bill Hennessy wrongfully created this mess without the consent of the Mayor
and the rest of the Council. They then decided to make yet the decision not to annex without consulting the
rest of the Council.
“I think this new direction is a case of the pendulum. When I came in the city was in the hands of the residents.
We had stopped concessions, evaluated annexations, etc. Then the pendulum swung the other way, where the
council said we have to develop, plan for the future, not get hemmed in,” Morrow said. “Now after the elections in
April, I feel we have middle-of-the-road, experienced councilmen who have been in and gotten their feet wet. I’ve
been in office two years, now the pendulum is in good method, and we can begin honest discussion as long as
the council has full awareness of issues. They need to start looking at each issue is a battle, and we need to be
focused on each issue and deal with it. We need to start questioning what has been done in the past, and has it
been done correctly. I think the council realizes we need to fully evaluate things.” This may be wishful thinking
since we only have one new councilmen after the April election. We are seeing way to many 6-2, 5-3 votes
mostly on issues that promotes Bill Hennessy’s agenda and his campaign supporters.
There was a period, however, when Morrow seemed to be taking the backseat on issues, allowing Lowery to
take the lead. Morrow had, for a long period, been conspicuously silent.
“A lot of it was that I was in the minority,” Morrow said in the one-on-one interview with MRN. “I had a council that
was being controlled by others, and I was very disappointed that the councilmen wouldn’t have open and honest
discussions with me. Some of the information, I did find out, but unfortunately, since I had new members in, they
weren’t necessarily getting the story of how things had evolved.”
Morrow said since then, opinions and communications with some council members has changed.
“I think Busch wildlife has brought home the idea for a need for full, honest communication. I think this is where
they (the council) realize they want to do their jobs right, and to get background information they’re starting to
table things for further discussion because council packets and background information are being given to them
at the last minute,” Morrow said. “That is a big concern. I don’t think each of the councilmen is showing respect to
the other councilmen.” Morrow distinctly remembers former Councilman Peter Cantwell’s lament of “rational,
responsible and respectable government,” a mantra that became Cantwell’s response to a prior board who
fought adamantly against some issues and often held heated debates at council meetings. Interesting enough
despite Peter Cantwell’s mantra. He was anything but rational, responsible and respectable. Makes you
question anything that came out of his mouth. It's Peter's way or the highway. Let’s not forget his role in the
Busch Wildlife annexation and the Mall development failure at Hwy D & DD. No wonder the citizens of ward
three sent him packing.
“Rational, responsible and respectable government? The problem was some council members were letting one
side convince them of the argument without hearing from the other side,” Morrow said. “Somebody came in and
was trying to build future greatness for the city, and they had the council thinking they could do that. When the
budget meeting took place in October, they started seeing how really tight things are in the city. They got calls for
guard rails, street repairs, and they started seeing things were tight.” What the Mayor is talking about here is
that council members Pierce Conley, Jeff Schwentker, John Haman and Rick Lucas have for the most part
been in lock-step with Peter Cantwell and Bill Hennessy. Peter and Bill with the help of a select group of home
builders helped get these men on the council. This gives these supporters unbelievable access to these
officials who only get one side of an issue. A twisted view that almost always conflicts with what’s in your best
interest.
Morrow used the example of relying on home equity loans to describe the city’s financial situation. Why borrow
money against one’s home to do improvements, when you already have credit card debt and other loans.
“In the city, we basically have a home equity loan. We annexed all this land to fuel residential growth, and we still
have all these loans out there in the form of sewer taps and infrastructure that we’re paying off from revenue to
the city. We have given away sewer taps, formed Tax Deferred Districts (TDDs and CIDs), where we paid for
streets ahead of time and we’re not getting our money back for 20 years,” Morrow said. “So we’ve taken out a
home equity loan, and now we want to take out more loans by giving more tax abatements. At the same time the
commercial concessions are going to be in conflict with what we want for the good of the city. What good does it
do if we approve a half-cent sales tax for sewers and parks, and a new development wants a half-cent rebate for
20 years? The point is, you want to increase sales tax revenues, but why do you have to give back to the
developers?
“When I came into office, we had the Missouri Audit of 2002, and suddenly our debt load was revealed as $152
million,” Morrow said. “These concessions, annexations, building the Rascals’ stadium… How do you pay off this
$155 million home equity loan, give things away, run the city and plan for the future?”
Morrow says residents want city services, streets repaired, nice parks and police protection. She says residents
deserve to have what they came to O’Fallon to get, not to have their money finance future developments.
“Each of the council members needs to understand this: Are you looking out for the good of the residents or the
betterment down the road that will hurt the present,” Morrow said.
Councilmen in the dark
Councilman Daniel Christoff agrees with Morrow, saying the council is often in the dark when votes on important
issues are called for, but those who are privy to the information ahead of time vote against tabling an issue until
the matter can be researched by everyone on the council. .” In all honesty the Mayor has been just as guilty as
Lowery and Hennessy in not sharing information with other elected officials and staff? What comes around
goes around.
“There are times when they bring us packets five minutes before a meeting, and we have five minutes to vote on
a bill with no prior discussion,” Christoff said. “We ask to have it tabled, and they (other council members) just
want to call for a vote and put it through. I can’t speak for others, but I just want to do what’s best.”
Christoff said he, Councilmen Bill Gardner and Jeff Yelich wanted time to review the issue of political involvement
by city staff before voting, but as usual, they received the information five minutes before the meeting.
“We wanted to table it, read the packet, disseminate the information and vote at a later date,” Christoff said.
“Again, we could not get it tabled.”
It was the same with the bill to prevent gambling and alcohol from taking place at City Hall, Christoff said.
“Our request to table got shot down with a 5-3 vote,” Christoff said. “I didn’t write the bill. I don’t know if they
meant bingo or putting a casino onto the back of City Hall.”
Christoff said he believes there is an alliance between councilmen Jeff Schwentker, Bill Hennessy, John Haman,
Pierce Conley and Rick Lucas that almost predetermines the results in favor of the five.
“I think Yelich and Gardner have the same ideas as I do: To listen to our constituents and take the information,”
Christoff said. “But basically we have this 5-3 thing going. I can’t speak for the other council members, but things
have changed since Cantwell left. I don’t know if it’s for the better or worse. It seems like there’s more dissention
than before Cantwell left. I see no reason why we can’t table an issue and come back to vote in two weeks.”
Morrow said city staff also needs to speak up.
“We have had a breakdown in honest communication and trust. There has been some mention of fear of
speaking out within the staff,” Morrow said. “I am working to repair that; the majority of the council is beginning to
see that; and hopefully the council will learn they don’t need to make knee-jerk rash decisions — that they can
take the time to make informed decisions.” Mayor Morrow did you forget city employees have been fired and
harassed for being truthful under your watch. If you would have taken action. The city would have been spared
two Federal Lawsuits. Even you stated earlier in this article that there is a hostile work environment at city hall.
How about those employees that where doing the right thing? After telling them that you had their backs you
betrayed them. Maybe city staff will be more at ease when they see our elected officials begin to lead by
example.
No more one-man shows
Morrow said when the former council agreed to hire Lowery as city administrator in 2005, she nor the council
moved to give control of city assets over to another individual.
“Now, what we’ve gone through is, we’ve given over control of the trash transfer station and are talking about
(selling) the water sewer plant. This is where it will be most important to have informed councilmen who think this
through thoroughly,” Morrow said. “Did they have time to think through the trash transfer station? They didn’t even
have a chance to review a final contract. They were working on what Lowery and Assistant City Administrator
Jack Strick were advising them to do.”
Morrow said she told the City Council at the time that they weren’t giving the Recycling Commission time to
review — “that they gave Lowery a vote to sign a contract that they hadn’t even seen the final wording on.”
“I think we need to review this. They got blindsided on Busch Wildlife and they need to see what else has been
done out there, and to review it more closely,” Morrow said. “Maybe a state audit for 2001 should be called for. In
terms of our responsibility for a municipal government and spending taxpayers’ money, we have a bigger burden
than a private corporation does.”
Morrow said the city is in a serious financial situation because O’Fallon helped fuel the housing boom with
special concessions. The Mayor is correct but should have included the pursuit of personal agenda’s of power
by elected officials has caused irreparable harm to our city.
“I guess if you explain it in terms of a football game, I finally feel we’re at the start of a new quarter. We’re
educated and I know what the playbook is of the other team, and now my job is to make sure we have a
balanced game,” Morrow said. “I am more interested in serving the citizens than taking away green space for
sprawl and acting as financiers for developers. If this is not the direction we want to go, residents need to tell
their elected officials. The only way we can have trust with city staff is to have open and honest government.”
Bottom line Donna Morrow is the Mayor of O’Fallon and has the power to affect change good or bad in this
city. It’s good these very serious problems and deficiencies are being discussed and coming out in the open.
Maybe this is a genuine attempt to do the right thing for the citizens. All to often parties are motivated by
politics and /or trying to rewrite history. Either way as always we will be watching.
| Watchdog comments to story in yellow |