“I'm telling you beware, beware of the handshake
That hides the snake
Listen to me now, beware
Beware of that pat on the back
It just might hold you back
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof”
“Smiling Faces Sometimes”, 1971, Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong
We’ve been looking at Scott Voigts’ performance in the past 3+ years, as a result of his e-mail asking for money to fund his 2014 re-election campaign. Here’s what we found –
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In Part 1 we looked at some of Voigts’ broken promises, and pointed out that since Voigts took office we are spending more on Police but getting less, and our crime rate is up, especially murder and other violent crimes. We also demonstrated that his masquerade as a “conservative” was contrary to his actions, spending thousands to make his life easier, imposing fines and raising rates as well as spending thousands of City money on travel.
In Part 2 we looked at the harm that Voigts’ actions have done to the City – the many resignations, the impotence of the Commissions caused by his crony appointments, the failure to build new schools but to allow 6,000+ new children into the City, and the votes to expand Musick Jail and to allow dangerous felons and maximum security prisoners.
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In Part 3 we examined Voigt’s ethical violations, including falsely using the title “Mayor”, using social relationships to make appointments, accepting money from people and businesses and then voted in favor of those people and businesses when they come before the Council, and lying from the dais on many occasions.
Against all these negatives, one has to look at Voigts’ positive qualities.
He’s an affable person who enjoys the company of others, with a remarkable memory for faces and names. He’s what’s called a “glad-hander”.
He works hard, although a lot of his work focuses on the people and businesses that contribute to his campaign committee.
He pays attention during meetings, and while his ability as Mayor to run a meeting was so bad he is probably the worst Mayor in City history, as a Council member he is attentive and asks good questions.
Voigts is a political animal very active in Republican politics, especially extreme right wing politics, and he’s familiar with the Republic power brokers, who support his campaign.
You must judge for yourself whether or not this meagre list of positive attributes outweighs the long list of negative qualities we’ve covered in the past 3 articles.
Perhaps Voigts judged himself the most fairly. In his recent e-mail asking for money (and falsely claiming he is the Mayor of Lake Forest) when it came time to list his achievements, the paragraph was blank. Instead he listed all the committtees he is on. IOW - personally in the last 3+ years Voigts has achieved nothing! Not only did he achieve nothing, he left a list of more than a dozen important issues (Village Pond Park, Dog Park, Community Garden, Traffic, etc.) that were raised which due to his incompetence as Mayor were never resolved, and continue to this day unresolved by his successor and BFF Dwight Robinson. Moreover he left a stench on the reputation of the City, caused 4,000 residents to sign a petition to reverse his actions, and made taking money and delivering votes a way of life. Voigts has taken lying to a new level, even for politicians.
Voting for Voigts? If the City is to thrive, let's hope not.
