Can anyone predict what the next corruption scandal will be in St. Louis?

November 30th, 2009

So it’s getting more expensive to park in St. Louis.

Downtown parking meters cost more today in St. Louis – STLtoday.com.

The cost to park at meters in the city of St. Louis goes up today, including a 33 percent jump downtown…

But no one knows why…

The exact reason for the parking increases has not been publicly stated. Parking meters are controlled by the office of City Treasurer Larry Williams, and he is not commenting.

Or how much money it will generate for the city…

How much revenue the increase in parking fees will create remains unknown. Green would not provide an estimate.

In fact, there’s a lot this guy doesnt seem to know..

He also would not say when the last increases occurred or how many parking meters there are in the city.

But I bet I know why we suddenly needed an increase, and where the money from the increase went…

Green did say his office hired a consultant, Performance Management Group, to review department operations.

I find all this ridiculous. Not because I don’t have $1 to pay the parking meter, but because I know from dealing with them in any capacity just how ineffective the St. Louis city government is. It’s full of people in jobs they’re not qualified for doing whatever they want with no oversight and a bad attitude, and only later do we ever learn the full extent of what “shocking” things were going on behind the scenes.

So whatever this scandal turns out to be: someone with their hand in the till to pay for gambling debts or coke addictions or mistresses or underage boys or giant shopping sprees or whatever the heck, I am willing to bet that this whole Office of Unanswered Questions the Treasurer will never stand up to any intense scrutiny/investigation.

Can’t wait to see what happens.