In her Aug. 20 letter, Mrs. Celeste Witzel voiced her disdain for the mandated trash monopoly plan and asked that the matter be put to a public vote.

I agree completely with her two points.

However, while we agree on the trash issue, we vastly disagree about who is to blame for this mess.

Mrs. Witzel avoids the obvious truth that our Councilman John Campisi voted for the trash monopoly bill.

She further avoids Campisi’s admission that he did not bother to read the bill before voting for it.

Instead of reading the bill, Campisi admits to relying on the advice of his Republican colleague, Skip Mange of west county.

The bill requires about 15 minutes to read.

Since his vote and the public outcry, Campisi has reversed his position as he has done time and time again.

If we want different results, then we must demand different leadership.

This is why I support Steve Stenger in his run for County Council in south county.

Stenger is a conservative Democrat who is both a certified public accountant and a prosecuting attorney. Steve Stenger agrees with Mrs. Witzel and I on the trash issue.

Campisi’s Republican colleague agrees with me regarding his incompetence.

Of Campisi, former County Councilman and current Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals Judge Kurt Odenwald was quoted as saying in a weekly publication, “He did not show up for anything, day or evening. I can’t remember any councilman doing that in my 17 years on the council.”

Odenwald made these statements after Campisi failed to show up for work at the council for three consecutive weeks while he was training for a job with a branch of the Church of Scientology.

Odenwald also was quoted in the same publication as saying, “… He did not give any explanation for his absences except to say: ‘I’m very busy.”’

Apparently again too busy to do the job for which taxpayers pay him.

Ann Pluemer

Oakville

Editor’s note: Ann Pluemer serves as the Oakville Township Democratic committeewoman.