March 05, 2008

False statements continue in Koch Road scandal

I posted yesterday about the decision that was handed down by the Missouri Court of Appeals yesterday on the Koch Road scandal. In the post I mentioned three things the decision did not do, namely;
  • Find that the decision of the County to vacate Koch Road was proper.
  • Address the fact the the conditions under which Koch Road were to be vacated have never been met.
  • Change the fact that Koch Road was illegally torn out by the developer and builder.

I posted those things because I knew others involved in the litigation would attempt to mislead the public about what the court said. And they did. Let's start with McBride & Son CEO John F. Eilermann, who stated in the Post-Dispatch that the ruling "confirms what we have said all along: the suit had no merit. This, most importantly, confirms the homeowners have clear title, and the road vacation was proper."

Maybe Mr. Eilermann will correct these false statements tomorrow since McBride people have been reviewing my blog today, hopefully in an attempt to learn the truth. But just in case they still don't get it, the court's opinion stated that my clients did not have the right to question the vacation of Koch Road, and does not condone the County's action. The Circuit Court judge ruled the County's vacation of Koch Road was unlawful and the Court of Appeals did not say this decision was wrong but instead said that the court did not have jurisdiction to overturn the vacation, even if it was illegal.

However, even more troubling is the following comment from John Sonderegger who said county officials feel vindicated that they made the right decision, but they wish the matter had been resolved before homes were built. Sonderegger made a career misreporting at the Post-Dispatch before he was rewarded for his years of service to the builders/developers by County Executive Steve Ehlmann. However, Sonderegger's ability to mislead the public may also have been a consideration since he did such a fine job of it in his comment. The court did not vindicate the county as noted above and if the county was worried about the homes being built they could have stopped it if they followed the law. Or wanted to represent the citizens rather than special interests.

In any event, maybe the county will now correct its actions in filing the paperwork to finalize the vacation of Koch Road since they were put on notice in court that their actions were based on false information provided by O'Fallon. Are you going to ignore this Mr. Ehlmann? Hmm, the word conspiracy comes to mind, but only in a legal sense Steve.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a homeowner living in one of the involved homes, I was insulted by Mr. Eilermann's ignorant quote - "confirms what we have said all along: the suit had no merit. This, most importantly, confirms the homeowners have clear title, and the road vacation was proper" I will argue that this most certainly does not ascertain that as fact and certainly does not erase the damage caused to us by McBride and Son. If McBride and Son had any true concern for those of us held hostage in this debacle for the past year, they would have immediately remedied thier actions or better yet, never built homes on these lots without disclosing this mess to begin with!! Mr. Eilermann, it isn't over by a long shot...enjoy your cruise, you're going to need some rest to continue this battle.

Anonymous said...

The city of O'Fallon needs to understand that this recent ruling doesn't absolve them either...I'm "calling you out" (this is your favorite term) Mayor Morrow - and you too Bob Lowery!!

Anonymous said...

We're having problems with McBride % Sons knowing pertinent details beforehand but still selling homes to unsuspecting homeowners in the Atlanta market. So is your case over and done or is there more to come? Did M&S get their hand slapped or get off free?

Rob G

Anonymous said...

I am very interested in hearing about the problems you are having with McBride & Son Homes. I am a homeowner that was deceived by M&S and was only told the truth about the litigation that affects my property after I closed. That's right, 3 DAYS AFTER we closed on our house, The General Manager called me up and pretended like he just found out about this Pending road litigation. That fact is, M&S knew for several months before we even looked at the home. They portray themselves as a family oriented company, but really they are only concerned about selling homes and taking advantage of their customers. Tell everyone not to but their homes. I tell everyone I work with not to buy from them and have kept several people from buying their homes. I would be very interested in finding out more about your case and discussing ours with you. Please e-mail me at
miatamike11@hotmail.com if you are interested and as fed up as I am....

Anonymous said...

We are still having problems with McBride & Son Homes due to their failure to disclose pertinent information before we closed. They even signed a title to us that showed no issues and only brought it to our attention 3 days after we closed. I would be very interested in talking to you offline. I have set up a separate e-mail account to track these same issue with other homeowners. Please e-mail me at miatamike11@hotmail.com. McBride & Son Homes claims to be an employee owned company and that is why they do so well because all their employees are salespeople. It is ashame that they are telling us that all of their employees will say or do anything to make a sale at the homeowners expense...What a company!!