Micheal Ocello, a family man, father of three and president of publicly traded VCG Holding Corp., is competing against five other candidates for the coveted spot on the board, and whether he expected it or not, he has been greeted by a windfall of local criticism over his ties to the adult industry.
“Doesn't seem like something I'd want around my school,” one local resident told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, along with many other expressions of skepticism and concern over Ocello’s professional background.
Ocello’s campaign website, however, paints a very different picture of the man who wants a stronger voice in local school politics. A professional of the so-called hospitality industry for more than 22 years, Ocello's company VCG acquires real estate and restaurants across the country, including ownership of more than a dozen upscale strip clubs that operate under the names PT's, Diamond Cabaret and The Penthouse Club.
Ocello claimed revenue of $30 million in 2005. He also is reportedly a board member of the Lowrie Family Foundation for disadvantaged children and has helped direct thousands of dollars to charities throughout the U.S. The Lowrie Foundation is named after VCG’s CEO, Troy H. Lowrie, who is also part owner of the company.
Ocello also is president of the Association of Club Executives and a strident opponent of the Bush administration.
"We must do everything within our power to help ensure that Bush and his ultra conservative administration are removed from the White House," Ocello once wrote in a letter to nearly 4,000 club owners. "If we are to survive, we must act now."
In response to the criticism over his run for the board, Ocello has said he knew his strip clubs would become an issue, but certainly not a deal breaker.
"I think it's important enough to go through with it,” he told the local press.
Ocello’s immediate competition for the board includes a Union Pacific worker, a pressroom supervisor, a salesman, a retired teacher and a church fundraiser.
