Sunday, May 18, 2008

Random Thoughts About Raytown's Future

Is there a silver bullet that will solve Raytown’s economic woes in the midst of a recession? No, probably not. Recessions are economic times in which developers hunker down and wait it out for better opportunities in the future. They keep their eyes open and look for opportunities. But until the economy revives, and that will not happen until fuel prices stabilize, don’t look for a lot new building going up anywhere. There are still things the city should do in preparation of those better times. In Raytown’s case, tearing down the old First Baptist Church is a good move and will become a reality in the very near future. Plans are in place to rebuild the 63rd Street Bridge and a new intersection at Gregory Boulevard and Raytown Road is in the works. But a huge proportion of that funding is coming from federal, state, and county sources. It alone will not create any new retail venues in Raytown. But the improvements will go a long way in helping to improve the city’s image. If we are to believe with what has been shared on these pages by small business owners like Pat Casady and Shari Wells (former owner of City Grounds), there is a lot the city can do in changing its attitude toward the small business owner. A successful and vibrant Raytown is something in which the small business owner will share in the profit. That is the incentive they have to succeed. The small business remains the economic backbone of any community because spent in small businesses stays within the community. In a perfect world, City Hall should be viewed as a help to the small businessman. Unfortunately, many small business owners do not view Raytown City Hall in that vein. A vital area in which city fathers have been remiss is maintenance of the city’s infrastructure. Outside of rehabilitation of the sanitary sewer system, City Hall has a vital part of Raytown’s infrastructure to deteriorate. The roads our people use every day are badly in need of repair. How people feel about their community is important. But it is hard to feel good about where you live if you have to dodge potholes and skid through crumbling intersections in your own neighborhood on a daily basis. A back to basics approach in city services would serve Raytown well. The annual city clean-up scheduled for May 31st (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Joe Herndon Votech Center) is a good start. The city should follow up with a day later this summer where brush and tree debris can be discarded as well. Parts of Raytown look like an old growth forest. Waiting for a storm to force us to trim trees is not a very good plan of managing that forest. For the first time in over six years, the city is finally putting up some new streetlights in residential neighborhoods. We saw how effective new street lighting can be in deterring crime and bad behavior at Colman Park a couple years ago. A program to slowly but steadily increases the street lighting in residential neighborhoods will go a long way to not only reducing crime but also to regain the taxpayers’ trust. The Board of Aldermen will soon begin a series of meetings in preparation of the 2008 – 2009 budget year. It is an excellent opportunity for them to “right” the good ship Raytown and move forward with a more balanced approach to city services. Getting back to the basics of running a community, the streets, neighborhoods and development of small business is the course to go. LAST WEEK’S RIDDLE: What do Gladstone, Lee's Summit, Peculiar, Harrisonville, and Kansas City have in common with Raytown. Answer: Six of Raytown’s eight appointed department heads make their home in those communities. Up until the term of former Mayor Jack Nesbitt (1996 – 2000), all Raytown department heads lived within Raytown’s city limits.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Regards the riddle that's pretty sad.
Regards everything else this is becoming tiresome. Talk, talk, talk. Doesn't anyone ---- anymore?

Andy Whiteman said...

All department heads should be required to live in Raytown just so that they will know what it is like to live here. Maybe there would be some improvement in city services if they experienced first hand, the way we live here. Any department head living outside of Raytown is alien to the city and hence I call them ALIENS. They have no clue as to the standard of living in Raytown!

I had an arguement with one CA over the quality of life and then someone told me he lived in Lees Summit. That is ridiculous.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Department heads don't want to live in Raytown. They just want to draw on paycheck on the citizen's dime, put in a few years, then move on. Each never really contributing any good to the citzens. This is most saddening and should not be allowed. If you want to be a department head with the City, then live within the city that is paying your high salary.
If not, move on now and not later.

Andy Whiteman said...

I have suggested to the BOA several times that Department Heads and Managers be required to live INSIDE Raytown city limits. I don't think anyone paid attention to me except one department head who pointed out that a manager (who happens to do a good job in my opinion) lives on the KC/ Raytown border and also grew up in Raytown, which makes my wonder where the line should be drawn.

Living in Raytown should be a requirement at least for Department Heads. A new department head should be given a reasonable time, say one year, to actually establish residence. I mean a real residence where this person actually lives, not a vacant apartment and a commute home at night. As for those who may be promoted, I don't know. Either it is a case by case decision or the person will have to decide if he/she wants the promotion.

When I was hired at the Post Office, the Postmaster told me I would have to move because the commute was too far. That was obvious to me without saying. The Post Office also has a requirement that the Postmaster live in the city where they are working so that they are part of the community. Raytown should have that requirement for upper management also.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I am not sure where you are going to have a brush and debris dropoff. It is my understanding that the city gave away the property off of Noland Rd that was used in the ice storm of 2001.

The only plan for managing the urban forest in Raytown is we will cut it down when it is dead. There are many city owned street trees that were not pruned properly after the last two major storms.

Didn't you wonder why the city was giving vouchers for dropping your brush off in KC after the high winds a couple of weeks ago.

Andy Whiteman said...

I wonder what the City Clean Up Day is for? I have quite a stack of limbs that have blown down. I called the Sheppard Center to ask for pick up because I am disabled. They told me it was of appliances only. I always thought clean up meant yard waste. Why is there need for a city wide clean up of appliances?

Andy Whiteman

Pat Casady said...

To anonymous 10:52,
I'm sixty years old but I ......as often as I can.
Thanks for asking.

Pat Casady said...

Greg, you are right, in a perfect world City Hall should be viewed as a help for the small business's, especially with two super Wal-Marts soon
to be so close together and downtown Raytown in the middle.
However fixing the streets, tearing down the old church and dolling up the downtown area won't help if attitudes toward new and old small businesses don't change at City Hall.
Small business is all that Raytown has a shot at getting into the downtown area.
Along with the fact that most if not all small business startup's are out of pocket expense along with some borrowing against their homes for the startup capital.
Raytown should welcome new small business prospects however it seems quite the opposite has been the norm.
Overwhelming unseen expenses to appease some unwritten codes that come at new prospects cause some to fold before they can start. Damaging these people financially for many years or causing them to go deeper in debt.
Mostly people see, read and hear what this town has and is doing for huge businesses like Wal-Mart, and Hy-Vee that shouldn't need aid from Raytown and we all
hear about how new small businesses are sometime run out of town before they even get started.
I'm sure I heard just less than a year ago, that Mr. Steve Jones was ready to give up on the Raytown Plaza because he could not make the codes people happy. I believe there was some misunderstandings on both sides but this set the seed for mistrust and a lot of unexpected expense for him.
This man was willing to spend millions.....yes, millions to make a blighted shopping area for Raytown look better, be safer and attract more new business to town. I'd bet real money he didn't get the same deal and aid that Wal-Mart is getting.
We all say we want Raytown to prosper but, we "all" can't make it happen like City Hall can and should. After the new Wal-Mart opens on 350hwy. there is going to be many more vacant buildings in town and I hope our city fathers are smart enough to come up with a new more friendly plan
that will be inviting to new small businesses to fill these holes.
Raytown needs an Economic Development Director with true business knowledge. Someone that knows what it takes to make a business work.
A person that has common sense with codes and doesn't just
pull them out of thin air.

Anonymous said...

It's too bad that Mayor Bower has dissolved the Recycling Committee. What's even worse is he is lying to people that he hasn't. I believe he is jealous of Mr. Walter's knowledge. Just talk to some of the former members and they will tell you the truth. Shame on you, Mayor Bower, you're no better than Sue Frank. The taxpayers deserve better. What's it take to get an HONEST mayor for Raytown?

Anonymous said...

You had 7 candidates in that mayor's race. And I know some of them pretty well. So if you wanted honest without a personal agenda you could have had Adams, Briggs or Gray. Obama has shown that machine politics is on the way out. Hopefully some of the racists realize that he is half white not just half black.

Anonymous said...

Raytown formerly had the character of an upper middle class city with a lower crime rate and strong sense of community. Talking to persons outside of Raytown I find that it now has a poor reputation with racism from police, poor support for small business, and a rapidly decreasing semblance of community.

Many reputable persons of color that I have spoken with have shared experiences of being needlessly stopped by police and harassed. One person told me that a relative moved to Atlanta and when coming back to visit will not drive into Raytown but will meet friends outside the city limits. The city must acknowledge and accept that diversity is here to stay. The city’s human resources committee needs to be more aggressive and accessible. It is disappointing that it is 2008 and we just now have an alderman of color. I see no diversity in our police force.

I know of a food establishment and clothing store that desired to locate in Raytown. Because of codes and cost the clothing store ended up opening in Independence. The food establishment received poor support from city hall and heard too many horror stories about the red tape involved in opening a business in this city and is looking elsewhere.

What is the city doing to encourage ‘community’? A group of residents attempted to start a farmers market last year and had their hands tied in so many ways that it was not successful. In many cities a farmers market is a place where people can buy, sell and socialize with others. This should be promoted and encouraged by the city. Instead, they were told they had to have an enormous amount of insurance, rent portable bathrooms and only sell food items - no crafts, etc. The group did not have a lot of money or marketing experience but the city could have assisted more with their attempt.

City hall has the attitude that if you want your business to be in Raytown you must jump through their hoops. Actually they should be saying “How can we help you?”

Anonymous said...

It is so true about city hall not being friendly to business. I don't think that will change until at least one person is gone from the city. So as long as the council allows this person to stay they will never see an increase in small businesses in Raytown. Sad, sad, story.

Andy Whiteman said...

Anon 6:06 AM, This is a perfect example of the operations of the Fascist Fief of Raytown. Only the lord of a feudal fief or a fascist dictator would tell a business what it can or can't sell!

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Until Raytown encourages and supports businesses in the downtown area fixing up the buildings is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Anonymous said...

What I find interesting is the BOA cancelling or putting on hold the Recycling group, while the latest Paper I received from the Post or Tribune (sorry do not remember) featured pretty much the entire paper on Recycling....talk about out of touch with the residents...

Anonymous said...

To: Anonymous May 23, 2008 6:06 AM….

Raytown’s “poor reputation with racism from police” is a big load of pure bunk. Fact is that the police are afraid to deal with anyone of color in the same way they do with those who are not. Those who “of color” get breaks all of the time that others don’t, and often get away with blatant disobedience of the law.

I’ve noticed that no one is talking about the disgraceful display that occurred at Raytown South’s graduation. There used to be a certain dignity attached to those events, and most people respected that and held themselves to expected standards. Fact is that almost all of the problems were from families of “people of color”. Not to say that there wasn’t some “people of color” who acted in a dignified manner and a few who were not “people of color” who didn’t. I know it’s not ‘politically correct’ to bring this up and my comments will probably be eliminated from the blog, but it is the truth. It was very obvious who was causing the problems. Anyone creating that kind of disturbance at a high school graduation should be arrested for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct!

How can we have pride in our community when this kind of garbage goes on?

Since I’m already way over the line of political correctness let me get another beef off my chest. I see certain students come out of our high schools, walk the streets, and go into local business with their pants down at their knees, underwear (which are called that for good reason) pretty much fully exposed. This is supposed to be tolerated and accepted for the sake of “diversity”. However if I were to do the same thing I would be arrested for indecent exposure and labeled a pervert.

It’s time for all good people regardless of their color to stand up and demand dignity in our community again, how can any of us be proud of the way things are going. You talked about “many reputable persons of color” that you had spoken with. They need to take a stand against the kind of miserable display that occurred at both of Raytown’s high school graduations. I hope they will come out publicly and denounce the undignified, animal like, display that occurred at our high schools.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous May 23, 2008 6:06 AM who stated; “It is disappointing that it is 2008 and we just now have an alderman of color. I see no diversity in our police force.”

Apparently you are unaware of the fact that our alderman usually come into office through elections, thus those getting the most votes from the voters become aldermen. Anyone of ANY color who meets the very limited requirements has always been eligible to run for any city office if they so desire.

As far as diversity on the police department, I think hiring is still done based on those who apply, meet the requirements, and are the best qualified people for the job.
If people are being hired for any position in our city based on skin color (whatever that color), that’s dead wrong and we are in a sad state of affairs! If someone has been or will be appointed to any city office because of their skin color, that is dead wrong and we are in a sad state of affairs!

You apparently haven’t been around Raytown very long or you would know that we have had people of many national origins and of both genders on the police department over the years. Maybe you need to get your facts straight and get off your “color/diversity” nonsense and start worrying about REAL issues that we face as a city!