Sunday, November 22, 2009

In This Week's Raytown Report

New Recycling Center Hours Set Heard on the Street by Greg Walters O'Hara, Raytown South Post Season Hopes End in Semi-Final Round New Recycling Center Hours Set At its last meeting the Raytown Board of Aldermen set new operating hours for the Raytown Recycling Center. Those who wish to use the center should plan on dropping off their recyclables at the Raytown Public Works Garage located near Railroad Street and Raytown Road on the 2nd and 3rd Saturday of each month. The Center will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The center will also begin accepting glass for recycling in the near future. In a presentation to the Raytown Board of Alderman, the city’s Public Works Director, Andy Noll, explained that the center cost approximately $10,000 annually to operate. Most of that cost is paid out in over-time wages to Public Works employees who man the center twice each month. The change from four days to two days (by closing the center on Sundays) will effectively cut that cost in half. It is understandable that City Hall will cut back expenses in financially tight times. But there are better ways to cut back the expense and still keep the center open four days a month. Here is how . . . City Hall uses full time public works employees to operate the center. This means the employees are being paid time and one half in overtime costs. Wouldn’t it make more sense to hire a part time person, preferably one who truly believes in recycling, to cut the costs? The city could use the same plan to pay for its camera operators for official meetings of the City Council. You guessed it. The camera person at city hall is also a full time city employee being paid time and one half to operate the camera. It’s one thing to give lip service to cutting back when making the budget. But unless our representatives on the City Council follow through with real cost saving measures – such as hiring part time people to do tasks as described above, then it is only so much noise. Speaking of Lip Service . . . Ward 1 Alderman Joe Creamer deserves a “foot in mouth” award with this last move to save money at city hall. Just one month ago, the Raytown School District and City Hall jointly raised property tax rates. Creamer made quite an issue of how he voted to raise those taxes so he “would not have to cut services”. He got his way. Property taxes were raised to unprecedented highs for both the School District and City Hall. Then he joined in the charge to cut the operating hours of the Recycling Center in half. Way to go, Joe. Don’t expect any Christmas cards from us! Heard on the Street . . . City Hall sources say that there are three major retailers (restaurants?) who are taking a hard look at the “large green space” where the old First Baptist Church once stood. As we all know, talk is cheap. But some news is better than no news! A regular reader pointed out to us that tow company has opened up shop in what was once Raytown Dodge. Not exactly the retail magnet city planners had in mind – but at least it is a business. The Raytown Main Street Association Window Display Contest will end on November 30th. Entry forms can be found by visiting their website at http://www.raytownmainstreet.org/ Speaking of the contest – participants need to remember that to eligible to win the nearly $4,000 worth of merchandise in the contest they must be on hand when the winner is drawn. The Raytown Holiday Lighting Ceremony will take place on Friday, December 4, 2009 from 6:15 to 8:00 p.m. at the Pocket Park located at 63rd Street and Raytown Road. High School Sports O’Hara, Raytown South Post Season Hopes End in Semi-Final Round The Celtics and Cardinals both suffered a similar fate this past weekend. They were both defeated in the semi-final round of their respective football divisions. Both teams had outstanding seasons. The players learned the value of perseverance, hard work and teamwork. The coaching staff of each school also deserves credit for taking the raw talent and molding them into a cohesive working unit. O’Hara Celtics 7 / Cassville Wildcats to 23 By Brother Richard Geimer For the first time in fourteen games, the O'Hara Celtic football team failed to score 20 points and at least three touchdowns as they lost 23-7 to the Cassville Wildcats on Saturday, November 21st. Ending their season 12-2, the Celtics had outlasted 28 of the 32 teams that made postseason play in qualifying for the State's final four. Entering the fourth quarter, O'Hara was down by only three points at 10-7, but Joseph Gouvion and Trevor Tanner scored on touchdown runs of 33 yards and 9 yards in the final quarter to seal the win. At the start of the game the Wildcats scored first on a 21 yard run by Joseph Gouvion and Matt Angel kicked the extra point. The Celtics came back with a breakaway run by Raphael Spencer for 31 yards and Julian Gidley kicked the extra point that tied up the game. The score could have remained tied for half time, but an ill-advised O'Hara pass interception on a fourth down play gave the Celtics the ball on their own 8 yard line instead of the original line of scrimmage on the 27 yard line. The Wildcats eventually profited from this gift because with just three seconds left to the half, they were close enough for Matt Angel to nail a field goal. Neither team showed much spark in the third quarter as the game stayed close. After the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter, the Celtics came alive starting from their own 24 yard line and got as close as the 11 yard line. In this display of offensive comeback, T. J. White completed a 20 yard pass to Joe Melchior, ran for a 24 yard gain and a first down, and passed to Aaron Stubblefield for 15 yards. Raytown South 6 / Fort Osage 13 Raytown South trailed Fort Osage by seven points with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter of their Missouri Class 5 semifinal game Friday. But with the clock dwindling and no timeouts, Cardinals quarterback Dennis Tanner was forced to try to make a play. So he threw a third-and-10 pass just inside Fort Osage territory as far as he could toward a player wearing the same color jersey. Needless to say, nobody on Fort Osage’s sideline wanted to see the Cardinals get another shot at a first down. So when Hancock — who made the interception before slamming into fellow defensive back E.J. Gaines — rose from the ground with the ball in his outstretched palm, the party was definitely on. Hancock’s interception sealed Fort Osage’s 13-6 victory and sent the Indians to the state championship game for the first time in school history, but it was just the last in a series of big plays made by the Indians’ defense. That’s no hollow statement, either — the Indians’ defense set the tone early when Raytown South came up empty on two golden opportunities to score in the first quarter. After the Cardinals missed a 35-yard field goal at the start of the game, they advanced all the way to the Indians’ 20-yard line on their next possession before turning it over on downs. Fort Osage’s offense quickly went to work, putting together an 11-play, 83-yard scoring drive capped with a 3-yard touchdown run by Gaines. Raytown South answered with a touchdown, but a 7-yard touchdown run by Fort Osage quarterback Edward Pearl gave the Indians a 13-6 lead heading into the break. And the Indians’ defense made that lead stand in a hard-hitting second half in which neither team was able to do much with the ball. Raytown South, 10-4, had one final chance to tie the game when it got the ball back at its own 16 with roughly 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the game, but after the Cardinals managed to advance to the Indians’ 47, Hancock’s interception sealed the Indians’ win. Reprinted from the Kansas Ctiy Star 11/20/09, by TEREZ A. PAYLOR

29 comments:

Andy Whiteman said...

Is it possible that Raytown South lost because of the suspended players?

Obviously hiring part time employees for camera person and the recycle center is more logical than paying overtime. Paying overtime in these cases is idiotic!

I really question if a person is needed to supervise recycling? It seems to me that the whole thing should be self service and would receive more donations if open 24/7 so anyone could drop off at their convenience. If a person is truly needed, there are probably people who would volunteer. It would also be a good place to use community service sentences from the court.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I agree with Andy. There are plenty of people out there, many of them forced into retirement, who would be pleased to take on a part-time job working in recycling and running the camera at city hall meetings.

It would save the city money. The savings could be used to increase the hours of operation.

Pat Casady said...

It's too bad Raytown has very few elected officials we
can say we are proud of. For the last twelve years our
elected officials have ignored the people's wishes and now
the people have to pay for the officials arrogance.
Let's face it, our elected officials don't get names tagged on
them like "Simple Joe" or Dumb and Dumber" for the great
job's they are doing.
So yes, Anonymous 8:43 it's sad to say, the gene pool is that shallow.

Andy Whiteman said...

Not only are there people who were forced into retirement, there are people who need and want a part time job. This includes students, non working spouses, and working people who want a little extra work. Where are also people who would do it just because they like the type of work such as interfacing with people. Can you imagine actually being paid to attend a BOA meeting just to run the camera? A good way to know what is going on at City Hall and also be paid!

Andy Whiteman

Robbie said...

If they need help with the recycling center, why can't the Municipal Judge assign lawbreakers to do community service at the recycling center? Other cities do, and it serves both purposes very well.

Anonymous said...

Robbie have you ever thought about running for mayor? Looks like you can make a sound judgement without any help from "the professional staff."

Anonymous said...

Speaking of the Jim and Jim show. One justs talks and sounds dumb, and the other just looks dumb. What a duo fighting for us at city hall. Scarrrry.

Anonymous said...

How could I find out how many times Chris White has had the first motion and Simple Joe aka Snake in the Grass has seconded the motion? They do it I believe so that there is never any discussion on any item. Dirty stuff at city hall. Is anyone surprised? It is time to tell these good bye, along with Mayor Bow Wow.

Lee said...

As I have mentioned, currently I live in a small bedroom community of KC, population under 5000. We have curb side recycling as part of the city provided trash services. I don't have the bill in front of me, but I believe the trash component of my water bill is about $12. In addition to the curb side recycling, there are containers at the high school for dropping off recyclables.

Also, we have a 'recycling center' next to the sewage treatment plant where we can drop off yard waste for free. To prevent abuse of the facility it is monitored by cameras at the treatment plant. The recycling containers at the high school may be monitored too, I've never needed to use them.

Residents should be encouraged to use both facilities. I don't see that happening in Raytown. Even if you have to spend the same number of hours cleaning up improper usage of the facilities, at least you wouldn't be doing it on overtime.

Robbie said...

Is it true that the O'Reilly Auto Parts on Raytown Road was robbed at gun point last week? Does anyone know if the robbers were caught?

Pat Casady said...

The reason it seems this bunch don't discuss any matters
of importance is probably two fold. First most don't know
what they are even voting for or how it will effect the town
as we have seen from recent bad decisions.
And second they are told how to vote by either the lawyer,
the city administrator or both. It's easier to to do their jobs
when someone is telling how to do it. This is why when you
ask them a question they give you that deer in the headlights
look. They really don't remember what they were told to vote
for. As for seconding a matter, it has long been a contest to see
who could do it the quickest. It has something to do with kissing
up. If they would work as hard for the people of Raytown as they do
trying to impress each other this town would be in a lot better
shape.

Anonymous said...

I see that Public Water District # 2 are wasting my tax dollars again. Have you seen that they are building some sort of pond in front of their headquarters on Blue Ridge. I wish that all of these governmental agencies would stick to providing the service that they are supposed to instead of building all this cosmetic crap. SAVE MY TAX DOLLARS.

Andy Whiteman said...

Lee, I think Raytown is backwards with no New Age Thinkers(TM of Lew Tice). I used to live in a village of 125 houses and people had the audacity to tell me that something couldn't be done because it has never been done before. Dealing with a small number of simple people, I could move forward with my projects and ideas. But in a City the size of Raytown, there is no way to get around the simpletons unless we can get Progressive people to VOTE the backwards people out of office.

Robbie, Your question illustrates why Raytown NEEDS a newspaper! I wonder if the BOA woulf give someone a TIF to start a newspaper since a paid circulation will generate sales tax dollars?

Andy Whiteman

Robbie said...

Andy is correct that we need a local newspaper. Pat is also correct that a lot of people go to the polls without any idea why they are there. Both the Post and the Tribune were very good at giving both sides of each issue on the ballots before each election. It didn’t matter which side of the fence the reader was on, they were assured of getting the whole story of each issue or candidate.

The Kansas City Star used to do that, but their staff is so small that I'm not sure they even know which municipalities are having elections.

The benefit of this blog is to not only discuss unpleasant issues, but to exchange ideas and information. I know if I have a real problem in my neighborhood, I can find information about a resolution from the bloggers.

Anonymous said...

The Public Water Supply #2 is not government run nor does it use any of your tax dollars. It is a privately owned business as is the Raytown water company. Neither of these water companies have access to your tax dollars now or ever. As for the pond it their own money to do with what ever they want.

Andy Whiteman said...

From what Pat says, I have to conclude that in Raytown the cart is running the horse. In other words, city government is bass ackwards. (At least that is the way polite people used those words in previous years.)

The voters need to take charge at the next election and put things into order, but I am afraid it ain't going to happen.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 11-24-09 4:31 You are so WRONG about Water District #2. Why do you think is says Public in it's name? It is set up with a board of directors and it is supposed to be not for profit. It is owned by the customers it's serves. So it is your rate payer dollars they are wasting when they do cosmetic stuff that has nothing to do with delivering water to us. CALL the attorney generals office and they will tell you all about this little gem. Raytown Water Company is privately owned, but not district #2.

Pat Casady said...

I wanted to take time to wish everybody that reads this a
Happy Thanksgiving.
I know we don't always agree on issues but, we can be thankful
we have this means of communication, and we know someone
is there to listen to each of us.

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't Public Water District #2 give us a rate reduction instead of building so many fancy buildings and driving all those new gas guzzling pickup trucks? I believe that they need some new leadership.

Lee said...

Note that the full name of PWSD#2 is Jackson County Public Water Supply District #2. If you talk to them, they will tell you that they are owned by the public. If you talk to Missouri's Public Utilities Commission, they will tell you that PWSD#2 is publicly owned and they have no authority over them. I have yet to find anyone at Jackson County that will admit to having any authority over them. So I'm not sure where the public has any voice in how 'their water district' is operated. In essence, all they are is a middle man. They buy water from KCMO and resell it to us.

Also of note, Patrick Ertz, Ward IV Alderman and Mayor Pro-Tem, is the PWSD#2 manager and a member of its Board of Directors.

Andy Whiteman said...

I noticed on the BOA agenda that Pat Reihle is to be appointed to a committee. Did his out of town job not work out? Maybe he will run for BOA in the next election?


Andy Whiteman

Max said...

I've seen this Cindy McPherrin lady on the news several times now represneting Raytown in a very positive light. It seems she truely has a heart for Raytown. Maybe we can get her to run for alderman?

Andy Whiteman said...

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Andy Whiteman said...

Somehow these posts are displaying in reverse order.

8:30 AM, What gas guzzling trucks? Pat Ertz said (I believe at a BOA meeting) that they buy their new trucks locally and the buy the energy efficient type. Not living in that area, I have never seen one of their trucks.

I agree decorative projects are a TOTAL waste of money. The city is into wastful spending also. I have told the BOA numerous times I don't like this money wasting.

I guess we all forgot that this is Mayor Cleaver's complaint free today. He has lost sight that he have plenty to complain about. He just doesn't want to hear it.

Anyd Whiteman

Anonymous said...

PWSD#2 has an elected board of directors. Do you ever remember having an election for these people? Something is very wrong about this picture. I suggest that you contact the Jackson County Board of Elections in Independence to see why. Also about their trucks, are Dodge Rams fuel efficient trucks? That's what they have been driving for years.

Anonymous said...

So Pat Riehle is back?

He was on the BOA for a short while and then resigned because he took a job out of state. For that he deserves credit for doing the right thing.

He was appointed by former Mayor Sue Frank. Him being appointed to the a committee by Bower is no surprise. It is just a continuation of a revolving door used by Bower. He just uses the same warm bodies over and over.

He is probably grooming Riehle to run for the BOA. He would fit right in. His time on he Board is marked by nothing that could be called an accomplishment.

Anonymous said...

The best Mexican food--made by the local owner and family--is at Fiesta Azteca on Raytown Road just south of 350 highway, next to Cosentino's
Apple Market. Jim G's is famous for his huge tenderloin sandwiches. One serves two persons. it is possible to eat in Raytown and avoid the chains or franchisees, altho they need to make a living too.
Another positive thing about Raytown is its location. One can get anywhere around town in minutes from here, easily! And, most of all, the friendly, helpful residents. Who else would build an entire building entirely with volunteer help, in order to help others who need food, utility help, etc.?

A longtime resident.

Greg Walters said...

No argument with you about Jim G's or Fiesta Azteca.

But after driving through that three traffic light mess beginning at Walmart and ending at Raytown Road I have to wonder if city hall is trying to destroy the "town that is easy to get around in" image.

Andy Whiteman said...

Hwy 350 & Gregory is a weird intersection that is hard to get around especially if you are turning left off Gregory since there are no left turn lanes or signals. This also makes it difficult for through traffic in the left lanes of Gregory. Also going west bound Gregory at sunset it is impossible to see the traffic signals. I have suggested the California system of also placing lower signals that can be seen without looking into the sun, but the BOA appears to be deaf.

I tried Fiesta Azteca once and liked it, but they didn't accept credit cards. Credit Cards are the only way I pay because I don't carry cash and don't write checks unless I am at home. That was several years ago. They may have changed their policy but dropped off my list after the first visit.

Chain restaurants do serve a good purpose such as Sonic Burger, Arbys, and Wendys. I consider Arby's overpriced but they published coupons in today's Red Star. Also if you go to the survey on your receipt you will get a FREE beef and cheddar. They have 5 regular for $5 on weekends (maximum of 250). 250 Arby's might be good for a team, go other large group.

I can't remember names, but I like the Mexican restaurant in the strip mall across from Arby's that has Radio Shack and $ store. Really good food and they take credit cards!

Andy Whiteman