RAYTOWN REPORT

I received the following email Saturday morning from Ms. Rebecca Perkins. The message speaks for itself. from Rebecca Perkins to greg.walters.listens@gmail.com dateSat, Mar 28, 2009 at 11:04 AM subject joe creamer mailed-byyahoo.com signed-byyahoo.com I received a very disturbing letter from a guy named Joe Creamer yesterday and it really upset me. You came to my house last weekend while we were planting bushes in the front of our home. You were very friendly and pleasant, and complimented my dog [just wanted to refresh your memory]. I have never been into local politics, but his letter really made me angry. Creamer was way out of line with his letter, and on the back he had copied some sort of legal billing that supposedly you ran up. Not many people understand legal billing, but I do (I make my living as a legal secretary). Its clear that you didn't "run up the bill" but that sure is what Creamer is trying to say. This kind of negativity is exactly why I DON...

Ben Felder, Editor and Publisher of The Raytown Post, had an interesting column in that paper last week. Entitled “Candidates Should be Prepared to put Money Where Their Mouth Is”, the editorial was a challenge to candidates for the Board of Aldermen to answer how to best spur economic growth in Raytown. In a backhanded way, Mr. Felder painted a rather gloomy picture of Raytown’s economic future. And he did so with a very broad brush. But a closer look at some realities in Raytown show that the gloom and doom crowd may be off target with their comments. It is time to expose some of the urban legend logic at work. Consider the following: COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VALUES: Most everyone knows that Raytown was reported in the Kansas City Star as leading Jackson County in lowered property values. What most do not know is that those numbers were largely influenced by residential property values. Commercial property values in Raytown have not dropped. In fact, they have remained level. Given t...

Or Why Some Call it the Silly Season Last Friday I received a call from a neighbor who asked that I place a yard sign in a co-workers yard. Ever the politician, I could not resist the opportunity to put up another yard sign, so I jumped in my car and planted the new sign The next morning I received a phone call from a gentleman who told me it was his yard that the sign was placed in. He had no problem with the sign, but did have a problem with what transpired the following morning. He told me my opponent for Alderman in Ward 1 had stopped by his house early Saturday morning and asked if I had been given permission to place the yard sign. The gentleman told my opponent, “Yes, he put the sign there because I asked him to.” He then sent him on his way. For the record – I always ask permission before putting up a yard sign. The yard sign caper has caused me to wonder what is going on in other wards this election. So, I asked around. Here is what I have found out: WARD 2: Justin Tom...

An ordinance increasing the annual salaries of the Chief of Police and Municipal Judge had its first reading at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Raytown Board of Aldermen. The increases would be effective after the April 7th municipal election for the next four year term of each office. The current office holders for the two seats, Chief of Police Jim Lynch and Municipal Judge Traci Fann are unopposed in their bids for re-election. How Much? The Municipal Judge currently draws a salary of $24,407.78 annually. The proposed ordinance sets the new salary $25,628.17. The Municipal Judge is a part time position. According to a report from the city staff entitled “Compensation History of the Marshal (Chief of Police)”; the Chief of Police currently draws a salary of $86,821.88 annually. The proposed ordinance sets the new salary incrementally over a four-year period. The total salary at the end of four years will be $96,742.87. The Chief of Police is a full time job. The breakdown of the p...

Reminder: Fireworks Vote This Tuesday The Raytown Board of Aldermen will decide the fate of legislation permitting the sale and shooting of fireworks in Raytown at its regulare meeting this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Raytown City Hall. This is an open public meeting. Individuals who may wish to address the Board on the proposed legislation may address the Board of Aldermen at the beginning of the meeting during Public Comments. The Raytown Report – A History In 1997 former Raytown Alderman Garth Bare and I started a project we called the Raytown Reporter. I had just been defeated in a bid for re-election to the Board (I had lost by three votes – believe me, that sets your mind to second guessing “what if”. . . but that’s another story) but still wanted to keep in touch with what was going on Raytown City Hall. So we founded the Raytown Reporter. It was truly a labor love. The format was that of an electronic newspaper. We wrote stories, editorials, had a lively Letters to the Editor ...