RAYTOWN REPORT

Fix This Eyesore NOW! Greg Walters, Contributing Editor Richard Tush, Contributing Editor With this issue of the Raytown Report we are inaugurating a new service for our readers in Raytown. We call it our "Fix This Eyesore NOW!" or, more simply stated our "FTE Column". In this column we will post any complaint from our readers that we believe may be a violation of the city’s code of ordinances. We will also see to it that your elected officials on the Board of Aldermen and Mayor David Bower are made aware of the complaint. Keep in mind that we are only passing the information on. The final decision to resolution of the problem is left up to the powers that be at Raytown City Hall. We are starting off the list with a location that has been posted on Raytown Report four times in the last week. We’ve also decided to take a page from our recent American history (remember the Iranian Hostage Crisis during the Jimmy Carter presidency?) and date the complaint by the n...

Richard Tush Contributing Editor Shop Raytown What has happened to all the hype at city hall for us to get behind our local merchants and "Shop Raytown First"? At the April 14th Board of Alderman meeting the board agreed, without question to purchase five new Crown Victorias under the Mid America Council for public purchasing contract from Shawnee Mission Ford. However, from speaking with the fleet manager at Dick Smith Ford the city never contacted them about bidding on the job. In all fairness, the city’s assumption was correct and it would have cost an additional $100 per vehicle to purchase locally. However, wouldn’t have been nice to at least given this opportunity. We also need to keep in mind this would have keep city dollars in Raytown. If we look at the bigger picture of what the city has done for Wal-Mart or a downtown real estate company would the additional $500 really been out of line. At the same time, it is refreshing to learn that Jackson County Water D...

by Greg Walters Last Tuesday, for the first time in 27 years, I watched the Raytown Board of Aldermen meeting as a private citizen from the comfort of my home. The view from there was enlightening, and, sad to say, disappointing. The BIG issue that night was a deal in the making that would have allowed CBS Outdoor to build one of those over-sized, lighted, billboards on 350 Highway. This action would have flown in the face of an earlier decision by the Board of Aldermen to break the lease agreement for two billboards on 350 Highway located in the Raytown Live development district. The cost of removing those billboards was not small. The city had already set aside $45,000 to pay compensation to the billboard owners. If accepted, the sign company would have returned the $45,000 plus interest (the money had been held in escrow) to the city for permission to build the new mega billboard. Enlightening . . . The enlightening part of the meeting was to see that three of our new Aldermen...

Richard Tush Contributing Editor Alderman Van Buskirk and Ligthfoot still have not had a one on one meeting with our mayor. It is a standard practice to for this meeting to bring the new Alderman up to date on issues facing the city, receive committee assignments and the learn the direction, which the mayor would like for the city. The lack of inclusion seems to mean one of two things. Either these two Alderman were not the mayor’s choice. We all clearly recall the mayor appointed Alderman Lightfoot’s predecessor therefore it only makes sense Lightfoot was not his candidate. The only other reason is the rumors that the mayor will not be seeking re-election must be true. Again we could be jumping to conclusions and forgetting when David Bower was running for mayor he did indicated he would be traveling from time to time in conjunction with his employment. I believe many of us would agree that from time to time professional life eats up more time to tend to other maters. Howeve...