Sunday, February 14, 2010

In This Week's Raytown Report

A Glimmer of Hope for Recycling One Good Idea Spawns Another Ripple Glass to be Added to Recycling Center High School Sports Poll Results

Community Billboard Announcements

Our Lady of Lourdes 8th Annual Benefit Auction

Our Lady of Lourdes School will hold its 8th Annual Benefit Auction on Saturday, March 6, 2010. The silent auction begins at 6:00 p.m. Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. and the live auction will begin at 8:00 p.m.

Tickets to the event cost $20 per person and can be purchased at the School office or at the door. The venue includes a Cajun Dinner, beverages and bid number.

Raytown Girls Softball Signup February 20th

The Raytown Girls Softball League will hold signups for their 9 a.m. to 12 noon at Raytown Middle School located at 4900 Pittman Road. Individuals and teams (T-Ball through Adult) are welcome.

Please use this link for more information www.eteamz.com/rgsl A Glimmer of Hope for Recycling Ward 5 Alderman Steve Mock and Ward 4 Alderman Bill VanBuskirk have teamed up with a proposal that may re-invigorate Raytown’s Recycling Program. At the February meeting the City’s Municipal Committee Alderman Steve Mock added an agenda item concerning recycling. The proposal would expand the Recycling Center’s days of operation to four Saturdays a month. Aldermen Mock and VanBuskirk showed that by hiring part-time people to run the Center rather than paying full time employees overtime, the City could expand operations without any increase to the city’s budget. Currently, the city uses full time city employees paid at time and one-half to man the center. VanBuskirk told the Raytown Report, “I have heard several complaints about the hours of the recycling center. I think this may be a good solution.” The plan, worked out with City Public Works Director Andy Noll, would be to hire two part time employees to help recyclers when they come to the center. The rate of pay for the position has not been disclosed. The plan still needs approval of the majority of the Board of Aldermen and Mayor to be implemented. The five member Municipal Committee voted unanimously to move forward on the issue. Alderman Steve Mock said that he has high hopes for implementation of the plan soon, though no date has been set. “This could be a win/win situation for Raytown, recycling and especially for the taxpayers who use the service,” said the Ward 5 Alderman. Anyone interested in the part time position are welcome to contact Alderman Steve Mock at 225-3217 or Alderman Bill VanBuskirk at 737-2729. One Good Idea Spawns Another As most city hall watchers are aware, Raytown City Council, and select Committee meetings are broadcast on Cable Channel 7. What most folks do not know is that at times the city has had to scramble to find camera operators for some meetings. The City of Raytown pays its camera operators over-time to broadcast the aforementioned meetings. Some Council members are said to be interested in exploring the possibility of creating part-time positions to fill the need for camera operators. Ripple Glass to be Added to Recycling Center While on the subject of recycling we checked with Aldermen Mock and VanBuskirk to see if any progress has been made in bringing glass recycling to Center. Ripple Glass, a venture sponsored by Boulevard Brewing, has offered to place, free of charge, a collection container at the Raytown Recycling Center. Sources at City Hall say that Raytown’s Recycling Center will have a Ripple container as well. Currently, Raytown recyclers can take their glass to large purple Ripple Glass container located near the southwest corner of 350 Highway and Gregory Boulevard in the Berbiglia parking lot. A question that comes to mind is . . . why was Berbiglia able get up and running immediately and the city stalled for so long. So the question was asked. Liability issues, was the reason given by City Hall. Bureaucrats, what would we do without them? High School Sports Raytown South - Bruin Busted Less than 18 hours after beating Lee's Summit West on the road, Raytown South hosted Columbia Rockbridge and lost 64-56 after a fourth quarter comeback that fell short. Rockbridge, led by future Missouri Tiger Ricky Kreklow, jumped to a 19-10 first quarter lead and stayed ahead of the Cardinals for most of the game. Kreklow scored 12 of his 24 points in the first quarter and forced Ray-South to play the role of catch up the entire game. For the rest of this story and other Raytown South Sports News use this link Raytown South High School Celtics Defeat Warrensburg by Five – Remain Undefeated in the West Central Conference by Brother Richard Geimer Earlier in the basketball season, the O'Hara Celtics poured in 98 points against the Warrenburg Tigers, but in the game on February 12th, they were held to only 38. But it was enough to claim the victory inasmuch as the home team could only manage 33! In the low scoring game, the Tigers owned a six point lead before the half at 21-15, but by the time the fourth quarter was to unfold, the Celtics were up 34-33. For the rest of this story and other stories about O’Hara sports use this link: O'Hara High School Sports Poll Results Should Raytown require Department heads to reside within city limits? YES . . . 80% NO . . . . 20%

35 comments:

Andy Whiteman said...

Obviously the powers that be are showing poor management skills paying overtime for the recycle center and camera operator.

Has anyone noticed all of the tie wearing chair warmers sitting to the rear of the BOA meeting? One of them could operate the the camera. Excuse me if that is not in their job description.

It might be that people would volunteer for these jobs.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Glad to see that two of the newly elected alderman are being active in city business. Wish the other two ParDue and Lightfoot would follow suit.

Pat Casady said...

It is good to see that at lease two of our aldermen are
trying to do what the people wanted. However, when it comes to
a vote we shouldn't count our chickens yet.
There are still eight voters that don't give a damn what the people
want.

Andy Whiteman said...

I am glad that there are Alderman who are truly concerned with improving the community. Such people actually ran for the job as a community service as it should be. As for the other 8, I can't agree with Pat. I am sure that some of them care. This is obvious from the discussions at the BOA meetings.

Yes, I know I am moving, but as long as I am a property owner, I want to see improvement. After all I have a house I need to sell in a city with a poor real estate market.

My Red Star just came up for renewal. I called the customer service number and told them the price was too high. I was offered a discount which I again said was too high. I was then offered a reasonable price. That paper is way overpriced for consisting mainly of advertising and the quality was cut when they went to their new press of narrower pages. It sure doesn't hurt to ask for a better price. Kind of reminds me of Mexico where merchants expect to be asked to lower the price.

Stay warm everyone.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Pat you are right there are still eight alderpeople out there who could and have ruined our city. Let's pay close attention on how they vote on issues and if they don't vote up to our standards and what WE want for our city vote the idiots out along with the mayor. Several of them should have moved on years ago and some should have never been elected in the first place!!!

Anonymous said...

I to am very glad to see that someone has stepped forward to try to get recycling working again for all of us.

Even though I did not and would never ever vote for Ward 4's new alderman I do want to say thanks for trying to he and Mr. Mock. It is really a shame that we have other alderman who were willing to sit on their backsides than to try to find away to solve this problem.

Lets all hold our breath to see if this council can ALL vote for what is good for Raytown and our plant for a change.

Anonymous said...

I hope the changes at the recycling center are implemented. It would be a welcome change for the do nothing Bower administration.

There is concern that there may not be enough votes to pass it. And don't forget, the Mayor's record on recycling is horrible. Let's hope he leaves his veto pen in the desk drawer!

Andy Whiteman said...

5:31PM, Who is going to vote the idiots out? The turnout is too low at city elections to effect change. It seems that some Alderpeople are holding life time terms similar to Senators and Representatives.

7:34PM, The mayor has no veto power since he has no vote unless it is to break a tie vote.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Andy. The Mayor does have veto power in a fourth class city. It takes a 2/3rds majority of the City Council to over-ride a mayoral veto.

Check it out.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know where to apply to at City Hall to work at the reycling center? Where do you apply to work as the camera operator?

Anonymous said...

David Bower's failure at getting recycling in this town is like O'Bama's failure at health care. His inability to work with people, his my way or the highway attitude, doom any proposal he may have.

When you mix this with some of the neandethral mindset of people like Creamer and VanBuskirk you have a recipe for disaster for any ideas that are progressive.

These people are not about what is good for the community any more than a school yard bully is good for a school.

Pat Casady said...

According to national news, there is a movement for
the people to take back our cities, towns and country
from worthless politicians that have forgot they work for
the people not the banks and corporate biggies.
It is no different here. We all know the big corporations
get every break and our city's elected officials have given
away millions in tax income.
I hope the national movement will hit here next election.

Andy Whiteman said...

6:37AM Where does one check it out? I have been told that the mayor's only vote is if there is a tie. Did someone lie to me?

6:59AM I suggest human resources. Check the website for the HR director, debbied@raytown.mo.us
Fax: 816/737-6097

I think it is a good idea for interested parties to send in a resume even before the job is authorized. It should put you first in line for showing interest.

Honestly I think the tie wearing chair warmers who sit at the rear of the room should operate the camera and save the taxpayer's money. Is the camera necessary? TV viewing of meetings is limited to those who are rich enough to afford cable and not to ALL citizens. This is discrimination.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Apply at city Hall in Administration and they can direct you. If nothing has changed it is our City Clerk Theresa Henry. If you don't know where administration is turn right at the counter where you pay your taxes and go down that hall it's on your left just before you get to the doors going outside.

Andy Whiteman said...

Tonight's BOA meeting was laughable. More time was spent arguing over the consent agenda than if each item of it had simply been read as it should. Another attempt to conceal city business from the public.

3:04PM, "just before you get to the doors going outside." Do you think the real intent of that location is that hopefully citizens will walk past administration and go out the doors?

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Glad to see Nancy Thompson leave she has not been an asset to the city but more of an a--!!!! The city does not need a full time attorney.

Anonymous said...

I did not see the meeting last night but you are correct about consent agendas being used to rush decisions past the Board of Aldermen.

What I cannot understand is what is there to argue about? If an item has one person who is opposed to having it on the consent agenda it is, by definition, no longer part of the consent.

Let me guess. Some of the simple ones on the BOA object to someone objecting!

Looks like nothing has changed. Just the names of some of the players.

Anonymous said...

The only people that can change things at city hall
are the people! Please, please get out and vote next
election. Raytown's future is in the hands the voters.
Talk to your neighbors, ask them to take the time to vote.
Be active in your neighborhoods to try and get everybody
to vote. Please.

Anonymous said...

Mayor Bower is a bigger bully than Nesbitt. He wants no discussion so the public won't know how recklessly they are spending our money. PLEASE, PLEASE, someone step forward to challenge Dictator Bower in the next city election. If anyone does he is GONE!!!

Andy Whiteman said...

5:21AM, I think the city needs a fulltime city attorney to protect the city's interests mainly from mismanagement and legal issues caused by city officials/staff.

This city went to a contracted attorney when a previous city attorney resigned and went to a private firm. I believe the contracted fee became too high. The contracted attorney produced a proposed ordinance which I would consider to be very poor quality for a law clerk to have written. It sure made me feel that others in the firm were handling what "our" attorney should have been doing.

7:21AM, Paragraph 3 applies here, but mainly I think it is a show of power. Nancy Thompson has discovered an old city ordinance that allows an objection which requires a motion, discussion, and vote. Of course no one knows why the original ordinance is there. Obviously a good reason for not keeping full minutes. It is unknown if the consent agenda was used when the old ordinance was written. Too many unknowns in the government of this Socialist Fascist Fief which is why a city attorney is needed. These cover-up agends need to be stopped. The objection, arguement, and vote take much more time than simply reading each bill properly. Maybe we need to furnish board members with rubber stamps since the intent is to rush through these bills and rubber stamp them hidden from the public with no discussion.

Andy Whiteman

Frank Potter said...

I to attended BOA meeting however
Andy I didn't consider the consent
agenda discussion laughable.It is
one of many sloppy business practices the city uses.I feel Raytown has some serious issues with it's Government
and Business practices.It is behind
the Times for a city of it's size.
Customer service and addressing
citizen concerns have deteriorated
more under the current Mayor and
city Administrator.

I commend Alderman VanBuskirk for
diplomaticlly and persistently
pursuing his effort to finely get two items removed from the consent agenda.

I thought Kevin Boji gave a good presentation on the need to renew
the one eighth cent Parks & Rec sales tax.I will vote for it.I feel it's the only thing the citzens of Raytown are getting their money's worth on.

Andy Whiteman said...

To the person who wanted to know where to apply for the part time jobs, I quote from Greg's post:

"Anyone interested in the part time position are welcome to contact Alderman Steve Mock at 225-3217 or Alderman Bill VanBuskirk at 737-2729."

Andy Whiteman said...

Frank, you are correct. I used the wrong word to describe the actions involving the consent agenda. I should have said pathetic. The way this Socialist Fascist Fief of Raytown conducts business is pathetic. It reminds me of Dictator O'Bomba's running of the country. Very similar styles. Did Raytown learn from der Fuerher or did der Fuehrer learn from Raytown? By the way, is any elected official from Chicago?

Even though I don't use the parks, I agree the 1/8% sales tax is orf good value for the money. The parks in Raytown seem to be hidden. When I was forced to move to Raytown, I thought there was a city park behind me. It turned out to be private property occupied by 3 miniature homes with obnoxious neighbors. There was another area I thought was a large park, but it is private property. What appears to be a park isn't necessarily a park.

Andy Whiteman

Frank Potter said...

Greg,
I have a question for you regarding
the recycling proposal.

Since the recycling center is all
ready in operation and the proposal
details have been worked out with
Andy Knoll.

WHY DOES THE PROPOSAL HAVE TO BE
VOTED ON BY THE BOA?

Anonymous said...

I watched the BOA meeting on T.V. I also commend Van Buskirk for removing the items from the consent agenda he saw fit. In addition to that Lightfoot also removed a item from the consent agenda that was over $100,000 in spending. Good for both of them.

Greg Walters said...

The entire Board of Aldermen must approval all spending and budgetary items at city hall.

Even though the item is already budgeted, Department heads are supposed to take direction from the Board as a whole, not a sub-committee of the Board.

I did talk to Andy Knoll about the hiring procedure. He told me that it is being worked on and should move forward in a couple of weeks, pending, approval of the BOA.

Salamander said...

What a crock!

That sums up all the scare talk we hear whenever someone wants to put the shaft to the taxpayers.

Examples? There are more than enough.

The latest is this: THE KANSAS CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAS TO CLOSE 50% OF IT SCHOOLS OR ARAGEDDON WILL DESCEND.

Not true at all. Clsing schools is not the only answer in K.C. The Solutions lies in controlling the teachers and making those on the administrative payroll do some work for a change.

As for the teachers. The February 18th issue of the Star told how some teachers are worried about being laid off. So they are. And they should be. IF they get laid off they will have to compete in the world. It ain't gonna be easy for most of them.

You see, folks, I the real world people have to work and produce to make it. They don't close down everytime ti gets cloudy or snows a flake or two.

More Armageddon Double Speak:

If KC doesn't cough up to million dollars a year to billionnaires who own the local pro ball teams will pack up and leave town.

Not a chance of that happening. There can't possibly be another town in the country which would give those panhandlers the sweetheart deals they have.

The proof is in what more learned individuals say: Forbes Magazine said the two pro teams -- Chiefs an Royals -- are one of the reasons KC is rated one the worst towns in the country to live in.

Armageddon, yep! That was what we heard last year when Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and those fools in Congress voted to bail out the big banks and mismanaged insurance companies.

The bail-out cost taxpayers 780 billion dollars.

Hell will freeze over before this nation sees any results of this move. No one reading thi swill live long enough to pay off the fiscal damage incurred by Paulson and Congress.

But, we were told, Armageddon was avoided.

Remember young Bush, the really stupid one?

He told us that if we didn't invade Iraq Armageddon was at hand because Hussain had the atomic bomb.

We invaded. Killed hundreds of thousands of had thousands of our soldiers killed in the process.

No atomic bombs or nuclear fission was found. But it wasn't a waste of time, manpwoer and money, not at all.

Halliburton posted record profits.

Back to the School District of KC and Armageddon John Covington.

He should be told. "If you cut the schools in half, we will cut your salary in half. After all, you are going to have only half the duties we hired you for."

Covington would back off in a New York minute.

Anonymous said...

read a book turn off cnn
Saddams nuke material is in the Bakkara Vally.
The milatary base built weeks before we went in.
This was backed up by the UN and Hans Blix.
These items were moved in two overnight colums which included refigerated tractor trailers and two ambulances.
This was reported on CNN, MSNBC and FOX.
There are two books that report this information that i can find.


Try reading a book instead of watching tv all the time.
I do agree that our congress has taxed and spent to where this country will never recover. I feel sorry for all the kids that will be paying for Obamas spending.

Andy Whiteman said...

How many thousands of years will it take our kids to pay off Dictator O'Bomba's spending?

WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO TAKE BACK THIS COUNTRY AS WELL AS THIS SOCIALIST FASCIST FIEF!

Andy Whiteman

Andy Whiteman said...

WARNING:

I was out shopping in Leawood tonight (a good sale along with double coupons). The weather changed as I traveled from nothing happening to rain, to nothing happening.

The parking lot was worse than the streets and filled deep with slush. I suggested to management that they get it plowed before it freezes tonight. Parking lots will be dangerous Sunday.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

The difference between government and an entrepreneur; One just says it cannot be done or they need more money, the other figures out a way to do it. So now the board of alderman is doing Andy Knolls job?

Anonymous said...

Hardly a fair statement on the Noll or the Board of Aldermen. It is clear that Noll is working out the details and the Board has the final say. After all, he is the employee and the Board is his collective boss.

What is wrong with that?

Andy Whiteman said...

I will tell you what is wrong. The BOA didn't do their job in the first place and give Mr. Noll direction for something that is simple. I am beginning to think the certain members of the board are dysfunctional.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many of those who think the police department need the eating gas machines spend to much time watching TV and think our police department is always having high speed chases.

Ha, Ha... If we don't chase then why spend the money on those big gas eating machines.

When is Raytown going to wake up and do something right for once.

I guess we will have to wait until we get a new mayor. You know someone who wants to do somethng for Raytown and not just look the other way while we keep on decaying.

Wake Jimmy said...

I wonder what Hy-Vee an Wal-Mart did today with the police all at the house on 67th Street.

It sure seems like we have an issue of the police officers serving two masters.

However, we know Jim Lynch doesn't care what image is present to the public as long as the pay checks keep coming in.

Speaking of Lynch I didn't see him in any of the news clips. I guess as normal he was to busy holding his chair down at city hall to get out and earn is check.

With a leader like him it is no wonder we keep having more and more negative things happen. Come on Jim lets start earning that check. We need increased patrol, warants served and high profile in set areas like Ditzler.