Sunday, October 3, 2010

Every Picture Tells a Story . . .
The picture at right is of the Korean War Memorial in Washington, DC.
The statues at the memorial (half of which are not shown) depict soldiers on patrol during the Korean conflict.

Commercial Development Update by Greg Walters

AN ANALYSIS

Many in Raytown are wondering just what is planned for the city’s future in the area of economic development. A quick call to Mr. Tom Cole, Economic Development Administrator for the City of Raytown, brought the following information.

ALDI’S: The proposed Aldi’s Grocery Store would be located at the former Holiday Chrysler Dealership at 350 Highway and Gregory Boulevard. The plan calls for the city to make a sizeable “loan” to the developer. The loan would be paid back through a Community Improvement District (CID). That translates into an additional 1% sales tax on all goods within the store.

The developer’s plans also call for a restaurant to be built at the location. The restaurant would also be part of the CID 1% sales tax increase. There has been no commitment from any restaurant to open at the location as of this writing.

Aldi’s would make four grocery stores on 350 Highway. The addition of another tax favored grocery store could squeeze the Apple Market (which does not receive tax incentives) located at Raytown Road and 350 Highway out of business.

This proposal is one in which the developer is asking too much. The real possibility of creating a vacancy just half a mile down the road with a new store that will cost consumers more in taxes simply does not make sense.

The City Council is to consider the proposal at Tuesday night’s meeting.

HOUSE OF PANCAKES: This plan calls for a House of Pancakes Restaurant to be built at the former Dodge Dealership located at 350 Highway and Raytown Road. It falls within the special tax district created for Walmart. Therefore, the taxes collected at that location are subject by prior agreement of the tax district.

One may wonder why the House of Pancakes needs tax incentives to open when not half a mile away Applebee’s is doing just fine without any tax incentives.

SUTHERLAND LUMBER: Sutherland’s is taking a serious look at the old Walmart property located at 67th and Blue Ridge Boulevard. They are currently doing their “due diligence” on the property. The project does not have any tax incentives attached to it.

Of the three possible retail outlets, Sutherlands is, by far, the best for the city. There are not any special tax incentives involved. That is also good news for Raytown consumers because in the long run, all tax incentives are paid for by those who shop at the store.

Rock That Body Confidence by Jenn Walters

Imagine yourself at the outdoor hotel pool after a long day of tiring meetings and stressful encounters with clients. You want to do nothing but relax, soak in the pool and not work. However, despite your best attempts at vegging out, your mind keeps creeping into your “me” time with thoughts like “Is my stomach pooching out?” or “Wow, her thighs look better than mine. Mine are really jiggly. I should run more,” or my personal fave, “If I just lie here and suck it in, no one will know I had a cheeseburger for lunch.”

Been there? Done that? Sound familiar? From time to time, we all have negative thoughts about our bodies. With the myriad of advertising and marketing we receive every day on TV and in magazines of the perfect man or woman, it’s no wonder we have issues with body confidence. Most of us—especially women—are terrible about comparing ourselves to the girl on the cover or even down the street. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Below are some tips to improving your body confidence and turning your negative speak into words of self-love. Whether you need to feel better in that power suit for the big presentation later this week or in that swimsuit while lounging at the pool, these tips are guaranteed to turn your body self-esteem from zero to hero.

Hit the hotel gym for some weights and cardio. Even if you just have 15 to 20 minutes, after a quick sweat session of lunges, push-ups, sit-ups and a short jog on the treadmill, you will feel more accomplished—and therefore better—about yourself. Getting those endorphins pumping can quiet the little negative body-talk devil on your shoulder and make your nice little angel on the other shoulder sing proudly. And, if you are at the pool or the beach, you can find an activity to take your mind off of your body, such as reading a book or listening to music. Bonus points if you choose an active distraction like swimming some laps or challenging your co-worker to a game of pick-up basketball. Listen to your thoughts. I know it sounds a little crazy, but most of us don’t actually listen to what our minds are saying. Whenever you are feeling down on yourself, listen to what you are saying internally. If it’s not nice or keeps comparing your somewhat-soft abs to the new hire’s six-pack, ask yourself, “What does it matter?” And then kindly tell yourself to hush up. You wouldn’t let your best friend talk to you like that, so why would you let yourself talk smack on your body?

Focus on your strengths. Sure, this is a little Stuart Smalley, but daily affirmations can do wonders. Every morning, after you get dressed and ready for your workday, look in the mirror and find one feature you love about yourself. For the ladies, it can be a pair of earrings that play off your hair color or a skirt that hugs your hips just right. For the fellas, it can be a perfectly fitting blazer that shows off your broad shoulders or a tie that picks up the subtle green in your hazel eyes. Remember that it doesn’t have to be about your body though. In fact, choosing something that you always have with you—like a smile or your sparkling eyes—is best because even on your worst body-confidence days, you still have your best trait. And, if your abs or arms or calves look particularly awesome that day, then that’s just a bonus to your already beautiful and confident self.

Relax. For those super-tough days, just breathe. A couple of deep, cleansing breaths can really help you to focus on what’s important and leave the rest behind. Take a quick five-minute walk around the hotel or convention center, and just look and listen. Pay attention to the sound of the chirping birds, do some people watching and just get out of your head. If you can’t get outside for a break, take a few deep breaths. Deep breathing is like a mini-vacation, and you can do it anywhere!

Dress for success. The right outfit can really make you feel better about yourself. Always pack your most flattering and comfortable (no one feels good in all Spandex) work outfit and swimsuit (if swimming). That way, if you’re not feeling so hot about your body, you can put on your go-to ensemble and leave your suite feeling like the hot stuff you are.

Put yourself in their shoes. On the whole, most people are more worried about themselves than what you look like. So stop worrying about what others are thinking of you—they’re probably too concerned with what you think of them to even notice!

Chow down wisely. When we’re not feeling good about ourselves, we tend to skimp on the calories. While a reduced-calorie diet can be a means to lose weight, sometimes we do this so drastically that we can create an unhealthy cycle of on-again, off-again dieting that can lead to sabotaging weight-loss efforts and a lack of self control and self-esteem. Commit to yourself that you’ll choose healthy foods and drinks most of the time. If you fall off the healthy-eating wagon and eat one too many mini-cheesecakes at that networking function, get right back on track the next day. Your health and body confidence will thank you. Give up on perfection. Setting big audacious goals is great, but if you can never be happy with yourself until you hit them, then you’re spending a lot of your life not being happy. And that’s no good. Accept your body as it is right now. Make a list of the all the great things your body can do. Sure, you may not be featured on the cover of Men’s Fitness or Shape, but your imperfect physique can sure do a lot of other impressive activities: biking, running, walking, lifting, sports…the list goes on and on.

Ask for help. If you’re really having a hard time feeling good about yourself and what you look like no matter how many of these tips you try, consider seeing a therapist. Certain types of counseling can help you to change your thoughts and behavior patterns to better recognize how awesome you truly are.

Even the most body-confident ladies and gents have their off-days, but hopefully these tips will help you to have less of them. No matter if you’re in the boardroom or poolside, life is too short to feel self-conscious. Get out there, get moving and enjoy!

To read more of Jenn’s musing go to Fit Bottomed Girls

High School Sports . . .

To catch up on O'Hara Sports use this link O'Hara High School

To catch up on Raytown South Sports use this link Raytown South High School

Last Week's Poll Results . . .

Democrat 30%

Republican 24%

Tea Party 46%

38 comments:

Andy Whiteman said...

I would like Aldi and IHOP to locate in Raytown but not at the expense of We the People. These are businesses and should use their own resources. I am against Socialism.

Aldi is not competing with any Raytown grocery store. Greg, have you every been in an Aldi? Aldi does not resemble an Apple Market. Aldi has a very limited selection but really low prices. Produce is limited and prepackaged so you have no choice of individual pieces of fruit or vegetables. When I shop Aldi, it is not a grocery trip. It is a discount trip for very few items.

From my experience WestLake Ace Hardware is also impacted by the Walmart tax. It does not apply only to Walmart.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

watch out for aldi's. they had a store in Raytown back in the late 60's early 70's. they lasted about five years.

they replaced a kroger store that was paired with spartan atlantic in was later used for the votech school. it is where walmart is today.

it is so easy for them to pack up an leave. there stores are little more the public warehouses.

Pat Casady said...

And I thought Kurt Wenson was gone!
What I mean in that is this. All Mr. Wenson could come up
with, in his time as a city administrator, was a grocery store
for the old church (Green area) property.
I can't for the life of me figure why these men and women with
a degree, and who are supposed to be leading our town
into prosperity can only come up with a grocery store.
Raytown will have one grocery store for about every one and a half square miles of our ten square mile town.
My point is, the downtown has two grocery store, vacant buildings.
Why should the taxpayers have to finance yet another retail new building?
This would go a long way in reviving the downtown area too.
There would be more new businesses move in around an Aldi's,
a store that only sells groceries, than a big box that sells everything.
I think our city leaders should concentrate on the downtown area,
quit financing new buildings and give incentives to new business
that will use the vacant buildings in the downtown area.

Anonymous said...

I had heard that Aldi's had really low prices, so I stopped in to shop at one. The place was filthy! The floors had dust bunnies on them, the canned goods being sold were past the expiration date and some of the food packages had dust and dirt on them. Aldi’s is the last place I would ever buy food. We don’t need a place like that in Raytown.

Anonymous said...

I would love for Aldi's to move in and if anyone's been in the Applemarket in a while, it would not be a huge loss. The store is always dirty and dimly lit from what I've ever seen.

Andy Whiteman said...

The question is will Aldi fit people's payment style? The only acceptable method of payment is cash or Discover card (no checks). There is a 25 cent charge for using a Discover card. I believe they may accept debit cards but don't know if there is an extra charge since I don't use debit cards or cash.

It will be Aldi's problem if Raytowners don't like the payment method. There are long lines at Aldi 75th and Wornall so people seem to adapt.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

From what I hear Alsi's has asked for many exemptions from the city's building codes dept. and the city has said OK. When I watched the P&Z meetings in the last few months I wasn't understanding why they city was so gung-ho to bend over backwards for Aldi's. That Developer was every rude and even the city attorney was upset at him because of his threats.

The P&Z Board should have told him to take a walk. I don't understand why the BOA approved everything Aldi's wanted. Do we really need them? We will have Wal-mart, Apple market, Hy Vee and Aldi's all on the Hiway, do we need all of those grocery stores? Don't we need other kinds of retail shops?

Anonymous said...

We have all seen it before!
This town's leaders are snowed by any developer.
As in the past this town has paid tens of thousands
maybe even millions of tax dollars to developers
that just took the money and ran.
R.E.D. got away with over sixty thousand and did nothing
for it. Dial was just as bad. Remember Crescent creek?
If the developer is acting like a jerk even before he gets
the deal, just think how he will be during the project.

Anonymous said...

Where did the money really go? Someone is making money on these failed deals. Does some of it come back under the table?

Anonymous said...

Just FYI... Aldis was here back when Westlake Hardware's Building was built originally not in the 60's, try late 70's early 80's. They were located in the empty business space on the north side of their building. It never replaced krogers or atlantic spartan either, and was never located in that building that became the west vo tech campus that Wal Mart is located now.

How about a bit of accuracy instead of a bunch of erroneous information.

Anonymous said...

by golly you are rite!

how long did you say they stayed in raytown before they pulled the plug?

oh, right, you forgot that part.

here is a new flash for you. walmart and aldi's is not the base you rebuild the economic recovery on.

that is like building it on quicksand.

especially when you are writing off the tzxes they are paying to the community and increasing the taxes of those who shop at those stores.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to be the one who has to say this but
adding an Aldi's to this little town will only bring
in more of what we have seen with the new Wal-Mart.
More crime, more neighborhood problems, higher taxes
and more of what we all fear.
This is probably brought to you and your town by
the people that don't live here and as department
heads don't care what happens to our town.
After all the complaining over the Wal-Mart deal,
I can't believe our elected people would do it all
again. Give away taxpayer money and raise taxes.
We can't even get our streets fixed right because
this town hasn't got enough money and still, they
keep financing and giving away our tax dollars.
I guess they are just too stupid to see how bad this
makes them look.
They keep saying how they would like to see the
downtown area get better. Beside the old church coming
down, what have they done????
Other than Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee that this town makes
no or very little income, what have they done?
The only thing this city has done for the people is,
put down a little tar and throw some gravel on it.
Not the promised "Overlay" we voted to let them raise
our taxes for!
That my friends is your tax dollars at work!

Anonymous said...

Aldi's has a bad reputation of opening stores and then pulling out. All they have to do to leave is load up the truck and go. I hoppe our city council has thought this through. If they go with aldis the are making a big mistake.

Groucho K. Marx said...

Soon- Raytown's pollys will be giving tax breaks to people who will actually BUY a house to LIVE in Raytown.

Then- Raytown's department heads will actually MOVE TO the city that feeds them- giving themselves tax breaks in the process.


BTW- this joke is no worse than others I've heard about Raytown....

Anonymous said...

Hey, Groucho,
This town used to be a great town.
People were proud to live here.
There were no murders. There was no stealing.
There were no street gangs. Just good law abiding
citizens that actually cared for this town. People were
elected for what they would do and had done for the town
and it's good people.
Then came the first Wal-Mart. Half the small businesses
closed. People moved away because of what this store
brought to this town. Our downtown became blighted.
We also had a changing of the type people that would run
for office. People that didn't and don't care for the people
or the town. They want to impress big business and give away
tax income that would repair streets, go to help police keep
our neighborhoods safe and would have kept our city services
up to date. I know you can never go back but, I hope that next
election time, we can do better.

Anonymous said...

If people moved from Raytown because of Walmart, to what Walmart-free city did they move?

Many cities have seen declining morals and increases in crime, but I think it's the parents, not Walmart that are to blame.

Andy Whiteman said...

Andy Noll responded to me email about the street work. He stated the contractor didn't do the job properly. That caused me to raise the following questions:

1) What action is being taken against the contractor?
2) Why wasn't the work supervised by someone from the city?
3) Why weren't people in the area notified? There was a sudden nuisance and health hazard but no notice. The city or contractor should have furnished face masks to those walking or working outdoors.
4) What compensation can I expect from the contractor for pain and suffering?

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

What is this horrible gravel mixture that has been put on some of our streets? It is rough, seams that don't meet and a real hazard with the loose gravel floating around. What a waste of taxpayers money. The Public Works director should be fired for buying into this scam. Then let's fire the mayor and the 5 aldermen that are up for re-election next April too.

Anonymous said...

Although true Wal-Mart wasn't the only reason.
It would be wrong to think that Wal-Mart didn't have a big
hand it the deterioration of this town.
When a small town's core businesses are forced to close
or move, because they can't compete with the big box,
(Raytown has lost over thirty) it leaves a town with a lot of
vacant buildings. This brings down the ability to sell homes.
It brings down property values and as in this town, it raises
taxes to make up for what has been lost or given away. Many people could see what was going to happen and moved out early.
Also lower property values bring with it street gangs, crime
rental properties and just about every bad thing that has
happened here in the last twenty years.
In Raytown's case, Wal-Mart and the deal they received was
probably the the last nail in the coffin. We just don't have the elected brain power to bring this town back.
Maybe Wal-Mart wasn't the single reason for Raytown's demise,
after all they had a partner........ City hall.

Anonymous said...

Thank you to October 6, 7:11am for standing up for Raytown. You are absolutely correct we were a GREAT PLACE to live and we still could be. But first we must get some people at city who do not care about the city and are just talking our money for doing or in most cases not doing their jobs and I'm talking about the elected officals as well. The city employees only do what they are told to do. But it is true, some could work a little harder at it. It is the dept. heads and the elected officals who make the laws and tell them what to do, so lets get rid of all of them and start over.

The mayor dosen't care about Raytown he just likes to hear himself talk and talk he does but says nothing. The alderpersons have done nothing as well accept give Raytown away with these deals they keep making. The dept. heads except for 2 that I can think of really are good at their jobs. That would be Mat Cushman from EMS and Possibly Mr. Cole the new Economic Developement director. There has been more movement sense he was hired than ever before. The Chief of Police is probably the worse we have ever had. He is lazy and scared to really do his job and makes more money that most dept. heads at city hall. THERE IS ABOOLUTELY NO REASON AND I MEAN NO REASON WE SHOULD BE PUTTING UP WITH ALL OF THIS GANG STUFF IF HE AND HIS OFFICERS WERE DOING THEIR JOBS. I am sick of hearing gun shot in my neighborhoodand wondering if one of them is going to be coming threw the walls. When someone calls never seeing a police car anywhere in sight. I'm tired of not being able to leaving my doors and windows open and enjoying the fresh air because someone could walk in and steal everything we own or worse. If Lynch and his dept. were doing their jobs we would not need to worry because that stuff would not be happening here.

So, what are we going to do?? Are we going to just keep saying "OH it okay it not their fault" and live with the status quo?? Or, are we finally going to stand up and be counted and get rid of those who are just take the money and really don't care about Raytown. Things cannot not continue to stay the same or we will as a city continue to die. Stand with me and lets get the bums out of here. I am sick to death of the "status quo".

Anonymous said...

I understand that Ole Sue Frank and Marilyn Fleming were at the BOA meeting lobbying for raises for our "fine" Police department. Ms. Frank is worried that here husband, Captain Ted Bowman might not get his big raise. What a hypocrite, she's the one to blame for much of our lost revenue. By allowing Walmart to come to Raytown she forced out many of our small taxpaying businesses. Why doesn't this woman just go away?

Andy Whiteman said...

I know my memory is bad, But wasn't Bower the mayor when the Walmart deal was approved?

There are 10 on the board and Greg voted "NO." I don't recall the other votes. The BOA members who voted yes are at fault, not the mayor. The mayor has no vote unless there is a tie.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Andyis right. Bower was the mayor who pushed walmart through. Sue Frank supported the walmart deal all the way.

Walmart and now the city council has voted through a deal for another box stores for another 23 years of debt. This time it is Aldi's. Don't they know that Aldi's has a bad rep when it comes to staying in a community?

The vote was unanimous. They even voted to push the legislation through in one night so that they wouldn't have to put up with pesky constituent questions at a public meeting.

This bunch from the mayor on down need to go.

Anonymous said...

I think Sue Frank needs to have a memory jolt. She is no longer mayor and her administration was just as bad as what we have now. Her administration is the one that lined the chief of police nest with a golden lining. All citizens have an chance to ask questions of the chief Oct. 11 at Spring Valley school reguarding what is being done about the crime situation in Raytown. Let's get some answers and put a stop to this and make Raytown safe again.

Andy Whiteman said...

I was unaware the Aldi's deal passed. I like Aldis for some shopping but they should use their own money to locate here or anyware.

The use of secret meetings and pushing through leglislation in one meeting is why I call this city
the Socialist Fascist Fief of Raytown.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Hey Greg.

Congrats on your endorsement from the KC Star.

Go get em!

Andy Whiteman said...

This is only time that a agree with the Red Star. Vote for Greg Walters on Nov. 2.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

If the members of the Board of Alderman find is accepable to give tax dollars to Aldi's then why don't they first each put up $50,000 for the cause. I bet if we get get law out of Jefferson City that would required the those members on the Board of Alderman to do just that MO as a whole wouldn't have the budget issues as I am sure when elected officials had to first dip into teri pockets the foolish think would end!!!

Anonymous said...

How is Lynch going to pay for those extra police officers if the city keeps giving money to anyone that ask.

What a great managemt pay David Bower has brought to our city.

Anonymous said...

Andy,

I am catching up on post from last week and you comments about the police are so off base.

Leave 4:20 alone and come back to reality. How many officers did David Bower and Jim Lynch boast about would be hired.

Yes, I too have seen a few officrs sworn in, but those are to replace the ones that have left.

Therefore and I know doing the match is hard for some, but that mean zero additional officers.

Stop buying what Bower is dumping out there our you will end up have to pay sonmeone to buy your property as no one is going to want to live in here as it is nolonger safe.

Anonymous said...

Let me be "Blunt" What a Repblican David Bower is.

Only a Republican would want taxpayers to pick up the cost so soemone could make their business grow.

Sounds just like Roy and the special deals big business gives him.

We need to end this "Blunt" miss use of tax dollars and bying votes form those with special interest at our esxpense.

Anonymous said...

Would someone explain to Pat Casady what a paint brush is?

Maybe he could put it to use and cleanup his little corner of Raytown.

Sorry, Pat.... I know you are waiting on a tax break like that ex-alderman who got a break for painting his place.

Anonymous said...

Should we really be thanking ward 4 alderman for wasting tax dollars.

That is right - Paint a street to remind people to slow down is a waste of funds that are already short.

It also is an act of discremination against all citizen in Raytown who too live on streets with kids at play.


Could these two tell us what is the number of kids that are needed to have the same massge painted in other parts of the city.

Once the new numbers from the census come out will the message on this special street need painted over as they will no longer have the magic number of kids on the street. However, we now this still remains unknown


It is time to think before you act and until elected officials do that we will keep seeing waste and budget issues.

Being Mr Ertz is one of those who wasted this money makes me quetion how much money as manager of the water district he is wasting.

And the people all yelled at the top of their voices.

AUDIT! AUDIT! AUDIT!!!

And the state will prove the waste and violations!!!

Anonymous said...

I think that painting the speed limits on streets where children play is a good idea. That is why we pay taxes. The cost is minimal.

There are huge amounts of waste and mismanagement at city hall.

Painting speedlimits on streets is not mismamanagement.

The two Ward 4 Aldermen should be praised for what they did. Not attacked.

Anonymous said...

What bothers me about ALDI is that they have been in Raytown before and pulled the plug after being in business for less than five years. And that was when the economy was booming.

What makes a reasonable person think they will stay this time?

Anonymous said...

8:48 Anon

You don't need to paint that on the speed limit on the street that is why we have those nice signs.

Also providing a service to one area of the city and not the rest is destrmination.

When are you going to see these two ward four alderman get the same painted on other streets with lots of kids.

I am glad someone takes an issue with waste like this.

These two need to be asking why the police are not doing anything these days. Crime is up and as I understand issueing tickets for speeding is down. Could it be the top eavy police department and aldeman like these two that have helped it grow.

Don't forget one of these used to be a reserve police officer and it was back in the day when crime was down and ticket writing was up. Odd how those two things go hand and hand.

Andy Whiteman said...

Why are children allowed to play in the street? I wasn't! Where are the parents? If people are going to breed, the should assume responsibility for their offspring.

Painting a street is stupid. It is not visible at night and bad weather. Who looks down at at street anyway? The common sense thing to do is to install large signs on BOTH sides of the streets.
*********
Since the BOA is so generous with taxpayers money, how can I get some money from the city?

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I would like to findout where you can findout how much money teachers and adminstrators in the district make. I always here them complaining about not making enough money. But the sup. makes around $175,000.00 a year? Do these figures sound correct?