Sunday, February 27, 2011

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Raytown Girls Softball League is holding sign ups March 12 at Walnics, 10028 E 63rd Street. We are looking for t-ball players through women's division. Players should bring a copy of their birth certificate. Readers can contact Mark Unruh, League President at 816-213-3697 or by email at markunruh@comcast.net if they need more information.

Our Lady of Lourdes will hold a Las Vegas Night / Auction. Proceeds will benefit Our Lady of Lourdes Parish School. The event is scheduled for Saturday Night, March 5, 2011 from 6:00 to 10 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes School Gym located at 8812 East Gregory Boulevard. Tickets are $35 per person or $55 per couple at the door. Sometimes, All You Have to do is Ask Last week I received an email from a an individual who wondered why AT&T U-verse does not broadcast City Council meetings like Comcast does. The writer is a subscriber to AT&T and misses being able to watch live broadcasts of meetings of the Raytown Board of Aldermen. I have received similar requests from AT&T subscribers as my door to door campaign slowly winds its way across Ward 1. The question took me back 25 years when two young Raytown Aldermen asked the same question of Jones Intercable (the cable provider before Comcast). The two “young” Aldermen were Garth Bare of Ward 2 and Greg Walters of Ward 1. At the time the City of Raytown did not broadcast its meetings. Jones Intercable had recently acquired the cable service for Raytown and was applying for a franchise agreement with the city. Garth and I asked representatives from Jones if they could provide the city with television equipment to broadcast City Council meetings. Many o f our fellow Board members argued against the request saying it was too onerous of a requirement of the cable company. To the surprise of all, the representative from Jones said, “Yes, we can help out.” Garth and I expected that the city would receive some old worn out black and white cameras with limited ability to broadcast from City Hall. Back in 1984 color televisions were common, but the computer technology that we take for granted now was in its infancy. Most computer monitors were either green or amber screened and cells phones were called mobile phones. Electronics as we know it today, was in its stone age. Much to our surprise, Jones Intercable came through with state of the art color cameras and equipment for broadcasting. The City of Raytown became the first city in the metropolitan area to regularly broadcast meetings of the City Council. So much for a trip down Memory Lane – I thought the question from the email deserved an answer so I contacted a local representative of AT&T U-verse and asked if it would be possible to broadcast from Raytown City Hall on their service. As with Jones Intercable, the answer was a simple, “Yes, it is possible.” In fact, Olathe, Kansas is already broadcasting on U-Verse. To be sure, there are some hoops that must be jumped through in the way of formal requests and negotiations . . . what is called “due diligence” at City Hall, but it can be done. Which makes me wonder why it has not been done before? After all, if it works in Olathe it can work Raytown. CAMPAIGN NOTES . . . Cold Weather Campaigns OR, THERE IS ALWAYS A BRIGHT SIDE This winter has had quite an impact on my campaign for the Raytown Board of Aldermen. It as if the snow is refusing to melt. The cold temperatures are not too bad, unless they are backed by stiff wind. Then the cold seems to cut like a knife. On the bright side, my feet are not sore. The snowpack is usually soft, and until recently, free of ice underneath it. With the proper boots it is somewhat like walking on flattened pillows. All things considered it is not too bad. I can remember pounding on doors in past campaigns in the heat and high humidity of summer literally sweating so much that I had fears of becoming dehydrated. In many ways, the winter campaign is a preferred time to campaign. You Can Always Count on the Other Side TO TRY AND TWIST THE PAST I have to say that my opponent in this campaign has not disappointed. Early on he tried to pretend that he did not vote to raise our property taxes by 13% by using Personal Property Tax figures instead of Real Estate Tax figures to explain away his vote. Just recently I received an email accusing me of changing the city’s policy on residency requirements back in 1997. The writer claimed I was part of the Board of Aldermen who made the change in policy. No, I was not. I was not on the Board of Aldermen for the period between 1996 and 1998. That was during the middle of former Mayor Jack Nesbitt’s single term as Mayor. I had lost the 1996 election by three votes to former Alderman Steve Scheetz. But as long as we are on the subject, there is one vote I did make regarding residency requirements. That was when the Board voted to set aside the residency requirement for the City Administrator for a three year period. For the record, I voted NO. Had I been on the Board in the recent decision by the Board to extend the policy another three years I would have voted NO then as well. For inquiring minds, my opponent, Joe Creamer, voted YES to extend the set aside of the residency requirement for the additional three years. Clean Up Raytown Day Each Spring the City of Raytown sets aside a day for residents to bring all the “stuff” that we accumulate and need to get rid of to a central location. The word on the street is that the powers that be at City Hall have changed one very important part of that clean up effort. This year Raytowner’s will not be charged a fee to dump unwanted material. The press release is not ready for distribution at the time of this publication. When we receive it we will post all the particulars. Franken Foods by Erin Whitehead 2 Comments I’ve seen this experiment done on various websites and blogs over the years, but as it has a valid point, I thought I’d share it in case you haven’t seen it. Plus, I just saw a re-run of Oprah that talked about the documentary Food, Inc. On the show, author Michael Pollan (who co-starred in the movie) talks about his recent book, Food Rules. One of his rules is “Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot.” In this post on The Consumerist , you can see that a McDonald’s Happy Meal doesn’t exactly rot. The fries even look surprisingly edible. Most disturbing is that the burger aged quite well. Grody. Also, check out the links left by commenters. My favorite is the MIT experiment on Twinkies. That’s rotten. Jenn Walters and Erin Whitehead jointly publish Fit Bottomed Girls. To read more of their thoughts on lifestyle choices and fitness go to Fit Bottomed Girls LINKS TO OTHER RAYTOWN NEWS SOURCES 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 To catch up on Raytown High Sports use this link Raytown High School To catch up on the Raytown Police Blog go to Raytown Police Blog To view Raytown Crime Statistics go to Raids on Line Last Week’s Poll Results Should the Raytown City Council curtail the use of "emergency ordinances" as a way of conducting business? 81% . . . Yes 17% . . . No 2% . . . . Not sure To post a comment click on the word comments below:

27 comments:

Andy Whiteman said...

Greg, A friend once told me that Raytown had free cable TV. Is that true? I don't see how the company could make a profit unless they got people to buy the extra packages.

Actually I think every cable company should provide a city channel. I can't watch because I use an antenna and don't waste money on cable.

Andy Whiteman said...

From the Kansas City Tax Reform Face Book page:


#
Ben Edsall
As a real estate broker who works with commercial real estate I can tell you that my clients usually tell me they want to be anywhere but in KC. It has brought a lot of small businesses to Raytown!

Anonymous said...

Andy,

The comment is probably in response to something to do with the E-Tax in Kansas City. No doubt it has run a lot of potential businesses away from the the big KC.

Raytown is in a good position to take advantage of the KC Earnings Tax because it is completely surrounded by the city. the same is true for gladstone, Independence and Grandview.

The downside in Raytown is that the sales tax is pretty high.

Andy Whiteman said...

5:13PM, Yes that was from the anti etax Face Book page. Raytown should take advantage of that in attracting businesses and selling homes. After all if someone buys a home in Raytown and don't work in KCMO, there is no etax. I forgot about that when I was forced to move here. I was originally looking for a house in KCMO but my Realtor couldn't find one. After Raytown was suggested, I came to inspect the Post Office, made a wrong turn and found the house. It was a better commute to work anyway.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

The downfall to getting new business beside the high sales tax is that Raytown has turned into the slums. And Mayor Bower just sits back and watches it happen. What a geat a mayor we have.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Walters,

Someone was by my house this weekend and left off some of your literature. If I wanted to get in touch with you personally, where can I write you?

Greg Walters said...

I can be reached at gregtwalters@sbcglobal.net or call me at 517-6852

Anonymous said...

I think Raytown would be perfect for an office park the way such establishments have arisen in suburbs of St. Louis proper (e.g. O'Fallon and Clayton.)

No office complexes do not generate sales revenue themselves but they attract companies that do.

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting the negativity expressed about Bower on here while at the same time I see the list of supporters speaking at his chili day event on Saturday. The list I saw had both Republican, Democrats, and non-partisan elected officials listed. Rep. Cross, Sen Callahan, County Executive Mike Sanders, Blue Springs Mayor Ross among others were all listed as attending.

I, for one, will be attending. If anybody else is interested, the event is from 11:30-6:30 at Yellow Rock Barn over by Teetering Rocks. I believe the cost for adults was 8 dollars but don't quote me on that.

Anonymous said...

If the names you dropped lived here and saw first hand that their neighborhoods were falling because codes are not enforced it is doubtful they would sign up as Bower supporters.

Four years ago I went to his fundraiser and supported him. I will not be attending his fundraiser this year.

From what I hear his first fundraiser fell flat. That is why he is having the second one.

Anonymous said...

I will not be attending his fund raiser nor will be voting for him. Didn't last time and I know I won't this time either. There is nothing more that I dislike than someone who is a do nothing and takes money from the taxpayers to do nothing.

Anonymous said...

Greg,

Why is there no way to vote on the weekly question. All I get is a white box but no choices on which to vote. Could you fix that please because this question is very important to me? Thanks a bunch.

Greg Walters said...

I checked on another computer to see if I would have the same problem. The vote went through and changed the totals. You may want to test this on another computer to see if you have the same result.

Sorry I cannot be of any more help than that.

Andy Whiteman said...

10:53 AM, I agree about an office park and have suggested it. I was told it was not a good idea. True and office park won't bring sales tax dollars, but it brings property taxes and employees who through the trickle down effect spend money in Raytown (lunch, dinner, groceries, gas., etc.)simply because they are here 1/3 of their time.

3:51 PM, I have voted. I suggest you check that Java is enabled, your security settings, blocked sites, and blocked cookies. You might also try a different browser. I have been able to do things on IE8 that I couldn't do on FireFox and vice versa.

Andy Whiteman

Pat Casady said...

It has been my experience that when a person like
Joe Cremer is wanting to be re-elected and there is
a far superior person running against him, they tend
to make up things about their opponent.
Case in fact Greg's article about "You can always count
on the other side."
They can't come up with anything good they have done for the
people or the city so they twist facts or down right make up
untruths.
It is a desperate attempt to divert the bad job they have been doing
for the last four years. There are, by the way several up for re-
election that are just as bad as Mr.Creamer.
How many times will the people of Raytown be talked into believing
these political want to be's. How many times have the people been
told that streets, the downtown and safety are number one their
minds. I moved to the downtown area sixteen years ago and I've
listened to the same election promises and none have come to pass.
Please people of Raytown, don't buy the line's this April.

Anonymous said...

I could care less about bringing shopping to Raytown. What effects us all is the trashy neighborhoods. Mayor Bower and the board of aldermen continue to ignore the neighborhoods. Why do you think it is so hard to sell a house in Raytown? All you have to do is look out your windows and it becomes apparent, TRASH, TRASH, and MORE TRASH.

I urge you all to get out and vote against these "Do Nothing" incumbents in April.

Anonymous said...

I too would not be caught at Mayor Bowers fundraiser. Bower never saw tax increase that he didn't embrace and never saw a neighborhood that he wanted to clean up. What a poor excuse for a mayor. I'm moving while I can still get something for my property.

Anonymous said...

I was at Bower's first fundraiser. It did not look like a flop to me. Plenty of people there

Pat Casady said...

To Anonymous 7:26,
Raytown needs retail stores for shopping. It's just
that our leaders haven't been doing it right.
They let big stores dictate terms. Personally, I think W-M
should have paid this town to raise a store on 350hwy.
Instead our leaders, in a perverse way, have cost the people
of Raytown Millions of tax dollars. Dollars that should and
could have been used to make this town a better place.
That is why we need new people to run this town. People
that will put Raytown and the taxpayers first.
When we pay our taxes it is supposed to be an investment
in the town. It is for keeping our neighborhoods safe.
It is for city services like codes enforcement. It is for
maintaining our streets.
For the last sixteen years we have heard from our leaders
how they would bring back the downtown area. Then they spend
our tax dollars on things like financing the Aldi store and the Ihop.
Even give away tax income.
This does nothing for this town. More taxpayer money gone where
it shouldn't go. They invest in big companies NOT RAYTOWN!

Anonymous said...

Raytown Plaza is mostly empty. There is plenty of store fronts on 63rd Street. Has the city tried to get businesses in here? I’m not talking about selling the Raytown Plaza. I’m talking about getting businesses to move here.

They keep talking about revitalizing the downtown, but talk is all we get. Instead of going after big business that wants tax cuts and city money, why aren’t looking to small businesses?

A café that serves home-style meals would be nice. How about a Good-Will store? Or, perhaps a computer repair shop? There are lots of possibilities. The city just needs to get out and find them instead of taking the easy way and courting big box stores.

Andy Whiteman said...

3:06PM, I agree. This has been approached in the past. They had great plans but something happened to the developer. I don't know what the problem was.

There was a family style restaurant there. The problem was (at least to me) they were daytime only and open only one evening a week. I went there for dinner and they were so full, there was no room for anyone to get in. They are gone now.

I do recall some type of IT company rented a space a couple of years ago.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I read somewhere that if the Earnings Tax vote on April 5th is voted down that the tax will be slowly eliminated over a ten year period.

Does anyone know what will replace it?

Pat Casady said...

Andy,
This city has never had great plans for the downtown
area. Every developer they hired, and paid thousands
of taxpayer dollars to, did nothing!
They have hired a couple of economic directors too
but, they have done nothing for the downtown.
The developers they hired didn't want to help the downtown
they wanted to tear it all down. Get rid of us business
owners that have stayed here.
Then our great leaders did the W-M deal and we lost
over thirty small businesses. in the area.
I think we can rate our city leaders so far as
sharp as ball bearings.
We don't need scorched earth developers.
We need an economic developer that will actively hunt
for small businesses that can't be hurt by W-M.
Then this city has to work with them. Not against them
as in the past. I know of at least five small businesses
this town ran off before they could even get started.

Andy Whiteman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

The thing I like about Walters is that he analyzes an issue and thinks before he speaks. He would be a good counter balance to the Aldermen who check the majority vote on each issue and then vote to stay with the winners. It seems weird that so many votes are unnanimous or nearly so. What's wrong with forming an opinion and voting your conscience without worrying about who's watching on the TV or in the audience? Walters has a spine and I like that.

Andy Whiteman said...

Raytown needs more elected officials like Greg Walters who is a businessman, researches the options, and looks out of all the taxpayers of Raytown.

I also support Robbie Tubbs. She has a BA in Business Administration, is an experienced accountant and office manager.

Both are highly qualified. Please click on their links on the left side of the main blog page.

Thanks,
Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Mr. Barns (School Board candidate) says on his web-site "I hope to be a voice for both the teachers and the people of our community".
His job, if elected by the tax payers of this school district would be to represent those tax payers, not be a voice for the teachers. They already have "voices" representing them, and very few of them live in our school district!