Monday, May 30, 2011

BETH LYNN
A Farewell . . .
Raytown’s Community Development Director Beth Lynn has tendered her resignation effective June 24th. She will be taking on the position of City Administrator of Edgerton, Kansas. Edgerton is a small community located half way between Olathe, Kansas and Ottawa, Kansas. It has a population of 1,843.

We wish Ms. Lynn well in her new position. We are certain she will do a good job.

. . . and an Opportunity
The door revolves again. In the space of just over two years the City of Raytown has lost a senior department head to another community. This time the City’s Community Development Director, Beth Lynn, has decided to move on.

We don’t fault Ms. Lynn for making the change. After serving in two positions subordinate to a city administrator or city manager, she is moving up to the big chair to see how it fits for herself.

Now it is time to look forward. The “revolving door” at Raytown City Hall in senior department heads is a proven detriment to the city. It removes a sense of stability and any serious planning on how to face the needs of a 50+ year old suburban community in a metropolitan area.

The Raytown Board of Aldermen has an opportunity to correct that situation.
Let’s cut straight to the heart of the matter.

It is time to require new hires in senior department positions in Raytown to take up residence within city limits.

By doing so, new department heads will be able to develop roots in the community. They will be able to establish solid relationships with local homeowners and businessmen and community leaders. Since they live in the community, their salaries will, for the most part, stay in Raytown. This will help create jobs and increase the tax base. They will have a stake in the community.

The revolving door at Raytown City Hall has shown once again that the policy of not requiring residency of senior department heads is a policy doomed to failure.

It only makes sense. A Community Development Director should live in the community in which they reside.

If you ever have wondered about contacting your local Aldermen to make a change that will help your community, this is the opportunity. 

GREG WALTERS
Continuity at City Hall? AN ANALYSIS

Why is there a revolving door at Raytown City Hall?

Why does the city have trouble holding onto quality people in its management positions?

Look at the time line of Ms. Lynn’s tenure at City Hall.
Ms. Lynn went to work for the City of Raytown roughly two years ago.

The Edgerton City Administrator resigned his position in January of 2011. The Edgerton City Council immediately appointed an interim director and began a search for a new City Administrator. That search ended a week ago when they decided to hire Ms. Lynn as their new Administrator.

Why Ms. Lynn decided to leave her position at Raytown (population 30,000) and take on a position in Edgerton (population 1,845) is her decision. We respect that.

But it does mean that Ms. Lynn was already searching for a job within 19 months after she had hired on at the City of Raytown. Not really a strong argument for stability and continuity in community planning is it?

Some fundamental changes need to be made with the mindset of our elected officials at Raytown City Hall.

Simply stated, the lack of a requirement for city department heads to live within the city limits is a failed policy. It creates an atmosphere for a revolving door in the management levels at Raytown City Hall that is not good for the community.

Our elected officials must realize that if they search for department heads that want to put down roots and have a stake in a community they must make up their mind to do so.

They just might find what they are looking for.  

Unless they set that standard – that goal – they will never achieve it.

In his recent campaign for Mayor, David Bower, told audiences that the reason he did not support residency requirements for upper level management at Raytown City Hall was because there was not enough adequate housing in Raytown!

We checked the Jackson County Assessment website and found that his and many other homes in Raytown are assessed at a market value in excess of $225,000.00.  

And we can assure you, those homes are not the highest valued in Raytown.

So much for an argument that holds no water.

So here is our message to the City Council:

There is plenty of very good housing in Raytown. There are plenty of good people in Raytown who want to continue to make Raytown their home. Find those people who want to sink their roots into a community and call it home.

By doing so you will stop the revolving door. 

Use this link to view County Property Tax Assessments:  Jackson County Property Taxes

A 50 million year old cockroach in Baltic amber

Ask Pete . . . A COLUMN DEDICATED TO GARDENING

Cock Roaches (yuck!)
                                                     

I remember, in years past, when a neighbor came over and told me that he had a problem with cock roaches.  He continued to explain to me how he took care of the problem.  He had sprayed some poison pest control, not only in his house, but all around his house covering his yard.

Within a few days, when I turned on my lights late at night, cockroaches scurried for cover.  I soon had a large infestation.

Immediately coming into my mind was a house I saw at one time that had cockroaches everywhere.  If you moved a picture on the wall, under the picture would be a circle of 30 or 40 roaches making a dark stain on the wall.  One didn’t have to wait for darkness to turn on a light to see the cockroaches.  In broad daylight, they scurried about their business.

I don’t know how many roaches my neighbor killed, but I know he just moved a large number into my home.  I didn’t want to use poison in my home, so I began my first experiment with organic substances.

The substance I used had been advertised on “TV” in years past.  The insecticidal dust contained 99% Boric Acid along with a non-caking agent. Within a week, the sightings of roaches had dropped by half.  After about 3 weeks, the sighting of roaches had stopped and I had no recurring problems with roaches.

When using anything in the home, we not only must consider our health, but he safety of pets and children.  Many times we will have babies crawling on our floors.  I want a safe product.  Boric Acid is non toxic.  It is effective.

There is another product that can be used in our home.  This product is so safe that we find it in our foods that contain flour.  It is used as an insecticide for wheat and corn.  The government feels that it is so safe that they do not require removal before using as food.  Some even use this product as a dietary supplement.

The product I am referring to is Diatomaceous Earth also known as D. E. Like Boric Acid, D.E. is a dust.  When this powder is applied to baseboard cracks or under cabinets and other furniture, it effectiveness is long lasting.  In addition to roaches, D.E. will also kill ants, crickets, fleas, ticks and yes, even bedbugs!

Last week I received the following question:
"If  your soil seems to have a lot of clay does the introduction of plants somehow break that down to better soil, or is it just a matter of creating better nutrient rich soil through composition, etc."

A plant has a root system equal to the growth above ground.  When the plant dies, this plant material decays and becomes humus.  Humus is what makes soil easy to work, holds water, lets roots breathe and also contains minerals and other nutrients.  The plant material above ground, after it dies and falls to the earth, will be attacked by worms and they will deposit their waste below ground as the most perfect fertilizer.  We can speed up this slow procees by mulching with leaves, grass clippings and any other plant material.  Compost is plant material that has already gone through the process of decaying and is valuable to add to your soil.  All the plant material may be "dug in" or plowed under with mechanical means.

One theory which I follow is that one should not til the soil anymore that necessary.  Worms and a host of other living organisms in the soil will be disturbed delaying their important work.  Think how hard it would be for a soft worm to make a new tunnel.  These tunnels also help the soil to hold excess water.  The dead roots, as they decay, leave more holes and tunnels for air and water.  The soil that contains lots of humus will allow the roots easier access to deeper depths where moisture and additions nutrients reside.

You can't have too much humus!

If you have any questions e-mail Pete at pete@lazygardens.com

FIT BOTTOMED GIRLS ASK . . .

How will you be active this Holiday?

We are getting a head start on the Memorial Day weekend here at FBG HQ by taking a little time for some R&R (gotta practice what we preach, after all!). While I have a full weekend of lounging, reading, organizing (seriously calms me—I’m weird), taking a class here and getting a few projects done around the house, we want to know... Continue reading

To post a comment on this blog click on the word comments below:

44 comments:

Andy Whiteman said...

"And we can assure you, those homes are not the highest valued in Raytown." The county assessor is sure trying to raise Raytown home values on an arbitrary basis. The assessment is arbitrary with the telephone rep refusing to provide what comparisoms they use to reached their alledged "value". I was offered much less than assessment value for my home by. I can assue that homes in Raytown are over valued.

I think that when the Mayor said there was a lack of houseing in Raytown, he left out a word: "suitable." A price of $225,000 or more does not necessarilly make a home suitable. It took me 6 years to find a suitable house in NM and another 2 years to remodel it!

New and renewed contracts of Department heads should be required to live in Raytown so they may suffer like the rest of us serfs. At least they will experience what it is like to live here with no street maimntenance, and the high cost of utilities compounded by franchise and sales tax, etc.

BTW: We have a city administrator who was granted a waiver due to his daughter being in high school. The same administrator was granted a waiver because home prices are down. I don't consider thre 2nd waiver to be valid. This is a period of time be could buy a home in Raytown very cheaply. I assume when the waiver expires, his excuse will be Raytown homes are too expensive. Let's cancel that waiver and allow him ONE year to move to Raytown. This is ridiculous.

Andt Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I believe requiring residency for stability is a bogus argument. Two previous city administrators, finance director, community development director, public works director, parks director, and many others reside in Raytown but it didn't stop them to move on with their life. Instead of complaining we should create a positive environment to welcome anyone who wants to work and live here. Many business owners in Raytown do not live here. Who wants to move in to Raytown when you have huge crime and substandard schools?

Anonymous said...

Your arguments are bogus. The Public Works Director retired after working almost all of his professional life here. Same is true for the Parks Director. Once again worked most of his professional life in service to the city. One of the Finance Directors worked almost two months before resigning. The Community Development Director did not move to another city for a job. He simply changed occupations and I believe still lives here.

Of the three City Administrators that lived here, one had a track record of staying in a community for a couple of years and moving on. So it was no surprise that he did not stay here. The second one resigned as City Adminstrator and went into another field – not in public service.

The positive environment is created by people who wish to make Raytown their home. The constant turnover is not a good thing.

If a corporation had turnover like this you would look to see what is wrong with the management.

There is your real problem.

As for the “huge crime rate” – once again, shooting from the lip. Do you mean like the burned body they found in a Lee’s Summit dumpster over the weekend? Or perhaps the drive by shootings that took place in K.C. this weekend?

Why don’t you quit bashing Raytown and try to make it a better place?

Anonymous said...

1:18 PM, You have cited reasons that Department Heads should observe up close and personal. If they were here to observe these issues, things would change!

Andy Whiteman

Greg Walters said...

Andy,

We checked the Jackson County assessed fair market value on several homes that are currently listed over $225,000. Many of those homes had an assessed fair market value over $300,000 in 2008. There are many such homes in Raytown.

To check out the value of any property in Jackson County (cut and paste) use this link https://ascendweb.jacksongov.org/ascend/%28spyknhmr0k2skz55ekkqza55%29/search.aspx. It is all a matter of public record.

Anonymous said...

Greg,

The link errored out:
Oops! This link appears broken.
DNS error occurred. Server cannot be found.

But I take your word for it. My points are:
1) The assessments are arbitrary and based on no fact that the assessor will document.
2) The fact that a home is appraised over $225K has no relevance on weather it is suitable for department heads to live in. Personally I would consider the price too high and NEVER consider it. Also there are many other factors including but not limited to size of house, size of lot, garage, closeness to noise sources, fencing, carpeting, HOAs, etc.

My house is assessed for more than it is worth. Does anyone want a cheap house walking distance (about 1 mile) to city hall?
http://www.houseforsaleinraytownmo64133.info/

Andy Whiteman

Greg Walters said...

Andy,

Are you sure? I just used it. I copied the link and pasted it. Maybe you picked up an extra character when you pasted it.

I have added the link to my original post -- that way you can just click on it and it will take you there.

Anonymous said...

Greg,
You are correct. There was a period at the end of the URL that I had to delete. I think you put period on to end the sentence. I have had that trouble to so don't use the period.

I found this search on the county website over a week ago. It is not a good search because it is limited to only one address or to one street. It is impossible to search by neighborhood, city, or size of house. The assessor led me this page, but it is totally useless if I want to find comps for my house. I don't understand why they are so secretive with releasing details as to how they reached their value. Obviously it is the fascist, socialist county of Jackson, State of Misery where the people are entitled to no rights.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I would like to thank Beth Linn for her services to the Raytown and reaching to top spot as a city administrator at such a youth age. Wonderful achievement Beth and good luck! There are people in Raytown who appreciate your professionalism and hard work. You were truely a big part of great professional team.

Anonymous said...

Yes, yes, congratulations to Beth Lynn. Also a big thank you to the Raytown Report for keeping us informed about Raytown.

The times are changing and your website has shown that print media is slowly but surely being replaced in this electronic age.

Anonymous said...

Yes, thank you Ms.Beth Lynn for all the
codes enforcement you have shown us in your two
year employment. We all have seen the community
development in action. We have seen the new
streets to invite new businesses into the
downtown. We have seen the neighborhoods cleaned
up and watched as the community has soared in
the eye of the people. What a wonderful job you
have done. Your codes enforcement is second to
everywhere in the USA.

Anonymous said...

OMG

You best thanks Tom Cole for those new business.

I hope now we can get someone who will enforce codes so all the business Tom has worked so hard to bring to Raytown doesn'[t decide to move some place nice and clean like Lee Summit.

Anonymous said...

Here is a test for you.

Here is a test for everyone.

Let's say you have two candidates for a position at city hall. They are equal in all respects. They are both highly qualified, highly motivated. They are both team players.

One of them will move to Raytown.

One of them will not.

Which one would you hire?

Anonymous said...

Ms. Linn had no experience as a Community Development Director, nor any experience as a City Administrator. She simply wants a title to enhance her marketability. Raytown hiring non-committed senior staff proves that when you hire people who are not qualified or committed to do their job that they stay just long enough to put the experience and position title on their resume before moving on. Ms. Linn has shown the Mayor and BOA that she can set at Board Meetings and present ideals, but that she never really had any intentions of staying here long enough to bring those ideals to life. That's where the real work begins.

Thank you Ms.linn for your very brief time as a Community Development Director. I'm glad your short time here was beneficial in getting your new job.

Andy Whiteman said...

4:48 PM, This is a no brainer. Assuming both have equal qualifications, I would hire the one willing to move to Raytown because he/she is establishing a sense of community and will know what it is like for us serfs who life here. Also moving to Raytown demonstrates intent for a long term commitment.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

there seems to be two camps writing to this blog. One wants to chant how great Beth Lynn is or was for Raytown. The other seems intent on bashing her.

Instead of looking backwards, since it will not change a thing, let's look forward.

If Mrs. Lynn's tenure here was short by any measure. Then correct that problem in the future.

It appears that the shortest way to achieve that would be to set guidelines that would attract people for the job who want to put down roots and call a place home.

The noise about professionalism, etc. is just so much noise. What good is a professional that is not there?

Mrs. Lynn must have done something right. At least enough to entice another city to hire her away.

Anonymous said...

There is something rotten in Raytown. Let me tell you someone sure has the whole thing messed up. Mahesh Sharma said Beth Linn was the one who was responsible for the vacant and abandoned house ordiance but at the same time Joe Creamer takes credit for it. Will the person who is truly responsible please step forward. By the way May 31 at 9:19 p.m. I have a feeling Mrs. Linn got this job because she used Raytown as a stepping stone. She filed for and got government grants. Hope she can fulfill the job as city administrator. Any bets on how long she will last.

Anonymous said...

Commitment!!! We don't want commitment. We want professionalism. Why, with 18 month turn over of our department heads we will rack up the most professional number of hours ever recorded in the history of the world to run Raytown.

If I remember correctly Ms. Lynn was hired by the city and then immediately took maternity leave.

Don't fault her. Blame the suckers who hired her.

The same folks that have given our city administrator six years to relocate to Raytown.

These are the same professionals that gave us Walmart. Taken away our street maintenance and decided that street lights are really a waste of money.

Anonymous said...

I guess you all haven't figured it out yet.
Raytown is the KC Athletics of yesteryear.
They were a stepping stone for the Yankee's
and other better baseball teams.
The only difference is the ballplayers traded
to other cities were good at their jobs.
Anonymous 9:19, some of us sarcasm and one or
two of us just don't know any better. She and
Joe Creamer have done nothing good for Raytown.
However she got paid big money for her part.
By the way Willard Ross is in the hospital
again and it doesn't look good for him.

Anonymous said...

The real reason we don't have street lights are because they cost money to maintain. So let's see is a citizens safety more important or a damn bike lane!!!!

Anonymous said...

If I were Ms. Linn I'ed be running to if I could not do a better job then she has over the codes Dept. she heads. Fact is most cities require their Department heads to live in their cities and especially their City Adminstrators. WE need a CHARTER and those requirements should be included.

As for the Mayor saying that we don't have sufficent housing here in Ratytown then why is he here? If it's good enough for him why isn't it good enough for Dept. heads. I don't know what has happened to pride and self respect. Some people who are moving in now don't have those two qualities and we don't have a codes dept. who will do there jobs to see that things are taken care of if they don't do it.

Quit giving excuses Mayor and BOA!!! Do your jobs and see that you hire people that willing to move here
and have an investment here so that maybe they will work harder because it's their city too.

Andy Whiteman said...

From the frequent comings and goings of the tie wearing chair warmers and no residence requirement, I thought the city expected these hirings to be a stepping stone to a better job. If the Mayor thinks that Raytown lacks housing for staff, why doesn't Raytown encourage home building?

Why is the housing in Raytown good enough for us serfs but not good enough to require the royalty working at the place on 59th St to live here?

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I think we are giving Mrs Lynn too much credit. First you all seem to have forgotten that her first 6 months with the city were spent on maternity/FMLA leave. Next her she has gone through two codes supervisors in two years, and has had a 70% turn over in her department. Ok I will give her credit for the abandoned house ordinance (only because I don’t know better), I will mention that that actually cost the city $38,000.00 for the first 3 months because her department could not manage to get the 10% hold on insurance proceeds processed. Then we come to the deer incident where the on-call codes person refused to leave a Chiefs game to do their job. Lastly, I have talked to both the hotdog stand owner as well as the owner of a shaved ice establishment who both claim she made it so hard on them they went elsewhere. I don’t care where they live, just make sure they are competent.

Anonymous said...

Until the City Administrator moves to Raytown you really should not make anyone else move to Raytown.

As far as the question on which person would I hire. I would hire the one that would not move to town! He or she is smarter than the one that would move here.

I work for the city, not as a department head, and I would love to find a new job. The outlook is bleak with the Walmart fiasco. Budgets are shrinking, jobs open and remain open and the rest of the staff get to pick up the slack.

In my opinion there are two kinds of workers, those who take personnal pride in their job and those who are there to get paid and get by with as little effort as possible. It does not matter where either one live. We have both types as Department heads.

Enough for now

Anonymous said...

Beth Lynn has done much for our city and to make it a better place where everyone would want to live.

Just think of her hard work to bring more and more section 8 housing to Raytown.

It is great to see someone like her step up and bring these people in need to our city.

I bet in a few years Edgerton will be come a city double the size or Raytown as there is plent of land out there to give away to places like Save-A-Lot, IHOP and Aldi's and I am sure she has figured out that is what brings in real growth and tax dollars for a city.

Yes, Raytown is really going to misout without hear leadership and management skill of hunting out all of those chair warmers. Under her watch never once has any of our city empolyees been caught sleeping in their city trucks like in KCMO. Under her watch the move around so quickly checking properties that one misses them if they blink.

Anonymous said...

4:11 PM, Maybe you are unaware that it is a Federal violation to deny employment to a woman who is pregnant or of childbearing age. If Beth was the most qualified, they had to give her the job.

4:48 PM, I agree jobs are hard to find. I know someone who has been unemployed over 2 years.

The city workers are underpaid. What they receive is not a living wage.

One needs to have pride in their work. If a department head lived in Raytown, wouldn't they have more pride in their city?

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Department heads should live in Raytown!
It is the rule. However as we all know
rules don't apply to City Hall, they only
apply the citizens of Raytown.
You know the people that pay the taxes to
pay for the high dollar department heads.
At Raytown City Hall rules are written
to be broken or un-enforced.
Just like you voted on tax increases to
better the safety of the people (safety tax)
and the street overlay tax to repair and
install new asphalt on our bad streets.
I'll bet Raytowners are feeling good about
those tax increases.
Shame on City Hall.

Anonymous said...

They hired someone read ready to give child birth who immediately took six months of family leave?

The job opening in Kansas became available six months ago?

That means fo the two years she worked here one year was spent either absent or preparing to leave for her other job.

Don't know whether to admire Ms. Lynn for being so clever or just accept that the city council is a bunch fools waiting to be played.

Where was the mayor in all of this?

Anonymous said...

The Aldermen on the City Council are extremely intelligent. That's why they were reelected. If they were idiots, they would have been voted out.

The Mayor travels alot. He's only as close as his cell phone. He also does a good job because he was reelected.

The residents of Raytown are smart people. If the Aldermen are so bad, the election would have turned out different.

All I see here is a bunch of sour grapes.

Anonymous said...

If the Ctiy Council is soooo smart why do they do such dumb things?

Let's see.

There are ten city coucnlmen.

Two of them actually had real opponents. One of them had two real opponents.

The others were not up for electin, had no opposition, or opponents who did not campaign.

Even if you are right and the two smart ones on the city council (Aziere and Creamer - lol!) that still leaves 8 others who may not be smart.

The Mayor's race was a joke.

the only accurate statement you wrote was that the mayor is always out of town.

Anonymous said...

The mayor is where he always is on all issues OUT TO LUNCH

Anonymous said...

Didnt know Raytown had such deep pockets and could set a salary of 100,000 grand for Lynn=unbelievable. I want to know who sets the salary for Raytowns dept heads and would like to see the cities treasury statement in full. Anyone have a link? The time has come to cut the legs out from under the BOA as it is not their money.

Anonymous said...

I have always said that the tie wearing chair warmers are over paid! I really think those who are out on the street or behind the counter should receive more than the pittance they are paid.

5:02 PM, I think if you search for it, you can find the information you seek. Otherwise the Director of Finance is Jeremy Wilmoth.

The BOA sets the salaries. Now that the position is vacant, I think it is a good time to lower the salary, require the new person to live in Raytown, or completely eliminate the position. I move to eliminate the position. The economy is plain lousy. It doesn't make sense to pay over $150K per year (including benefits.) One, two, or more of the department heads could pick up Beth's duties. It seems to me that some of Beth's duties overlay Tom Cole's, duties Since I have been here it seems that codes and animal control have shifted departments several times.

I think it would be appropriate for people to voice their feelings during Public Comments.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I am not sure if person is talking about Lynn or Lynch. There is no Lynn working or worked for city. Yes Lynch is making close to $100,000 which should be only $100 like city collector.

Anonymous said...

5:02

It is time for a state audit!!!

Anonymous said...

OMG!!!! you people remind me of pessimistic conservative tightwad old geezers! You complain about everything. You sound jealous of others.

Really do not believe that residency requirements or cutting salaries here are the answer.

The general trend anymore with most people is to 'job hop'. What that is of course is start a new job, work at it for a while, and move on to another one, perhaps in greener pastures, while building and adding credentials to ones resume. That is common place and has been for some 30+ years now.

Cut wages too low will only force the momentum of the revolving door to go faster, eliminating the job all together could potentially reduce or eliminate city services. If most of you that get on here are so unhappy with things here, why not move somewhere else where you will have a better overall attitude and out look on life, and feel better about yourself as well?

Quit bringing everyone else around you down with your non stop constant negativity!

Anonymous said...

11:34 AM, Linn is a name spelled with either "y" or "i". Someone spelled Beth's name wrong but most of us know who they are talking about. I know you just wanted to take a jab at Lynch.

8:44PM, Agreed but who will get the petition started? The Dysfunctional School District really needs a state audit! Their most recent audit is biased since they paid for it.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I think there have many miss guided post this week, but again they could have been anymore miss guided than the head of codes, Beth Linn.

By the way does Beth Linn really understand our city codes that her department is to enforce. From what I have seen our city has had more and more code violations under her watch.

Doesn't say much for her management skills, skills in understanding our city ordinances or the benifits of her not living in the city and hear everyone as they are out and about asking why something is not beng done to cleanup our city.

Anonymous said...

9:41 AM, Easier said than done: Have YOU ever moved? It is not a simple matter and is very expensive! I am moving, not because of Raytown City Government, but because poor climate (State of Misery) and high cost of living. It took me 6 years to find a house and over 2 years to remodel. I still have a lot of packing to do. These things don't happen overnight!

Also I suspect that many people have to sell or want to sell their home before they buy another home. The house sales in Raytown are so slow and values so low it may be impossible to sell a home unless it is at a loss. That means many are trapped in Raytown!
I am willing to sell my house for assessed value:
www.whiteman.us/RaytownMO.html

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

9:41

I would move today, but as result of not be pro-active in code enforcement I now live on a street that looks like part of KCMO.

So keep hiring individuals like Mrs. Linn and we will keep see our city become more and more of a gheto. If the city is not going to pro-actively enforce codes or enforce those that we have to complain about non-stop to get adressed a year later why go to the expense of enforcement at all and just accept the dump which our eleted official have decided we should live.

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:41

You hit the nail on the head.

Anonymous said...

OMG!!!! you people remind me of pessimistic conservative tightwad old geezers! You complain about everything. You sound jealous of others.

You sound just like someone who doesnt produce anything except take a paycheck from tax payers. Get real.
Dont tell me..you got your reassessment and it was higher and that made you feel good, now you think your net worth is larger..let me explain what higher assessment really means.
It is a tool used by local/state/country governments as a backstop for borrowing money as in bonds period, the higher the said valuations = the larger amount of bond issuance.Every city has a valuation attached to it just like borrowing $ on your house, Raytown ceiling for bond issuance(correct me if Im wrong) is around 14 million. This issuance comes from projected future tax revenue streams, so what does this mean....more taxes period.
OH by the way how is that 1,823,000 sewar system revenue bond issuance going for ya--wait you probably dont know this so here is some more bond 101 education....first the sewage bond is not a general obligation bond-it is a Parity Bond backed by A PLEDGE OF REVENUES that the DTC "depository trust clearing company holds as a book entry) and is part of the federal reserve who in turn puts those bonds out for bid too what are called DP's or direct participnats otherwise known as Directs, Guess who these guys are dddrrruummm rrrooolllll JPM GS UBS AIG yes the same companies that have brought stability and utopia to the global financial system sarc/off.
Just the series 2005A sewar bond- the interest from 2006 thru 2027 will be $740,000 and if we add in the series 2005B just from 2006-2014 the interest on that bond is almost a million dollars--hey hows that for for using taxpayer money.
THE biggest fun part of all of this is when the city defaults someone on WALL STREET owns our sewar system and of course they will raise the average monthly bill to 2000 a month=no flushy the crapper.
Get your head out of the sand.

Anonymous said...

Go to pages 50-56 for the grand bike trail placement photos.

http://www.raytownmo.govoffice3.com/vertical/Sites/%7B418C71C3-E397-4C87-B464-C498EC8900F9%7D/uploads/%7B1F3A7850-82E6-466F-A2A1-159ED02E6010%7D.PDF

Andy Whiteman said...

It is eastier to find on the City's web site. Go to Web Packets, open it...a long download, then use a tab to go to it directly.