FLASHBACK – 2009
Mayor David Bower waits as his Guest of
Honor, former Mayor Sue Frank, returns with sledge hammer in hand after taking
the first ceremonial “hit” of the Old First Baptist Church demolition.
It is all over but for the Shouting BY GREG WALTERS
The letter read: “Wal-mart hereby gives
notice of its election to cancel the purchase agreement. The Title Company is
instructed to refund the Deposit to Wal-Mart.”
The letter, received by the City of
Raytown last week, leaves little wiggle room for a comeback of the proposal.
The announcement that former Raytown
Mayor Sue Frank has sought legal recourse to return multi-use zoning back to
Downtown Raytown’s Green Space, has brought the issue full circle.
A last ditch effort, led by Raytown
Newspaperman Randy Battagler and Mayor David Bower will not breathe life back
into the project.
Why?
Because the lawsuit is not about what
may be, or what can be – it is about what has already transpired.
All of the name calling and sly innuendo
will not undo actions in the past. As my grandmother once told me, “you cannot
unspill the milk”.
Last week saw some pretty divisive
letters published in the Raytown Times. The actions of those few writers, who,
incidentally, did not bother to attend of the Planning and Zoning Hearings, are
counterproductive.
Let’s hope that those outbursts are a last
gasp. It is time for Raytown to move forward.
So now you understand the headline.
Because it really is all over.
To learn more this link http://www.downtownraytown.us/
To learn more this link http://www.downtownraytown.us/
The Salamander Returns!
Wow! Local newspaper owner Randy
Battagler really took off on the people who opposed a Grocery Store in Raytown’s Downtown Green Space.
Mr. Battagler's opinions are called
Randy's Reflections. His most recent should more appropriately, be called "Randy's Rant."
Battagler claims the city, the fire department,
the police department, the tree department, etc. will lose millions because
spokesmen for the giant retailer, Walmart, will not be built in Downtown
Raytown.
His logic borders on the absurd.
Here is why. In his June 19 editorial
Mr. Battagler lamented referring to the withdrawal of plans for a Neighborhood
Market in the city’s Downtown. He wrote,
"We will not have lost millions of dollars in tax revenues for the
city."Utter nonsense. Anyone with a third grade education knows it is impossible to
lose something you never had. Raytown has never had the millions Battagler is
referring to. How on earth can the city lose something it never had?Truth be told, the city blew its chance to make a bundle of money from Walmart
when the store on 350 Highway came in. It was through this stupid agreement
that the 350 Walmart collects ALL city sales tax collected at the 350 Walmart
is spent paying debt the city incurred just to get the store into Raytown.
In case you are curious who was mayor
when the 350 give-a-way took place. It was our current leader, Mayor David
Bower.
Fear not. The agreement lasts only 23 years.
Randy Battagler may lament the loss of
all that fictitious revenue, but his newspaper did quite well as a result. The June
19th issue of the Times contained, not one, but two full four-color pages
exhorting readers to rise up and save the Downtown!
Two-page spreads in full color are quite rare these days -- almost non-existent
in small town weeklies.
Perhaps someone can tell what would motivate "unnamed" local
merchants to dig into their pockets, cough up the dollars needed to lecture
readers of the Times about the merits of saving Downtown, and how it can only
be accomplished if we bring in another grocery store?
One more observation:
In the June 26 editorial of this paper, Mr. Battagler, rhapsodized how last Friday (June 21) a local businessman drove up and congratulated him on last week's column." Randy went on to say "I felt so much better that I nearly jumped for joy."
In the June 26 editorial of this paper, Mr. Battagler, rhapsodized how last Friday (June 21) a local businessman drove up and congratulated him on last week's column." Randy went on to say "I felt so much better that I nearly jumped for joy."
How's that for exuberance? One guy
agreed with Battagler on Walmart and he nearly jumped for joy.
Yet, in the June 19 issue Randy wrote. “I have talked to literally hundreds of people who believe differently."Goodness Gracious, Mr. Battagler, one week you talk to hundreds of people who want the Neighborhood Market; the next week one single, solitary individual congratulates you and it turns you in a living jumping jack.
There is, most certainly, a strange dichotomy here. It should be noted that in the June 26 issue, other than Battagler’s diatribe, there were five editorials, all in favor of a Neighborhood Market; one from a man who moved out of this town over 25 years ago, the other from a former news reporter who left about a decade ago, the fourth and fifth made so little sense the Salamander quit reading them after the first paragraph.
Thanks for the advice, fellows: As the old saying goes "When you want an expert you have to get someone from out of town."
Yet, in the June 19 issue Randy wrote. “I have talked to literally hundreds of people who believe differently."Goodness Gracious, Mr. Battagler, one week you talk to hundreds of people who want the Neighborhood Market; the next week one single, solitary individual congratulates you and it turns you in a living jumping jack.
There is, most certainly, a strange dichotomy here. It should be noted that in the June 26 issue, other than Battagler’s diatribe, there were five editorials, all in favor of a Neighborhood Market; one from a man who moved out of this town over 25 years ago, the other from a former news reporter who left about a decade ago, the fourth and fifth made so little sense the Salamander quit reading them after the first paragraph.
Thanks for the advice, fellows: As the old saying goes "When you want an expert you have to get someone from out of town."
Friends of Raytown Parks
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
This calendar is sponsored by Friends
of Raytown Parks & Recreation, Inc for the benefit of the community of
Raytown, Missouri.
For more information about Friends of Raytown Parks, use this link Click for details.
Sound of Music Summer Musical, July 19-22
The Raytown Arts Council presents the
16th annual Broadway summer musical, Sound of Music, by Rodgers and
Hammerstein. Click for details.
MIDCONTINENT PUBLIC LIBRARY-Raytown,
July
The Mid-Continent Library of Raytown's
events can be found in the right margin of our calendar or Click for RSS Feed Storytime, book clubs, internet, business, cooking
and craft classes, and more!
July 2, 2013, Tuesday at 2:00 PM Celebrate America
It's a big hooray for the red, white,
and blue with stories of Betsy Ross, George Washington, Paul Revere, and modern
tales, too! Storyteller Jo Ho takes listeners on a spark-filled celebration
with tales that began the crusade for America's independence. Wear some red,
white, or blue and join this wonderful family Fourth of July parade of stories.
(Ages 4 and up) Registration is required.
July 11, 2013, Thursday at 10:00 AM Stable T. Farms Petting Zoo
Bring the whole family to see these fun
farm animals! Pet rabbits, goats, and more. If you can't go to the farm, let
the farm come to you. Presented by Stable T. Farms. (All ages) Registration
is required.
July 25, 2013, Thursday at 2:00 PM MacGyver Magic
Magic doesn't have to be complicated and
expensive. Learn easy-to-perform tricks that can be made from ordinary items
you may already have at home. This is a great way to begin adding magic to your
life. (Ages 7 and up) Registration is required.
July 30, 2013, Tuesday at 2:00 PM American Girl:
Samantha and Rebecca, The Edwardian GirlsSamantha and Rebecca are girls of the
New Century, an exciting era in which many believed there was nothing left to
be discovered or invented. Join us as we compare the worlds of these girls with
those of American girls today. (Ages 6 and up) Registration is required.
Teen Programs
July 11, 2013, Thursday at 6:30 PM Make Your Own Hunger Game
Share the Hunger Games with your friends
and family! Join us to create a board game made by using recyclable materials.
This is a 2-week, 90-minute class. (For teens) Registration is required.
July 18, 2013, Thursday at 6:30 PM Make Your Own Hunger Game
Share the Hunger Games with your friends
and family! Join us to create a board game made by using recyclable materials.
This is a 2-week, 90-minute class. (For teens) Registration is require.
Upcoming Events
Clean Eating Challenge BY KRISTEN
This week I’m participating in a clean
eating challenge—the 10 Days of Real Food Pledge, to be exact. I stocked up on
lots and lots of real food over the weekend and began on Monday. And so far, so
good. For the most part, I was able to focus on loading up on a lot of the same
things I already eat, just, you know, more of… Continue reading
To leave a comment use
this link POST A COMMENT
To leave a comment use
this link POST A COMMENT
Comments
To 7:29 & 10:32 Peace, love, happiness... great! However, there are a number of issues being discussed here of heavy consequence by people who would surely love so spend their energies otherwise. How you spend your time is your own business - but living in la-la land in these times is a fool's errand. on
Things are changing my friends, I do believe in two years we will have a new board and mayor, then we can get the ball rolling on some things. There were three that were elected with some common sense this time around, I'm sure there will be more the next.
Will you still be writing to local papers that new things are good when that commuter rail comes through the Wildwood Lakes Home Association?
Upon reviewing data as you suggested from the county the official ruling is in:
Good Citizens of Raytown: 1 – Misleading Maddox Followers: 0
County record clarify the Mr. Maddox has lived in the following areas
8-17-64 Chapel Park, KCMO, which is right at 20 years prior to next listing
8-20-84 Southwood, Raytown MO, which is not even 3 years
6-08-87 Timber Valley, KCMO, which puts in an additional 26 years in KCMO
The math is clear, unless you live in Florida, that Mr. Maddox has lived in KCMO for 46 years and not even a full 3 years in Raytown in the mid 80’s.
Clearly this “Mad” “Ox” needs to keep in the pastures of KCMO
NOTE: This is the same Mr. Maddox that has been identified as mailing to voters in support of Joe Creamer. Therefore, there is little to no surprise that the two of them are writing letters to the editor on the same week on the same subject.
Andy Whiteman
I remember that day. It was very, very cold. Probably why Bower is tucked into his coat so tightly and why Sue Frank looks like she is holding on to her hat!
We the good people of Raytown don’t need non-resident telling us how to run Raytown.
With that said we do need to keep in mind that the lady from Independence at least owns a business in Raytown that generates sales tax dollars that help offset that costly Wal-Mart mess on 350 highway.
This should then give her some kind of a say. Not sure what the guy from KCMO has done other than to be a mouth piece for at least one Alderman and whoever is mayor at the time.
I really think it is more of a “I like to see my name in print” then doing the right thing or we would have all heard this same man speak up against the closing of the 40 highway Sam’s Club, which still has left the city with an empty building and what of the other local business in the KCMO area to the East of Raytown that have closed.
have to listen to the excuses why some of the aldermen voted
for the project. This is called crawfishing. Backing up to say they
didn’t really mean what they said, the way they said it. The good
thing is there is a record of the meetings and what was said and
how the elected officials voted against what the people wanted.
For whatever reason. It is also in print how some or one aldermen
tried to take the focus off of himself and try to share it with our
past mayor by writing untrue statements in the local paper.
The best fight some that write in the paper is to label people
that don’t think like they do, ” Negative People.” This just because
they don’t think like they do. I know because I have been one of these
“Negative People” since the early 2000’s when there was talk of
taking my building for a new, wait for it, GROCERY STROE!
and yes, it was a Walmart grocery store. Yes, I was a negative thinker.
How dare me not wanting to be put out of business.
It is easy to tell whose bread Randy is eatting and whose song he is singing.
Pat, I know what you mean by being called a negative person. I was called a negative person by a group of a Face Book "friend" I don't know and never met...(much like I was treated on this blog from the beginning.) The problem is that I was negative because these people didn't agree with me. My personal opinion is that those who don't respect freedom of speech are the real negative people. Rather than continue the debate, I stated that I didn't have time to waste and left the debate. We should consider that maybe those calling others negative are really the negative people!
Andy Whiteman
Item 13 on the agenda is rescinding ordinance 6327-13 planned zoning overlay for the green space.
If a law suit has been filed on this item. the BOA can save the city thousands of dollars by voting yes to rescinding this ordinance.
does it surprise anyone that also included on the agenda is closed session for provisions 610.021 (1) legal actions and 610.021 (2) real estate transactions.
BOA this is your out to clean up the mess you have created. Don't let the voters down AGAIN we are watching.
Anyone who has hopes of Walmart going in there should be realistic.
If you were a large company like Walmart would you want to start building on property that is under litigation?
I didn't think so.
I see the Mayor and Board still want to go into secret session to make their decision first.
At least we know they cannot deny that they are discussing something in their private party.
A step away from denials and "I don't know" type of statements would be refreshing from Board members and the Mayor.
Maybe they will turn over a new leaf tonight!
An apology in the Raytown Times would be in order.
Just wondering.
During this latest Raytown issue, the Neighborhood Market.
This is politics at it’s best and worst. Each side wanting with all
their might to have their point brought to be. But I hated to
see some take it so personal. Everybody has the right to say
and believe whatever they want. Likewise everybody has the
right to disagree with others. This doesn’t mean the other
side is made up of bad people. They are only people that don’t
think the same way. There is no place for name calling or making
up stories about people just to try and make a point.
Randy Battagler, Bob Phillips and I have been on opposite sides
of many issues in the last decade but, I have no dislike for either
of these men.
There are only a couple of things I can’t tolerate when people
are on opposite sides, lying and name calling. When an elected
official lies to us this means he/she will lie about other things as well.
I have respect for elected officials until they show they don’t deserve
my respect. There are several on our board that fall into this category.
I’m sorry but, I don’t understand where Mrs. Whittam is rambling about.
She states Opposition, Ill informed, negative group and protest groups.
She goes on to tell us about her friends that have moved to Lee’s Summit because
property values in Raytown going down and Lee’s Summit’s is on the rise.
All I can say is does she remember when Raytown property values
started going down and taxes went up along with our crime rate?
It was after the new 350hwy. Walmart went in.
But, it started even earlier when Raytown got it’s
first Walmart on Blue Ridge. I remember when that store went in.
I remember all the small businesses Raytown lost at that time and I
remember all Raytown lost when the new store went in too.
Bottom line is, most people know it, but won’t say it, or want to believe it,
Walmart is bad for small towns. Think of all the tax dollars Walmart has cost
the taxpayers of Raytown it’s criminal.
Andy Whiteman
So, why does Raytown allow firework stands to be open earlier than July 3rd?
Can Raytown limit the number of firework stands? Or, at least, increase the distance between each so that there isn't a stand on basically every corner.
Can Raytown help in making people responsible for clean-up. The neighborhood is looking trashy with debris and it is a health hazard for nature.
Please understand I fell your pain, but this is Raytown and Bower cannot even enforce the simple code like cars on the grass, tall grass, or houses needing painted.
I am to the point to ask them why they are not thanking the cashier, me and the rest of us who get out of bed everyday and go to work.
Makes me think that I should be getting disability I mean what am I think getting up working and be productive and not being a baby factory.
The Constitution doesn't saying anything about reproductive freedom and there is nothing free about me paying for your children because you cannot take the time to get some control of your life and get some birth control.
It is time like China we tell this sub culture that we might pay for that first kid, but you will be fixed so me don't pay for anymore and when we find that useless sperm donor fix him too.
Bower made comments about how he found it disrespectful for other Board members to bring motions without him being given plenty of notice about it.
Amazing. If you disagree with him you are disrespectful!
Keep up the good work Mrs. Emerson. You did the right thing. The Mayor is so used to getting his way that he shocked, shocked! That someone else may have a valid opinion other than his.
That is not necessarily true, about only advertisers being allowed to distribute his paper. While I do not know all of them, where I pick mine up, is at NAPA (who also do not advertise) . I also have seen it at a few of the auto shops when I was TDY at the NAPA store in Raytown (I work out of Lee's Summit). I think he simply just drops them of wherever he can. I really do not read his paper for the editorials, just the basic news, and my mom reads the obits. While there are definite short comings of the paper, I look at it being more of a "newsletter" rather than a legitimate newspaper. However, at one time we had two newspapers here in Raytown, the Raytown Post, and the Tribune, both are long gone. The other day I looked at the KC Star, and saw that the daily paper was a dollar (it has been a long time since I bought a paper). We have no local means of real "local" news, other than stuff we can read on this (and other) blog's. While admittedly the Raytown News is not a (as I see it) not a legitimate paper with it's short comings, for many there is no other source of local news.
I saw the meeting too.
Mr. Mayor. It is very rude for you to cast about with accusations calling people disrespectful as if they were not sitting in the same room with you.
Just because someone does not agree with you does not make them disrespectful.
Try not to be so intolerant of those who do not agree with you. It will only turn you into a very angry person.
what is it with these elected officials?
I wanted paper mainly for the local advertisements which do not appear in the Star. I always considered most of the "news" to be editorial content. Rush Linbaugh refers to the "State controlled media." Now Raytown has the City Controlled Media.
I agree $1 for a newspaper is outrageous! Over the years the Star has cut back on content claiming costs of production. The reduction in content first happened when they went to their new presses with a narrower page. Many papers have stopped printing in the past years. Unfortunately I suspect that may be the fate of the KC Star. I suspect they may be trying others have done.
Andy Whiteman
I see you still don't get it Raytown is a 4th class city and that means the mayor has little or no say even though you think and try to run the city otherwise.
What this means to you is to pull up your big boy pants smile at the camera and just go with the flow and understanding the that new Alderman from Ward 3 or any others can bring up what they want when they want and if you don't like it I guess you will be supporting a "Chart Form of Government"
Independence Day greetings to my Raytown friends:
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=4221513865526&source=jl999&utm_medium=internal_email&utm_source=pickup&utm_campaign=receivercontent
Andy Whiteman
It's fine with me that you technically, have no say Davey. However, your ties and those of entities with which you are associated (MARC, Walmart, Populous, Raytown Chamber of Commerce (the list is extensive)) to non-governmental organizations which are working feverishly to enmesh America into the depraved New World Order is known. We are all known by the company we keep and what you reveal by association is that you are willing to sell us down the river in order to turn a buck and make a name for yourself. To quote a famous book, you are "a liar and the father of it" and cannot be trusted in any conversation or circumstance. Further, you don't have our respect because you haven't earned it. Have you told anyone about your precious MARC's plans under NASCO to have freight rail lines running through here yet? Won't that be nice with transients hopping rail cars and train whistles blowing through our days and nights. How about the plans to turn our city into (was it 5?) sustainable communities with stack and pack'em apartment buildings? Swell - the plan is that we can walk, bike, take a rail car or walk through an underground tunnel to visit someone in the next commune because in the end, only people like yourself will be allowed to have a car and go wherever they want to go. People, you need to know that under Bower's mayorship, there will never be a revitalized downtown Raytown. He's too busy developing Hwy 350 in cooperation with KC Smart Growth, MARC, the DOT, EPA and Chamber of Commerce to have time for much else. The Fed's Stimulus/ARRA grant money is in and they're going to spend it! Never mind that the grant money is really our tax dollars or that the developers get tax breaks (which raises our taxes) or that there's probably going to be another slimy deal coming down the pike to sell out to another inappropriate business in our green space. That's just who David Bower is!
Don't even begin to think we will forget.
The apology should be in the Raytown Times. But here will do as well. Better yet, how about a public apology a the next BOA meeting?
Wouldn't the topic and result of his trip be something he should share with everyone?
This guy has two sets of rules. One for him and one for everybody else!
As for bower going to Bentville trying to get walmart to come back only shows what he truly is. If walmart wanted to go to another location they could have done that while they were here. They were asked to go to one of the other 2 stores that are vacant now but they only want to do what they want to do.
Raytown can do better than walmart but we must have a Economic director that gets up off his/her butt and goes out and finds businesses to come to us. We have to stop doing things the way we've always done because it doesn't work. An other thing we need to think about doing is paying these people how our Dept. heads is to pay them for performance they need to work on commision only.
Would you be upset if an agency in KC which has no legitimate connection with our government, in complete disregard of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, said your property was blighted, took it from you and sold it to a developer who built new homes on it?
Would you be upset if an agency in KC which has no legitimate connection with our government, in complete disregard of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, said that since your property had some standing water on it that it was a "watershed" so you can still own it but you can't do anything at all with half of it because they slapped a conservation easement on it? The easement also greatly decreased the value of your property.
Maybe losing your home to the "rules" of this non-govermental agency which says you have to install the new furnace, insulation and central air system they recommend (which you can't afford) by a specific date would upset you?
Maybe you'll "lose it" when you can't afford to buy the water you need in order to take a shower after this NGO has condemned your city water service, taken it over and raised the water rates sky high. Or maybe don't have enough energy credits to heat your home in the dead of winter, can't afford to buy any more, and you have to vacate or freeze to death. Would that get your ire up or completely defeat you?
Illegal immigrants, like the myriad of other issues with which we are being affronted are not the problem(s); they are really just symptoms of the root cause of Raytown's and all of America's ills.
Our Legislators know what's wrong and have passed HB 42 and SB 265 which await the Governor's signature. ICLEI and the Agenda21 to which it is married are the cancer which is eating away at every facet of freedom that millions of Americans died to ensure.
Their edicts are UNCONSTITUTIONAL and can be outlawed at ANY level of government. We don't have to sit on our hands, waiting for the Gov. to sign the bills while watching our Mayor continue to screw us over. We can vote out ICLEI and Agenda21 (and the related actions of anyone, any agency connected to it in any form including a cease and desist on any of their construction or land grabs currently in progress) ourselves, right here in Raytown.
Towns all across this great country have accomplished this once their populations got sick and tired of being sick and tired (and going broke).
Let's kick the bums out! Once that's done, our Mayor and his cohorts' vehicle for the ruination of our city's businesses and residents WILL BE LIQUIDATED.
Sue Frank is going after the constitutionality of the zoning aspect of the "green space" but I tell you, assuredly, resolution of this symptom will not stop the problem.
Everything ICLEI and Agenda21 does is accomplished by circumventing government and appealing to the greedy who do their dirty work. They are VERY entrenched in KC but we can still kick them out of Raytown. Removal requires radical surgery.
Thank you Mr. Walters for what you so freely bring to us.
The Birthday Wishes are appreciated!