To leave a comment use this link POST A COMMENTWe are Back!
The Raytown Report had one of those (hopefully) rare moments when
technology failed us. But through perseverance and the help of some good
friends we were able to bring our page back from the failings of the electronic
age. Thank you to our readers who have been patient.
Paul Livius ( webmaster extraordinaire)
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| BY GREG WALTERS |
A Story for our Times . . .
When Things Change?
Paul and I have been having an
on-going debate about what I view as inertia at City Hall. He tells me to be
patient. I point out has nothing has really changed at 59th and
Raytown Road. Within the next few months we will all know which one of us is
right.
The
most recent event of significance was
the April 7th Election.
Change should be coming. When five
out of eleven elected officials are replaced in one election . . . let’s
just say . . . it is a sure sign the
voters were not endorsing the way things were.
Here are some areas to watch in the
coming months.
STREET OVERLAY: The weather is
getting warmer. Summer will soon be upon us and the city will be working to
repair the ravages of winter and time on our local streets. Voters clearly
showed their displeasure with the tar and gravel mixture named light aggregate
seal. Let’s see if anyone at City Hall was listening. By the end of summer the
answer will be clear.
Streets will either be repaired
properly or they will not. There is not a lot of wiggle room on this one. The
voters will be able to tell if their votes for change were effective by the
method and material the uses to repair neighborhood streets.
It will be up to the ten Aldermen and
Mayor who ultimately choose which method, light aggregate seal or asphalt is
used to repair those streets.
RECYCLING: Raytown had a recycling
program at one time. It was started during former Sue Frank’s administration.
It met an inglorious end during Mayor David Bower’s administration. Will the
Board of Aldermen pick up the pieces and begin again with what was truly a
popular program with the people of Raytown.
Like the light aggregate seal, the decision
to close down the city’s recycling center came during the Bower administration.
Both decisions were a step in the wrong direction.
Will the McDonough administration
continue the path chosen by the previous administration?
Paul tells me give them time. Allow
them to re-prioritize what is important and choose their own path. I hope he is
right.
Raytown needs a break from the past,
not a continuation of poor decisions.
Super Splash
Cost Over-run
Word
has reached the Raytown Report that the local money pit known as Super Splash
has already had a cost over-run. This time it has to do with the repair of a
water slide in the park.
The
water slide is in place. The Park Board decided it was in need or repair. The
company with the winning bid now says it will cost “X” amount of dollars more
to repair it.
Was
there something the contractor missed when he was in the competitive bid
process?
Unfortunately,
the current Super Splash dilemma is not unusual.
Check
back on the old agendas. You will be amazed at the number of change orders
issued by the city to contractors. The Super Splash story seems to be like so
many other projects. Street projects that have thousands of dollars in change
orders. It is the same story with many sewer projects.
We
wonder . . . did a street or sewer line grow larger when no one was looking . .
. did the Super Splash water slide change its size since the time it was
competitively bid for repair?
From
what we have heard, the money to make up for the shortage of funds for the
repair of the Super Splash water slide will come from money that had been set
aside for street lights.
This
should be a wake-up call to the Board of Aldermen. You were elected to run our
city, set the policy and make the decisions.
Here
is their opportunity to show they are up to the task ahead of them.
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| FROM FIT BOTTOMED GIRLS |
Jennifer
Pace is a retired ballerina and roller girl who has real-girl struggles to
maintain her fitness and nutrition routine — even as she considers becoming a
certified personal trainer. She has a B.S. in genetics from the University of
Kansas and currently works as a research scientist in developmental biology.
Jen enjoys travel, food and drink, reading and cuddling her numerous pets. This
is the second time Jennifer is guest posting for us (check out her first post here) and today
she’s sharing a few tips for all of us who have gotten to the gym and said
to ourselves, “Now what the heck do I do?!” READ MORE
3 comments:
The technology failure at the Raytown Report is exactly why I still demand paper billing and paper documents. So much data can be lost or altered by a few key strokes! Glad that you guys are back!
Andy Whiteman
What I don’t understand is, why can’t this city make
a contractor stick to their bid?
Also why doesn’t any developer that receives any tax
payer dollars have to do something for the money.
We have had I believe two or three developers, who were paid
hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars and the people
got NOTHING!
Remember when the “Gateway” at 63rd and Blue Ridge
went in? it wasn’t a year before it had to be redone at
tax payer expense. Don’t these contractors have to
guarantee their work?
I have to guarantee what I sell and repair and if I told
a customer his piece would cost him $60.00 to fix
but when he came in to pick it up I told him we had
a cost over-run and now it would cost him $100.00
How long do you think I would stay in business?
You don’t do people like that and contractors shouldn’t
do Raytown taxpayers that way either. Our city leaders
should see to that!
To Elizabeth
You put a great comment at the end of "last weeks" blog . I do wish you would copy it and put it on this blog. Your comment had much to say that EVERYONE should consider
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