Saturday, March 18, 2017

RAYTOWN''S LEADING NEWS SOURCE


Candidate Forum 
Tuesday March 28
6:30 - 8:00
Raytown City Hall


EDITOR'S NOTE: Mayor Michael McDonough has issued a press release on the controversial "Cease and Desist" issue brought forth by former Mayor Sue Frank. Due to the length of the press release we have placed the text of the Mayor's Press Release follows the bottom "POST A COMMENT" link at the of this week's news.

BY GREG WALTERS
Former Mayor 
Responds to Criticism
Former Raytown Mayor Sue Frank has sent a letter to Raytown City Administrator Tom Cole requesting the City of Raytown to “Cease and Desist” the actions of Ward 2 Alderman Jim Aziere. Her letter is in response to an article entitled “The View from the Inside”, published in the Raytown Times on March 15, 2017.

Frank has been the target of criticism by both Alderman Jim Aziere and former Alderman Joe Creamer in the current political campaigns for five seats on the Raytown Board of Alderman.

She wrote, “. . . Mr. Aziere has participated in the ongoing libel and slander about me as further perpetuated by the Raytown Times and former alderman, Joe Creamer. The language used by Alderman Aziere is almost verbatim to other false claims.”

The entire letter from Sue Frank follows. It is not known if City Administrator Tom Cole responded to Ms. Frank. However he did send a letter to members of the Board of Aldermen regarding the matter. A copy of his letter follows Ms. Frank’s letter.

Mayor Michael McDonough has placed the item on next Tuesday’s agenda (March 21, 2017).

The March 21st meeting is a regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen and is open to the public. The agenda allows for public comments by private citizens at the beginning of the meeting. The meeting begins at 7:00 o’clock and is held in the Raytown City Council Chambers located at 10000 East 59th Street.


FORMER MAYOR SUE FRANK’S LETTER

Mr. Tom Cole, City Administrator                            March 14, 2017
10000 East 59th Street
Raytown, MO 64133

Dear Mr. Cole,

I have some serious concerns regarding letters in the local paper written by, and signed as, Alderman Jim Aziere. It appears Mr. Aziere has participated in the ongoing libel and slander about me as further perpetuated by the Raytown Times and former alderman, Joe Creamer. The language used by Alderman Aziere is almost verbatim to other false claims.

Mr. Aziere, when writing recently about the Citizens Oversight Committee states, “What we concluded was the cities were comparable in size, per capita, and arrests.” This article is entitled “The View from the Inside.”

I ask that the City of Raytown Cease and Desist and make a public statement as to the falsity of these claims. Short of this I will have to seek legal remedies.

I appreciate your time and attention to this serious matter.

Respectfully submitted,

Sue Frank

CITY ADMINISTRATOR TOM COLE’S LETTER

Mayor & Board of Aldermen:

Please review the attached request to “Cease and Desist” from Sue Frank regarding recent articles and columns published in the local newspaper.  I believe her footing rests on conditions known as “actual malice” which is defined as:

Actual malice in United States law is a condition required to establish libel against public officials or public figures and is defined as "knowledge that the information was false" or that it was published "with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."

As the recent letter(s) to the newspaper were written by an individual identifying himself with the title “Alderman” and the survey distributed to other communities was presented to those communities with the title of  “Alderman” atop the page, Ms. Frank and the recipients of those surveys likely view the content of the article(s) and the survey as being “from the City.”

I am providing you with this letter simply to keep you informed and this is not a call to action.  Wednesday, I will speak with Joe Willerth (City Legal Counsel) regarding this matter.

 Thank you,

TC


Paul's Rant BY PAUL LIVIUS
SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE A SIGN
I have been approached by a number of candidates for the Raytown Board of Aldermen to write a story about the disappearance of political signs from their supporters' yards in the past few weeks.

The Raytown Report has already documented the loss of nearly all of Bonnaye Mimns yard signs in Ward Five. She has since turned over information to the Raytown Police Department in hopes of exposing the guilty party.

Here is a rundown of what we have heard by other candidates on the subject:

WARD 2: Jason Greene says he has lost a small number of signs. He believes the signs were purposely stolen because not only were the signs gone, so were the wires.

WARD 3: Both candidates, Ryan Myers and Janet Emerson, say yard signs have disappeared. Neither candidate blames the other. Though it is doubtful Mrs. Emerson has been involved. She broke her foot in four places a few weeks ago and is scheduled for surgery this coming Tuesday.

WARD 4: Bill VanBuskirk says he has lost some signs but believes most of them were the result of strong winds associated with a storm about a week ago. He tells us the signs were gone, but the wires were still in the ground.

WARD 1: Greg told me he is aware of only one sign that has gone missing. He told me, "The wire was still in the ground so I assume someone needed the paper part of the sign."
The Raytown Report has not received any other complaints from candidates on missing signs.

 To leave a comment use this link POST A COMMENT



PRESS RELEASE
DATE: March 20, 2017
FROM: Mayor Michael McDonough
CONTACT: 816-737-6003
SUBJECT: Letter from Mayor Michael McDonough to the Citizens of Raytown

For Immediate Release
I put in over 39 years of dedicated service to the citizens of Raytown as a Police Officer.
Over the years I was blessed to have served the people of this town in many ways, professionally and personally. I was there to help, to protect and to serve. Service above self is what I believed and what I learned to do over those many years. That is what I believe in to this day. Not the politics of old that have kept this town in a quagmire and kept it from flourishing as it should and could.

I worked with some of the most dedicated, honest, caring people that one could have ever had the pleasure to have known. These individuals that made up the group of first responders (police, fire and emergency medical personnel) were and still are family to me. Just like soldiers in battle, we cemented kinships only those who have been tested in the field will ever know.

I believe that it all comes down to the people that do the work. I have enjoyed being the Mayor of my hometown. Most on this board of aldermen and the present city staff have learned to work together for the greater good of our town. I have heard and read many negative things about this board and this administration and I intend to address them here. This Board and I have now had our integrity attacked with half-truths and lies. I always believe in freedom of speech and for opposing views, but I never allow people to attack my integrity and will answer those attacks with the truth.

Over the last year, most of this Board of Aldermen have united and work well together. There have been published writings and innuendoes by several of the same people. To Joe Creamer, I say if you have some kind of evidence that shows that there has been some type of illegal activity from anyone on this Board of Aldermen, then bring it forward to the proper authorities. As Mayor, all I can say is that your rants have caused harm to this City and is nothing but the usual old politics that we are working to leave behind, to move the city forward.

It has been said several times that I was placed in this seat by the Police Department. Do I care about them, well yes, of course I do, I was a police officer for over 39 years. I will not apologize for that, nor will I allow people to try and make something bad about it. I was not placed in this seat by the Police Department. I was placed here by the voters of this city. I worked hard to earn the citizens’ trust and they trusted me and voted me into this office. I take this job seriously and weigh every decision I make as to how it will affect everyone. That is who is important to us all, the citizens. The city staff, board of aldermen, police, emergency medical services personnel, fire protection district and the school district is full of dedicated personnel.

I also want to point out that I have no vote on any matters that any department, including the Police Department, brings forward unless there is a tie vote by the Board of Alderman, and that has not happened yet.

I am a positive person and I believe that most of us have come together and things in this city are getting better. Just look at all the progress around you. That should answer some of the questions as to how this city is progressing in the right direction. In the words of our new City Administrator Tom Cole, “We are doing cool things.” Just watch and see how much more things improve and what we will do in the near future.

The publisher of the local paper, Randy Battagler, wrote that meetings of the Board of Aldermen were being held that are called Work Sessions where things are discussed that will come before the Board of Aldermen at the next meeting. He seemed to imply that there was something amiss about these meetings. He complained that there is no record of what is discussed in these meetings. He also complained that he could not make it to these and then get his papers delivered the next day. Let me be clear. Work sessions include an agenda and are posted on the City’s website and other areas as is required by law. Work sessions are posted and are open to the public. Work sessions are designed as a discussion arena for issues that typically are presented to the Board of Aldermen for consideration at future meetings and are intended to assure that agenda items meet and/or exceed the Board’s goals. Alderman Jim Aziere attends the work sessions also. There are also notes taken as to what items were discussed in the work sessions.

Alderman Jim Aziere wrote a guest editorial in the local newspaper and made inaccurate statements. First of all, there will not be any issuance of debt to build a storage facility for the Police Department that was to include a small training area for officers. That facility has already been in the city budget.

Former Alderman Joe Creamer made the assertion that the issuing of debt would be done by getting loans from banks and even asserted that there would be kickbacks. The accusations that anyone in our government would be involved in such activity is absurd. Mr. Battagler mentioned that normally a city goes out for a bond issue for such things. I have already spoken with the City Manager into looking at the possibility of a future bond issue to get more infrastructure projects of all kinds done and what that would look like. It would also most require a vote of the people for approval and would be for more expensive projects needed for this city’s infrastructure improvement.

For one thing, because of grants that will expire, being attached to the four below listed projects and the rising cost of construction, many of us felt it imperative that we look at borrowing money to get them done and save money down the line in construction costs while getting four of the oldest, important, pending projects done. Since Alderman Aziere was speaking about Mahesh Sharma, I would like to remind him that the idea of borrowing money to get these four projects done and saving money on construction costs and not losing grants was Mr. Sharma’s idea in the first place and was relayed to me by him not too long after I took office. He even asked to eliminate the idea of one sidewalk project along 350 Highway because the cost had risen by 33 percent. While it may tie up money for projects for the next few years, they are all projects that have been waiting for a very long time.

The truth is that issuing debt for Public Works projects is being done by the process of the City releasing a Request for Qualifications seeking a Financial Advisor to assist in identifying means to pay for four primary projects to potentially include:

 Re-surfacing of Blue Ridge Boulevard from 59th Street to Woodson.

 Improving the 350 Highway and Raytown Road Intersection

 Building Sidewalks along 59th Street near Raytown Central Middle School

 83rd Street Bridge Replacement

The Financial Advisor will also assist in identifying a means to refinance the existing Tax Increment Financing bonds to assure a significant savings to the City in its annual repayment of the bonds. The Financial Advisor will serve in an advisory capacity only and will not be allowed to offer financial/lending services from his/her own entity. In simple terms, the Financial Advisor will recommend the best options for financial solutions and savings regarding projects and bonds.

Raytown Emergency Medical Services-

The next subject is what Randy Battagler and Jim Aziere said about the restructuring, removing or “giving away” EMS Services. Mark Laughry, who was the Finance Director and interim City Administrator recently, thought there might be a cheaper solution to the cost of running a city-owned ambulance service. It turned out that, after more investigation, this is simply not the case. The City is currently NOT in negotiation with any entity regarding dismissal, sale or outsourcing of EMS services to the Raytown Fire District or any other entity. Over the years, a number of conversations have occurred regarding a merger with the Fire District. However, the costs associated with such a merger would likely be in excess of current EMS operations and provide little to no control of the operation by the City. As such, it makes zero financial sense at this time to pursue such an option. Additionally, private third-party EMS providers occasionally contact the City pitching their services. To date, the City has not received a formal proposal from such firms. In the event a proposal would be delivered to the City, it would be presented to the Board of Aldermen. If the City were interested in outsourcing EMS services, a formal bid process including multiple private EMS providers would have to be initiated. This measure has not been initiated, nor are plans in the works for such measures.

Super Splash Closure-

Mr. Aziere has made the statement that the Aldermen made the decision to close Super Splash. The Raytown Park Board recommended closing the park in 2015, but the Board of Aldermen overrode that decision and opted to allow it to function another year throughout 2016. The Park Board since has made the decision to close the park for the 2017 season to look at options with the park. Also, Mr. Aziere, in response to what you put in your guest editorial, I did not say “Raytona Beach” referring to Super Splash. It was in regard to a cute saying that I have about Raytown. Just so you will remember, I said “Raytona Beach, where every day is a holiday and every meal a feast, and we are always on the sunny side of the street,” because I love this city and the people in it.

Attorney General Sunshine Law letter-

I am aware that Alderman Aziere and Publisher Randy Battagler have stated in their articles that the Board of Alderman received a reprimand or “scolding” from the Missouri Attorney General for conducting “secret meetings”. However, careful review of the Attorney General’s response, dated July 6, 2016, reveals that there was no finding of any violation of the Sunshine Law and reaffirms the position of the Board of Alderman that “no public policy was formulated or vote taken” on the information presented by the Fire District in the meetings of February 15, 2016. The information presented by the Fire District was promptly made public by the Mayor’s press release of February 16, 2016, and the correspondence of the Attorney General’s office, dated July 6, 2016, closed the matter without further action.

Personnel Manual-

I pulled the very first draft of the personnel manual from the Board of Aldermen agenda because it was very flawed and full of mistakes that could have resulted in tax payers paying for lawsuits that may have resulted due to conflicting measures in the original manual. After the first revision was sent to the city attorney for review, we received a “red line” copy of the manual which showed many pages of mistakes, contradictions, or deficiencies that the attorney found. Even when the most recent version was brought forward for a vote, it was recognized that there were still provisions that needed to be corrected. The manual was adopted to give the employees the benefits it provided. The Personnel Policy committee is now in the process of correcting some of those items.

Volunteers on Committees and Boards-

The statement in the guest editorial was made that I had not welcomed the appointees that the former Mayor had made to some of the Committees and Boards of volunteers. I

only replaced a few of those appointees, and most of those that did get replaced were already on expired terms. Many of the appointees that former Mayor Bower appointed right before I took office were retained and are still on the appointed committees and boards.


John Benson left his job as Community Development Director for a job as City Administrator in Marshfield, Missouri. It was something that he had talked about for several years and thus he fulfilled a lifelong desire.

Mark Laughry left the City of Raytown for Leavenworth County, Kansas, to be their County Administrator. That new job was comparable in responsibility and compensation to our City Administrator position, but was a better fit for him. As he put it, “It’s only 10 minutes from home and no night meetings.”

Kati Horner Gonzalez left our employment to seek a job as one of the Public Works engineers in her hometown of Independence, Missouri.

Regarding recent comments and/or letters/articles in the Raytown Times written by Alderman Jim Aziere, former Alderman Joe Creamer and Raytown Times Publisher Randy Battagler.

Our legal counsel has reviewed the recent comments and absolutely and completely dismisses such comments as the thoughts and commentary of the individual authors.

The City of Raytown has not sanctioned or supported the content of such commentaries, nor has the City of Raytown sanctioned or supported the survey regarding the Police Department which was distributed to numerous other communities by Mr. Aziere. In short, none of the authors of such content have been serving as true representatives or spokespersons for the City of Raytown in these matters.

In closing, I say thank you, to all that believe in our city and thanks for those that support all our staff, elected officials and all of our first responders in the great job that they do in keeping this city moving forward and keeping it safe and saving lives. Thanks for being one of us in living here, working here or playing here. God bless our wonderful town of Raytown. God bless our Staff and guide our elected officials and God bless these United States of America.

Sincerely,

Michael T. McDonough Mayor of Raytown


40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like someone needs to file or will file a lawsuit against Aziere, Creamer and Co.

Dan Wilson said...

So, what has the police done about Bonnaye Mimns' stolen signs? You've reported on this for two weeks now. What's happening?





Anonymous said...

Nearly "all" of Mims signs? Ours has never left our yard (I keep looking at it to make sure I a spelling it right), and neither has the one across the street. I have seen more Mims signs than anything else in Ward V as well.

Anonymous said...

I don't get it. Nearly all of a candidate's signs are stolen and some one named anonymous writes a comment because, weill, at least I guess, he or she is upset because their sign did not get stolen?!? Does not make a whole lot of sense to me.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the gloves are off and the Mayor and some of the City Council are coming out swinging. It's about time!! They have been more than professional in not getting caught up in the back and forth. Think I'll go up to the Council meeting Tuesday night..

Anonymous said...

I have just one question I would like an answer for. What did Bonnaye Minms ever do for Raytown when she was State Rep. and what active role has she had in the city before she decided to run for city council? Please someone help me decided who to vote for.

Anonymous said...

The mayor responded to the Times trash on Facebook-look it up! Batagler has been lying about everything with the assistance of Joe Creamer and Azure. The Times is just trying to throw the election to get his buddies elected, he should have a "paid for by" on every paper.

Anonymous said...

The city council and mayor have been the adult in the room in dealing with these 3 amigos the past year. We get it Aziere, Creamer and Battagler you miss the old city administrator, youre mad because this council held him accountable, your upset because elections didnt go your way. You want to burn the town down and our image because of this. Everyone needs to research who these people support and vote against them. Anyone under the influence of these people has some serious concerns.

Anonymous said...

Aziere has been an embarsmnet to the City Of Raytown for years and to Raytown Schools even longer. IS it not time for him to be removed???

Anonymous said...

As a citizen of Raytown, this whole thing is an embarrassment to Raytown. Maybe they should go home at night and stay out of the bars. Maybe they could think straight the next day. I know it is difficult to run something, but to get ANY action on ANY thing in Raytown is a joke.

Anonymous said...

I understand that there is consideration of impeachment for Jim Aziere. He deserves it.

Anonymous said...

To: Anonymous of March 20, 2017 at 12:02 AM --

You have misunderstood what I was saying. The statement had been that nearly "all" of the signs had been stolen (which make it sounds like all of the signs are gone). However, since ours, and others have not disappeared, this is a false statement, as some of the signs have NOT been stolen in the first place. In no way did I advocate that I wanted our sign stolen, I was simply pointing out the fact that not all of the signs had been stolen, period. I have also noticed that there are some candidates who are placing the signs on public right of way, even though it is in front of the house

Anonymous said...

There is not any doubt Ms. Mims signs were stolen. There is not any doubt she has since replaced some of them. I have seen where signs were and then days later seen they are gone. Did the wires pull themselves out of the ground and walk away? Get real! Mims witnessed individuals removing her signs. She reported it to the police. Is there something here you or anyone should be upset about other than the fact that someone stole some of her signs?

Anonymous said...

Interesting comments. My good friend Janet Emerson has noticed some of her signs have been taken. She told me that a friend of hers saw a man pulling Janet's signs and replacing them with another candidate's signs. It happened in our part of the city. I believe her. I also believe Mims has had signs stolen as well.

It happens. I do find it odd that victims (in this case) are all female.

Anonymous said...

This election cycle and some of the lingering issues that have been prevalent is nothing short of an embarrassment to our community and the people who take an active interest by provoking their civic rights and vote for their elected officials. Is it shocking and a coincidence that several of the candidates are being mentored and tutored by the same pack of wolves (Aziere & Creamer) who are out spreading the falsehoods and alternative facts that they have been for the last year? That would be a NO....

Anonymous said...

Anyone tied to Aziere or Creamer has some serious judgement issues.

Anonymous said...

If you're disgusted with whats been happening with the paper and Creamer and Aziere then you need to do your part and get out and talk to your neighbors, particularly older residents who may get that paper in the mail, they may not have the benefit of Facebook or a computer to understand what is really going on with this bunch.

Anonymous said...

First time poster on this blog, Ive had a chance to read the Times and Creamer and Aziere's remarks. I found it silly that he wrote every week and then would continue to repeat things like a broken record. After seeing some of posts on facebook and how Creamer handled himself nobody in their right mind can support this childish behavior. I'm done with the times and places that I shop at I will tell them not to hold that trash, these people are embarassing enough. We all need to do a better job and see who these folks support to make sure they dont get elected. Just my thoughts.

Anonymous said...

He truly showed his true colors. Who you are asking? Jim Aziere. When he came down off the dais to speak he showed no remorse for what he said about the city and city officials and what he had done. This man truly thinks he above the law. He needs to be replaced next election

Anonymous said...

I just watched the public comments video from the March 22 BOA meeting and all I can say is I am seriously thinking about starting a campaign to write-in Fire Chief Matt Mace for Alderman. I spent 27 years in the USMC almost all of which with the 2nd Marine Air Wing attached to the II MEF. I was fortunate enough to work under some true leaders in my time but none were as talented as Major General Glen Walters. When I watched the Chief speak to the Board I was reminded of Gen Walters in so many ways. Anyone who has served has worked for leaders of men and they have worked for POGs, it doesn't take long to figure out who is who. The Chief is clearly a leader of men and that is self-evident by the fact his men turned out in droves to support him. Gen Walters used the saying "Direct Reflection of Leadership" as a means to express when a marine performed in an outstanding manner as well as when a marine failed to live up to the expectation. At the end of the day it all comes back to leadership, Gen Walters was the finest marine I have known because he lived by this belief. As much as I respect Mayor McDonough there has been a slew of failures and at some point, this is a Direct Reflection of Leadership. That's not to say I do not believe he is a leader. If he can manage to regain the initiative and move the city in a positive direction that will be how his term is ultimately judged. Either way, clearly Chief Mace is the real deal and I believe the city could benefit from his style of leadership. Semper Fidelis Chief Mace, Signed SGT MAJ Raytona Beach Bum, USMC Ret

Anonymous said...

2:38
Wow, I agree with what you say about chief Mace he is a leader of men. I will disagree with what you said about the mayor however. There has been no slew of failures. This city has moved forward with this board and his leadership and now finally has a very professional staff that believes in what this board and Mayor wish to do

Ralph Stewart said...

Matt Mace does a great job as Fire Chief. He works hard to keep his men and women well trained, and the community safe. He also works diligently to protect the assets entrusted to him, as evidenced by the refinancing of loans to decrease interest costs.

I disagree with some bloggers when they say Mayor McDonough has had a slew of failures. The mayor and board started in a deep, dark hole when they took office two years ago. They inherited a city administrator who didn’t do his job – such as the failure to file TIF reports. The previous board spent so much time bickering and back-biting that nothing was accomplished. The board has worked to help investors open new businesses, replace broken down bridges, and repair storm/sewer backups. We now have a city administrator dedicated to moving Raytown forward.

Anonymous said...

This board beside Aziere seems to be a hardworking bunch. Agreed about Mace, seems like an honest man. Was VERY impressed with Alderman Meyers and especially Greene, that young man speaks very effectively.

Anonymous said...

Chief Mace is a great leader, a great person and above reproach. He has no hidden agenda or motives. Calls it like he sees it and is honest and straight forward. I commend him for his service and dedication to this City. We need more people like him. Thank you for all you do Chief.

Anonymous said...

I learned after meeting Tuesday at the Fire Chief is also an attorney. While it doesn't change anything he said it does seem unfair and disingenuous to have someone Who is professionally trained and skilled with arguing a claim passing themselves off as something else. At a minimum he should have inserted that fact in his speech is minimum he should have inserted that fact in his speech as well.

Anonymous said...

Everyone go get a copy of the Raytown Times, look at the ads, contact the advertisers you do business with, and tell them if they value your business they should take April off from the paper. If we all do this Randy will get a clear message that we demand professional and ethical journalism from the Raytown Times.

Anonymous said...

I have known the chief for over 30 years. I don't know where you got the idea he was an attorney he's always been a fireman and now fire chief.

Don Millum said...

The fire chief is a lawyer?

Anon 8:49 pm Do you just spout things to cause trouble? Or do you hear rumors and are just too lazy to check them out?

Anonymous said...

Attn Raytown Residents:

Please do not absorb and pass along information from proven unreliable sources otherwise known as the 3 Amigos (Aziere, Creamer, Battagler). The public unmasking of these 3 at the Council Mtg Tuesday and previous Press Release by Mayor McDonough finally put factual information in play after false information and blatant lies have been in circulation for over a year.


Anonymous said...

My boss is not a Attorney. Matt Mace was hired by the City of Raytown and was a Paramedic for Raytown EMS for several years. He became a Volunteer Fireman with the District along with Matt Cushman and Nate Davis(Current Captain with the Fire District)when they were Raytown EMS employees.
He was hired shortly after that to fill a vacant spot and was assigned to my Truck as my Firefighter/Medic at Fire Station 2 (52)
During that time he started working on leadership courses and developed several programs in relation to training and installing AEDS in the schools and public buildings. He worked without stop on Public Service programs and assisting with the Fire Departments transition to Advanced Life Support.
I have known Matt since before he came on the job. I helped him work on his house he has helped us with projects on other Members houses and my son is friends with his son.
I can assure you that if he went to law school I would have known about it.
He has risen through the Ranks to the Chief position because he was the best guy for the Job. He has balanced the budget and has a great working relationship with the Union and the members respect him.
Who ever said he was a lawyer is uninformed and trying to cause problems.
Mr Aizere you are wrong in your assertions and is Mr Creamer. You two are jilted because both of you have come to the Fire Union requesting money and our support.
And we voted no. Looks like we made the correct vote on that. I have grown up in this city I went to Raytown High and graduated in 1987. I stayed and worked in this city along with several other Raytown or Raytown South products. I have seen a steady decline in honesty with politicians that mirrors the country level. Mr Aizere should resign and Mr Creamer should enjoy sobriety and work to repair relationships he damaged during his bad times as I am sure there are many out there.

I have 25 years of service to the Fire District and the Citizens of Raytown and I support the Fire Chief and he should receive credit for fixing some of the financial and operational problems the Fire District has been faced with.
Captain Doc Summers
Pumper 51 B-Shift

Anonymous said...

So Raytown Times Randy has come out and made his Alderman endorsements in the upcoming election in his comments piece.
OH WAIT.. I'm a bit confused.. Hold on let me check the sample ballot that he published.
Ok so he completely listed the WRONG CANDIDATES in the WRONG WARDS...

YOU JUST CAN'T EVEN MAKE THIS STUFF UP...

Anonymous said...

Robbie Tubbs... YOU ROCK... Your Public Comments in the Council Meeting Tuesday were EPIC....

Anonymous said...

Anonymous March 23 10:09, So from your comment you are encouraging Raytown citizens to not shop at businesess that advertise in the Raytown Paper. Regardless of if I agree with the paper or not it is a form of advertising for me and I resent you trying to stir up trouble by keeping people from shopping in Raytown. Shame on You

Susan Walker
The Herb Lady

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that the Creamer/Aziere group of candidates seem to have a problem with the simple rules such as their signs being in the city right of way. Pretty funny that they can throw stones at the current alderman but can't follow the simple rules as to where signs are allowed to be placed

The Herb Lady said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Herb Lady said...

And who are you making this statement. I am infuriated that you would discourage people from shopping in our Hometown

Anonymous said...

Why hurt our local bussiness by threatening them? It's their only form of advertising in a local paper. They have always served you well in the community. Do you want them to close up and move to another town?? If your beef is with Randy then keep it there. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot

Anonymous said...

Ran into friend yesterday at grocery store and he attended the City Council meeting Tuesday night and said the place was standing room only and I should go to city website and watch it. WOW... The speakers seemed prepared and were factual. Alderman Karen Black just shredded the newspaper guy.. The one guy Creamer seemed not believable and was an ongoing target all night, so must be something to that.. Anyway highly recommend citizens go to City website and get caught up on some issues.i did

Greg Walters said...

For the record, I do not agree with organized boycotts of anyone or their business. That is a decision an individual can make. I want to make this clear, because sometimes people attribute the opinions of bloggers as the opinion of us at the Raytown Report.

On another topic mentioned by a recent blogger, we monitor what is posted here. It is usually done once or twice a day. We understand the urgency of placing comments during an election and will make a sincere effort to ramp up the number of times we post going up to the April 4th City Election.

Anonymous said...

Hope to see everybody at the Raytown City Hall on Tuesday evening to meet the candidates, we should know whom we are voting for or against.