“What’s Wrong at Raytown City Hall?”
THE FOLLOWING EDITORIAL WAS PUBLISHED IN THE
KANSAS CITY STAR ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 (page 18A). IT ADDRESSES THE NEED FOR AN INDEPENDENT AUDIT OF THE CITY OF RAYTOWN.
City officials have failed to publicly address the suspicious practices, despite repeated questions from concerned citizens. TO READ MORE USE THE FOLLOWING LINK
USE THIS LINK . . . KC STAR EDITORIAL
Raytown Audit Petition Sign Up Locations
USE THIS LINK . . . KC STAR EDITORIAL
Raytown Audit Petition Sign Up Locations
Or . . . Stop by
Doughboy’s Doughnuts located at 63rd and Woodson to pickup
petition forms or to sign a petition (11559 East 63rd Street,
Raytown, MO 64133).
 |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
Service to be Discussed
First
Reading of an Ordinance Transferring the Raytown (EMS) Ambulance Service to the
Raytown Fire Protection District will be held
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Raytown City Hall, 10000 East 59th Street
Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.
The public
is invited to share its opinion on the transfer of the Ambulance Service to the
Fire District during the Public Comments portion of the meeting.
- Meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. / Public Comments is the first item of business.
- A sign-up sheet is at the entrance to the room. Speakers will be called to the podium in the order of when they signed up. Raytown residents are given priority to speak.
- Each speaker is allowed five minutes to make their presentation.
Blog Rules . . . BY PAUL LIVIUS
Every
now and then we find it is necessary to review the rules governing the material
on the blog portion of the Raytown Report.
Most of
our readers understand and follow the rules. The use of obscenity has all but
vanished from our page because we simply will not print your blog if it is
laced with vulgarity.
A big
thank you for that to our readers!
We
recently received what was entitled a Press Release regarding the transfer of
the EMS (Ambulance Service) to the Raytown Fire Protection District. The Press
Release was unsigned.
All
press releases require the name and phone number of the person submitting the
release. If whoever sent the release will provide the required information, we
will gladly publish it.
Congrats
to Us!
Greg and Mecee Celebrate 40 Years
Greg and Mecee Celebrate 40 Years
That
being said, after browsing through his tons of photos (Greg is quite the
shutterbug) I pulled out some of my favorites and asked him to share them with
you. The picture were taken along the Rhine River in Holland, Germany, France and Switzerland.
So,
without any further ado, here are a few of the photos we enjoyed the most.
Amsterdam, Holland has more bicycles than people. That is because the working population will typically take a train into town and pickup their bicycle from public bicycle parking areas to move around the city. They chain their bike to a bike stand and at the end of the day and take the train back home. Streets are typically filled with pedestrians, bicycles and very small delivery trucks. The bikes are usually not that fancy as a deterrent to bicycle thieves.
Basel, Switzerland has public water fountains all over the city. The fountains run continuously. Basel is one of Europe’s oldest cities and has rarely been touched by the ruins of war. Walking the streets of Basel is like walking in a museum. Speaking of which, the artwork and remnants of some of the buildings go back to the earliest expansion of the Roman Empire.
Cologne, Germany is home to some of one of Europe’s oldest and largest Cathedral. Construction of the Cologne Cathedral began in 1248. It took seven centuries to build. Finally completed in 1880, the Cathedral escaped any major bombing by the allied forces in World War 2. It stands as the most magnificent example of a Gothic Cathedral in our modern world.
Strasbourg, France is
one of the prettiest cities of Europe. The pictures (above and below) show how the oldest European cities were built
along waterways. Over the centuries the rivers were channeled and tamed. Most
streets do not have curbs, like the river, the streets but against the
buildings.
Heidelberg, Germany is
home to the Heidelberg Castle, the ruins, partially restored, hover over the
city that shares its name. The city was spared allied bombing runs by American
forces because of its beautiful architecture. The ruins of the Castle were the
result of a French invasion and occupation of the city in the 17th
Century. The narrow street pictured is typical of most older European city
streets once you leave the highways that link the cities together. All of the
European cities we visited relied heavily on mass transportation, street cars
and trains.
Those Clever Nazis! Along
the hillsides of the Rhine River, are castles. Most have been restored. It was noticed the rail line entrances and exits to tunnels had edifices that looked similar to the castles in
the countryside. The reason was that during World War 2 the Nazi command built the castle-like
structures at tunnels to disguise them from American and British
bombers.
You can always tell the
Americans because they are more colorfully dressed than the Europeans.
 |
| Excitement on the first day. This picture was taken at a train station / mall near where our boat was docked. About half way up the tunnel from where the picture was taken a terrorist attacked some people with a knife.The police quickly subdued him and carted him off to jail. |
 |
| If you go to Holland you must visit a windmill. This particular windmill is in Holland. The name of the country is actually the Netherlands. Holland could be compared to a state in America. Over the stretch of centuries the two names have become to mean the same thing. Both are considered proper use of the language. |
Amsterdam, Holland has more bicycles than people. That is because the working population will typically take a train into town and pickup their bicycle from public bicycle parking areas to move around the city. They chain their bike to a bike stand and at the end of the day and take the train back home. Streets are typically filled with pedestrians, bicycles and very small delivery trucks. The bikes are usually not that fancy as a deterrent to bicycle thieves.
Basel, Switzerland has public water fountains all over the city. The fountains run continuously. Basel is one of Europe’s oldest cities and has rarely been touched by the ruins of war. Walking the streets of Basel is like walking in a museum. Speaking of which, the artwork and remnants of some of the buildings go back to the earliest expansion of the Roman Empire.
Cologne, Germany is home to some of one of Europe’s oldest and largest Cathedral. Construction of the Cologne Cathedral began in 1248. It took seven centuries to build. Finally completed in 1880, the Cathedral escaped any major bombing by the allied forces in World War 2. It stands as the most magnificent example of a Gothic Cathedral in our modern world.
 |
| NOTICE THE LOCK AT THE TOP OF THE RIVER - ANCIENT BUT STILL WORKING! |
Heidelberg, Germany is
home to the Heidelberg Castle, the ruins, partially restored, hover over the
city that shares its name. The city was spared allied bombing runs by American
forces because of its beautiful architecture. The ruins of the Castle were the
result of a French invasion and occupation of the city in the 17th
Century. The narrow street pictured is typical of most older European city
streets once you leave the highways that link the cities together. All of the
European cities we visited relied heavily on mass transportation, street cars
and trains.
Those Clever Nazis! Along
the hillsides of the Rhine River, are castles. Most have been restored. It was noticed the rail line entrances and exits to tunnels had edifices that looked similar to the castles in
the countryside. The reason was that during World War 2 the Nazi command built the castle-like
structures at tunnels to disguise them from American and British
bombers. 
You can always tell the
Americans because they are more colorfully dressed than the Europeans.
44 comments:
No audit, it is a waste of taxpayer money to begin with. There are periodic audits done anyway. People are always calling for an audit out here all the time. Whoever calls for it should have to pony up with the funds to pay for it, not me! Stop the witch hunts!
Keep it coming we are seeing how corrupt the police department is along with the chief you can add the mayor
Happy 40th anniversary Greg and Mecee! It looks like you had a wonderful trip!
Andy Whiteman
The city of Raytown must of not liked the story in The Kansas City Star today. It sure does show the great need for an audit!
Congratulations Greg & Mecee!
KC STAR: "Questions about all of these issues need to be answered. But repeated calls to City Administrator Missy Wilson, City Clerk Teresa Henry and Mayor Mike McDonough were not returned. They also failed to reply to several email messages from The Star."
Let me get this straight. A city leader that has an office number, an e-mail address, a cell phone, and who spends an INORDINATE amount of time online cannot be bothered to respond to multiple requests from a major publication regarding the city?!
"Let me get this straight. A city leader that has an office number, an e-mail address, a cell phone, and who spends an INORDINATE amount of time online cannot be bothered to respond to multiple requests from a major publication regarding the city?!"
Really? What else would we expect at this point?
How absolutely irresponsible, pathetic. You represent US.
How difficult would it have been to respond to media? To the CITIZENS?
This lack of response from the current regime is very telling, IOHO.
Here's to one very generous, robust, lengthy upcoming State audit.
A thorough REAMING is in order.
Will it be expensive? You betcha! You cannot, however, pin this latest debacle on "past administrations". A straighforward, honest response from those that represent us shouldn't have been an issue at all.
Let's roll out the red carpet for the Auditor's office. This needs to happen.
We should cater. I do a killer cordon bleu.
Someone post a sign-up sheet.
Just read the article in the Star and I am not surprised at what is going on at city hall. Sense the current mayor has taken office things have become a joke. I am tired of all of the lies and deception going. When the mayor decided to run for office I asked him if he could walk away from the police and the answer was absoolutely but he could not look me in the eye when he said it. Will now we know he never had any intensions of doing that. This board also needs to GO except for maybe 3 of them AS DOES THE MAYOR.
WE and our neighbors are so angry at the codes department they don't do there jobs either. Actually they don;t send anyone out if you called in to report something. I am told that they have been told not to worry about it. WE as a neighborhood are about to consider a lawsuit ourselves due to the fact we cannot get anything about a major problem in our neighborhood that effect everyone.
CITY HALL YOU HAD BETTER START LISTENING YOUR TIME OF RECKONING IS COMING. THE PEOPLE OF THIS CITY DESERVE BETTER THEN THIS.
Anonymous 8:27 you don't have a clue about what a state audit is. Maybe you should educate yourself and then you would realize the benefits that could come from a good performance audit. NO NEW TAXES until we see a state audit!!! It's also shameful that city officials won't talk to the press, what do they have to hide?
"...repeated calls to City Administrator Missy Wilson, City Clerk Teresa Henry and Mayor Mike McDonough were not returned.... "
I think we're all too aware of who has had their writing utensil in hand, proboscis to paper since Sunday morning, penning a lengthy retort to the KC Star oped, gearing up for another dramatic dash-punctuated presentation at Council this week.
Next time, simply respond to requests for information. If you have nothing to hide and can comprehend basic concepts, any response at all shouldn't have been an issue.
An audit is not all about criminal activities. It is also a performance audit to see where improvement can be made. Marjain L. Breitenbach
I don't know Tony Jacob but I do admire him for standing up for what is right. Keep up the good work Tony. You have more support out there than you know!
@7:47
Why would anyone feel the need to offer a retort to the Kansas City Star? The editorial board who wrote that Op-Ed is just parroting the talking points of a well known resident. I can think of a failed journalist right here in Raytown who badly mismanaged a huge opportunity and who has buried their head in the sand when it comes to reporting the truth.
Then feel free to help pay the bill of $75,000-100,000. The city can’t afford it, period. But hey the way it’s going, there won’t be a city left. Just saying.
This group has lost its mind. The city is losing money but you all want an audit but don’t care as long you get your audit that will prove nothing was done wrong by the city. Things cost more now than they did in the 80’s , when the city last passed a hike in the tax rate. Yes some adjjabe occurred due to this or that, but a voter approved hike hasn’t happened in about 40 years. I don’t get how you all think the city can pay their bills now on ancient tax rates?
For someone that talks about wise spending, it’s crazy to then waste so much money with an audit.
An audit could be interesting. The recently departed finance director and city administrator departing so suddenly is curious.
It's also curious that the sudden shortfall came out of nowhere while they were in charge. All of a sudden a 3 million dollar shortfall? The outside accountant finds a conservative estimate of $400,000 in surplus?
Let's not forget the "over budget" police expenditures that was also a mistake. I'm not suggesting corruption, but garden variety incompetence may be a contributing factor in this latest "crisis". It's strange that it's not such a crisis now that those two are gone.
A 100k bill for a state audit probably won't calm down the true haters, but it might answer some questions for those not on a witch hunt...like why the huge fluctuations in revenue predictions from a city that is basically dead in terms of financial progress?
I actually took the time today to listen to the Fire District and i am in favor of their plan. Raytown EMS has been shutting down ambulances frequently which has resulted in almost 200 calls this year KC has had to cover for us and over 1000 calls in the past three years. I am sorry for the employees but the City needs to do what’s right for the whole not just what’s right for a handful of employees.
I think an audit is very much needed in Raytown. The recent defeat of three tax proposals from the mayor and city council show a lack of faith by voters in the political leadership at City Hall. There are many in Raytown who believe the Mayor only cares about the police department and his friends on facebook. Another sign is at least three of the five aldermen up for re-election next April have let it be known they do not plan to run for office again.
There are all sorts of rumors coming out of the police department. The Kansas City Star reported:
From Aug. 1 to Oct. 31, 2017, more than 30,000 time sheet adjustments were made by city employees, according to data from the human resources department. At least 8,700 of those corrections are unaccounted for, meaning officials have not determined why the changes were made.
Those are serious accusations.
Another troubling sign is the revolving door of upper management at city hall.
Following is a list of upper management positions that have had people leave them during the current administration under Mayor McDonough.
MAHESH SHARMA City Administrator
TOM COLE City Administrator
MARK LOUGHRY City Finance Director
BRIANA BURRICHTER City Finance Director
KATIE HORNER Public Works Director
JOHN BENSON Community Development Director
KEVIN BOJI Parks and Recreation Director
TED BOWMAN Major in the Raytown Police Department
BRENDA GUSTAFSON Public Information Officer
This city needs an audit. If for no other reason than to fix the problems in management at city hall. It is very clear our elected officials do not believe there are problems at city hall.
This is our chance to fix those problems. If someone asks you to sign an petition for an audit of Raytown, please sign it.
"Then feel free to help pay the bill of $75,000-100,000. The city can’t afford it, period. But hey the way it’s going, there won’t be a city left. Just saying."
Did you even READ the KC Star article? Or do you need someone to explain it to you?
Numerous serious, LEGITIMATE concerns were mentioned...that NEED to be addressed,,,by the State! And we're certain that other issues may be discovered at audit.
"Just saying".
I'm signing
The city needs the spotlight of truth shone on it
A financial audit is not going to fix problems with personnel management at city hall. Where do these people get these ideas anyway? Drama and conflicts perhaps, look there, but not by spending $75K to $100K or more on a financial audit.
"Why would anyone feel the need to offer a retort to the Kansas City Star? The editorial board who wrote that Op-Ed is just parroting the talking points of a well known resident...."
Well darn shootin', then! (Insert a visage of bared teeth, mock contemptuous outrage and upheld, clenched digits!)
That pygmy outfit, the KANSAS CITY STAR, purposely sidestepped senior editorial review and legal department clearance just to publish a HIT PIECE on Raytown City government.
And they mindlessly relied solely on crib notes from that "well known (sic) resident" 'cause they were tolded it was so!
All for just because.
Good grief. Just step off.
I'm signing
The city needs the spotlight of truth shone on it
6:25 am
The only thing the election showed is that the residents did not want to increase taxes. There was not a check box on my ballot asking me if I trusted City Hall.
I remember very well back to the time that the mayor and aldermen were last elected. One thing that
the mayor and several of his buddies that were elected said was that the city needed a state audit.
What has happened in the last 2 years plus that these same elected officials no longer seem to say
anything.
I think that the mayor has used up a lot of political capital.
Well fellow Raytown seniors, now that our president has given generous tax breaks to us (Well, mostly to corporations and the wealthy) The federal government needs to make some spending cuts to balance things out.
So expect them to go after entitlements next year according to a spokesman for the pres.
You do know that social security and medicare are two very prominent entitlements don't you?
Most voters did not know MAGA was going to cost seniors so much.
I don't count myself among the corporate and wealthy. I appreciate the tax breaks the President got for us. I also appreciate the increase in jobs and more Americans being able to find good jobs. I think the presidents policies are working.
I do fear that the radical left of the Democratic Party will try to strip all those gains from us. There are not many races of national importance in this part of Missouri. Except for the Senate race. Goodbye Claire. You have done enough damage. Time for you to retire.
Anyone who has been paying attention to what is happening at city hall in the last three years and does not see the dysfunction of the place has got blinders on. This city needs many things. If you are expecting Mike McDonough and his crew on the city council to right the good ship Raytown you will be deeply disappointed. Every elected official up for re-election is the problem in Raytown.
By the way, whoever wrote that fairy tale about the Kansas City Star Editorial Board should be ashamed of themselves. The Star may be many things. But they fact check everything on their editorial pages. If they wrote about rampant changing of time cards by city employees at city hall reaching into thousands of instances, you can bet the farm it happened.
The editorial would not have been written without proof.
I remember when Alderman Black asked if all the police showing up at budget hearings were being paid to be there. The next day a steady stream of police who were at the meeting retrieved their time cards and corrected them.
If the Star wrote it, there is no doubt they have the proof to back it up.
You have a bad situation at city hall. Parts of the government have literally gone rogue. The Mayor and Board of Aldermen are a big part of the problem because they know what is going on but refuse to take steps to correct it.
If you think it will get better by keeping the same crew in charge of running the good ship Raytown you are going to be disappointed.
It’s an opinion editorial, not an article so no “facts” are not needed. So sick of the fake news nowadays.
PD need serious oversight. Changing timecards, excessive overtime being allowed. Promotion in Rank resulting in pay increase when other employees do not receive pay raises. So much out-of-town-travel that the city cannot keep track of it all. The result of all this is an out of control spending habit, and when the Board attempts to stop this behavior, they are met with a spoiled child attitude from the Chief.
So instead of addressing this problem, the Board decides to throw EMS under the bus with no warning to EMS employees and a severance package that is a slap in the face to employees who gave the better part of their careers to the city. How shameful.
Editorial columns are opinions in nature. The opinions in teh Star editorial were spot on. There are real problems at city hall. The codes are not being enforced and now we know that time cards are being altered. This is not good news. By the way. It is not fake news either. Facts, plain and simple. I wish you spent as much time looking for solutions as opposed to making excuses for bad managerial practices.
I have read all there is and think the Fire Department should run EMS.
9/19 12:52 EMS should have been run by Raytown Fire a long time ago. And as for notice, there is two months before the change takes place. And there is a lucrative severance package. In corporate America you go to work one day and not the next. Quit whining.
Yes, maybe we can sell the public works dept. maybe the police dept. Do we have any thing else this smart board of aldermen can get rid of.
Fire, EMS AND Police should all be as one. Can you imagine the cost saving??? Mind blown
"...repeated calls to City Administrator Missy Wilson, City Clerk Teresa Henry and Mayor Mike McDonough were not returned. They also failed to reply to several email messages from The Star."
"Let me get this straight. A city leader that has an office number, an e-mail address, a cell phone, and who spends an INORDINATE amount of time online cannot be bothered to respond to multiple requests from a major publication regarding the city?!"
Just watched the BOA meeting. Yes, Ms. Wilson. We await further clarifications from you.
Following Ms. Wilson's comments, the following nuggets from " uh uh it not me, it not my fault" Mayor Mikey:
"...thank you for that excellent explanation and um the fact that when they need information...news media should know that you and Damon are the people to get ahold of as you are our official public information officers for the City..."
Not so fast, "Mr. Mayor". You ANSWER, even if it's a simple "no comment" and/or a referral to an authorized source.
Professionals and true administrators don't ignore ANY request for information. And they don't deflect responsibility.
We are tremendously disappointed in this "administration".
Gladstone MO North of the river used to be set up where the police were also fire fighters maybe
the EMS was also included unless they used KC MO.
Plain and simple I don't trust Matt Mace
Just a point of order here, this may not get published on the blog but, you talk about rules for posts, so if you are going to allow any bashing by one political party or faction, then you should allow it for all. It is pretty obvious to me that if you allow it because you agree with it because of your political affiliation then it is BIASED. If you do not allow a counter post that also does not contain vulgarity from the other side, then that is called CENSORSHIP. This is not right
Plain and simple
You can go to work at amr
Wow. Act like an A-Hole much. How about have some feelings for people that have put in time for this city trying to provide the best service possible under their control. You all feel like this, maybe it’s best the city folds and a city that will actually pay it’s public servants a wage they deserve will take over. Public works, parks, codes are a dime a dozen but paramedic/emts and police are highly trained. Get over yourself and think about who you support in this fiasco.
How many EMS personnel have been there more then 3 years - excluding office personnel?
That’s easy, there are 3 on the ambulances and another 2 who work behind a desk 99% of the time, this is not counting the secretary. Almost all of the outrage on here is from part time employees who all stand to lose a fat payday
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