BY GREG WALTERS

Tuesday is Election Day!

PLEASE REMEMBER

TO VOTE.

This is interesting.

Read the ballot language we posted last week recommending a "YES" vote on Question #1. The language came was published by the Jackson County Election Board. The copy for the language was approved by the Jackson County Legislature 

No doubt it was written by a bureaucrat. I have outlined the ballot language which is also underscored in bold type on the Official Ballot Language.

Note the choice is written "the Jackson County Assessor no longer be a "qualified" appointee and instead be an elected position".

I would bet you dollars to donuts that language was written by some nameless bureaucrat who cannot help but put in misleading language as to the qualifications when a County Assessor is elected.

Rest assured, elected or appointed, candidates running for Jackson County Assessor should Question 1 be approved will be required to hold the same qualifications as all other County Assessors elected in counties throughout the State of Missouri.

Incidentally, Jackson County is the ONLY County in Missouri that currently appoints the County Assessor.

Please remember to vote on Monday. A "yes" vote is needed to bring some common sense and fairness back to how property taxes are assessed in Jackson County.

USE THIS LINK TO Comment AND VIEW COMMENTS

Special Election

Jackson County, Missouri

Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Most readers are probably aware that there is a Special Election scheduled for Jackson County, Missouri on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. However, since this is an off year election, it is very possible the election will have a low turnout.

Jackson County Question 1, would change the office of Jackson County Assessor from an appointive office to an elective office.

Given all that has transpired on Property Taxes, Frank White's Recall Election, and how an improvement is needed in how taxes are assessed it is in voter's best interest to vote YES to change the office of Assessor to an elective position.

A YES VOTE would require the County Assessor be elected directly by Jackson County Voters.

This change would give Jackson County Taxpayers an elected Assessor who would answer directly to taxpayers on Property Tax disputes on our homes, businesses, automobiles and recreational vehicles. 

It is in ALL taxpayer's best interest to VOTE YES to change the office of County Assessor from an appointive position to one elected directly by the voters.

---- Official Ballot Language ----

QUESTION # 1

Shall Articles III, IV, and V of the Jackson County Charter, adopted by vote on November 3, 1970, and as amended by Public Votes on August 8, 1978, April 2, 1985, November 4, 1986, Augusts 2, 1994, August 3, 2010 and November 6, 2018 be amended to require that the Charter Office of the Jackson County Assessor no  longer be a qualified appointee and instead be an elected position?

THE RAYTOWN REPORT URGES VOTERS TO
Vote Yes

A "YES" vote will return who chooses the position of the Jackson County Assessor directly to the voters.

PAID FOR BY GREG WALTERS

. . . FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . . .

A Raytown’s Salute to Veterans will be held

WHEN
Sunday, November 9th
from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

WHERE
Raytown High School Auditorium
6019 Blue Ridge Boulevard

Please join us to pay tribute and say
"thank you" to our veterans

Veterans can Pre-register at

https://forms.gle/RQyTC3er55hA7Z7L9
 or register at the event to receive recognition

USE THIS LINK TO Comment AND VIEW COMMENTS

The art display at the Raytown Public Library was huge success. Our thanks to the staff at the Library for their help in guiding us through set up of the display..

We are currently looking at another venue to bring more of our photography to the public's attention. We will keep you informed once a location is settled upon.

USE THIS LINK TO Comment AND VIEW COMMENTS

BY GREG WALTERS

A Solution to Neighborhood Speeding.

On the night of June 9th at 2:00 a.m. in the morning 100 cars slowly drove into Colman Park located at 59th Street and Lane Street. At 2:00 a.m. occupants of the vehicles pulled out their weapons and began firing weapons from pistols, shotguns and  to high powered rifles (some with "bump" stocks) into the night sky. 

The salvo continued for ten minutes. It ended when the Raytown Police arrived. Those firing their weapons fled immediately.

At this point you may be wondering what does this have to do with "Neighborhood Speeding"?

The answer is simple.

The solution engineered by Park Board Director Dave Turner and set into motion by the Raytown Park Board has ended the dangerously lawless behavior at Colman Park in the wake of what took place on June 9th.

Three sets of speed bumps were installed on Lane Street, which stretches the length of the 13 acres that comprise Colman Park.

ONE OF THREE SPEED "BUMPS" INSTALLED AT COLMAN PARK

What happened next has proven to be a pleasant surprise.

It turns out those who like to speed through residential parks in their favorite toy, in this case their cars, do not like speed bumps. Here is why speed bumps make it impossible to hold drag races on Lane Street through Colman Park.Speed bump shorten the unimpeded driving space to an area too small to conduct "side shows". Driving over the speed bumps at high speeds can literally destroy the front steering of a motor vehicle. Riding a motorcycle at high speed over speed bumps is not a good idea either. More importhere has been a return of young families, walkers with and without their dogs on the walking trails in the park. The number of people playing pickle ball, tennis and softball has increased.Which begs the question . . . if speed bumps can have such a positive effect at a city park. Can the same speed bumps speed bumps (or humps) be used to slow down speeders on our neighborhood streets?

Our answer is Yes

All Raytown need do is follow the lead of surrounding cities like Lee's Summit and Kansas City to see how successful such a Traffic Calming Program can be.

First, a distinction needs to be made as what we are talking about.

A proposal I intend to bring to the Board of Alderman at City Hall would be to offer neighborhoods a program of installing "speed humps" in residential areas plagued by speeding and dangerous driving practices. 

Colman Park uses "speed bumps", which works perfectly for the problems the Park had.

Speed humps (as the pictures below show) have a less radical incline for residential streets than the speed bumps used at Colman Park. 

Speed humps have a "calming" effect on traffic. This "traffic calming" works at slowing down speeders. It works in Lee's Summit. It works in Kansas City.

The genius of speed humps is that they work ALL THE TIME. You do not need police personnel to enforce the speeding because speed humps are self-enforcing. They literally teach drivers with an ongoing experience to slow down and follow traffic laws.

USE THIS LINK TO Comment AND VIEW COMMENTS

Paul’s Rant! BY PAUL LIVIUS

An interesting exchange between two Aldermen at the last meeting of the Board deserves some attention. So without any further ado, we will get straight to the chase!

Park Board Director Dave Turner had just finished a report on the construction of a new skate board park at Kenagy Park. The current skate board park is over 20 years old has reached that point of "it can't be repaired any longer".

In his report, Turner said the cost of the project is under budget. But, since it is a grant, the city is not required to return the extra funds.

Ward 1 Alderman Greg Walters suggested a good use of the funds would be to install fencing on the southern most tennis court at Colman Park with fencing for Pickle Ball use. The Park Department has already striped the tennis courts for Pickle Ball.

Walters said, "The balls used in Pickle Ball are made of hard plastic. Though light in weight, they are very sturdy.

When a ball leaves a court into an adjacent court it could create a trip hazard for a player in another game on a different court. 

Pickle Ball is not a "contact sport". However, it most certainly is competitive. As in most sports, the players are concentrating on the game. A ball rolling from one court to another could be the prelude to a disaster."

After Walters finished his comments Alderwoman Bonnaye Mims asked for the floor. She said, "I am confused, I thought we were talking about a skate board park, not pickleball".

To which Greg replied . . . "We were talking about both".

Well said, Mr. Walters!

SPEED HUMP IN KANSAS CITY ONE
HALF A CITY BLOCK EAST OF
62ND TERRACE AND WOODSON ROAD

On another topic

I did some digging on the topic of speed humps and came up with some interesting facts. 

Kansas City has gone big into using speed humps to slow down speeders in many residential neighborhoods. This year the City of Kansas City is on track to install and additional 120 speed humps on residential streets. Since beginning the program five years ago Kansas City has installed close to 500 speed humps in residential neighborhoods in their city.

And that number does not include areas like Brookside, a residential neighborhood just south of the Country Club Plaza. Kansas City installed speed humps as long ago as the turn of the century (25 years ago!). 

Lee's Summit has also embraced a policy of installing speed humps in both new and established neighborhoods throughout their city.

The reason this path has been taken is because speed humps work. The Board of Aldermen would be wise to take a serious look at starting a program for Raytown.

This illustrates that speed humps are effective and popular. There is not a valid reason for not using this same traffic calming method in Raytown. 

THE PHOTO ABOVE IS OF THE FOURTH
 SPEED BUMP ON THE TWO MILE STRETCH
THAT BEGINS AT 62ND TERRACE AND
 WOODSON ROAD AND ENDS AT
LITTLE BLUE ROAD.

If you run into one of your elected officials do you and your neighbors a favor. Ask them to please support any initiative that would bring the safety of speed humps to our neighborhoods.

By the way, anyone wanting to check out some speed humps near Raytown can view them just east of Woodson Road and 62nd Terrrace. Just take a left turn on 63rd and Woodson. Then a right turn on 62nd Terrace. You will be entering Kansas City almost immediately. The street is approximately two miles long and has four speed humps on it. 

USE THIS LINK TO Comment AND VIEW COMMENTS

An Open Letter to our Readers . . . 

BY GREG WALTERS

TUESDAY IS ELECTION DAY.

There is only one issue on the ballot. Voters will decide whether or not to Recall Jackson County Executive Frank White from office.

 

Following is the official ballot language

provided by Jackson County Election Board

Notice is hereby given to the registered qualified voters of Jackson County, Missouri, that the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, issued an order on August 4, 2025, in Case Number 2516-CV21560, to conduct a Special Election to be held in Jackson County on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. The polls will be open between the hours of 6:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. The official ballot will be substantially in the following form.

QUESTION # 1: Shall Frank White, Jr. be recalled from the office of County Executive in Jackson County, Missouri?

Our Recommendation:

The Raytown Report recommends that Frank White be recalled from office. We base this recommendation on the following:

• SKYROCKETING PROPERTY TAXES . . . Increases 2x, 3x, even 400% higher were unfairly assessed to property owners in Jackson County. Taxpayers in Raytown were especially hit hard by the reassessment process. The assessments were done under Frank White's watch during his term in office as Jackson County Executive. Mr. White  appointed the Assessor who ran the Assessment Department when all of these outrageous tax increases were created. 

• UP TO 200,000 HOMEOWNERS AND BUSINESSES ARE VICTIMS OF WHITE'S SEVERELY FLAWED TAX ASSESSMENTS . . . More than 70,000 appeals have been filed against Jackson County by taxpayers. An alarming number of homes are being auctioned off because owners (especially senior citizens) can no longer afford to pay the increases brought to them by Frank White's Administration.

• KC CHIEFS AND ROYALS IN JEOPARDY OF LEAVING JACKSON COUNTY . . . Due to Frank White's personal vendetta with the Royals. If either of those teams leave it will have a major negative impact on the City of Raytown in the form of lost sales tax revenue.

• $70.4 MILLION IN AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) FUNDS SIT IN LIMBO . . and are at risk of being taken back by the federal government because of White's stonewalling and foot-dragging.

VOTE YES
to recall Frank White

from the Office of
Jackson County County Executive
on September 30th

USE THIS LINK TO Comment AND VIEW COMMENTS

BY PAUL LIVIUS

   Paul's Rant!

            Public Speakers at Aldermen meetings

            should be allowed to speak without interruption

The Second Agenda item at Raytown Board of Aldermen meetings is named “Public Comments”. This is a time when members of the public may address the Board of Aldermen about Raytown governmental concerns.

Click on the following link to view what two private citizens had to say at the last Board of Aldermen meeting during Public Comments. The speakers were Mr. Jim DeLong and Mr. Morris Melloy. Both are Raytown citizens speaking on matters of public interest during Public Comments.

Use the following link to hear what Mr. DeLong and Mr. Melloy had to say during Public Comments . . .  

USE THIS LINK  Public Comments by Jim DeLong and Morris Melloy

Jim DeLong is a local businessowner, and a certified Lead Carpenter who has runs his business in the Kansas City area for over 50 years.

Jim and his wife have lived in Raytown for 47 years. They raised their son and sent him to Raytown Schools. Jim was a Boy Scout leader for Troop 145 in Raytown. Both are still active in Boy Scout area programs.

Jim’s wife was awarded the prestigious “Silver Beaver Award” for her role as the Heart of America Council Day Camp Director.

Jim and his wife were co-directors of there Church's High School Missouri Mission Trips for ten years.

I watched the meeting on my television. Here is what I saw transpire.

At about 2.5 minutes into the five minutes allotted Mr. DeLong for his presentation to the Board of Aldermen, the Mayor repeatedly attempted to interrupt him.

The Mayor's conduct was contrary to the rules set up for Public Comments when a guest speaker is peaking. Even worse, his conduct was extremely rude.

It is a tactic often seen in public debates. By interrupting someone who is speaking you break their train of thought.

A public speaker at a Raytown Board of Aldermen is allotted only five minutes speak. Each time the Mayor interrupted Mr. DeLong or pounded his gavel he was literally stealing Mr. DeLong’s speaking time.

It was clear to me the Mayor was attempting to disrupt Delong’s train of thought as well. Unless you are used to being heckled when you speak, it can be very difficult to continue giving a smooth delivery on your message.

The Mayor's attempt did not work. 

Mr. DeLong's message was clear and precise.

Most interesting was the Mayor’s complaint that DeLong should take this up with the Police Department. What most readers are not aware of is that Chief of Police Jim Kuehl was in the audience when DeLong was speaking.

So, in fact, Mr. DeLong was bringing his message to the Chief of Police.

Taking it to the Board of Aldermen during a business meeting of the Board was and still is the proper way to bring a grievance to the public’s attention.

The point is the Public Forum is for the people to have their say. Mr. DeLong did not break any rules of decorum.

From Mr. DeLong's point of view, the Mayor's tactics were that of a bully.

Morris Melloy was the third speaker during Public Comments. He pointed out to the Mayor the following:

“Mr. Mayor you should not be interrupting Citizens when they are using their five minutes. They do not interrupt you. You should show the same courtesy to them.”

Melloy continued, “Your rude and inconsiderate practice of interrupting Public Speakers is the reason so few people out of a population of nearly 30,000 rarely come to City Hall to speak their mind. I ask you to be a gentleman and hear what Public Guests have to say without interruption.”

Go back and check out the video. You will find that at this point the Mayor began interrupting Mr. Melloy . . . Just as he did when he interrupted Mr. DeLong.

A NOTE FROM ALDERMAN GREG WALTERS

This week’s Raytown Report is re-publishing a story originally published on September 2^nd 2025 in a web-based newsletter serving the Kansas City metropolitan area. The story is re-published here in entirely unedited version.

Why a Raytown alderman was removed from office during a private meeting with the mayor

Latrice Thomas

Latrice Thomas was removed from her position on the Raytown Board of Aldermen after an investigation into her taxes. Two months later, the city still has not publicly addressed her removal.

by Josh Merchant, Local government reporter josh@thebeacon.media

Latrice Thomas won her election to the Board of Aldermen in April. She attended six meetings and voted in five before she was removed from office during a one-on-one meeting with the mayor.

A former alderman in Raytown believes that she was improperly removed from office in June during a private meeting with Mayor Mike McDonough.

Latrice Thomas had been elected on April 8 to represent the northernmost neighborhoods in Raytown on the Board of Aldermen — Raytown’s equivalent to a city council. 

She works as a medical assistant at KU Medical Center and founded a nonprofit that provides sexual health education for young people.

Thomas won her election narrowly — by just five votes — and unseated incumbent Ryan Myers, who had held that position for eight years.

“I was asleep, and my daughter must have literally kicked the door in and said, ‘Mama, you won!’” she said. “I’m telling you, the text messages were coming in, coming in, coming in — ‘Congratulations, you did it, girl!’”

Thomas was sworn in on April 22 and began attending and voting at biweekly meetings. She traveled to a training conference for elected officials in mid-June, where she networked with other leaders from across the state.

But her victory came crashing down just two weeks after she got home. She got a call from McDonough on June 26 asking her to meet with him in his office.

McDonough showed her a letter from the Missouri Department of Revenue stating that she did not meet statutory requirements to be a candidate after an investigation found that she had been delinquent on her taxes at the time of her election.

The mayor then showed her another letter, signed by himself and the city clerk, saying that effective immediately, she was not qualified to serve as an alderman in Raytown.

Since then, Raytown has removed her name from the city’s list of elected officials on its website but has not acknowledged her removal in any press releases or on the city’s Facebook page.

Raytown Alderman Greg Walters said he does not remember Thomas’ removal ever being addressed at a public meeting of the Board of Aldermen.

In response to an interview request from The Beacon, City Clerk Teresa Henry shared the letter from the Department of Revenue that said Thomas did not meet requirements for candidacy and the Raytown letter addressed to Thomas that said she would be removed from office. The city declined to comment further. 

Thomas believes she should never have been removed. She says that she’s not delinquent on her taxes and that she was removed without due process.

“I want to return to my seat that I rightfully won,” she said. “It was a unilateral misuse of power. It was wrongful, it was incorrect, it was out of order.”

Why was Latrice Thomas
removed from office?

When someone files paperwork in Missouri to become a candidate for office, one of the documents they’re required to submit is an affidavit which says that, to the candidate’s knowledge, they are not delinquent on any taxes. 

If the Department of Revenue learns that a candidate is tax delinquent, it sends a letter to the candidate notifying them that they have 30 days to resolve the issues. If they don’t, the department notifies the city or election board to say the candidate doesn’t meet the tax requirements.

From that point, the city or election board disqualifies the candidate and bars them from re-filing for an entire election cycle.

That’s almost what happened to Thomas. Except in her case, the Department of Revenue received the complaint on April 23 — the day after she was sworn in as an alderman.

According to a letter the city of Raytown shared with The Beacon, the department sent her a letter at that time, but she didn’t resolve her tax delinquency.

Thomas said she didn’t get the letter. But as soon as she learned of the issue during her meeting with the mayor, she called the Department of Revenue.

The department ran her Social Security number and didn’t see any outstanding taxes, she said. But when they ran her husband’s information, they found that he had some state income taxes that were in dispute. 

A dispute is when the taxpayer and the tax collector disagree on how much money is actually owed. Disputed taxes are not considered a tax delinquency when filing for candidacy.

JoDonn Chaney, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Revenue, confirmed that the department found in its investigation that Thomas was not compliant with the requirements under the Missouri statute.

Due to the private nature of tax records, he could not share any other information about why the department determined Thomas to be delinquent or whether her husband’s taxes were in dispute, but he said in an email that the department was not responsible for any decision to remove her from office.

“The department regularly receives compliance complaints regarding candidacy,” he wrote. “The department reviews these complaints, but we are not an election authority, and therefore cannot make determination regarding eligibility. In this specific case, that would be a matter to be determined by the city, according to state statute.”

Chaney also could not say who submitted the initial complaint to the department.

Thomas believes she
was removed improperly

It’s not uncommon for someone’s candidacy to be challenged because of an alleged tax delinquency. But in this case, the Department of Revenue did not receive the complaint until after the winner was sworn in to office.

Brad Constance, a lawyer who represents the Jackson County Election Board, did not comment on this specific case. But he said that in the past, a candidate being disqualified from an election has resulted in their removal from office.

In 2011, a man named Herschel Young was elected to be Cass County presiding commissioner. It was later discovered after he was sworn in that he had pleaded guilty to a felony nearly 20 years prior — which would have disqualified him as a candidate.

The Missouri Supreme Court, in its opinion, said that “one of the requisites to being qualified to hold office is that the person seeking office be a valid candidate and comply with statutory provisions regarding candidacy.”

In that case, Young was removed when the prosecuting attorney filed a petition to oust him.

But there is not any court filing associated with Thomas’ removal. The mayor sent her a letter declaring her unqualified, and Thomas has been absent from the dais since then.

Thomas believes that the mayor can’t remove her unilaterally. She is no longer a candidate, she said, and she thinks it’s wrong for the mayor to remove her from office without hearing out the facts of her case.

“I’m serving in my capacity,” she said. “Sworn in, signed, sealed and delivered … At this point, I’m a representative, liaison, all of that for Ward III constituents. So I want to be treated as such. I want that due process of doing it the correct way.”

If Thomas isn’t eligible to hold office, it’s unclear whether McDonough removed her in a valid way or whether it should have happened through an impeachment process, a petition filed by the Jackson County prosecuting attorney or another means.

The process of potentially replacing Thomas is outlined in another Missouri statute. If a position on the Board of Aldermen becomes vacant, the mayor nominates a replacement at a special meeting, who then must be confirmed by a majority vote of the board. This has not happened yet.

The Beacon asked Henry, the Raytown city clerk, whether that law would guarantee Thomas an impeachment hearing, whether the Board of Aldermen intended to replace her and whether the city knows who submitted the initial complaint to the Department of Revenue.

“At this time, the matter has been referred to the Attorney General’s Office,” she wrote in response. “We have no further comment.”

The attorney general’s office did not respond to a list of questions by email.

Raytown appears not to have addressed the removal of an elected official in any press release or statement to the public over the past two months. Henry also declined to say whether that was true.

Thomas said her removal has a negative impact not only on her, but also the people who voted for her.

“It’s hard enough for people to get out and vote,” Thomas said.

“We’re already out begging people to vote … It’s a huge letdown, a huge disappointment. And I hated for that to be confirmation for why they don’t vote."