RAYTOWN REPORT

Since I am on the City Council – I sometimes am privileged to hear information about future plans for our city before they are publicly known. But it is also true that often times I am the last person on the Council to find out those plans. Sometimes, I also receive information from sources outside of city hall. Some of those sources have a very good track record of being right. I don’t know who gives them their information – and I am most certainly not going divulge who they are – but I will share with you the following that was “Heard on the Street”. Charter . . . Anyone?!? Apparently, some individuals have been discreetly making inquiries about the possibility of another run at passing a Charter in Raytown. For those who are keeping count, this will make the fifth such effort since the city was incorporated. Some say that the last Charter election was so divisive, that it is too soon to try another. I am not so sure. A lot of the bad actors, Sue Frank in particular, has since de...

New City Logo: It appears that many people are very unimpressed with the proposed city logo. I happen to be one of them. The proposed logo is bland – it has a cookie cutter look to that would fit ANY area city. But what I find most disturbing is the political overtone of the “Reaching for Tomorrow” language affixed at the bottom. Like it or not, the simple fact is that “reaching for tomorrow” is synonymous with a political faction in Raytown. That is the truth. And any thinking person who votes in Raytown is well aware of it. It would be the same as if Lee’s Summit created a logo that with at tag line that read, “Lee’s Summit . . . a Republican stronghold east of Kansas City. Or, if Wyandotte County in Kansas had one that read, Wyandotte County . . . the most Democratic County in Kansas. City logos should speak for all the community – not just to those of a political club or faction. How about a contest? I’ve received calls this past week from individuals within the community w...

The Mayor and five members of the Raytown Board of Aldermen (Schlapia, Hamilton, Riehle, Creamer, Ertz) have sponsored a bill to replace the city’s logo with a new design. Most people will not get too excited about that event one way or another. But the way they are going about it – and what they have designed to replace the black smith pounding an anvil with his hammer leaves a lot to be desired. To be fair, the readers should know that I am partial on this debate. I like the little guy with the hammer logo. It speaks to a small part of history in Raytown that harkens back to the days of the Santa Fe Trail and a blacksmith shop owned by a man named William Ray. The location of that shop is commemorated by a plaque located at 63rd Street and Old Raytown Road, the geographic center of what is now Downtown Raytown. It is also at the center of the city when it was first incorporated. (Raytown annexed additional land in later years to reach its current size) True, the logo is old fashion...

The Missouri Ethics Commission Website has some interesting reading for those who follow the intrigues of those who dominate the Raytown political scene. Most recently, Raytown’s most powerful political club, Continue Raytown’s Progress, was fined by the Missouri Ethics Commission for not filing its financial statements on time. On closer examination, timely filing of reports is not the only problem on Continue Raytown's Progress plate. Here is a short run-down recent reports filed by former Mayor Sue Frank's political club: QUARTERLY REPORT – January 7, 2007: Twenty-two cents of income and $150 expenses paid to Belt Financial Services for bookkeeping. 8 DAY BEFORE ELECTION REPORT: $1, 715.00 income. ($250.00 from Dick Smith Ford and $300 each from three employees of Bartlett and West plus a smattering of smaller donors. Bartlett and West is the engineering firm that the city used in its multi-million dollar sanitary sewer improvement project currently going on in Raytown....