Got Kids or Grandkids? Here is something that both of you can enjoy this holiday. All you need is a sheet of paper and some scissors . . . the rest is up to you and how creative you can be. Use this link: How to Make a Paper Snowflake


Candidates File on First Day
A large number of Candidates braved the cold of early December to file for five seats up for election on the Raytown Board of Aldermen this Tuesday. Compared to past years the numbers are impressive. So far, every seat on the Board will be contested. The only surprise on the first day of filing was that two incumbents did not file. Ward 3 incumbent Christine White and Ward 1 incumbent Shane Pardue were no-shows at the City Clerk's office. Following is a list of the candidates filed.

Ward 1 . . . Josh Greene

Ward 1 . . . Richard Tush

Ward 2 . . . Jim Hamilton

Ward 2 . . . Jason Greene

Ward 2 . . . Jerry Kinman

Ward 3 . . . Janet Emerson

Ward 3 . . . Chris Merrill
Ward 3 . . . Mark Moore

Ward 4 . . . Rita Bennett

Ward 4 . . . William E. (Bill) Van Buskirk

Ward 5 . . . Steve Mock

Ward 5 . . . Efrem Z. Williams, Sr.

City Marshal . . . Jim Lynch

Municipal Judge . . . Traci Fann

Greg Walters

^{Filing for City Council Opens on Tuesday}

Filing opens this Tuesday at Raytown City Hall. Those candidates who file on the first day will have their names put into a lottery for the first position on the ballot.

A couple of potential candidates have contacted the Raytown Report about running. It is also anticipated that most of the incumbent aldermen will file for re-election as well.  

City to Study Changing from Gasoline to Propane on Some Vehicles

At its last meeting the Board of Aldermen discussed the possibility of changing the fleet of Public Works vehicles to propane as a fuel source.

The City of Kansas City has changed some vehicles to propane. To do so, they had to retrofit replace the engine to make it run on propane. Propane requires certain temperature to burn efficiently. The Kansas City vehicles require a petroleum based fuel (gasoline or diesel) to start up the engine until the correct temperature is reached so the propane fuel can be used.

The technology is pretty simple, though the retrofitting of vehicles can be costly.

The Board of Aldermen would be wise to go beyond the manufacturer and check with an end user like the City of Kansas City to see how much success they have had with their program.

Another possibility, which we believe as viable as propane would be to check into the use of hybrid vehicles for administrative use at City Hall. Hybrids have a proven track record in fuel economy. The savings in fuel cost, without having to re-engineer vehicles to make the program work, would be impressive.   

Paul Livius

The Paul Livius Report BY PAUL LIVIUS

Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting – December 4, 2012

The Board approved a resolution authorizing an agreement for Medical Director Services between Dow Richards, D.O.  Doug Jonesi, Interim Emergency Medical Services Director, said Dr. Richards is well respected in the EMS industry, as well as Emergency Medicine and has been the Medical Director for the Raytown EMS Department since December, 2008.  The State of Missouri, the Drug Enforcement Agency and other governing bodies require EMS agencies to have Physician oversight. The Bureau of EMS requires agencies to have this oversight in order to provide care without a direct order by another doctor.

The Board approved a resolution authorizing an agreement for inmate security housing services with Johnson County, Missouri in the amount of $175,000.00.

The Board approved an ordinance establishing the compensation for the office of Police Chief. The Elected Officials Compensation Committee recommended and the Board of Aldermen agreed to no increase in the current compensation. Their recommendation was that $96,742.87 should be the yearly compensation for the office of Police Chief for the term beginning April 2013 and ending April 2017.

The Board approved an ordinance establishing the compensation for the office of Municipal Judge. The Elected Officials Compensation Committee recommended a 10% increase to the current salary of the Municipal Judge. The recommendation was that $28,190.99 should be the yearly compensation for the office of Municipal Judge for the term beginning April 2013 and ending April 2017.

"At-A-Boy” Award Goes to Alderman Joe Creamer BY GREG WALTERS

A couple of weeks ago I ran into Joe Creamer at Adam’s Toyota where he is employed. I was there for a recall on my car, the third one for those who are keeping count.

We had some time to visit while the car was being worked on. We talked some politics about the Presidential Election, and, of course, Raytown. In the course of the conversation I asked if he could have an unsightly metal pole removed from the right-of-way on Gregory Boulevard. The pole was used to hold up a flashing school zone light informing motorists they were entering a school zone at Our Lady of Lourdes Grade School.

The school has been closed for well over a year now. The light was removed almost immediately after the closing. But for reasons that are not clear, the Public Works Crew removing the warning light left the pole in place.

So, for well over a year, this ugly pole without a purpose has added to the urban blight on Gregory Boulevard.

Alderman Creamer called me the following Monday and said that he had visited with the Public Works Director about the ugly pole.

And, now the ugly pole is gone or at least converted to use as a sign.

At a boy, Joe. We can clean up this town one small step at a time. Your attention to the ugly pole on Gregory Boulevard is appreciated!

Social Security now called “Federal Benefit Payment/Entitlement” EDITED BY PAUL LIVIUS

Have you noticed, your Social Security check is now referred to as a "Federal Benefit Payment"?

The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a Federal Benefit Payment.

This isnt a benefit its earned income!

Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too.

It totaled 15% of our income before taxes.

If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested in Social Security.

If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both your and your employers contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved! This is your personal investment.

Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month.

That’s almost three times more than today’s average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration (Google it  its a fact). And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retire at age 65)!

I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts.

Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did.

They took our money and used it elsewhere. They forgot that it was OUR money they were taking.

They didn’t have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them.

And they didn’t pay interest on the debt they assumed.

And recently, they’ve told us that the money won’t support us for very much longer.

But is it our fault they misused our investments?

And now, to add insult to injury, they’re calling it a benefit, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it.

Just because they borrowed the money, doesn't mean that our investments were a charity!

Let’s take a stand.

We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare.

Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government. Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going, for the sake of that 92% of our population who need it. Then call it what it is: Our Earned Retirement Income.

FIT BOTTOMED GIRLS
Joining a Women Only Gym BY TISH

Gyms are like a box of chocolates…You’ll never know if you dig them unless you dig in. Two months ago, I joined a popular gym chain and found out pretty darn quickly that it was not the gym for me. First of all, I live in Los Angeles…in the valley…the porn mecca. I couldn’t get away from all the silicone... Continue reading

To post a comment on this blog click on the word comments on the line directly below this sentence.