RAYTOWN'S LEADING NEWS SOURCE
Bragging Rights! We normally publish articles from Fit
Bottomed Girls or, more recently, from its companion publication, Fit Bottomed
Eats, at the bottom of our weekly post. Read on and you will agree the recognition
received by Jennipher Walters, Publisher/Owner of Fit Bottomed Girls, deserves a
little more attention this week. Not bad for an operation run out of Waldo.
Good job Girls. We are very proud of you.
Tom,
Greg:
THE FOLLOWING IS THE FIFTH IN A SERIES OF ESSAYS BY CANDIDATES FOR THE RAYTOWN CHARTER COMMISSION.
TO VIEW OTHER CHARTER CANDIDATE PROFILES . . .
USE THIS LINK: CHARTER CANDIDATE PROFILES
I don't know how this is going to turn out. It all depends on who is elected to the Charter Commission, and what they can agree on. If elected, I will only be one voice out of 13. Everyone running has their own ideas of what they want in the Charter. We need people who will listen to what the citizens of Raytown want in this Charter and vote accordingly. That is what I promise to do.
FIT BOTTOMED EATS
Twice-Baked Potatoes with Pepper Hash
Looking for something to take to the big game? Look no further than these Twice-Baked Potatoes with Pepper Hash recipe from the new book 21-Day Tummy:
The Revolutionary Diet That Soothes and Shrinks Any Belly Fast by Liz Vaccariello. This delicious make-ahead side dish can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled for a crowd! Just prepare the … Read More
Fit Bottomed Girls Anti-Diet Book
Featured on the Today Show!
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The Salamander Returns!
Several weeks ago Raytown
Times' columnist Bob Phillips, carried an update about the once proposed
Downtown Raytown Walmart store.
In the main, Bob's column
consisted of excerpts of a letter he had received from Ward 4 City Councilman
Bill VanBuskirk.
To say the least Alderman
from Ward 4 did not hold back. No mealy-mouthing. He let all hang out.
Here are a few quotes (as
he spoke of those who opposed the Store):
"A handful of
people raising hell about the store."
"Some people
opposed initially were grossly and purposely misinformed."
"Most of them
changed their minds when they were told the truth."
"There were so
many lies out there clouding the issue."
Calling residents, some of
whom may have even voted for you, names like stupid, misinformed, and liars,
etc., is not very “Councilmanish".
As your Salamander sees it,
the real concern is that anyone, especially a majority of the City Council.
would be so tunnel-visioned that most of them voted to approve the deal at all.
Bill VanBuskirk's rage is
misdirected. He obviously has a very short and selective memory.
He apparently has forgotten
all the promises made -- then broken -- when the City Council voted the
Give-Away of the Decade -- the Highway 350 Walmart.
VanBuskirk and others on
the council should be reminded how we were promised, once Walmart 350 opened
its doors, that it would set off a "gold Rush" of other businesses,
restaurants, etc., fighting to get in on the best deal in the history of
western Missouri.
The tax base would
literally solve all the city's problems.
The exact opposite has
happened.
The area targeted for growth on 350 Highway store is a vast economic wasteland. The tax base was there but so was a
little problem. All of the sales tax generated at Walmart goes to pay for the debt
to create construction of the shopping complex. The city does not get one penny
of it and will not share in this "flood of revenue" for more than two
decades.
A more graphic
representation of how monumentally large this economic disaster is evident just
south of the Walmart Store. That large vacant lot, just to the East of the now
vacant YMCA, was promised to be Phase 2 of the 350 development.
The foregoing is what
happened with the 350 Deal. Why on earth anyone would think it would end
up any different with another store located in Downtown Raytown?
If being located by a
Walmart is so advantageous why hasn't anyone moved in?
After all, there is plenty
of space available.
No. Mr. VanBuskirk. don’t
take your angst out on the good people of Raytown. They have been there and
done that. The difference between you and the people of Raytown is that they
learned from the experience and became that much wiser.
Apparently, you did not.
 |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
Downtown Raytown Development
Last week I sent a letter
to Raytown’s Economic Development Director, Tom Cole, requesting information
about the plans to develop the area known as the Green Space in Downtown
Raytown. The Raytown City Council recently chose Flaherty and Collins as the
developer for the project. Following is a copy of my
letter to Mr. Cole and his response.
Tom,
Can
you share with me any information of the financial package and tenants (if any)
expected for the Green Space in Downtown Raytown?
There
have been some claims made that the city intends to:
Give
the land to the developer without charge. Is that a true statement?
An
undetermined amount of 353 funding. I am interested in the nuts and bolts on
this one. Specifically how such funding would work. Actual cost and value of
the funding. The
timeline and any hurdles -- does it require a vote of any public body other than
the Board of Alderman for approval.
There
are rumors out there. I would like to shed some light on what exactly is
happening.
Greg
Walters
Greg:
As
always, thanks for reaching out to me.
At
this point, my answers haven’t changed from the last time you asked. The development process is lengthy, but I
believe Flaherty & Collins will deliver a full/final proposal demonstrating
all of the development costs (construction, design, engineering, etc) near the
end of the first quarter of 2014. Once
those numbers have been established, I also anticipate having a full
understanding of the finances they bring to the table in addition to the
remaining gap that they would request the City to assist in filling. This is typical of most large development
projects.
We
met with them last week and they are beginning to complete their due diligence
on the property. I also anticipate that
our Joint Review Committee (Planning, Zoning, Codes, Public Works, Fire, etc)
will meet with their team in the coming weeks to assure all parties understand
the design guidelines and the process for developing in downtown Raytown.
In
regard to incentives and rumors…at this point, we simply don’t know as we have
yet to receive the real economics of the project. Regardless, an evaluation of the incentives
and the cost/benefit to the City for the project will be completed by a third
party (unbiased) source once all of the data has been received. The third party will likely either be Integra
Realty Resources or Springsted. They
will do a thorough analysis and if there is not a tangible benefit to the City,
we will either encourage the developer to reconfigure the project in a manner
that is more beneficial to the City or simply dismiss the project all together.
In the Request for Proposal, we identified a
number of incentives that are available under Missouri State Statutes. Among them were Community Improvement
Districts, Tax Increment Financing (the project area is within an existing, but
unactivated TIF area), Chapter 353 and perhaps, if warranted, donation of the
property. It is critical to note that
NONE of those items are guaranteed and that the Board of Aldermen has the
ability to deny/dismiss any or all of them.
Again,
until we know the values and economics of the project, the incentives really
hold no value at this time.
You
specifically asked about the workings of Chapter 353…if utilized in this case,
the developer would pay property taxes on the real property value (the land),
but not on the improvements to the property (the new construction) for a period
of 10-25 years depending on the total investment. The project area is also within a Chapter 353
designated area that I believe was approved in 2006/7.
I
cannot stress enough that none of this is solidified or even in current
negotiation. The City HAS NOT offered a
financial proposal to the developer and we will not offer a proposal to the
developer until/unless we receive a full understanding of the economics of the
proposed development. In the event a
positive cost benefit is returned, and a third party deems it appropriate and
positive to assist in filling a “financial gap,” I am only interested in
assisting with the gap and not an excessive outlay of funds for an unnecessary
duration.
Basically,
I want to see a real shift in the economics and appeal of our downtown and the
project before us has the potential to do that…of course, it all comes down to
economics and we’re waiting for the numbers to be presented.
In
regard to tenants, there currently are none as any potential tenant would also
want to fully understand the economics of the development prior to expressing
any level of interest. I know there is
concern in the community that Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market may come back. Flaherty-Collins has never completed a
project with Wal-Mart and they do not have a relationship with Wal-Mart. I suppose stranger things have happened, but
I would be quite surprised if the Neighborhood Market expressed any level of interest
in again pursuing the same property.
If
you have additional questions, please ask.
Thomas
A. Cole, CEcD
Economic
Development Administrator
THE FOLLOWING IS THE FIFTH IN A SERIES OF ESSAYS BY CANDIDATES FOR THE RAYTOWN CHARTER COMMISSION.
TO VIEW OTHER CHARTER CANDIDATE PROFILES . . .
USE THIS LINK: CHARTER CANDIDATE PROFILES
 |
| BY CHRIS RATHBONE |
Chris Rathbone for Charter
Commission
My name is Chris Rathbone.
I first moved to Raytown with my family in 2007. My children have attended
Raytown Schools since pre-kindergarten, my wife and I have been on their school
PTA boards, and my wife is now serving on the Raytown PTA council. A couple of
years ago we bought our first home together in Raytown. I had recently finished
12 years of service in the United States Army after serving for a year in Iraq
Shortly after purchasing
our home, I discovered that Raytown was a 4th class city under Missouri
rules. Being a 4th class city, Raytown must be run the way Missouri
law states. We as residents, have little voice in Raytown matters. Any changes
to the way Raytown is run must go thru the Missouri Legislature for permission.
The rules for a 4'th class city in
Missouri are set up for cities with less than 3,000 residents. Raytown now has
a population of around 30,000.
After speaking with quite a
few residents about issues they had with the city, I thought that now would be
a good time to get the ball rolling again to try and make Raytown a Charter
City. I started meeting with some friends and spoke to people who were on the
Charter Commission the last time this was tried. We got together and came up
with a petition which we circulated and got the required number of signatures.
I presented the petition to the City at the Board of Aldermen meeting on June
4, 2013.
As a new homeowner here, I
have a vested interest in the future of this great little city. It is centrally
located to just about everything in the metro area, but as great as it is, I
think it could be much better.
I am asking you to vote yes
on April 8'th to form a Charter Commission and to vote for me to serve on its
board.
I don't think we need to
re-invent the wheel with a new Charter. I think the less changes we make to how
the city is run, the better the chances it will pass, however, there are a few
things that a lot of people I have spoken with would really like to see happen,
and I personally agree with them.
If elected, I would push
for the citizens of Raytown to have the power to petition for initiative,
referrendum, and possibly recall. The hard decision with that will be where to
set the thresholds for the number of signatures required. There would need to
be provisions for Charter amendments in the future. I also think that there
needs to be discussion about city leaders not living in Raytown.
I have also talked to some
people that are worried that if we change very much at all, this charter will
not pass. I disagree somewhat with that. The Charter Commission could write a
"simple" charter with very little change to the way the city runs
now, but also put changes on the ballot as parts to be voted on seperately.
That way, the simple charter could be easily passed, and we let the citizens
decide what changes, if any, that they want. I think this is the safest way to
ensure that we are not all wasting our time on this, and also empower voters to
have a part in drafting the Charter.
I don't know how this is going to turn out. It all depends on who is elected to the Charter Commission, and what they can agree on. If elected, I will only be one voice out of 13. Everyone running has their own ideas of what they want in the Charter. We need people who will listen to what the citizens of Raytown want in this Charter and vote accordingly. That is what I promise to do.
I welcome any suggestions,
or questions you have of me.
I can be reached at
crathbone78@yahoo.com, or follow me on my Facebook page: "Chris Rathbone
for Raytown Charter Commission" at https://www.facebook.com/crathbone78,
I would very much
appreciate your support on April 8'th. Thank you.
Chris Rathbone
 |
| BY JENN |
FIT BOTTOMED EATSLooking for something to take to the big game? Look no further than these Twice-Baked Potatoes with Pepper Hash recipe from the new book 21-Day Tummy:
The Revolutionary Diet That Soothes and Shrinks Any Belly Fast by Liz Vaccariello. This delicious make-ahead side dish can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled for a crowd! Just prepare the … Read More
Comments
'
I really enjoyed the pieces asking if The Skillet is ever going to open.
I couldn't agree more. I am sick and tired of hear about a business for over what I believe is now 3 years and still not open.
What a joke the owners are and anyone who thinks this will ever open.
Not to divert well-deserved scrutiny away from the current proposed development, I write to strongly suggest Tom Cole cease and desist on further development in Raytown until he cleans up some of the messes he's already 'developed".
In his year-end, glowing appraisal of his efforts, Tom Cole conveniently overlooked The Skillet which is still not open for business - a tax base sink hole. Another, Newzroom, seems to be following suit with a lot devoid of grass and windows covered inside with brown kraft paper. Good job Cole - don't believe we trust your "due diligence".
The percentage of those voting should easily be higher than 90%
Andy Whiteman
The financial market has already seen a significant fall in sales of US municipal bonds. The financial information provider Thomson Reuters reported yesterday that in January the sale of new muni bonds fell to its lowest level for two years. “Total bond issuance of US$17.63 billion for the month was the smallest since $17.11 billion sold in January 2012 and a third less than the $26.53 billion issued in January 2013. Altogether, only 581 deals came to market during the month, the smallest number since February 2011.”
Reuters reported that North Carolina treasurer Janet Cowell wrote to the Federal Reserve saying that the proposed rules would rob financial institutions of a very safe source of liquidity and prevent institutions from using municipal bonds to diversify their portfolios. "This will increase borrowing costs, leading to increased taxes and rates for citizens and delayed or foregone capital projects," she added. North Carolina’s comments were supported by several US cities including Houston and Junction City. A number of big banks have also voiced their concerns. Bank of America’s treasurer said the proposals included a number of new operational requirements, which introduced uncertainties and added unnecessary burdens.
http://www.citymayors.com/news/metronews_americas.html
i hope it is opening.
As for municipal bonds. The rates are extremely low. That is why the market for them is so slow. Investors are looking to other areas that bring a better return for their money.
That is how and why capitalism works so well.
He said explained that it was wrong for us to work hard and support these people with our tax dollars and the least they could do is wait in line being we are paying for their purchases.
If we could only get the stores to implement his idea as I am sure we all know way too many people who are getting benefits that don’t deserve them.
I don't see any major business willing to or wanting to move into Raytown. Walmart Grocery didn't want any tax abatements at all and you all whined and cried until they pulled out. Raytown is too small land wise for any big retailer. Look at the demographics of this town.
To the brave Anonymous writer that posted this, they did not have to ask for tax breaks they were already there for the taking.
By the way, have you ever had to use EBT? Just curious becomes that comment has an attitude that comes across a bit "holier than thou". Either way, trying to create another class of people is the wrong way to go. All that Agenda21 ICLEI stuff that gets posted here? This goes along with it by dividing people even further and making them feel even lower than they already are.
1:44 PM, I repeat myself hoping to get the attention of new readers who don't or won't vote. It is pathetic that fewer than 20% of the voters elect those who are supposed to run the city intelligently!
Andy Whiteman
When Codington’s s.p.? was still over on Raytown
Traffic Way, I had an employee that was behind a
person that was dressed in high priced clothing, wearing
an expensive watch, talking on a smart phone paying
for her groceries with ETB or food stamps, put the receipt
into a purse full of cash. She then went out to her new
Lincoln Navigator and drove away.
Makes you proud to be a dumb taxpaying American.
We could make that idea even better. Perhaps we should approve of what they purchase, since it is OUR tax dollars. Maybe we should also require them to publicly express their thanks by bowing to us, kissing our rings, or taking our purchases to our vehicles.
I'd love to see how you determine who does and doesn't deserve benefits, just by seeing them use EBT cards at the store. People can work hard and still need the assistance of food stamps if the job does not pay well enough.
Funny thing is, the odds are pretty good that your tax dollars are supporting the guy you talked with more than you are the person using an EBT card. If that guy has a mortgage, owns property, has medical expenses, and gives to charity, he is likely taking deductions on his tax return. Your tax dollars get to make up those reductions in taxes you pay. You get to do it for the wealthiest people in America as well. If you take advantage of any of those deductions as well, someone is supporting you with their tax dollars. Are you going to wait behind the people supporting you?
Do you realize that the street in front of your house is paid for by a lot of people who will never use that street? If you had children go to school, the cost of educating them was also paid by people with no children in the schools.
Truth is, everyone gets entitlements and the amount the poor receive is a fraction of the amount the better off receive. Yes, there is fraud but that comes with all entitlements, not just food stamps.
These are not the ramblings of a wild-eyed liberal or socialist (I usually vote Republican), just someone who understands that nobody goes it alone and refuses to hypocritically condemn others without looking in the mirror.
two weeks ago about the situation. He told me that
the owners have spent over a hundred thousand to
try and get their place open. They have had trouble with
Raytown and the health inspectors. Seems rules change
daily. By the way it’s only been a little over a year.
I feel for these young people that have invested their hard
earned money to bring another restaurant to Raytown.
I have found in my forty years of being in business in this
town, that City Hall really doesn’t want any small businesses.
Especially in an area they want to plant a big corporate
store.
You would think since our leaders have given away so much
in tax income they would welcome any small business that
would actually pay taxes. But, that is not the case.
Don’t even get me started on Van Buskirk. What
a disappointment.
Also congrats in order big time for Jen on your diet book getting National Attention!! Very proud of you!!!!!! Congrats to the entire Walter family; bragging rights Indeed.
The entitlement spending has been hugely expanded by design; it's milk and honey to keep the progressive liberal voters coming back to the polls to vote for more of the same. It is socialism, pure and simple, and it keeps the seemingly downtrodden at the bottom of their ladders. That their is fraud in the system is due to the mismanagement at the hands of every gov't employee from the local welfare office on up to the White House. It's further abused by recipints who sell or trade their benefits for non-intended uses, refuse jobs they could take, keep having children out of wedlock, and otherwise game the system. Entitlements weaken the very fabric of our society. We don't need them. Americans ares the most charitable people in the world and if there were no SNAP or section8, etc. we'd take care of those who truly needed it without the injurious and conspicuous manipulation of the gov't. I don't have any stomach for politically correct whiners who can't see beyond the next tree they're going to hug. Our country is in some real serous trouble because of people who refuse to see the big picture and continually paint themselves into corners. Puppets.
10:51 What you said: All that Agenda21 ICLEI stuff that gets posted here? This goes along with it by dividing people even further and making them feel even lower than they already are.
Bull roar! Agenda21/ICLEI is about creating one class, serfs, to serve the elite. It is about destroying personal, local and state sovereignty. It is about impoverishing everyone, removing their rights, their religion, their children, taking their personal property (land, intellectual property, privacy), taking their right to travel at will, their choice of food/nutrition/healthcare, education and vocation, robbing them of their heritage and personal wealth. I don't believe you've been paying attention - so sad.
Rest assured, the only people who feel lowly about using those benefits are those who really, really need them and they are far outnumbered by those who think they're pulling a fast one on the rest of us. It is the latter group, who think they're 'getting away' with a free lunch on the backs of the taxpayers who need to be routed-out and eliminated from the entitlement programs. We've all seen them, loading up on foods we can't afford on our hard-earned income, paying for their food with SNAP, dressed in designer clothes with all the bling, driving away in a new vehicle. I don't give a hoot how anyone shops, eats, dresses, or what they drive until it comes to doing it at my personal expense and those people have taken bread from my mouth to put it into their own and when it's blatantly apparent that they didn't 'need' it, I become justifiably upset.
1) Don't redistribute my wealth. If it warrants being done, I'll do it myself & will do it far better than any government will.
2) Food. shelter and a living wage are not rights. They were never meant to be guaranteed and there's a reason for that.
3) A lack of planning on your part does not create an emergency on my part.
4) I am not your host and you are not my parasite.
If city offices are closed, I don't see anything wrong with her working at her own business three blocks from her home. If anyone else had the option to do that, tell me you wouldn't do the same thing.
Face if folks. She got caught dirty and you all know it!
But if that person skips out from their city hall job to take care of their personal business when they are being paid by the city, well, that is a BIG deal.
Our elected aldermen are supposed to be watchdogs of what is going on with our local government.
But I don't think they watch very closely.
They strike me more as a bunch of men and women are pretty much intimidated by their employees and the Mayor.
It is one of the reasons I am going to vote to form a charter commission. At least then we will have a means to remove those board members that do not do their job.
According to mapquest it is 8.4 miles if she were to travel view high to Raytown rd and 11. Miles if she were to take 470. At any rate it is an interesting thought. One I'm sure many; as well as myself are glad you brought this up and shed light on it. Certainly makes one wonder about the whole situation
Her excuse for skipping out on work to the city of Raytown was lame, she has been surly toward citizens who have asked her to do her job with the city website, and she has interfered with a public citizen's press interview.
Perhaps Mrs. Gustafson should be given a permanent vacation. Then she could spend all the time she wants in her Lees Summit house and Lees Summit business.
I'm sure there is someone in Raytown who would be grateful to have a new job as our PIO.
Here's a link to RAIDS online where you can see current Raytown crimes pinpointed on a map. On the left side of the page, you can specify the date range you want to view as well as the types of crime you want pinpointed on the map. Mouse over the circles (pin points) on the map and you can read the details about each crime. Nice
http://www.raidsonline.com/?address=Raytown,MO
Guess she did not want the bad publicity of being caught playing hookie. I am surprised that she has enough pull with the television station to get the stories changed.
I guess her public relations connections paid off big time.
She certainly is lucky that the t.v. crews did not take a personal day or vacation day due to the snow storm.
Face it folks, she is a clever gal who took advantage of a slow news day and her buddies from t.v. land took care of her.
As for her calling in and saying she could not make it into work due to the weather. Hogwash. She made it to her business. The news van made it to her business. She could easily have made it to Raytown City Hall.
Kansas City is receiving praise for how their Mayor stepped up and at least acted like he took charge in the snow storm.
In Raytown it looks like city hall was like children getting a snow day off.
http://www.kctv5.com/story/24631400/as-snow-piles-up-some-businesses-remain-open. Pretty sure her and her husband aren't both named Brenda. Heck, it's not even a big story, and people are acting like a 60 second clip on the local news is as big as Hollywood.
Again, don't get what the big stink is. At best, her bosses told her to not come in because frankly being a PIO isn't that ESSENTIAL of a task in that type of weather. In fact, the city's website says City Hall is closed during weather emergencies. If Tuesday didn't qualify, you may not be posting from the midwest, because it definitely qualified as a weather emergency type of day. Here's the city link, first question: http://www.raytown.mo.us/index.asp?Type=B_LIST&SEC={2AED44E3-F4DD-4949-B816-86F3571A5FD2}&DE={AA3C60A9-91CE-4FD5-A9BD-AF5C2A9E0D4D}
At worst, she took a personal day to work at her own business, one that's THREE BLOCKS from her apartment. She could WALK there.
That's pathetic to say the least.
There goes a good $60,000 a year with additional costs of benefits down the drain for the City.
Good to know this is what we get when the City wishes to raise taxes.
Again, pathetic and a black eye for the Mayor and BOA.
9:15 PM, I agree with you, but in the old days it never occurred to anyone to sue the school district is a child felt too cold or got frostbite waiting for the bus. Society today is litigation happy.
Andy Whiteman
Example:
Several people we have helped including a niece who believes it is alright to breed with the first sperm donor who comes along and instead of getting a job and supporting the child as well as going after the sperm donor to get him to assist with the child he help make they run down to the nears government office and start getting all kinds of government support. When things look like they are not getting as much as they feel they should they spread their legs and start the baby process all over again.
If that is not upsetting enough for those of us who work for a living and are not making children with anyone and everyone. We have those that self abuse themselves so they can get on government assistance.
I can name two different families within Raytown that are currently getting government benefits because they have allowed themselves to get so over weight that they say it hurts their back and they cannot work. Fun thing is they can do other things and have publicly complained that they had to find a new doctor to get their benefits as the doctor they had been seeing told them they needed to go on a diet.
The mother of this person has been getting benefits for some time always with some excuse about she should get a job, but one minute it is she cannot stand the next it is she cannot set for long periods, but she sure can go spend hour after hour in a chair fishing.
Now I agree there are those that need assistance from time to time, but this government give away has to be fully reviewed and we who pay for these services need to say enough if the bleeding hearts want them then let the chuches go back to actually helping the people and those who think everyone needs help without first helping themselves can go to the churches with funds to help.
telling themselves and us, what a great job
they have done. Consider this, how many new
car dealers have we got now? How many does
Lee’s Summit have now? Sales tax gone? How much
tax income does the WalMart generate that
Raytown gets to keep? How many small businesses
have been run out of Raytown because of the
way city hall does business? Why does it take
so long to appease our city codes people before
a new business can open in downtown. When will
the people of Raytown get what their tax dollars are
supposed to do for them?
Now lets see what we do have. We have a group of
people running Raytown that doesn’t give a damn
for the people and or their wants and wishes.
We have a group of people in city hall that spends
our tax dollars like there is no end to it.
We only have ourselves to blame for this sinking ship.
Please talk to your neighbors, friends and anybody
that can vote in this town to vote, vote, vote, them
out!
C'mon Raytown City hall!!! You keep asking for more tax dollars and this is where it goes?
Andy Whiteman
Then there was the infamous showdown she had when Elise Breitenbach was being interviewed by channel five. She told the reporter after the interview that she wanted to refute everything Breitenbach had said.
Then went into a monolog attacking a private citizen. Don't look for the video. It has mysteriously disappeared from the channel five archives.
At the recent lottery at city hall I witnessed the city clerk mixing it up with one of the charter candidates. She was abrupt, cold and downright mean in her body language and words when asked if unused numbers in the lottery would mean that ballot positions could change if the number was not used.
Why pay for a person who is truly NOT needed fulltime. Any senior staffer could of taken on talking to a news crew once in a blue moon. PD has always given news releases in this manner.
The PIO position is a complete waste of tax dollars. I would rather have more PD, EMS and street employees.
City hall will ignore this or put a PR spin on the matter...more waste of tax dollars. Never ends.
"I'm tired of Liberals dividing this country up into little groups, setting them upon each other, breeding spite and envy, and then having the nerve to accuse Conservatives of hatred." - Allen West
Can I get a 2nd on the motion?
zno problem as far as I am concerned when it comes to going home early in
case pf snow. Those public info and like jobs are useless and whether or not the person filling the position shows up for work doesn't matter because they accomplish nothing while on the job.
Enough of that. Let's go back to that fellow who wrote telling his son had to shovel the sidewalk seven (7) times during the recent snowstorm.
My only question is this: What was he using as a shovel -- a spoon?
The individual who wrote that gibberish is either kidding or he is, as our friends south of the border would say, "One Sunday Short."
Either that or he is one slice of bread short of a sandwich.
A few comments about the demise of
Raytown's Jewel -- Super Splash.
It is closed, for the 2015 season,
and more than likely will never re-open.
Why?
Who knows?
Some individuals blame mismanagement by the Parks Department and its secretive board.
Use of the word "secretive" is the correct term when describing the actions of Mayor Bowers' park
board.
Is the pool really losing money hand over fist. There is no way of really telling. And stories we hear on the street or read in
the local papers are conflicting.
Example: Randy Battagler's Raytown Times carried a lengthy report indicating his sources claimed the water hole had "turned things around and the future looked brighter than ever."
A couple of weeks later the Parks
Department votes to close the pool because it is "losing money".
Who should we believe? a quandary, to be sure.
Battagler is a trained, respected veteran Newshawk. Either he was
blowing smoke at his readers when he glowingly wrote how the park had turned things around. Or, someone with knowledge of the pool's status deliberately misinformed him.
In this instance your Salamander will side with Randy's professionalism.
As for the Parks Department, your correspondent has long wondered how on earth the PD could possibly know the state of the pool operation finances.
Some time back your writer made
specific inquiries about the pool's finances.
I was told that the pool does not maintain or issue a profit and loss statement.
The then park director told me they (the pool) do maintain some sort of tracking record.
When pressed further he invoked the usual bureaucratic double talk about confidentially preventing further information being disseminated.
Moving on, the park department tells us that it might take as much as $400,000.00 in repairs just to get the pool in shape
to stay in business.
This astounding figure causes one to wonder if ever any maintenance was pulled on the pool equipment It almost appears as though no one ever troubled themselves to perform maintenance on the place.
Was the pool properly maintained. It appears doubtful. The records show an instance which tell you a lot about how poorly the place was kept up:
When Super Splash opened originally, the facility operated daily (except Sunday) from 10:00 A.M to 9:00P.M.
The pool was a perfect fit for the community.
Parents could take their children to the pool and enjoy their choice -- bright sunlight or a cool swim in the summer evening.
One day, one of the underwater lights went on the blink.
Was the malfunction repaired? No. It was not. Not on your life.
Instead of fixing the light it was decided to shut off the lighting system -- which allowed the pool to be open evenings. The result: Pool hours were drastically curtailed.
It was all downhill from that day on.
Is there any hope for Super Splash? Doubtful.
More than likely the park board will go out of town, find some sort of self-styled pool rescuer and pay him a wad of money to assess the situation.
Like most people you hire, he will come back and tell us the situation is hopeless.
Your Salamander is not guessing this will happen. He is flatly stating this is exactly what will happen.
I have only this advice for the Park Board.
When you secure the services of this overpaid expert, be certain that he lives at least 50 miles outside of Raytown.
50 miles is the accepted standard for hiring out-of-town experts.