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BY PAUL LIVIUS

The Paul Livius Report

Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting – February 18, 2014

During public comments, Julie Arth told the Board the area around Lane Drive, Lane Circle and 85^th Street is a mess with the kids, the vandalism, and the threats.  She said there has been no cooperation from the police department.  The street lamps are shot out and cars are broken into.  She reported the police are slow to respond and are rude to the residents.  Mayor Bower told her there wasn’t anything the Board could do to help her, but Police Chief Jim Lynch was in attendance.  The mayor assured Ms. Arth the Police Chief would talk to her and get the necessary information to resolve the matter.

Shirley Wittman said the Board members may be asking themselves why she was running for charter commission since she plans to vote no for a charter and plans to tell everyone she meets to vote no.  She said she has very real concerns about several candidates who wish to place a number of proposals that could result in the charter being defeated.  She said someone misspoke when they said she was against the charter.  She is not against the city having a charter as long as it is a simple charter which can be amended later by the vote of the people.  She was on the previous charter commission.  It was not a simple charter and it was defeated.  It cost several thousand dollars.  She said she will need at least six other charter members who also want a simple charter.  That is why she thinks it is important for each of the candidates to send where they stand to the local paper and let the people know what changes they want in Raytown’s city government.

During the committee reports, Alderman Lightfoot said he went to Jefferson City and talked to Representative Tom McDonald about the Municipal Court fines increase.  Representative McDonald sponsored HB 1829, which will give 4^th Class cities in Missouri the ability to enact ordinances and enforce them with fines or imprisonment.

Police Chief Jim Lynch and Corporal Brett Clear gave the Board a brief study session on the Youth Court in Raytown.  Corporal Clear said the Court will be comprised of teens between the ages of 15 and 18 years old.  Offences will be tried, defended, judged, convicted, or exonerated by the peers of the offenders.  The court will only hear cases for 1st time offenders.  After that, the offenders will be sent to the Jackson County Juvenile system.  Some offences that will be tried are theft, minor assault, passion of alcohol, truancy, and curfew violations.  The maximum punishment will be 50 hours of community service.  If the community service is not performed, the violator will be sent to the Jackson County Juvenile system.

The Board approved the appointment of Danielle Miles to the Raytown Park Board. They also appointed Pamela Carney to the Council on Aging.

The Board approved the budget amendment for professional pool management services funds in the amount of $286,500.00 Based on recommendations of the Super Splash GovernanceCommittee, Super Splash will be self-managed by the City. A fund transfer in the amount of $279,400.00 is requested.  Alderman Jason Greene said he received a letter from the Park Board last November saying if Raytown returns to self-managing Super Splash, it will save the City $50,000.  The fund transfer Mr. Boji is requesting is only a $7,000 savings.  He asked where the rest of the savings were.  Mr. Boji said there may be more savings later, but it is weather-dependent.  They are already opening late because Raytown schools have to make up 5 snow days. 

The Board approved a resolution accepting a Law enforcement grant from the Missouri Department of Public Safety.  Chief Lynch told the Board the Police Department applied for and was awarded a Local Law Enforcement Block Grant,in the amount of $8,991.00 from the Missouri Department of PublicSafety for installation of magnetic locks within the jail facility. The total cost of the project is $9,990.00with the City providing a 10% match of $999.00.

The Board approved a resolution approving participation by the city in theMissouri Department of Transportation Highway Safety CrashReduction/hazardous moving enforcement.  Chief Lynch said the grant allows for approximately 410 hours of enforcement overtime and to send one person to theannual LETSAC conference. There is no match required by the City for this grant.

Alderman Jim Aziere told the Board he had been asked by the Mayor to draft a set of procedures for the Board of Aldermen.  He said Alderman Charlotte Melson had also been working on Guidelines.  He presented both versions to the Board for their consideration.  For a complete list of the proposed Board procedures, go to BOARD GUIDELINES (start on page 37)

Alderman Van Buskirk said at the beginning of the meeting when the Mayor and City Administrator gave their comments, he would like to see each Alderman have the opportunity to talk about what they have been involved in relative to their district or the city.  He said he has a problem with rule 20 (see page 42).  It says a majority of the Board must vote to allow an alderman to recuse himself.  Mr. Van Buskirk said he thinks if an Alderman wants to recuse himself, he should be able to do so.  Abstentions should not be counted as a yes vote.  It should be counted as an abstention.  He also thinks rule 30, paragraph 4 (page 44) steps on our 1^st amendment rights. 

Alderman Emerson said we use Roberts Rules of Order.  It provides a smaller parliamentary set of rules for legislative bodies such as Raytown.  She said the Board of Aldermen already has a mission statement (page 38).  It’s posted on the City’s website and there is no reason to change it.  She said Rule 1 (page 38) is in direct violation of City Ordinance Section 2-29.  The current ordinance says it takes 2 aldermen to call a special meeting.  Rule 1 gives the Mayor too much authority to be the only one to call a special meeting.  Rule 2 (page 38) should read “the majority of people present” not the majority of the whole Board.  Rule 3 (page 38) should have a report by the City Administrator in order to be in compliance with Section 2-33-F of the city ordinances. 
 

Rule 6 (page 39) is not necessary.  The Board members are adults and don’t need a dress code.  If the people don’t like the way the aldermen dress, the constituents will let them know.  Rule 7 (page 39) is in direct violation of Section 2-36-C.  The mayor may get to appoint standing committees, but the aldermen have the right to vote on an Ad Hoc committee.  Alderman Emerson said no one is trying to take away the rights of the mayor, so why should the aldermen give up their rights. 

Jason Greene said he agreed with Alderman Van Buskirk about Rule 20 (page 41).  He believes Rule 11 (page 40) gives the Mayor too much power at the meetings.  That’s why they should have a Sargent-at-Arms.  Roberts Rules of Orders will work well if used equally and fairly. 

Josh Greene said Roberts Rules of Orders have been used for meetings for a very long time and will continue to work well if used properly.  He also believes there is no need for a dress code.  The voters will vote out aldermen if they believe he is dressed inappropriately. 

Alderman Lightfoot said he agreed with Aldermen Greene, Emerson, and Van Buskirk.

Mayor Bower said he didn’t expect the document to be so large.  He asked if the Board wanted to review the document further and make changes.

Alderman Ertz said they used Roberts Rules of Orders and that’s all they need. 

Alderman Van Buskirk said he agreed with the Mayor.  He thought they should review and make necessary changes to the document.

Jason Greene said the Board works just fine and he sees no reason to change it.  Alderman Emerson agreed.

Mayor Bower said he saw no resolution and suspended any discussion.  The meeting then adjourned.

BY GREG WALTERS

Rule Changes 

Receive Cold Reception

Last Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting was an interesting lesson on how to derail bad legislation. Ward 2 Alderman Jim Aziere had been tasked by the Mayor David Bower to create some new “rules” to govern meetings of the Raytown Board of Aldermen.

So, create them he did.

Paul Livius has done an excellent job of dissecting the collected thoughts of Jim Aziere on how Board Meetings should be conducted. To view a copy of Aziere’s report, use this link: BOARD GUIDELINES (start on page 37)

Here is my short version:

Bower, through Aziere, appears to have been attempting to consolidate power on a City Council that has, as of late, begun to show some signs of independence. Most radical of the changes was a suggestion that “non-votes”, such as absences, abstentions and simple refusing to vote, by Council members be counted in the affirmative.

With the exception of a few Board members who did not state a position, this notion was roundly rejected.

What I found most interesting was the furious back-peddling by Aziere and the Mayor when it became apparent the support simply was not there to help pass their schemes.

The packet Aziere presented was quickly renamed “guidelines” by the Mayor.  The Mayor asked for guidance on how the Board wished to proceed. It is interesting to note that in response, none of the ten Board members offered a motion to move forward with the package.

  

Ward 3 Alderman Janet Emerson, made a lengthy presentation of her own debunking much of what Aziere proposed. Her alternative, use Roberts Rules of Order to conduct  Board meetings.

Aldermen Bill VanBuskirk and Steve Mock correctly pointed out that the Missouri Municipal League, of which Raytown is a member, has published broad guidelines on how to conduct Council meetings. They stated they felt Aziere’s rules were not needed.

Ward 4 Alderman Pat Ertz obviously felt the whole report was much ado about nothing.
As summed up his comments with an old bit of wisdom, saying, “if it isn't broke, don’t fix it”.

Ward 2 Alderman Jason Greene echoed many of the points brought forth by Emerson.

OUR THOUGHTS . . . BY GREG WALTERS AND PAUL LIVIUS

While we are on the subject, here are some suggestions as to some procedural changes that we feel the Board of Aldermen and public would find beneficial.

·         Use Roberts Rules of Order to conduct the meetings. Those time-tested rules work when used properly. The most important part being that Roberts Rules stops what is often called “The Tyranny of the Majority”.

·         Allow public interaction with elected officials during Board meetings. The current rules do not allow Board members to respond to questions from the public during meetings. This current rule stifles the free flow of information between the Public and its elected representatives.

·         Eliminate the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda allows the Mayor and City Staff to group items together for one vote instead of voting on each item individually. Any Board Member can ask for an item to be removed for separate consideration, but current rules require the rest of the Board consent to removing the item by public vote.

Remember the term, “Tyranny of the Majority”?

This rule effectively intimidates and stops an individual Board member in a minority position on the Board from bringing items already on the agenda up for discussion.

OTHER BUSINESS . . .

Last week a blogger asked that we publish the broadcast times City Hall re-broadcast meetings of the Raytown Board of Aldermen.

The city broadcasts meetings of the Board of Aldermen on the following schedule. This service is only available to subscribers of Comcast. They can be viewed on Comcast Channel 7.

Tuesday and Thursday . . . . . . . 10AM
Monday and Wednesday. . . . . . . 7PM

Ann Harrison Murder Remembered

Twenty-five years ago (March 25, 1989) Ann Harrison was abducted while waiting for a school bus. One of Harrison’s murderers, Michael Taylor, is scheduled to be put to death by the State of Missouri next Wednesday.

The Raytown area was home to Ann Harrison. She attended school here. An annual softball tournament of the old Raytown Girl’s Softball League was established in remembrance of her. Her murderers have been found guilty but there has not been any sense of justice since their incarceration. Both men have been sentenced to death.

The legal maneuvering to hold up Michael Taylor’s execution is a sad statement of our times. By his own words, he is guilty of brutalizing and killing a 15 year old girl.

The following, copied from page A16 of this Sunday’s Kansas City Star, tells of the horror that a 15 year old innocent experienced before being brutally murdered.

THE FOLLOWING STORY WAS WRITTEN BY TONY RIZZO OF THE KANSAS CITY STAR. TO VIEW THE ENTIRE ARTICLE USE THIS LINK  . . . ANN HARRISON STORY - READ MORE

The morning Ann disappeared, Bob Harrison was at work and his wife was inside their home when Ann yelled goodbye and stepped out their front door in southeast Kansas City to wait for the school bus.

Nunley, then 24, and Taylor, then 22, who grew up near each other in Kansas City, were binging on crack cocaine and cruising in a car they had stolen in Grandview. They eluded a Lee’s Summit police officer who tried to pull them over for having a broken taillight.

A few hours later, happenstance led them to the street where they saw Ann. One of them got out, grabbed her and forced her into the car. Each has blamed the other.

They drove her to a home in south Kansas City where Nunley’s mother lived. There Ann was raped. Testing of DNA later linked Taylor to the crime. He maintains that Nunley also raped her, though Nunley denied that.

It was then that they decided to kill Ann. Once again, each blames the other for being the aggressor.

They lied to her to get her into the trunk of the car. They told her they were going to call her parents and demand ransom money.

Instead, knives were retrieved from the kitchen. One of them stabbed her in the throat. The other stabbed her in the torso. Taylor’s confession revealed the horror of the moment:

“I stuck her, two or three times, probably four, you know I stuck ’em in the stomach down here, you know,” he told police.

“And then I stayed and watched it, you know. … Her eyes rolled up in her head, and she was sort of like trying to catch her, her breath. She couldn’t breathe, you know.”

What motivates Bob Harrison more than anything to see the case through to the end is the thought of what Ann went through during her last few minutes of life.

“That’s the part I can’t stop thinking about,” he said. “That’s the part that makes them need to have this punishment.” 

BY SUSAN

FIT BOTTOMED EATS
Homemade FroYo
(WITH A RECIPE!)

Within a mile of my home, you'll find three frozen yogurt shops. Three. And one of them dishes out vegan froyo. This information, by the way, may … READ MORE

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