RAYTOWN'S LEADING NEWS SOURCE

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Short Stories BY GREG WALTERS 
“Texting”, the furtive comments and notes sent via our cell phones can be a convenience of the modern age we live in. It can also be viewed as a curse, particularly when it takes valuable time and attention away from what is important.

Some Aldermen have complained of receiving unsolicited text messages from their seatmates during City Council meetings.

The dais the Council sits at has a short six inch wall at the top which hides Councilman’s hands. When a Councilman’s eyes appear more focused on his or her lap and their shoulders slightly “tense up” they are probably sending a text message on their cell phone.

Not only is the practice rude, it may very well be illegal. If the recipient of the text message has a seat on the dais of that same meeting then someone could be in trouble plenty.

City Council meetings are supposed to be “public” meetings. Secret messages, flying back and forth between members of the governing body can be construed as a violation of Missouri’s Sunshine Law.

Who is guilty? Ward 1 Alderman Joe Creamer is known to have sent text messages to other members of the Board of Aldermen during public hearings on a proposed Walmart Grocery Store in Downtown Raytown last year. Apparently the texting has continued.

According to sources at Raytown City Hall, the text messages are frequently unsolicited and in some cases, unwanted. Which causes one to wonder – why send a message to someone who does not wish to receive it in the first place?

Could it be the messages are not truly unsolicited? From our point of view, a conversation is a conversation whether spoken or typed. Those comments should be shared with all the members of the City Council and with the public.

Here is some good advice . . . put your electronic gadgets away during public meetings. They have no place at the table when the public’s business is being discussed.

Slow Down Janet! 
Charter Commissioner Janet Emerson has decided to head up a Marketing Subcommittee committee to publicize the Raytown Charter effort. She has not been slow to take the helm and start steaming forward. She has already held one meeting and scheduled another to lay out plans to promote the Charter. In her first meeting she spoke of the need to print the Charter document and create yard signs for the Charter.

Commissioner Mary Jane VanBuskirk wondered about the yard signs. She checked with the Missouri Municipal League and found out that yard signs promoting the Charter cannot be funded by public money. Missouri State Statutes require the municipality in which the Charter is being voted on to fund “educational material” to explain the Charter to the Public. Apparently, yard signs are considered to be “promoting” a charter.

Some Charter Commissioners have complained about Emerson’s early meeting times. Late afternoon meetings are not a practical alternative for the public or Commission members who are employed in 9:00 to 5:00 jobs . . . particularly if potential participants are away from the Raytown area during daytime hours.

The “sandwiching” of committee meetings before regular meetings of governing bodies is not uncommon in Raytown. The short half hour “meeting before the meeting” is a counterproductive effort which often leaves confusion in its wake. The shortened meeting times result in rushed decisions and often lead to mistakes in judgment.

Mistakes like purchasing yard signs as an “educational” tool to promote the Charter.

The enthusiasm of Mrs. Emerson and her crew is noteworthy. But they need to focus on providing information to help the voters make an informed decision. Parts of the Marketing Subcommittee minutes read more like a campaign committee than an attempt to inform the public.

Commissioners need to take care not to cross the line between “educating” and “campaigning”. The Charter Commission should not be used as a platform to organize a “yes” or “no” vote on the Charter.

Speaking of Short Meetings

The Marketing Subcommittee minutes are an interesting read.

According to the minutes of the agenda there were 21 items discussed in the meeting. However, the meeting, which was sandwiched in prior to the regular Charter Commission meeting, lasted only 36 minutes.

Do the math.

The result is that each item was discussed for only 1.8 minutes. There were six members on the Committee. If only half of the members joined in the discussion, it means that each member had only 36 seconds to participate in discussion per item!

Heard on the Street BY PAUL LIVIUS

Some call it the rumor mill. We call them news tips from very reliable sources. Sources, we might add, that have proven to be very accurate in the past. So far this year, they are batting 1000!

So, here is what our local tipsters tell us is going on in Raytown!

DOWNTOWN WALMART: There has never been an official announcement on whether or not Walmart is planning on opening a large building at 63^rd and Raytown Road. Just rumors, sparked mainly by local business owners saying they had been told their leases would not be renewed. Now some of those same business owners say they have been told their leases will be renewed!

Does that mean the unannounced development is off?

Our ten elected Aldermen and even the Mayor (who, many will recall, took a trip to Bentonville to try to parlay with Walmart exec’s during the debacle over a Walmart in Downtown Raytown’s Greenspace) all claim ignorance of anything going on.

You would think out of 11 elected officials you would have at least one who would try to find out.

PAT ERTZ FOR  (    fill in the blank    )  On the campaign front the “on again . . . off again” campaign of Pat Ertz for Mayor has been scrapped. Apparently he has decided to run for re-election to fourth term as Alderman from Ward 4. For those keeping count his fourth term would equal 20 years.

RICHARD TUSH FOR FIRE BOARD? Raytown Water District No. 2 Commissioner Richard Tush has decided to make a run for the Raytown Fire Board seat currently held by Willard Ross. No official word on whether or not Ross will run for re-election.

MORE MAYORAL CANDIDATES? Raytown Charter Commissioner Steve Guenther has been said to be considering a run for Mayor. Ward 3 Alderman Charlotte Melson is also said to be considering a run for the big chair as well. Add those two names to Alderman Bill VanBuskirk,  Mike McDonough and David Bower and you could have a very crowded contest. The Charter Commission discussed possible primary elections but the majority of Commissioners turned the idea down. Given the current situation, they may want to follow the lead of surrounding communities that have runoffs when more than two candidates file for office.

CREAMER RESIDENCY QUESTION STILL UNRESOLVED? Ward 1 Alderman Joe Creamer’s status as a candidate for re-election is still up in the air. A source living close to Creamer’s old residence say the house is dark all the time. Which leaves one to believe the senior Alderman from Ward 1 is still not living in the district he represents. Potential opponents may want to check out Missouri State Statutes, Chapter 79, Fourth Class Cities, Section 79.070.*

*Aldermen, qualifications. 79.070. No person shall be an alderman unless he or she is at least twenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States, and an inhabitant and resident of the city for one year next preceding his or her election,and a resident, at the time he or she files and during the time he or she serves, of the ward from which he or she is elected.

Aldermen, qualifications. 79.070. No person shall be an alderman unless he or she is at leasttwenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States, and an inhabitantand resident of the city for one year next preceding his or her election,and a resident, at the time he or she files and during the time he or sheserves, of the ward from which he or she is elected.

- See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/missouri/t07/c079/79_070#sthash.uSedZoCz.dpuf

Aldermen, qualifications. 79.070. No person shall be an alderman unless he or she is at leasttwenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States, and an inhabitantand resident of the city for one year next preceding his or her election,and a resident, at the time he or she files and during the time he or sheserves, of the ward from which he or she is elected.

- See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/missouri/t07/c079/79_070#sthash.uSedZoCz.dpuf

Aldermen, qualifications. 79.070. No person shall be an alderman unless he or she is at leasttwenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States, and an inhabitantand resident of the city for one year next preceding his or her election,and a resident, at the time he or she files and during the time he or sheserves, of the ward from which he or she is elected.

- See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/missouri/t07/c079/79_070#sthash.uSedZoCz.dpuf

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Aldermen, qualifications. 79.070. No person shall be an alderman unless he or she is at leasttwenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States, and an inhabitantand resident of the city for one year next preceding his or her election,and a resident, at the time he or she files and during the time he or sheserves, of the ward from which he or she is elected.

- See more at: http://statutes.laws.com/missouri/t07/c079/79_070#sthash.uSedZoCz.dpuf