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| BY GREG WALTERS |
Meetings of Note this week . . .
The Raytown Park Department will be discussing the future of Super
Splash USA at its Monday night meeting. The meeting will be held at 7:00 pm at the Raytown
Parks and Recreation Headquarters located at 59th and Lane Streets. The public is invited to
attend and join in the discussion.
In the Better Late than Never Department . . .
The Raytown Board of Aldermen will be holding a public hearing on the
350 Live (Walmart) TIF District at their Tuesday meeting (July 19th).
The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. The city is required to hold a public hearing
on the progress of the TIF District every five years. The 350 Live TIF District
was established seven years ago -- making this hearing a little over two years late. The City Council meeting agenda sets the hearing time at 7:00 p.m. As with all public
hearings, people will be able to address the Board of Aldermen and join in discussion
at the meeting.
District 28 House Race
As is evidenced by the number of yard signs cropping up around Raytown,
there is an election coming up on August 2nd. Five candidates who
filed as Democrats are vying for the opportunity to face Bill Van Buskirk. Van
Buskirk is the only Republican filed and will move on to the November General
Election to face the winner of the Democratic primary.
Speaking of Candidates . . .
Jim Aziere has people scratching their heads on his decision so run as a Democrat in the 28th District seat election. Aziere has run in two previous elections for the same seat as a Republican. He is also a former Republican Committeeman.
Jim Aziere has people scratching their heads on his decision so run as a Democrat in the 28th District seat election. Aziere has run in two previous elections for the same seat as a Republican. He is also a former Republican Committeeman.
Word has reached us from a number of
individuals who have heard Aziere’s stump speech. Apparently he is telling
voters the reason he is running as a Democrat is because he found out the
Republican Party in Missouri supports Right to Work legislation.
Jim should be able to come up with a better story than that!
When he ran as a Republican in 2004 against Terry Young and again in 2012
against Tom McDonald, the Republican Party in Missouri supported in Right to
Work then as well!
What happened? Did he have an epiphany* that brought about the political
change?
*a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an
ordinary but striking occurrence.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
How long does it take for the Raytown Parks and Recreation Department to change out a burned out light?
How long does it take for the Raytown Parks and Recreation Department to change out a burned out light?
That’s what one of my neighbors wants to know.
A little over a month ago my neighbor informed the Parks Department the
parking lot light down by the shelter houses was burned out. She expressed
concern for the safety of those using the park at night.
My neighbor said she was told by park personnel that they were not sure
if it was the Park Department’s responsibility or Kansas City Power and Light’s
responsibility to fix the light.
Which really begs the question.
After all, the power company will not repair the light unless the Park
Department tells them to.
You can see the light is burned out from the park headquarters front
door.
As my neighbor told me at the end of her interview, “I really do not care who is responsible for the light,” she said, “I just want it fixed”.
As my neighbor told me at the end of her interview, “I really do not care who is responsible for the light,” she said, “I just want it fixed”.
Paul’s Rant BY PAUL LIVIUS
Numbers paint gloomy picture of 350 Live (Walmart) TIF Debt
In this week’s agenda package from City Hall there is a surprisingly
clear spread sheet showing the anticipated revenue/expenses and payback
expected from the 350 Live TIF.
To view the spread sheet use this link . . . SPREAD SHEET
Go to page 8 of the document . . . or, read on and learn what the
spreadsheet says.
I will skip all the numbers at the top of the page. Because that really
count are at the bottom of the page.
I call this the “bottom line”.
In 2032 the city projects principal and interest over the life of the fund to be
$75,127,128. Over the life of the bond, the city projects sales tax revenue of
$67,109,148.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a short fall of $8,018,670.
Of course, the income revenue are only projections.
But it is important to note that the numbers are the city’s
projections.
Board Makes the Right Move
on Three Diamonds Land Scheme
The Board of Aldermen has come under some criticism from the usual
source, the Raytown Times, for going slow on a development named Three Diamond
Development. Three Diamond Development wants to build a 60 unit retirement
center at 55th Street and Blue Ridge Cutoff. They have asked the
Board of Aldermen to endorse the development as a way to gain funding from the
State of Missouri for the project.
A number of comments from the Board and members of the audience
demonstrated reluctance to jump right to support the proposal without more
information.
Jeanette Gentry asked the Board to not vote for the Three Diamond Project. She said we don’t need $500 apartments. Gentry said, “We need $1,100 and $1,200
apartments. We have Cerner coming in soon.
We need people with enough income who can bring a new vitality to our
community.”
Alderman Steve Meyers said he wants to table the item until the Board can research the
zoning issues and review the development plants.
Alderman Eric Teeman asked if this only supports the application for tax credits. He wanted to know if the item will come back
to the Board.
Alderman Van Buskirk said he thinks this would look good and be an improvement to the
area. He was in favor of moving forward
with the project.
Alderman Karen Black said the Board needs to look into the zoning ordinances. She asked if the staff had looked into it. She
said she was in favor of tabling the project. .
Alderman Josh Greene said if something in the application changes, would this come back to
the Board. He said he had the same reservations as Alderman Black and Alderman Meyers.
As you can
see from the comments, there are way too many unanswered questions to move
forward on the project.
Randy
Battagler’s editorial criticism of the Board’s decision to table the item until
answers could be given to the questions about the project is way off base.
Let’s
suppose the Board endorses the project. But then learns there are some very
good reasons not to move forward with the project and rejects it when it comes to the
Board of approval of zoning and code changes.
It puts the
Board in the unique position of saying “no” to a project they said they wanted
the
State of Missouri to fund. The breakneck speed by which some would want to see the vote taken speaks of good old fashioned political steam roller tactics.
State of Missouri to fund. The breakneck speed by which some would want to see the vote taken speaks of good old fashioned political steam roller tactics.
Thankfully,
the Board of Aldermen showed they are tough enough to stand up and say “no”.
The Board is
correct to ask their questions and demand answers before moving on any project.
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28 comments:
I read the letter Randi published in his "paper.” Basically what the Attorney General said was “Gee, we wish you hadn't a done that. Now don't do it again." Which, of course, means that all the jumping up and down, and all the ridiculous letters Randi published for Joe Creamer were just a whole bunch of wishful thinking and posturing . Both men are totally inane. Joe Creamer needs to crawl back into his hole and stay there. Randi should keep publishing his rag because my parrot needs the paper to line her cage.
I myself Betty find much better reporting from the Raytown Brooking Eagle. Actual facts and interviews not political hacks with an axe to grind in the Times. Truly embarassing to Raytown that paper is.
It sad to say that people will not do their homework when it comes to elections of candidates...I would love to see our people get away from negativity and learn the facts.
To an earlier post regarding Candidate Jerome Barnes...if you knew him and/or did your research you would have learn his credentials and just to name a few: He has lived in Raytown for approximately 30 years; He worked as a Labor Relations specialists, with five different unions, approximately 20 years; served on the Raytown C-2 School District as a Board member for the past 6 years with an operating school district budget of 110 million Dollars yearly; member of Raytown Chamber; and Served his country in the Military for six years. Given these type of credentials, I would hope this would qualify him to represent the people of "the 28th District" as your State Representative.
Now you have someone to choose as a qualified individual with competent credentials.
Have a Pleasant Day!
Tuesday, July 12th the finance committee for the City of Raytown had a meeting and one of the topics was the funding for the EMS staff.
Why is this important to Republican Jim Aziere's record?
Republican Jim Aziere was not at the meeting, which he is one of the committee members, and the EMS staff belongs to a collective bargaining unit that for some time have been working to improve their wage shortfall compared to any other EMS staff in the State of Missouri.
Everyone knows the Republican party has long fought against unions (collective bargaining units) and would love to end them.
Why therefore would anyone that knows what it takes to raise a family for Republican Jim Aziere.
Golly gee. I wish our mayor or someone with authority from the city would tell us what is the true
cause of the end of construction on 350. IIs it Block or is it the retailer? Are the city lawyers
involved.
The mayor is glad that the traffic light at 75th has been removed. I have news for him it is
dangerous to enter 350 at 75th street going West. It is a shame that we have to change our
driving habits for no apparent good.
Also a big NO to the apparent retirement apartment on Blue Ridge Cutoff. We do not need any
more subsided apartments in Raytown, we have enough low cost housing already, matter of
fact we have far to many rental locations in Raytown.
My neighbor has a Jerome Barnes sign in her yard. She has always been a big Jim Aziere supporter. I asked her why the change of heart. She said she asked him why he switched from Republican to Democrat and he told her he was a big union supporter and the Republicans wanted to bust the unions. She said she won't support someone that thinks she's stupid. The Republicans have always wanted to bust the unions. She will not vote for him ever again. Even if he goes back to being a Republican.
Sorry Jerome Barnes is not qualified to be my State Rep. He has not done such a hot job on the school board except be a "Yes" man for Markley. He will not get my vote. I want a real leader for my state rep.
While Jerome Barnes have credentials he also accepting a lot of campaign money from Mike Sanders. Smells fishy to me.
Republican Jim Aziere just cannot tell the truth.
If Republican Jim Aziere is not writing letters to the editor he is getting is old school buddies to write them.
The issue with both is Republican Jim Aziere paints himself as the champion of the people fighting to ban smoking in Raytown, but this is a lie!
The truth:
• Republican Jim Aziere was chairman of the committee to find a workable solution for everyone.
• Republican Jim Aziere never showed up to chair any of the meetings.
• Republican Jim Aziere cast the deciding vote to prevent a smoking ban.
Public information that we all should be aware of about Republican Jim Aziere.
Its not just Aziere lying about being a D or an R, he constantly lies about everything. His record in office, his votes...EVERYTHING. Anyone ever watch him at one of these meetings? If you have and plan on voting for him, you need Jesus!
I would love to have some one ask the board Tuesday night about our TIF project.
I have read the letter of 31 March 2016 about all the good things happening with Freddy"s
written by Block now give us a new letter with more bull in it.
RIP KCKS PD Captain Melton
Thank you for your sacrifice and service
God Bless you and your family
I drive to work every day on 27th st in Kansas City ( a rough part of town) and the city is paving side streets in the "hood'! Like 27th and Askew, Walrond, Indiana, and so on with real asphalt, not chip and seal! And we only get chip and seal in Raytown. So we are the real "hood"! How embarrassing!
Agreed! If there is any question of proof that the Walmart TIF was a failure it is the deplorable condition of streets in Raytown. Raytown is the ONLY city using chip seal to pave its streets. Why? Because all that sales tax money created by taxable sales at Walmart goes to pay off the debt created to pay buildings, parking lots and land purchases where Walmart sits today.
City hall refuses to talk about that failure. In many regards the new bunch running city hall are just like the old bunch under David Bower.
They are still pretending as if the Walmart TIF can be turned around. It cannot. It is too late. Their only solution is to walk away from the failure it represents. If they can walk away. Otherwise, get used to another ten to fifteen years of chip seal.
Fox 4 is going to run a piece on the 10 PM news Thursday night about the number of calls for service the police make to Wal-Marts.
I am sure it will be interesting and tell of just one more hidden cost of doing business with this anti-American company.
So no one is talking about 350 Live TIF project at City Hall?? Say what??? Ongoing discussions and forums have been taking place since February with both the Fire District and City of Raytown holding informational meetings on the project. There was a Public TIF Update (though not widely advertised) on the project discussed at great length last night at the City Council meeting. I highly recommend you go to the City Website and watch that. A good portion of the Alderman were quite animated in their displeasure with the developer Block & Company and the representative who was attempting to explain the recent Freddy's project and the withdrawal issues.
Also Raytown is NOT the only community to use the Granite Overlay product. The same contractor who does it here also is the vendor for Raymore & Belton who utilize the product. This also was discussed at great length at the Council meeting last night towards the end.
FACTS... Darn those things...
I ask that my fellow citizens join me in voting for Jim Aziere.
That way the rest of the state can see that our school distinct needs better funding when ex-teachers like him are all the district could afford to teach our kids.
If that's all you can do to keep the streets sealed until they can be asphalted then that's what ya gotta do
Overland Park, Lees Summit and many others are having to do this too
You want more asphalt? Ask the city to raise your taxes
So what is your answer. As usual people want to gripe on here but don't bring answers. The TIF is activated for years. This group (except Aziere) had nothing to do with it and have nothing they can do about it. Looks to me like this group is working at making things better where and when they can. How about you?
What have you done for your city, state or country? My guess is nothing but gripe!
I understand David Block didn't show up for last nights TIF hearing.
Does he fell guilty
Does he not want to be seem with his friends Jim Aziere and Bill VanBuskirt
Does he fear that the current BOA less his two friends will back him into a corner for the damage he has done.
6:17 Correction
Initial mess created by Aziere is correct
2011 additional give away to Block were both Aziere and VanBuskirt.
Both need out of serving the public in any elected position!
Watched the meeting, I wanna give Alderman Jason Greene, Eric Teeman, and Steve Meyers some credit, they really hit into that Block Developer. Presenting inaccurate information to say the least. Our local Republican...errr Democrat Jim Aziere just sat there. Another reason this clown who VOTED FOR THIS TIF, has NO JUDGEMENT to be even be a dog catcher! Im tempted to vote democrat just to vote against that clown. IO wonder if the TIMES will report that?
Hey Anonymous 6:10 pm, my taxes are high enough in Raytown! We would have some extra money if we didn't waste the tax payers dollars like street scape, Super Splash, fancy monuments at Gregory & Raytown rd & 63rd and Raytown rd. The school district taxes are out of sight and what they turn out is a bunch of worthless kids. I use to work for the Raytown School District and saw the waste first hand of money and supplies. Alot of the kids I talked to can make more money selling drugs than getting a degree. They told me school is a waste of time!
I called and ask Van Buskirk about Block. He said he as never met Block and has never had any dealings with Block. He unlike Aziere was not on the BOA when the TIF was done.
Republican Jim Aziere is showing his true colors once again.
Republican Jim Aziere voted "NO" on additional affordable housing for senior citizens, which also would address the blight and over growth at the Northeast corner of Blue Ridge Cut Off and 55th St.
We all personally know the mistreatment and under funding senior citizens get on their social security and medicare benefits will the cost of living goes up.
It is Republicans like Republican Jim Aziere that are holding our senior citizens hostage and forcing them to be homeless!
Anon 6:10 -
The kids in Raytown can argue a good point when they debate! That ought to count for something.
To 8:18
It is so sad that the only kids you speak to sell drugs or are worthless. Go to any band concert, theatrical performance etc that the students put on and you will see a lot of students who aren't worthless. Students with dreams and desires for their future. You will see our youth working at the various grocery stores, food industry. They are there open your eyes talk to them. There is good and bad in every generation; even yours. Next time you are hanging with those kids you call worthless why not mentor to them. They might just need someone as intelligent as you are to tell them and show them they are not worthless and can make something great of their lives like other students do.
Great reply 2:21
Now we are talking positive and working toward change instead of just complaining
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