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GREG WALTERS ANNOUNCES
CANDIDACY FOR WARD 1 ALDERMAN
In 1912 Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt announced “My hat’s in the ring”, to say he had decided to enter the race for President of the United States. It was the first recorded use of the idiom, “My hat’s in the ring” in a political sense. Prior to his announcement the phrase simply meant the speaker was entering some sort of contest.
Roosevelt had succeeded William McKinley, who was assassinated shortly after taking office in 1901. He went on to win the Presidency on his own in 1904. After his second term was complete, he retired from public life only to return four years later to run for President in 1912.
He was denied the Republican nomination. Formed his own party, nicknamed the Bull Moose Party, and ran second in a four way race for President.
Theodore Roosevelt was one of America’s most popular Presidents. He is immortalized on Mount Rushmore along with Presidents Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.
So, in the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, I wish to announce “my hat’s in ring” for the seat left vacant by former Alderman Josh Greene when he resigned as Ward 1 Alderman last year.
For those who do not know me. I served on the Raytown Board of Aldermen from 1980 - 1996 and 1998 – 2009. I believe the experience from those 27 years of public service will be an asset at city hall.
I have been watching the new Mayor and Board of Aldermen at work since they took office two years ago and have been impressed. I hope to be able to join them in shaping Raytown’s future.
OTHER PEOPLE’S MAIL
Last week I wrote a story about former Raytown Alderman Joe Creamer’s comments regarding the Police Department’s policy on trips. Mr. Creamer had written: “I am waiting for a return of a request for information on how many out of town meetings Chief Jim Lynch attended in the last year.”
Mr. Creamer sent us a copy of a message he says came from Raytown City Clerk Teresa Henry. Since we had written the story on our main page, we thought it appropriate that we run his response in the same venue. Following is a copy of the email Creamer sent us (printed in bold italics). City Clerk Henry’s response is shown below Creamer’s email to the Raytown Report.
From: Joe Creamer
[mailto:jcreamer@adamsautogroup.com]
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2017 6:59 PM
To: GREGTWALTERS@GMAIL.COM
Subject: Fw: SUNSHINE REQUEST RESPONSE FROM CHIEF LYNCH
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2017 6:59 PM
To: GREGTWALTERS@GMAIL.COM
Subject: Fw: SUNSHINE REQUEST RESPONSE FROM CHIEF LYNCH
This is the response received from the city clerk in regards to my sunshine
request for travel expense for Chief Lynch, not a shot from the hip. You can do with it what you want.
From: Teresa Henry <thenry@raytown.mo.us>
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2016 3:18 PM
To: Joe Creamer
Subject: RE: SUNSHINE REQUEST
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2016 3:18 PM
To: Joe Creamer
Subject: RE: SUNSHINE REQUEST
I have asked Chief Lynch for this information in response to your request.
The answer that I was given in regards to your request was:
“Teresa, meeting costs are not
tracked.”
Teresa M. Henry, MRCC
City Clerk
City of Raytown, Missouri
816-737-6004
EDITOR’S NOTE: Mr. Creamer refers to his request as a “sunshine request”. The term typically is used to describe a formal request for information from a governmental source through what is known as the Sunshine Law (in Missouri). We do not know if Mr. Creamer has requested the information through powers outlined under the Sunshine Law. Expenditures of public funds in Missouri is a legitimate item to request information on under the Sunshine Law.
Our Blog Rules
 |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
This story grew out of a complaint we received from a blogger that we “censor” what is written to the Blog section of the Raytown Report. We have written about the rules on the Raytown Report Blog in the past. But as the complaint illustrates, it is time we did so again.
Here is a short version of the rules as concerns the Blog section of the Raytown Report.
PROFANITY IS NOT ALLOWED: That includes suggested profanity where diacritical figures are used in
the place of letters. Such ad “smart**s". We reserve the right to remove such words
and replace them with more civil language.
BLOGGERS NEED NOT SIGN THEIR NAME: However, if their message is of a personal nature aimed at
another individual with allegations that are unsubstantiated to the editors of
the Raytown Report, it will probably not be posted. If the blogger wants to
hone in on a certain target, they are free to do so. However, they must sign
their name to the attack piece they have written. We reserve the right to
verify the signature before publication. So far, there have not been any takers
on this last offer. Paul and I contend it is possible to disagree on issues of the day without getting in the dirt to do so.
That is pretty much the long and short of it. There are other social media outlets in Raytown. They rarely talk about each other – or, more than likely, their names are not allowed in each other’s publications. We have often wondered why not? The goal of all social media should be to disseminate and share information.
With that thought in mind, Paul has put together a growing list of the different news outlets, be they Facebook, Newspaper, or Electronic news/blog like the Raytown Report.
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| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
I have put together a growing list of social media outlets in Raytown that focus on Raytown area news. I hope you find them enlightening.
RAYTOWN REPORT: Of course, I am going to start with the Raytown Report. It is the oldest blog/social media outlet in Raytown. Two former Aldermen in Raytown began publication of the Raytown Report in 1997. It has changed over the years to the news blog you see today. It is published on a weekly basis. The focus of the Raytown Report is Raytown area politics and local news of interest.
RAYTOWN UNLEASHED: Raytown Unleashed is a Facebook page that keeps a lively conversation going on about all sorts of Raytown topics. It might be recipes, available services around town, school news, and, of course local politics. Susan Vorbeck Brown manages the page. She also is the editor of the page. Apparently, she has found out, as did Greg and I, that it is wise to make certain what is published is factual. Therefore, she reviews ALL posts before they are released.
RAYTOWN UNCENSORED: Raytown Uncensored is another Facebook page created because some did not like their copy censored. Hence, the name Raytown Uncensored. Be forewarned: If you visit this site, it is not for children who are learning to read because it truly is uncensored and apparently anything is allowed on the page.
RAYTOWN ONLINE: Raytown Online is a blog somewhat similar to the Raytown Report. It was created after the Raytown Report. However, the majority of the stories printed are news releases from other sources. The blog portion requires a signature for comment. As a result, very few people participate on the blog.
RAYTOWN BROOKING EAGLE: The Raytown Brooking Eagle is a local newspaper owned by local businesswoman Diane Krizek. The Brooking Eagle also has a web version of the newspaper published on a weekly basis. The newspaper requires a paid subscription. The website is currently free. However, the website also invites readers to pay for access to the electronic version of the Brooking Eagle.
RAYTOWN TIMES: Raytown Times Newspaper is published by Randy Battagler on a weekly basis. It is distributed free at a number of locations throughout Raytown. Though Randy has written about creating a website for his paper, we cannot find it after some exhaustive searches we have as recently as today.
As Greg wrote earlier, the goal of all social media should be the honest dissemination of information. We hope you take time to visit these other sources. Of course, we also ask that you return to the Raytown Report as Raytown’s Leading News Source.
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60 comments:
Creamer was wanting to know how many out of town events he attended, not costs. Typical PD Lynch response. PD put one of their own in the Mayor's seat. What did you expect, cooperation? HA!
Another Facebook, If you Grew Up in Raytown if, https://www.facebook.com/groups/210349079062389/?fref=nf, is another "fun" one that mostly is memories of growing up around here.
Glad to hear your running and I personally think you will be a big asset to the board. As I am sure you know most of the people running have no experience in city government.
The Raytown Brooking Eagle has not updated it website since November 26.
Well I guess I now kmow wjo I need to vote for after reading Cramers letter. Anyone he is against Im for.
10:25
Especially considering coming from an individual who literally did nothing but lie to those in his ward (im one) about where he lived and who makes death threats against other aldermen. At this point im looking for him and his paper buddy to fail.
Greg, I am glad to hear that you are running for Alderman. In my opinion you have an excellent record of researching issues and voting using an educated vote such as you were the only "NO" vote on the Walmart on 350 HWY! I hope the voters have the same opinion.
Andy Whiteman
The first request Mr. Joe Creamer made under sunshine request was how many days Chief Lynch is out of town for meetings and the expense to the taxpayer.
The second request was number of days Chief Lynch was out of town for CONFERENCES year 2015-2016 and total expense to the taxpayer for those trips.
You printed the first question response here and the response seems reasonable (meetings are not tracked) because there is no extra cost to the taxpayer.
The second question Mr. Creamer asked was for training for conferences was answered separately.
Two questions asked in two different emails.
So Joe has either chosen to make stuff up to misguide readers or he just doesn't remember what he asked for.
Mr. Creamer has accomplished this quite a few times in making stuff up after receiving it from the City. It is not factual at all.
Freedom of speech doesn't mean it has to be true. 99% of the stuff Mr. Creamer writes is not true.
Hum I am pretty sure the voters put the mayor in the mayors seat not the police department
Joe You could request PD's Lynch city credit card, expense reimbursements, etc. records for a breakdown of out of town travel costs. Those costs would include the time and dates of travel as well. I bet you would be shocked how the tax payer dollars are spent in the name of public safety.
Greg good luck in your Alderman election efforts in Ward 1. Your longtime and valuable experience and your well documented commitment to your constituents is widely respected. I believe you would make a welcome addition to the current Board of Alderman and Mayor.
To anonymous 4:17 Joe has that information, he chose not to print it so far.
The hypocrisy of this discussion regarding the Police Chief's travel is just hilarious. While the Chief gains continuing education of law changes at these events, Creamer and others supported Mahesh Sharma taking a month off a year to travel to India while paying another employee extra to do his job while he was gone. That doesn't include the other month of paid vacation he had along with the time he took off to be the Chairman of the Board of Mazuma Credit Union and go conferences all over the country. So much for protecting tax payer dollars. LOL!
To Anonymous 11:33. Understand that Mr. Creamer has all the information on out of town travel for conferences. He has chosen to mislead you and mix the two questions up.
It was simply stated in an earlier comment you have chosen to disregard.
How much money is the board and the mayor planning on spending to obtain a new tag line?
Maybe we could have one such as city of rotten streets. City with multiple Dollar stores.
I am sorry but I can not believe that with the financial problem that the city has that we worry
about a new tag line for the city.
Is the most important item for the bloggers, worry about what Joe C. is doing.
After this winter there are going to be quite a few streets that will need help. We are on our
way to looking like parts of Kansas City MO.
I hope that the Super Splash is closed for good as we can no longer afford to sink tens of
thousands of dollars into something that is dead. Aziere seems to think that it is our
responsibility to employe kids in Raytown to work at the pool. In a perfect world ok but
Raytown is not a perfect city, we have problems, too many to list here and no real solution.
More gas stations and smoke shops are not the answer, all it does is transfer sales from one
location to another with no real gain for the city and the lord knows that we do need a large
increase in our sales tax revenue.
Sorry for rambling but we have problems and we can not blow money on pipe dreams to satisfy
some politician.
To anonymous 12:28
Last I read, was the Chief's reply; “Teresa, meeting costs are not tracked.”
I'm guessing that credit cards and out-of-town expenses are tracked. It's called a money trail. Follow it and see where it leads. Any committee could do that, but won't. And the wasteful spending of tax payer dollars continue. We're a broke local government/community.
STOP wasting money on nonsense city provided, out of town travel for their own personal pleasure!!!
Time to clean the swamp...
Gadsen....they are spending nothing on a tag line.
If you don't look at the big picture and ways to draw good business here it will not improve nor will the infrastructure. Tag lines are part of marketing and that is a start of improving things. Looks like that's what is being done cheaply by a group of citizens and business people volunteering their time and efforts to this cause. As usual there always has to be the usual downer with no solutions. At least this board and Mayor are trying new things
Gadsen - you need to pay more attention to what's going on. When the city council had a work session on tag lines, the mayor told the Board the marketing committee were all volunteers and the cost to the city was minimal. It would be nice for a change if you could find something positive to write about. How about the new restaurants in town? How about the improvements made at the brewery? How about them looking at solar street lights? There are a lot of good things happening here. Open your eyes and look around.
I was just given a total after I released the Chiefs response was released. This morning I will be submitting a Sunshine request into detailed costs for each trip for the taxpayers. What is displayed by the Chiefs initial response is that we as a city are paying $120,000 per year for someone who is out of touch with what is going on in the department. What I submitted to Greg is the only response given to me by the top cop in Raytown. Kinda makes you wonder if he is really worth the money we are spending. As far as a couple responses given anonymously we obviously responses given by pd personel, that do not want to identify themselves. Bottom line it's not my responsibility to request by individual line items. Joe Creamer
Joe,
I thought you submitted a sunshine request? You did or you didn't? You wrote that you did. You like to make half truths and then spin in your direction (this is hardly the first time we have seen this). You do realize you would have more credibility if your approach was more accurate and less inflammatory. If you are attempting to tell any truth, you should avoid slander. To be honest it has turned me off to your claims and the paper. It's easy to point fingers, especially for someone who was up there 8 years.
Regards,
A local observer
Dear local observer, I requested information in regards to cost and the Chiefs response is shown in the report. Since I published the response pd has come out with a total which has not been itemized. I submitted a request for an itemized list of expenses per trip. I did request and received an answer but pd has updated their response. No half truth from me just making public responses as they come to my attention
Joe as a taxpayer I would like to know why you keep bothering the tax paid staff for this garbage. If you really have something go somewhere in make a claim and have it investigated otherwise shut up
Joe it's time for you to go away, the people of Raytown are sick and tired of opening the only paper we have left only to find three paragraphs of your insane ramblings. I am sure you have the best of intentions and I am sure you feel empowered by your civic duty, but this ship has sailed and you need to stop.
You realize Joe Im not JUST talking about your remarks on when and if you made your sunshine request when you first claimed you did. Im also speaking of many other remarks and claims. I feel you have not done yourself or the town any good in the way you approach your claims.
It is my right as a taxpayer given to me by the Missouri Constitution as a checks and balance to the people in a position of power. If you read yesterday's letter I am spelling out some real budgetary issues facing the city. The amount of time that staff spends is minimal on my requests because of the direct nature of my requests. If we just take a rosy look at the community and ignore what are real issues the future of Raytown will not be so pretty. In cleaning a closet you have to pull out some unwanted things and make a mess in the process of cleaning it. In the process of cleaning the citizens closet I am telling real stories of what is going on. Sorry if your idea of Utopia has been damaged but the truth is the best option not sweeping it under the rug
Oh the closet is being cleaned Joe, but not by you. Its seems you and the previous boards did much to ignore issues as you could and now all of a sudden you are pretentious enough to speak as if you are an outsider and had nothing to do with it. You acted as a water boy for the previous mayor and city manager and now your complaining because the well is dry. It makes no sense to my eyes.
The PD does need to be looked at by more objective and responsible eyes, not yours. In what I have seen from this recent group of councilmen is that there are willing to make the decisions that you were so unwilling to do as councilman. There is a reason why you decided not to run again, you can say what you wish but this community has no trust in you. You lack the understanding and frankly temperament based on your actions.
Everytime someone drives on our roads, needs Emergency Medical, Fire or Police assistance or wants to see our Parks do something different, they cant because there is no money and a large reason why is that fiasco on 350 highway that you supported. Pot calling the kettle black.
Anonymous 10:04 - you forgot to point out there is no reason for him to run for the city council because no one in their right mind would vote for an admitted drug addict and alcoholic. I know he says he's clean, but I know from being married to a women who was a drug addict that a couple of months clean means nothing. They have to be clean at least a year before you can even begin to trust anything they say or do.
The real issue is the police budget that comprises 65% of the entire city budget leaving 35% of the taxpayers money to deal with street lights, street overlay, ect. The 350 Live TIF project is paid for by revenue generated by that location. Yes, there is expense to the taxpayer because of taxes generated by the location. Truth is that was a project brought forth by Sue Frank where City Hall was flooded with people coming out to speak for it. As stated by Fire Chief Matt Mace the council that voted for it had about 16 minutes to prepare for it. Public sentiment at the time was overwhelmingly for it. The police budget has been steady growth and Curt Wenson brought to the Missouri Legislature the idea of the Public Safety Sales Tax to remove the police budget from the cities budget as much as possible. When Curt left Sue seized the idea of the sales tax as a slush fund for the department and instead of declining city responsibility it grew. I outlined in my letter yesterday the bag of rocks around the citizens neck called the police pension that is no longer in place but the city still has responsibility for. In serving the one thing I found is that things do not happen rapidly at the governmental level and there were obstacles preventing a rapid repair. The employee manual was an example of what we worked for but we needed codification of ordinances to be done. The ordinances had not been codified in over 60 years, thus slowing the process. Knowledge serves to better explain situations
There you go again, blaming everyone else but yourself. Truth is YOU along with EIGHT others who voted for that fiasco have done more harm to this town than ANYTHING in recent memory. If you felt it was smart to have a corporate welfare package for Walmart with only "16 minutes" to prepare for it, then why didnt you delay the vote? Or express concerns as another alderman did? Maybe you should have read more, researched more, realized that providing so much money and land for a non-taxing entity like the school district was a bad idea. All of this boils down to the point that yourself along with others were not objective or sincere enough for the responsibility in the first place. As for the employee manual, that was passed very recently (Yes I watch the meetings as my elected alderman suggested I do in an attempt to cycle through the "noise" I heard from you). When I was watching, one alderman said he had been asking for the past couple years to form a manual. Regardless, all I see is childish comments and half truths that yes like I stated before is why I dont even read that paper anymore, it's so damn embarrassing that I would feel bad if someone from out of town picked it up.
With the PD there may be something to look at but based on what I have watched at the meetings and with that manual conversation, this council has took that on. Again, you would be better served if you stopped the name calling and half truths and just handled yourself in a more professional manner. You have to know this makes you look bad, especially when I hear about what you said on a Facebook page (which I dont have or I would look for myself).
WHY DIDNT YOU ADDRESS THE POLICE BUDGET WHEN ON THE BOARD 8 YEARS JOE? Im sure its 5 O'clock somewhere bud.
Hey Joe - you were part of the problem! Why would you or anyone else vote to commit the city to millions of dollars of obligation if they only had "16 minutes" to prepare? I guess you were drunk and high even back then. For the sake of all Raytown, please crawl back under your rock and stay there.
Yeah and I just found out that the city had not had a comprehensive employee manual for over eight years. Thanks Joe another responsibility you didn't take care of when you were on the board. No wonder the current administration that we have in place we're having to correct so many things you all screwed up
I have an idea. Let's write our own letters to the editor and tell the truth about Joe. Anon 10:04 AM, 11:35 AM, 12:22 PM and 12:42 PM have well written, well thought out blog entries. I'm not as well versed as they are, but I, too, will submit a letter. It would be interesting to see how many, if any, of the letters Randy would print. Especially if the letters point out the truth about when Joe was on the Board, what he knew (or should have known) and when he knew it. So far, it's been pretty one sided.
There seems to be some very upset people that wonder why all things were not fixed at once, that is a great question. The truth is you cannot fix everything at once. Now there were many things that we took on at that time that we would address as things came up. In regards to the police pension which is just a fraction of the budget because of the stalling tactics of the police department it took over a year to address that portion. In regards to the employee manual it took over two years to codify the ordinances before the manual could be considered. While I was on the board I was liason to the park board and I brought problems with that board to the attention of staff as well as the mayor and other board members. It took about 1 1/2 years to deal with that and form the memorandum of understanding between the parks department and the city. Contrary to what it seems is believed on this blog and other places you cannot just snap your fingers and hope the situation goes away. The police pension as I said earlier took well over a year to deal with and put the department under a different, the problem is only solved partially and the unfunded liability still needs to be addressed. On this blog there seems to have been great distress about Mahesh who masterfully brought these type of items to the attention of the board. As an elected official you lean heavily on quality staff, that's the role of an alderman. Mahesh was a target by many of the newly elected for the things he was bringing to the table that was the core structure of the good old boys club, the very foundation was being rocked. Just ponder this that the civilian oversight of the police pension has been released and replaced by Mike McDonough with retired police officers that are benefitting from the pension plan that pays the average officer 112% of what they made when they were working. It's easy when you're are on the sidelines to wonder why the running back ran this direction why he didn't run the other direction because there was a bigger hole. When you're at game speed and have to react sometimes you just don't go the right direction. The reality is the system is being set back up to rebuild the damage that was sustained by the good old boy system benefitting certain people. Additionally, there are other needs in the community other than the police department. Imagine if you will if the department were to run itself budget wise like Gladstone, that would free up approx. 2 million dollars per year for street lights and street overlay, that would go a long way. As I write a about regularly with the Chief being autonomous it creates problems that aren't so simple as the snap of the fingers. He doesn't answer to the administrator and the only way to deal with it is by the purse strings, see how much issue the pension caused? Try going after that budget without administrative oversight and a very popular department, there are many pitfalls to that idea. Thank you for your time, I know that I am not going to please everybody with what I am doing but it needs to be done.
Joe we don't expect the problems to go away all at once. We just wish you would have dealt with them responsibly when you were on the board. You didn't, and now you just want to sit around and point fingers at others. Is it because you were living in a drug induced fog back then and couldn't think right? Is that why you didn't vote against the police pension fund...or the Walmart deal....or the lack of funds the park board is dealing with now? Come on Joe, admit it. You WERE the problem back then.
Actually Peggy Sue the idea that got the police away from the old plan by only funding it 1/4 of a year and if they didn't bring needed paperwork to the table was my idea. Now there is still the legal obligation on the funding of that pension that is the dilemma, it has been going on for about 15 years. I'm not sure about the supposed drug induced fog that you mention because I never allowed my intoxication to enter into the work place or the council meetings. I was very high functioning and before I announced that I was going to deal with my struggles I pulled many people in over the weekend before and discussed it with them. The majority of those people that were close told me that they had never even seen me intoxicated. I knew that the insults would come from people that were ignorant to the situation and I am ok with that. There are people that come to me with car problems that are ignorant of what a car needs and I am there to advise them. The same goes for me on computers, I am ignorant of them so I lean on the people that have the knowledge. Your comment Peggy Sue comes from a lack of knowledge, ignorance if you will. Peggy Sue it doesn't mean that you're a bad person, you just don't have understanding. I can't speak for a revenue issue with the parks department now but placing blame on me as far as revenue stream is difficult since those dollars are generated through property/real estate taxes and sales tax. It could go back to the current boards decision to take some of the money from parks captured in the sales tax because on the ballot it was listed as parks/storm water. Those that served with me knew that I was very active so your evaluation about just sitting around once again comes from a lack of knowledge. As far as me going away I wouldn't plan on it and no I disagree that I was part of the problem
I am willing to listen to what Joe has to say. It is refreshing actually.
To all the Joe haters... please come up with some new information. We have been informed about his residence and substance abuse issues, etc.
Just knowing that the PD uses 65% of the city budget is worth listening to what he has to say.
That amount is shocking to say the least.
Joe, please do not let the half dozen or so haters shut you up. Thanks and good luck with your recovery.
Mahesh was given a blank check by you guys and was never held accountable by anyone. That's what happens when you have an absentee Mayor like Bower who lets the fox guard the chicken coop. If he was so good and you were doing your job how did the police budget, pension and spending get supposedly out of control?
Joe you have no clue
You were always a puppet and Randy and Aziere and gang are still using you to carry the water
Its a shame what addiction can do to someone. I remember meeting Mr Creamer about 10 years ago at a picnic held in the park behind my house. He seemed like a nice enough guy, fairly intelligent in a down home kinda way. The letters I read that he writes currently in no way sound like the same person I met then. I was thinking about his addition and the mental issues they have caused him tonight when I saw on the news that KC is looking to lower the fine for posession of mariwana to just $25.00. I am sorry, but this is not a victimless drug as some woulf lead you to belive. I has just ruined Joe and left a paranoid shell of a man in his place. Praying for his recovery, JMG
6:46 Actually 112% is what the average is for retired officers under the old plan that we seized from them when I was on the board. There is actually a retired officer under that plan making $100,000 per year. The unfunded liability for that plan is currently $6.5 million dollars right now. Under the Public Safety Sales Tax we were to get additional officers promised by the police brass but they have never follower through with that promise. Last year the department brought in $1.7 million dollars on the sales tax but never utilized any of it towards adding officers. The shortage of officers is a decision made by Chief Lynch and Ted Bowman, not the board. No crack pie involved here, proudly approaching 180 days of sobriety
Joe just may be correct on the possibility of some high pensions like 8:46 indicated.
Joe is wrong if he thinks the police pension pays an officer 112%. Get real. If that was the case they wouldn't be short of officers.
Geee! Joe you just can't help yourself can you?
I went to pay my personal property tax at cityhall that I have done for the past 30 years. Surprise surprise, the cityhall is no longer taking tax payments for the county. That is going to hurt several of the citizens of raytown who replied on cityhall to pay our property taxes. I understand the reason was that the city loses money each year collecting taxes. O well, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Taxes go up, services go down.
Poor Joe, you need to do your homework. The original police pension plan was passed by voters in the mid 60's. Marion Beeler needed a retirement plan for cops that was secure from the whims of city councils in order to keep trained cops and prevent other communities from hiring them away. The cops were told in the 90's -during Turnbow's term,they didn't need to contribute to the plan anymore because the market was so good and the fund was secure. When the market tanked after 2008, it appeared like a huge liability to the city-all to be corrected, once the market returned. Bower wanted to walk away from the police pension but found out he couldn't -it's called fiduciary responsibility. He hated the cops because his wife had a tryst with a former single cop. Lagers-the current plan-is argubably a better plan as it's secured by State funds not just the cities' but the city still owes the vested cops under the old plan. The problem you site Joe is created by something called compression. You hire cops at a base rate and have to keep increasing the base rate to stay competitive and be able to hire anyone. But, over time, due to flat percentage pay increases suddenly the young guys are making more than their supervisors-because the supervisors were hired at a lower base rate. I recommend the calculation of doubling a penny every day for 30 days to illustrate this. The step pay plan under Franks term tried to fix that but ah, Joe, you and yours did away with that step pay plan. Yes, a very few cops got a rate increase at retirement but they also receive no COLA (never another increase) from the plan- big difference Joey. You want to spout off about this stuff Joe but it seems that as an alderman you didn't have the foggiest understanding of any of it, and you still don't. The Public Safety sales tax was passed overwhelmingly by taxpayers to help hire more cops, but your beloved Sharma reduced nearly the same number of cops from the general fund, so net affect for taxpayers is squat, they're paying a 1/2 cent more for little that was promised. Sure, the police department is half of the cities budget but it's also half of the cities personnel and equipment heavy. Anyone interested in this subject needs to look at the pd's web site: www.raytownpolice.org. Patrol cars running 24/7/365 along with bullet proof vests, guns and training are expensive to be sure. But at the end of the day, who you gonna call, public works?
Wow Joe Creamer the people have spoken and will continue to do so in ever increasing numbers. Joe this is just a small sample size of the ever growing disgusted sentiment in our community that is tired of your negativity and continual attempts to surface issues like they just occurred yesterday and are not being discussed and examined by City Leadership. Frankly one of the BIGGEST challenges this current Board of Alderman has been addressing is tackling the difficult tasks and issues that some officials like yourself and several others taking up residency at City Hall severely failed to address. Your weak excuse of the "school district drove a hard bargain" when the news reporter turned the tables on you during an interview asking you about the underperforming TIF project was a perfect example of why you finished dead last in your last election effort and highlighted your failed tenure as Alderman.
I'm calling "Baloney" on your tall tale of the events surrounding Mahesh Sharma's resignation and exit from his City Administration post. I loved your "Medical statement" as if you called his personal doctor and got him to comment... HIPPA... LMAO... The level of expectations both contractually and acceptable in your tenure and group was in dire need of realignment and was fully outlined in a professional forum and manner to Mahesh. Turnover and change in any City Elections will bring some new leadership and directives and Mahesh apparently felt the process and future expectations was not one he was willing to adapt to, and accepted a new position elsewhere. It's just that simple. Happens every day in the business world. There has been a refreshing change of direction, leadership, communication, and innovative ideas being produced by 2 very talented leaders in the City Administrator roles since Mahesh's departure, and we are very excited by the future direction and talents that Tom Cole will bring to that role as well.
Joe the current Board of Alderman, Mayor, and current city staff are tackling and addressing many key and at times difficult issues In hopes we continue to position Raytown for growth and a destination for talented employees, families, and exciting upstarts and business development. Your continued banter and negative venom spew is not assisting in any positive element towards those goals that so many other hard working, committed, and concerned citizens are attempting to accomplish. Many people have sat back and remained silent including myself addressing your ongoing and irrelevant banter, but we are finally calling you out as not being part of the solution. You are part of the problem!!!
Joe I have on several occasions publicly invited you to a civil sit down discussion as I am very accessible as both a resident and small business owner in Raytown. I stay many nights till 7:00 or 8:00 at my business and would have no problem doing so to engage in a healthy, hopefully positive, and no doubt at times spirited dialogue with you.
Step up and walk thru that door Joe!!
Steve Meyers,
Alderman Ward 4
Steve Meyers,
Speaking as a taxpaying Raytowner the claim made by Joe that the PD consumes 65% of our city's budget is something that should concern and outrage all of us including yourself.
As a sitting alderman you should be able to confirm or deny that figure that is quite staggering.
Please come forward with the correct number.
If the number is accurate or even close, what is your opinion on the number?
TIA for your reply.
Good points, but calling Bower out like that was uncalled for.
I was mad about that too until I realize that the arrangement that had been making us money for us taxpayers to have that service was now costing the city $26,000 a year. I think I can make my way to the post office or the county courthouse for that amount of money
Jo Jo Jo once again your facts are wrong. For positions were removed by my house Sharma while you were on the board and you let it happen along with some of the other board of alderman
I know this fact because I was sitting in the crowd listening to what he was doing to the police department.
Almost all police departments use a large portion of budgets. KCMO is 60+ %
You can also pay them online.
9:40 AM: I just checked KCMO's budget. The KCPD budget is 42% (not 60%+) of the city budget for FY17. Plus KCMO isn't really comparable, considering the size/population/demographics of the city. It just seems fishy that the police budget can be $8+ million, when the fire department only gets about $3 million.
What hat did Joe pull his numbers out of? I find the police expenditures that are budgeted are 46.9% of total expenditures. KCMO has budgeted 42.2% and Independence has budgeted 36.2%. Are we spending too much of our resources on police? Maybe. Maybe not. Let's ask the homeowner whose house was broke into and the vandals arrested. It would be interesting to get their take on the subject. It would seem Joe just pulls numbers out of the air thinking no one will check on him. When he was on the Board and the residents informed the Board they had turned in petitions to form a charter committee, Joe got so mad he had to leave the room. When he returned, he said the average citizen didn't know what was going on and had no business filing petitions or forming charter committees. That should have been left to the only people who knew what was happening, i.e. the BOA. (Thanks to Michael Downing for recording and posting the meeting on You Tube for all of us to review).
Peggy Sue: You forgot to add in the expenditures from the Public Safety Sales Tax. Should total $8,014,829/ $14,061,107 = 57%. That was for FY15/16.
Crime is crime (and will always be present), and expenditures are expenditures. The interesting number to take a look at is that the police budget has increased, but we have actually lost two officers and six civilians during these times of increases.
No, I didn't forget. Neither KCMO nor Independence has the expenditures for supplies and equipment added into the Police budget. That is a separate item in a separate section. If I added that into the numbers for Raytown, I would be skewing the numbers and comparing apples to oranges. Maybe that's why Joe's numbers seem so far out of whack. You know the old saying....Figures don't lie but liars figure.
Percentage are percentages
Doesn't matter if they are KC or Grain Valley or whatever
But what does matter is when one is providing service to an area surrounded by KCMO
You're going to be busier and thus cost more
Why doesn't someone compare the crime rate to the police budget? A high crime rate justifies a higher PD budget.
Andy Whiteman
7:26 you are out of touch with reality
You need to look at calls of service for a specific area and the corresponding number of officers on the street.
If you would do the homework you will find that the officers on the street has not changed in along time.
So what is driving up the cost?
Do the homework or maybe Joe could explain that beyond the pension that is a driving factor.
The information is public and I understand even on the city's website
Until next time, support the boys in blue at least those brave enough to be on the streets.
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