Raytown
Board of Aldermen Meeting – July 11, 2017
Janice
Masters told the Board she wanted the ordinance amended or revised. She said the the city’s animal control unit told her they can only
perform welfare checks on animals. According to Animal Control personnel, they
do not have the authority to remove abused or neglected animals. Based on that information, Mrs. Mastes believes the city should amend or revise the ordinance to
protect animals.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the appointment of Josh Morales to the
Board of Zoning Adjustment.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the appointment of Thomas Murray to the
Board of Zoning Adjustment.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the reappointment of Dee Ann Stock to the
Planning & Zoning Commission.
The Board passed a resolution approving the
reappointment of George Mitchell to the Raytown Park Board.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the appointment of Jeanette Guenther to the
Raytown Park Board.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the appointment of Kimberly Montsdeoca to
the Raytown Park Board.
The
Board heard the first and second readings, and then passed of an ordinance
establishing a procedure to disclose potential conflicts of interest and
substantial interests for certain municipal officials. In 1991, the Missouri General Assembly
adopted an ethics and personal financial disclosure law, which applied to all
municipalities with an annual operating budget in excess of $1 million. Under the law, municipalities were allowed to
adopt their own simplified personal financial disclosure requirements by
ordinance (commonly known as “short form” reporting).
The financial disclosure reporting requirements apply to each elected official, the City Administrator (as the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Purchasing Officer), the Director of Finance (as the Chief Financial Officer), the City Clerk, the full-time General Counsel, the Park Board, and the Parks and Recreation Director. Each political subdivision desiring to use the “short form” is required to readopt the ordinance authorizing “short form” reporting every two years. However, in order to avoid the significant consequences of the failure to readopt the ordinance the recommended best practice is to adopt the ordinance annually.
The financial disclosure reporting requirements apply to each elected official, the City Administrator (as the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Purchasing Officer), the Director of Finance (as the Chief Financial Officer), the City Clerk, the full-time General Counsel, the Park Board, and the Parks and Recreation Director. Each political subdivision desiring to use the “short form” is required to readopt the ordinance authorizing “short form” reporting every two years. However, in order to avoid the significant consequences of the failure to readopt the ordinance the recommended best practice is to adopt the ordinance annually.
The
Board passed an ordinance approving a contract with DEW Farms Services for
mowing and nuisance abatement services in an amount not to exceed $36,000. The City of Raytown accepted a bid from DEW
Farms, LLC to provide the City with services for nuisance abatement and mowing
related to the city’s code enforcement activities. Through the contract, DEW Farms, LLC provides
abatement of various property maintenance violations such as junk, trash, and
debris; brush and branch removal, and mowing of weeds and grass in excess of
eight inches in length.
To our
Readers:
 |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
Last
week we published links to the lawsuits between the City of Raytown and Raytown
Fire Protection District. This past week the Raytown Times reported on the
lawsuit. Bob Phillips of the Times also wrote a short piece condemning the city
for a lack of transparency over the lawsuit.
We find
Phillip’s commentary interesting because the Times did not publish the text of
the lawsuit.
Given
the limitations of the pulp print media, we can understand why the Editor of
the Times, Randy Battagler, did not publish a written copy of the lawsuits.
After all, they are rather lengthy and would have probably cost a lot of money
to produce.
What we
do not understand, particularly given Bob Phillip’s complaint about a lack of
transparency, is why did they not publish a link to the Raytown Report?
We
carried the entire text of the lawsuits one full week before they reported on
it.
Their
readers could have had the benefit of reading the entire text of the lawsuits
and been able to form their own opinions about the merits of the arguments
being made by the City and Fire District.
In the spirit
of transparency, we invite Mr. Phillips and Mr. Battagler to publish a link to
the Raytown Report to their readers can learn first-hand what the lawsuits are
all about.
We are re-running last week's story for those who may be new to our weekly newsblog report.
We are re-running last week's story for those who may be new to our weekly newsblog report.
Unrealistic Goals
and
Broken Promises . . .
. . . have the City Hall
and Raytown Fire Protection District facing off in two lawsuits.
The City claims the Fire
District has wronged them by holding back payments of certain revenue collected
in the 350 Live Development Project (a TIF program commonly recognized as that
area anchored by Walmart on 350 Highway).
The Fire District says
the City has not followed through on promises it made regarding the timeline of
the development and that they have fulfilled their end of the agreement.
The lawsuits have been
filed. The two sides are meeting to try to work out their differences before
they go to court.
Who is right? Who is
wrong? You be the judge. The two lawsuits, one by the City of Raytown against
the Fire District and the Fire District’s briefs can be reached by using the
following links.
Fire District - Ans & Counter Claim to City
Claim Filed 1-27-2017 .pdf
20.8 MB
City of Raytown v. RFPD - Claim Filed
1-27-2017.pdf
90 KB
To leave a comment use this link POST A COMMENT
61 comments:
July 15, 2017 at 7:47 PM, I asked that myself and there are two good reasons:
1) Manpower to assist with moving patients and lifting. I once had to be carried from a 2nd floor on a stretcher chair since there was no other way to get me out. I weighed 150 lbs + the weight of the chair so figure over 200 lbs to carry plus at that time I couldn't couldn't remain still!
2) Fire trucks are also staffed by EMTs and Paramedics! A firetruck may have a much faster response time than an ambulance depending on distance and other calls for service. There were times in Raytown when I called for EMS and the truck arrived several minutes before the ambulance! These few very well could make a difference in saving the patient.
Andy Whiteman
You know things are bad when even Bob Phillips says that it appears the claims the Fire District have been making for the past 2 years maybe accurate. City hall is running out of places to hide.
From the sounds of the lawsuit this on the verge of being criminal. There is no way the Raytown Police Department is going to investigate this, so if not then who? Jackson County Sheriff? Jean Bakers office? Who would it be and how does someone get them involved,
The next investigation will probably be from the State Auditors Office, I understand she has already been contacted.
Time to call in the Federal B.I. or the Attorney General office to get this mess straightened out. I wouldn't rely on what the Finance Director says. It is clearly a case of CYA at this point.
9:21 PM.
There is nothing criminal in the issue regarding the 2 lawsuits. I mean if holding up the taxpayers of much needed community projects and infrastructure repairs in lieu of getting one of the Firetrucks paid for isn't criminal, then nothing is.
Joe Creamer wrote an article in the Raytown Times last week concerning Nepotism in the Police Department. Mr. Creamer, prior to writing article, contacted a City Official asking if the Police Department violated the Nepotism Policy and was told no, the P.D. is not in violation. Mr. Creamer still wrote that he has been told (by an anonymous source) the P.D. was in violation.
A current organizational chart is available. The P.D. is not in violation!
It appears that Joe Creamer doesn't really care about the truth.
This is evident in all the articles he has published recently.
Joe Creamer told us at a city council meeting a couple of months ago that he has all the documentation to prove what he says. It's in boxes on his garage floor! And no, you can't see them.
Anon 9:21, I am not a lawyer but the allegations made against the City sure look like fraud to me. But, I certainly understand the urgency and desire by City Hall to borrow more money before the bottom drops out. Not sure how you arrived at your claim that the fire department is holding up needed community projects, the City filed the lawsuit against the fire department. If that suit is holding up anything, then I guess to the Board of Aldermen I would say Karma is a cold hard one...
Joe Creamer seems to me to want to tear down Raytown instead of trying to help and constructively fix the problems around town
I have heard about this box of secrets in Joe Creamer's garage. I wonder if that is where Hillary Clinton's lost emails can be found!
Oh, but that is not all. Check this out.
favoritism: shown by somebody in power to relatives and friends, especially in appointing them to good positions
Let's be honest about this. There are people in the Raytown PD who are related to each other. Do they show favoritism to each other. I really do not know. I do know that if folks related to each other were not working together, this discussion would not be taking place.
How can anyone look at these two cases and think for one minute the fire department is the one being unreasonable. The folks are rapidly arriving at the point they are going to have to become transparent with the public. It's not enough to sit up at the front on the room and say theses accusations are unfounded. If they were unfounded then it would have been thrown out of court months ago. Instead we are wasting more money for attorneys in order to try and cover up their lies.
This whole Walmart project has been Charlie Foxtrot from Day 1. Enough is enough ladies and gentlemen, it's time for our elected officials to lead and make the hard decisions we elected them to make.
For those of you who missed it the State Auditor held an event last week at the go cart track. Very nice lady who seems very concerned about the current situation in Raytown. Hopefully she is able to step in and we can finally know how bad things really are
When is the city going to fix the "Worlds of Fun Roller Coaster" on 59th street where the water main broke. Come on City Hall; get off you butts and get it repaired! This slow service is a disgrace!
The mess on 59th st is a water company issue. Not the cities. Knowing that Clevenger is involved shouldn't shock anyone that the issue is stalled.
8:36 am
I don't know why you bother to tell those people anything. They have been told repeatedly that city hall has nothing to do with super splash, yet they keep going to city council meetings and asking the pool be reopened. They have been told on this blog numerous times that the mess on 59th Street is Clevenger's problem. They know what they know and the truth be damned!
The water company should be held accountable for the 59 atreet mess.
Let me see if I have this right. The city filed suit against the fire district on or about 27 Jan 2017.
Now why would the city file against the fire district when it does not seem as if they have ever sat down and tried to figure out a sane way to resolve this problem without a law suit. I would imagine that this is a result of the board with the ok of the Mayor. The taxpayers funds are being used by the fire district and the city of Raytown. Do the taxpayers have a big bulls eye on their backs? Now the board is trying to refinance debt and it can not happen as long as their is a lawsuit under way.
I would think that it could be resolved before the court date of both sides were really concerned about the outcome of a suit.
Please try and resolve.
GADSDEN, judging by the date of the filing my guess it that it was a parting shot fired by the former Finance Director/ Interim City Administrator Mark Loughry. Guess he figured he was leaving us so what did he have to loose by suing. This mess is so complicated I highly doubt anyone elected at City Hall could even begin to explain it, so why would you assume they are qualified to make sane decisions regarding resolving it. Like it or not this is only going to be settled in a court of law. I just hope there is a Raytown left when it's over. Unlike the former City Administrator and the former Finance Director we cannot turn tail and run
I really do not know what the big deal about 59th Street really is. From what I saw, and rode on was only a few blocks long, and was not that bad. On the other hand, there are several blocks on 79th Street, from about Elm to Raytown Road is extremely rough and jarring. But you do not see me upset about it. There are several rough roads in the city, why is any one more important than the other? As for 59th, it appears that it is a the Raytown Water Companies problem, and they have enough problems as it is, from what I have heard.
Wait till 59th street develops a huge hole and swallows a vehicle. Then there will be finger pointing from the city to Raytown Water Co who is to blame. City hall won't put pressure on Raytown Water Co because they are "buddy buddies. 59th street is a driver's hazard!
I haven't been on 79th street and Elm and I am sure it is bad as you say, but look at ALL the streets in Raytown!! I have seen county and country roads in much better shape and they have less money to work with. Fall is fast approaching and we haven't heard one thing about any street ovelays coming from City Hall. Oh wait, I forgot we can't do any street overlays. Where is all the tax money going? Could it be to the Raytown Police Chair Warmers? Naaaa!
Tried to watch the City Council meeting tonight, but it only lasted 22 minutes before it went into executive session for a legal matter. I can only assume it's related to the 39 million dollar elephant in the room, but the fact they cleared the agenda and went into closed session so fast scares me. That never happens unless something is very wrong. Guess only time will tell for sure, lord knows the city won't say a word.
Shame ion the Fire District, you are holding up progress. The time has come for you to grow up and drop this stupid mission to prove the TIF Project was a bad deal. Hope you sleep well knowing your ruining our city.
To 11:32 pm, If you had your facts straight you would realize that it is not the Fire District ruining anything, this is about fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers, please do your homework before uttering your ignorance.
This Sunday marks a historical event for the Downtown Green Space. Other than the annual "candy grab", this is the first time an event has been held at that location.
Sunday, July 23 Ragin Rats Car Show benefiting the Dream-factory 10a-3p on the Green in Downtown Raytown.
Come see lots of cool cars, various vendors, food trucks, and a DUNK TANK (rumor has it that some city officials have volunteered to participate in this event).
Come on downtown its a nice place to visit!
Raytown Rocks
8:45 am
Did you post this on Raytown Unleashed on Facebook? If not, you should. A lot of people will see it and maybe attend.
Did you even watch the meeting? They tabled the items because the legal review hasn't take place. Some people.
Our crime rate is at an all time high. Shootings and police chases are almost a daily occurrence. 3 out of every 4 tax dollars go to the cops. We cannot afford to fund community resources such as Supersplash. The City is in the middle in a very decisive lawsuit with the Fire District which they caused. Depending on who you believe the finances are somewhere between bad and critical. So in other words things are really bad in Raytown and not looking to improve anytime soon. Where is our elected leader through all this you ask? He's on TV giving a proclamation to Vicki Lawerence because she appeared on a mildly offensive program that was set in a southern city known as Raytown. People say Donald Trump doesn't have a clue, well folks neither does our Mayor.
10:49 pm - You damn liberals blame everything on Trump. Why don't you take the blame. You're the ones that passed the police sales tax. Now they think they have all the money in the world. Why don't you just crawl in a hole and stay there.
On a positive note a big shout out to the Parks Dept for all their hard work this spring and summer. The Parks and all the areas they maintain like City Hall, Gregory/Ratyown Rd intersection, and all the medians just look spectacular! Also be sure to put the annual Arts & Music Festival on your event calendar as well. Free family event once again held at Kenagy Park August 26th noon to 7 p.m.
The Parks folks are busy busy these days!
Steve Meyers,
Alderman Ward 4
8:26 You mean the tax and spend Republicans that cannot manage money.
The best example is the miss management of the TIF project.
This board and Mayor are unscrewing what was already screwed up. The city budget is under scrutiny as it has been the last two years. So they are doing their job. The mayor out getting good positive publicity for Raytown is nothing to laugh at it is a necessity to bring good attention to our town which is a great town.
Wait for, wait for it....
.... positive attention to cover up the corruption and failures.
how soon are we the next city to go broke.
Streets a mess
Broken promises (public safety sales tax, transportation sales tax)
We won't even touch on the articles regarding the WalMart TIF
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/as-cities-go-broke-pensions-are-slashed/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/as-cities-go-broke-pensions-are-slashed/
Read the article, it could happen here if things keep going from bad to worst.
Wouldn't it be ironic if a former police officer (the mayor) through his administration and mismanagement of local issue including a lawsuit against the fire department result in him being forced to cut his own pension by 50% or more.
I am continually amazed with how little the bloggers on this site really know. I think perhaps it’s because they are vindictive, jealous little people. If the police department is forced to make adjustments to the police pension, it will not affect the retirees currently collecting pension. It will only affect future retirees. The mayor will not be affected at all. In all probably, neither will the police chief. By Federal law, the changes have to wait until those in the pension plan have time to make other investments for their retirements.
Now, before you throw Enron in my face, remember the Enron pension plan invested heavily in the Enron stock. When the company failed and the stock became worthless, so did the pension funds. You people need to research your subject before you start throwing statements around. It makes you look like the idiots you really are.
I find it rather comical that people keep talking about the mismanagement of funds. For one the mayor has no vote unless there's a tie number two board of alderman do have a vote and they have been scrutinizing and unscrewing mistakes made in the past to try to make a better budget . Number three since when are you bloggers attorneys who can tell whether it's the fire district or the city that is wrong in regard to the lawsuit on the TIF issue
Roger,
You need to ask the administrator to remove your post.
You are the one needing some education:
Talk to teamsters and ask what has happened to them.
They are sadly not alone.
I read Joe Creamer’s letter in the paper with interest. He kept talking about all the mismanagement of the prior Board. I think he forgets HE was on the prior Board. The mismanagement of funds, mistakes made with the TIF, and financial problems in Raytown fall directly at his feet.
I wonder what the State of MO would find if they looked into the Raytown PD and hour s reported for the pension.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2017/02/pension_may_be_in_jeopardy_for_ex-jersey_city_cop.html
Not sure who you are but if you have all this trash on the City and police and EMS why don't you prove it?
Why because just like Creamer claims there is no harm, no fowl and no proof just BS
I saw that the police pension board has open meetings. I'll go educate myself before speaking unlike the people that speak without knowledge, there's no shortage of them. Those comments mean nothing without any insight behind them
Grain valley is hosting a national biker rally next month and 20 thousand bikers are expected. So glad that it's not in raytown. We don't need those type of people in our city.
You know those people may be better than you Mr. 3"36
What type of people should be in Raytown?
Seems like the bikers did ok in Grain Valley a few years ago. Wouldn't they bring revenue to Raytown? At least it wouldn't involve a TIF!
What's left to prove, crime is the highest it's ever been in Raytown, 3 out of every 4 tax dollars collected by the city goes to fund the top heavy police department. Don't forget about the money laundering scheme the former city administrator and the police chief cooked up known as the public safety sales tax. It's the only reason the Walmart TIF hasn't imploded before now. Raytown EMS cannot staff 50% of the time and relies on Kansas City to run 400 plus calls a year. They have a constant revoling door of staff which is only exceeed by the city department heads who cannot seem to stick around for more than 20 minutes. But, your probably right anonymous 2:27, there is no proof the city is falling apart around Mayor McDonough....Sigh
Hello My People!!
Signups for the Raytown Citizen's Police Academy are now open!! Woo Hoo!!
Info about how to sign up is posted on their Facebook page. This is a FREE program. Signups are limited.
Get educated about the PD and have fun at the same time.
I don't know, bikers may bring trouble with them
That is so funny! Anonymous 11:13 complaining that Anonymous 2:27 didn't sign his/her name. Talk about being a hypocrite!
Just read the 11:13 post and cannot find any mention of a complaint regarding the signing of ones name. What are you referring to exactly?
The best way to keep from being impeached as the mayor....Jason Greene mayor protem
Peggy what are you talking about!!!
11:13 was bring up the ugly truths about our city.
I didn't read any thing about a complaint that someone didn't sign their name.
Anonymous 8:40 - 11:13 wrote "But, your probably right anonymous 2:27, there is no proof the city is falling apart..." I was referring to the fact that 11:13 is commenting about 2:27 not signing his/her name.
Your right we don't need bikers in our city. What we need are more slum land lords and renters from the inner city. Get a grip not all bikers are bad....
Peggy are you sure your looking at the same times we are? Are you sure your name is Peggy and not Mary? Sounds like something Mary would say.
A lot of Mary's type on this forum either as a Peggy Sue or Anonymous!
The guy has been honest and direct his whole tenure. Spoke up against the last administration, must have a supporter of Bower or Sharma posting, how cute.
I don't care if your name is Peggy, Mary, William or Bill; you are part of the problem and not part of the solution. You please sit down and let the grownups talk so we can try to fix the mess you have made
I know this is a silly question; but is the City of Raytown going to offer curb side limb debris pickup or a place to dispose of the debris? They use to use the old lagoon. Seems like a lot of cities are doing this for the tax payers. Oh, wait we are not like other cities, city hall does very little for our citizens, we can't even get our streets paved the right way.
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