RAYTOWN'S LEADING NEWS SOURCE
 |
| BY GREG WALTERS |
Budget is Approved
The Raytown Board of Aldermen approved the 2017-2018 Fiscal Budget for
the City of Raytown last Tuesday, October 10th at a work session of
the Board.
The meeting began with comments from Ward 3 Alderman Mark Moore, began
the meeting with a short speech in which he clearly addressed the need for
those in management positions to be open and honest with those who will be
affected by budget cuts. His comments were leveled at the Chief of Police and
members of his command staff, as well as the Mayor in his explanation of the
need for honest and open communication between employee and their immediate
supervisors.
Alderman Moore's speech begins at the 29:42 mark of the recording.
USE THIS LINK . . . ALDERMAN MOORE'S SPEECH
Tempers Flare
In the week lead up to the approval of the budget. Most notable were
two incidents involving Chief of Police Jim Lynch. Earlier in the week he had
confronted City Finance Director Briana Burrichter over a management chart she had
constructed for the Police Department. The Board of Aldermen had instructed the Finance Director and the City Administrator to propose organization charts for the
police.
Finance Director Biurricheter organization chart allowed for 47 sworn officers within the Department. The Police Department's chart allowed for 41 members.
According to Ward 5 Aldermen Mims and Moore, Ms. Burrichter entered the
City Clerk’s office in tears because the Chief of Police had threatened to have
the Fraternal Order of Police bring a lawsuit against the Finance Director for
following the Board’s instructions.
The second incident occurred after Alderman Moore made his speech at
the beginning of the Board of Aldermen’s Work Session. When Moore had finished,
he explained (he) had to return to his job.
At that point Lynch had left the Council Chambers to confront Moore. The two met up with each other in the hallway behind the Council Chambers.
A very loud argument ensued that could be heard in the Council Chambers. Ward 5 Alderman Bonnaye Mims left the Chambers to see what was going on (her seat is next to the door leading into the hallway). According to Mims, Lynch angrily thrust a finger in her direction and shouted at her to leave the hallway.
Moore and Lynch took their discussion outside of the building.
When asked what had happened Moore smiled with his reply, "it was just two Alpha males having a discussion."
Paul’s Rant
Other items of interest . . .
The 2017-2018 Budget is passed. But there are still some lose ends that
need to be tied up.
GPS IN POLICE VEHICLES: It has been over a month since the Board
directed that GPS tracking devices be placed in police vehicles. In what has been
explained as an “over-sight” by some city officials, the line item funding the
GPS tracking has been removed from the budget. Since the Board has already
approved the installation of GPS tracking, it is a certainty they will amend
the budget to provide the funding.
ALDERMAN JIM AZIERE: . . . said what! The senior member of the Raytown
Board of Aldermen, Jim Aziere was interviewed by KSHB TV 41 about the current
budget crisis. In the interview he told the reporter Raytown does not have the
money to plow snow off the streets (because the budget is so tight). Not true. Snow removal is in budgeted in the
2017 / 2018 budget. It is, in part, because of the budget cuts of all city
departments, including the police, that snow removal remains in the budget.
NOTE to KSBH-TV: The city budget was cut $2,754,590, not 3.5 million. Commissioned
officers were cut by 12 not 30. If you need some more honest numbers on the
budget cuts, please visit with the City Administrator. He has the accurate
facts.
To view Aziere's interview use this link AZIERE
JASON GREENE OFFERS AMENDMENT: The last discussion item before the
Board unanimously approved the budget was at item offered by Ward 2 Alderman
Greene on some last minute adjustments to the budget. Problem is, Greene never
formally amended the budget. Nor was there a second to his suggestions. What
that means is if Greene’s amendments (which would have affected the budget by
over $100,000) will have to be amended into the document at a later date for
them to take effect.
POLICE ASK FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR PAYROLL: Chief of Police Jim:Lynch is asking for an additional $294,310.00 to meet payroll expense for the current year which ends October 31, 2017. If ever there was a reason to have both a reserve and a contingency budget, this item pretty much explains it. What it means is because of the lack of proper departmental management, the Police Department has over-spent the current budget year fund for payroll by over a quarter of a million dollars!
I watched the public meetings on the budget. There were many
individuals who argued the police are best at doing the police work and the
Board of Aldermen should just fund the needs of he Department and let them go
on about their business.
They may have a point. Perhaps the Police know best how to keep the streets safe. But this budget requests illustrates the need for over-sight in money management. It also shows the dire financial condition of the city.
They may have a point. Perhaps the Police know best how to keep the streets safe. But this budget requests illustrates the need for over-sight in money management. It also shows the dire financial condition of the city.
Budget Questions Answered BY GREG WALTERS
During the past few months all of us have read different
figures of how much the city shortfall in the budget is . . . how many
personnel will be cut from city payroll.
It is frustrating to hear so many items discussed as facts
that turn out to be bogus. Now the budget is passed. The dust has settled and
it can more clearly be seen as to what has actually been done. The numbers were
provided by the City Administrator’s office.
HOW MUCH WAS CUT TO BALANCE THE CITY BUDGET?
The proposed budget from all city departments was reduced by
$2,754,590.00. The final figure balances the city’s budget for the 2017 / 2018
Fiscal Year.
HOW MANY POLICE EMPLOYEES WERE CUT?
12 – Sworn officers*
10 – Civilian positions
3 – Part-time
civilian positions
*During the budget debates and negotiations, police
spokesmen often used higher numbers to show how many
“positions” were being lost by the Department. The “12 sworn officers” reflects
the number of officers who either lost jobs or are retiring from the force.The
rest of the often repeated "30 positions lost" were unfilled positions and no jobs were ever in jeopardy of being lost.
Alderman Eric Teeman Resigns
To Ward 5 Raytown Residents, Mayor Michael McDonough,
Board
of Alderman, and City Staff:
After much discussion
and contemplation, I regretfully must resign my position as Alderman for Ward 5
in Raytown effective November 7, 2017. I have dedicated a lot of time to
helping the Mayor, Board of Alderman, and city staff work to grow and improve
Raytown. It has been a great honor to serve with such fine men and women. There
have been ups and there have been downs. There have been many, many heated
debates and tough decisions. It has been a wonderful experience. However, over
the last 12 months my professional life has taken a dramatic and unforeseen
turn and for that reason I must resign my position.
I firmly believe that I must do what is right for my family
first and foremost. Everything else will always take a back seat to the
well-being of my family. The opportunity that has been presented to me will
require my full attention. My wife and I have decided that this opportunity is
too good for me and my family to pass up. With that being the case, it would be
a disservice to the constituents of Ward 5 to continue on in my post, since I
will be unable to dedicate an appropriate amount of time to keep myself
informed and educated on the issues that are confronting the city.
This has been a very difficult decision for me. I do not
like to quit anything I start. It is not how I was raised and it is not how I
raise my children. However, there is also only so much time in the day and we
all have to sleep. The position of Alderman deserves a level of attention that
I will not be able to continue to provide for the residents of Ward 5. Please
accept my resignation and my apology for needing to do so.
Sincerely,
Comments
Greg Walters: Thank you for standing up and having no difficulty whatsoever reporting on the village idiots.
Lynch: Threatening a department head? Yelling in the hallways? Did this happen? Are you done embarrassing the city yet?
Eric Teeman: We understand. You're an educated, highly intelligent individual, and you will be missed. We hope that you will return to work with a couple "citizen's groups" in the near future. You would be a tremendous asset.
"Tantrum" Teeman's letter says a lot. All I saw was "what's best for me" and here's why you should see it my way. Not impressed. Sorry "fixing" the city was too inconvenient for him to see through his commitment. These hobbyist politicians that have no long-term skin in the game have led us to where we are.
What does it take to move Raytown forward? Clearly the in-fighting is moving us further down the sprial.
The overtime request of one quarter of a million plus speaks volume of the incompetence and hard headed thinking that is dominating the Raytown Police Department command staff.
One step at a time. The entire City government needs to be reformed. If the members of the BOA had just admitted there was a crime problem in Raytown rather than downplaying crime, they would not of riled up the citizens so much against them. The BOA needs to get back on track. Funding, the City needs funding. Roads, bridges, sidewalks, curbs and streetlights.
The Chief presents a budget to the BOA each year. He asks and the BOA decides how much to give. This is the arrangement. The BOA has the power of the purse strings. This is a simple concept and the BOA has a lot of power in this arrangement.
If history shows us anything the BOA/Mayor will let this seat remain vacant until the next election.
"The overtime request of one quarter of a million plus"
There will be lots of overtime. A lot of officers are leaving so the ones that remain will have to pick up the slack. Throw in vacation/sick days on top of that as well and you can see how strapped they are for bodies.
I do know that the RPD is going to do it's best to make sure each shift is fully-staffed and if OT is needed, so be it.
Not how things work. According to Missouri law for 4th class cities, the Mayor nominates the board replacement candidate and the board votes on it.
Way cheaper than paying for a special election.
We understand the mayor has to appoint someone to take Eric Teeman's place. That's fine. Our point is, he needs to do it. He refused to fill two vacant seats on the BOA for over a year. He needs to get off the fence and do SOMETHING!
Technically it was about nine months and very close to an election year. Perhaps he did not want to influence the election by appointing someone? Perhaps he thought it would be an unfair advantage? Perhaps he wanted a clean slate for Ward 5 and to let the voters have the final say? Nobody knows, but if you are concerned about it, why don't you ask him instead of complaining here?
He he has not at that time they need to call the vote as allowed by a 4th class city and remove him for failure to do his job.
Boy and Girls that is how the big kids do business!
Yup, that would be Mr. Aziere
He gleefully admitted to me that he sought a position on the committee just so he could do his best to torpedo the effort.
A master of snake oil politics.
Really? How stupid would that be
I heard the mayor has been bad about appointing people to vacancies on other city boards and committees.
That is NOT putting Raytown first!
"I'm with you guys, I'm ready to join everyone here and let's bring the police department to their knees. We don't need 'em, I have Smith and Wesson to protect me."
I really hope you were being facetious, correct???????
Woooo...big word...look it up if you don't know what it means.
In the corporate world what you describe is called screening the job applicants... Problem? No.. I thought not.
Hi 5:33
No, this is not a new endeavor, and no, she does not run it. There are several folks involved in getting this off the ground. The volunteers have been around a long time. We plan the Citizen's Academy, Safety Fair, Coffee with a Cop, etc.
What is new, however, is that we have incorporated and are becoming a non-profit.
Since there are no funds in the budget for community service activities, we are going to raise the funds ourselves. It is vitally important that the police and the community they serve interact--and not just in a crisis situation.
We have some awesome folks at the PD and you should get to know them sometime.
Been watching tonight's meeting. I see the number of people attending is getting smaller and smaller despite attempts on face book to rally people to the cause. I think most people are tired of all the drama. The budget is passed. The Board did its job. It took a lot courage for them to do so.
There are a lot of good people in Raytown. But too many are digging in for a lost cause. Accept the reality. The city is out of money. It is time to move forward.
I look forward to seeing your progress? Will there be a FB page or something that we can follow? I doubt you'll get much support here.
The aldermen spent OVER AN HOUR in closed session tonight at the BOA meeting then had to continue with the rest of the agenda.
That is outrageous to make everyone wait that long.
They should only do closed sessions at the end of the BOA meeting!! How about some common sense people!
Hi 9:30
Thank you for the kind words.
We are working on designing a new website for the VIPS group. This is all very new and a lot of work is going into getting this launched.
We'll keep you posted. The RPD needs a lot of support right now.
But "Da Chief", "Da Chief", "Da Chief" at this point does not warrant anyone's unconditional and likely uninformed support, IOHO. He needs to either RESIGN, BE REPLACED, or be STRINGENTLY, CONTINUOUSLY SUPERVISED.
What we need is "honest", "ethical" and "moral" police officers every where in this Nation not just Raytown.
However, we all know what has been in the news for the past three years and it just keeps getting worse with those who wear a badge believing the are above the law.
Now it is not all of them, but when the good ones are to afraid to speak up they too become part of the problem.
Lynch has created a huge mess for the police and not just from over spending, but from the lies he continues to tell and the out right hate towards anyone who questions something he doesn't want to answer.
We cannot have a "Professional" police department when the head of "Bullies".
I would encourage you to contact Mr Lynch and ask him to resign ASAP so that someone can come in and clean up the mess he had made and restore a "Professional" police department.
You like Mr Lynch have a choice to be part of the problem or to restore faith in our officers, which will it be?
To many people are now questioning if they should continue to give money to REAP because of information the Chief may have, but cannot share.
Keep in mind we are a small town and to many of us already know that REAP had to remove the last person who ran the day to day operations at REAP.
Why is the reason for this been so quit?
It sure seems Chief Jim Lynch does know something.
The professionalism is not going to improve in the short term. It's like starting over.
So far, 14 of our highly trained police officers are being scooped up by Kansas City. Our tax dollars already spent, Kansas City benefits. Public safety is being decimated. I can only hope and pray that residents remain safe and no harm comes to us. Hey, call your Alderman when you are a victim of a crime, I am sure they will come right over to help.
Most of the people we have chosen are completely unqualified to effectively power through what lies ahead. Be it through education, experience, and in some cases, ethics.
With a couple major exceptions (a couple aldermen), we have elected the worst group in city government in the history of Raytown.
The ~only~ workable solution is to replace most all of them, as someone just mentioned.
Perhaps the Walmart debacle will have finally shook something loose in Raytown that has needed attention for years.
Don't let up on these people. They're burrowing in deeper and counting on you to revert to indifference. This is not going to be their legacy. Get them out.
You make it sound as if the current BOA signed the TIF agreement. No one, except Jim Aziere, was around when the TIF was signed. Don't blame them that the city ran out of money. Tom Cole was sounding the alarm years ago. No one listened. Now, this BOA has to deal with the fallout.
Where were you back when the TIF was signed? Why weren't you jumping up and down and shouting about what a bad deal this was? Were you part of the Apathy?
What is next telling us all how "Professional" Sue Frank and David Bower are?
Give us all a break and get some facts before telling everyone what "Professional" is.
Not saying all of the officers are NOT professional as many have had the loose lips to keep folks informed this ship was doomed to sink several years ago.
The truth will set you free!
Thank you for speaking up, but let me add a few pieces.
Yes, Aziere is the last remaining Alderman that voted for biggest mistake in the history of all MO TIFs.
However, in 2011 the board allowed Block out of the project on the projerty next to the Wellness Center. Block not only didn't have to bring in the sales tax generating business, but also used this to reduce the value of the property and therefore the property taxes.
Who remains of those great minds Aziere and Van Buskirt
The current Alderman are having fingers pointed at them for cleaning up the mess of the past, but they should be having their names celebrated and honored for cleaning up things that actually started the minute Sue Frank was elected and stated a decade of helping family members gain wealth of the taxpayers of Raytown.
Again thank you for call those out that more than likely are part of the problem directly, but at least indirectly for supporting the lies and hate of Jim Lynch.
Reread. "This is what apathy does. The circumstances in which we find ourselves is our fault." They admitted that they indeed took part in the "apathy".
Reread. Nowhere did 12:00 PM infer that the current board signed the TIF agreement. You did that all on your own.
All points stand as far as we're concerned.
It was a Sun Frank, Kurt Wenson and Dan Estes screwed up mess. They all left city hall before it was signed, but Bower had little choice but to proceed, based on recommendations by city staff, or who knows who else.
That's the problem with cityhall, there is no one accountable for the Walmart deal, no one! And for that the city gave away everything, including our future.
Markley likes to sue everyone it is now time the BOA sue the school district.
Make Raytown Great Again!
The Fire District has nothing to do with city government
It has its own tax base and board.
And..... if someone wants to give a small meal or drink to any first responders what is the harm?
You think someone is going to fail in their duties because of a burger????
Geesh !!
You obviously don't watch meetings. I'm curious what could the board have done and were could they have cut in order stop the layoffs? They had to do the cuts by law. End of discussion, please go read their budget and come back and so everyone on this blog what you would have done.
Meanwhile we still wait for the solution the Mayor promised he would deliver on two months ago. The upper levels of the p.d. are anything but apologetic about their part in the mess at city hall. No solutions offered from them either.
So it lands onthe Board of Aldermen to be the grown up in the room. The waste, the ignoring of looming budget deficits press them hard for a solution. So they do the only thing they can do. They cut the budget.
The people in raytown should thank each and every one of our elected city council for taking care of business the mayor and chief of police want to ignore.
His false and negative narrative has been nothing short of shameful to the people who elected him to be a leader even during times of transistion. Oh hold on. FOX 4 coming on with breaking news!! Seems Raytown is under State of Emergency and National Guard is assuming control of community policing according to Chief Jim Lynch and Mark Alford.
He cannot handle anything
How long has our venerable "Chief" been "Chief"? Prior to this TIF agreement?
Spot me on this...still learning. Since the Raytown Police Department absorbs what? Over FIFTY, SIXTY percent of general fund? Would it be accurate to say that "The Chief" should have been aware, EARLY ON, of the extraordinary importance and urgency of intelligently staffing and budgeting up against this 10+ year old TIF?
Can Mr. Lynch currently demonstrate what steps he took to restructure/conserve in prior years to ameliorate what was bound to happen at one point or another?
Negative planning is essential in every budget (i.e. fluctuating market conditions, ect...) . I would think that it would be job one when a community hooks up any TIF, especially when one chooses to tangle with a WalMart. Would this have prevented that request for additional funds a couple days back?
Is basic strategic planning NOT one of the reasons Mr. Lynch is paid nearly 100K per year?
You might wanna check your fuzzy math on those positions meeting watcher. Wanna quote me?
I would think that there are more to blame than just a department head.
One ends up as Chief/Marshal. One ends up as Major. And one ends up as Mayor.
Amazing
If we paid 50 officers this extra money, it would cost each of the roughly 10K households an additional 50 bucks a year. Well worth it even at twice the price. Then sweeten it by adding a grand a year up to 10 years for an extra $20K/year.
I am not suggesting they have to live here. This program would be entirely voluntary.
That needs to change. Immediately. Obviously, the police gene pool in Raytown is seriously lacking.
Guess there real is a lot of fack news floating around - NOT!
Why should it be just police officers?
My understanding is that any Raytown resident can run for police chief.
If you are not a police officer, you have a year after the election to go to the police academy and get your certification.
You are correct. And before the folks with the police department can scoff and/or call you a liar, here is the state statue:
http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/chapters/chapText079.html
City marshal, training requirements, fourth class cities.
79.055. 1. Any person who is elected to his first term as city marshal in a general election or in a special election in any fourth class city of this state shall, within six months of such election, cause to be filed with the city clerk of the city and director of the department of public safety proof that he has completed the training program formulated pursuant to sections 590.170 and 590.175, or some other comparable training program of not less than one hundred twenty hours' instruction approved by the director of the department of public safety. If the newly elected city marshal is unable to complete the training program within six months due to the proper course not being available from the department of public safety, an extension may be granted until such a course is made available.
After all the lies the current police chief has told, it may not be too difficult to elect a private citizen in 3 1/2 years.
The law you quote is correct. I would not vote for a civilian leader unless they have extensive corporate leadership experience. Would not even consider it otherwise.
October 19, 2017 at 9:24 AM
Houses are broken into now, as was ours a few years ago. The police don't prevent crime. They show up afterward to take statements and write reports.
Are you the same person who said look at the crime sheet? When we did, we found out crime was far worse elsewhere. You are part of the problem. You try to get your way by bullying and lying. We're done with you. We know about your tricks and we are done falling for them.
If the dissatisfaction is that high, get us a charter so we can fix it.
The rock lady, as you call her, has a blog with information and exchange of ideas just like this one, but you want to say she is a tool of someone somehow? If you follow her FB blog she seems to get information from numerous sources including board members.
How is that a bad thing folks
The city is broke. Do you understand what that means?
Let's say you are in the desert. You go to the oasis to get a drink of water. But the oasis is dry. What do you do? Do you pretend you can drink water that is not there?
That is what Jim Lynch is doing. It amazes me that he is playing this game with some of you and getting away with it.
The city council cannot give lynch money the city does not have. It is that simple.
As for Susan. Lady, you are being played by those you are cheer leading for. Go up and visit the Finance Director, the City Administrator. Have a real sit down and talk to them. Find out the reality of Raytown's situation. When your talk is over you will realize the city cannot give what it does not have.
I think we all know this. There is no money. The anger and dissatisfaction comes from the fact that we are in this situation in the first place. Jim Lynch does not vote on budgets. He asked for resources, he was given those resources by the board. Susan does own property in Raytown. But I do get the comparision. Still, she has organized a Facebook group that if properly utilized could be used to organize all kinds of volunteer efforts.
I will caution Susan however that talking about these people and meeting them a few times may make her feel that she knows them. She's a young professional that doesn't have 30-40 years of experience with some of the elected individuals, while some of us do. She automatically respects the office and the people, which is both a positive and a negative here. Both "The Chief" and "The Mayor" have thrown out plenty of recent examples that clearly indicate that they're unqualified to be in office. There has been very little substantive product from either one of them. So there may indeed be a possibility that they will endear themselves and glom onto the efforts of unknowing others.
Susan, your best and highest use (again, in our opinion, and "use" is a rather tough word...forgive me, it is early) is to be a conduit. Connect the best and the brightest (like yourself) with Raytown and get them into office. New people!
The most dangerous and damaging scenario is for citizens to mindlessly keep voting in some of these unqualified and/or sinister candidates.
"I devoted my life in public service to this community" doesn't always a leader make.
YOU ARE A TOXIC TROLL!!
gimmee a break please.
Those “snowflakes” are registered voters and homeowners who will cause an avalanche at the polls next election!!
One GOOD thing about all this adversity is that there is a renewed interest from Raytowners to make their city a better place to live.
If you want a nice community to live in, get involved. Don't wait for someone else to do it. How much time do you spend reading the comments on this blog? If you have time to read through all these comments, you have the time to spare an hour or two every couple of weeks helping somebody.
What's wrong with picking up trash? I see an older couple take their walk and along the way they are picking up trash in the neighborhoods. Good for them!
Don't like the way the city is handled? Run for office! I guess Raytown doesn't have term limits for the aldermen. We need to have term limits. Fresh ideas need to be constantly circulating.
Ciao, baby! aka Snowflake :)