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| BY GREG WALTERS |
TAXES, TAXES EVERYONE WANTS TO TAX US! Suggestions for tax increases in Raytown seem
to be taking center stage. Suggestions of property tax increases and gasoline
tax increases have taken center stage. We have already expresses our opposition
to increasing the property tax. Yes, we know the city’s levy is low. But the
fact remains Raytowners pay all levies. The School District levy, which is
extremely high, pushes the property taxes paid by Raytowners up into the top
three in Jackson County, Missouri.
Paul's Rant! PUBLIC COMMENTS
According to Greg's report, the Board will soon begin televising their work sessions. I agree with him. This change is longer overdue. It has been clear to me the prepared speeches often given during regular meetings of the Board of Aldermen are the end result of those work sessions.
Do not add Public Comments to the Work Sessions.
During the last six months the Public Comments section of Board meetings has taken on a circus like atmosphere. The Public Comments appears to have been hijacked by a small but vocal crowd who appear to enjoy being on camera.
Don't get me wrong . . . Public
Comments is an important part of the meeting. It allows individuals time
to address the Board in a formal setting. Often times those comments help to
focus the Board on problems within the city.
One
flaw in the use of Public Comments is that it makes it difficult
to schedule the flow of business conducted during the formal setting of Board
meetings. People who arrive at a meeting for public hearings, particularly on
items like zoning changes, end up sitting through what can turn into lengthy
rants by individuals that have absolutely nothing to do with the
business they have traveled to Raytown to conduct with the Board of Aldermen.
The City
of Independence had the same problem. Their solution was to move public
comments to the last order of business during formal meetings of the City
Council. From what we have been told by city officials in Independence, the
change has brought a sense of order to the public’s business.
One
other thing that bothers me about Public Comments is the requirement
that speakers give their home address. Some may find that somewhat
intimidating. I noticed during Public Comments given during the budget
session debates that city employees did not give their home address.
Which makes sense . . . a police officer should not have to expose his
home address to the public.
Should
not the same consideration be given to the taxpayers that are footing
the bill? From some of the conduct we saw during Public Comments these
past six months, their safety and security should rate as high as
speakers who do not make Raytown their home.
The
Paul Livius Report
Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting
January
2, 2018
Teresa
Henry administered the oath to Police Officer Brandon Meyer.
The
Reverend Pat Jackson invited the residents of Raytown to the 21st
Annual Martin Luther King Celebration.
It will be on Sunday, January 14, 2018, starting at 4:00 pm. It will be held at Raytown South High School.
The
Board passed an ordinance amending for sewer rate user fees. Over the past several years, sewer treatment
costs have risen for treatment services provided by Kansas City Missouri (KCMO)
and for Little Blue Valley Sewer District (LBVSD) provided services. For several years, the City staff was able
to maintain the City rate through the implementation of numerous cost-saving
programs.
This year in order to be compliant with funding requirements
associated with debt issued for the sewer fund the sewer rate will need to be
increased approximately 5% across the board.
This will ensure
sustainability of the fund. Based on historical increases from KCMO and LBVSD
there will be additional increases needed in future years. Due to rising costs
in treatment, maintenance, and operations, staff is recommending the following
adjustments to Chapter 44:
1) Amend c (4) to read Base Rate - the Base
Rate shall be $[14.70] 15.44 per month.
2) Amend c (9) to read Variable rate.
The revenue charged expressed in per 1,000
gallons that is derived when the annual variable rate revenue requirement is
divided by the customer volumes, estimated to be $8.28 and $8.69 per 1,000
gallons, in excess of 1,000 gallons.
The
Board heard the first and second reading, then passed the ordinance for a
rezoning application to rezone property located at 5220 Blue Ridge Cutoff from
High-Density Residential to Planned Neighborhood Commercial to rebuild a gas
station/convenience store. Riad Baghdadi
on behalf of M&Z Inc. is requesting approval of a rezoning application for
property located at 5220 Blue Ridge Cutoff. The applicant is requesting to
rezone the property to a planned development Neighborhood Commercial in order
to rebuild an existing service station/convenience store. Currently, the
existing business is a legal non-conforming (commonly known as grandfathering)
use as this property is zoned residential.
The proposed convenience store is
approximately 3,700 square feet. A new canopy would be placed over the existing
four fuel islands; no additional fuel pumps are proposed. The site plan of the
proposed development provides adequate parking and a landscape plan has been
submitted with this application.
Alderman
Jim Aziere asked who was responsible to send notices of the zoning
change. Mr. Michael Swan, Planning & Zoning Coordinator.,
said the city is responsible for publishing the notice in a newspaper with a
circulation in the city. The applicant
is responsible for sending notices to property owners within 185 feet of the
property. Additionally, an ordinance was
passed by the city requires the applicant hold a neighborhood meeting if there
is a rezoning or conditional use permit issued.
The
Board passed a resolution approving an agreement for Emergency Medical
Services’ Physician between Tucker Lienhop, D.O. The State of Missouri, the Drug Enforcement
Agency, and other regulatory agencies require EMS agencies to have physician
oversight. The Bureau of EMS requires agencies to have this oversight in order
to provide care without a direct order from another doctor. EMS views this
advisor as essential to the success of the Department of EMS. Dr. Lienhop’s
service to the department has so far been quite satisfactory.
Failure to have a Medical Director would harm
the Department’s ability to buy important controlled substances and other
life-saving medications. In addition, failure to have a Medical Director would
diminish the ability to provide advanced life support care as well as render
EMS noncompliant with federal and state requirements. Raytown EMS would not be
able to operate without a Medical Director.
The
Board passed a resolution authorizing the purchase of medical supplies from
Moore Medical off the Mid-America Regional Council Emergency Response Committee
cooperative purchase contract in an amount not to exceed $60,779. Moore Medical is the primary vendor for
medical supplies for patient care. This is part of a cooperative purchasing
agreement negotiated by MARCER. These supplies are mission-critical for the
purpose of providing emergency care to ill and injured citizens.
The
Board passed a resolution authorizing the continuation of an agreement between
the City of Raytown and DEW Farms, LLC to provide Nuisance Abatement Services
for the Neighborhood Services Division of the Community Development Department.
The Community Development Department proposes to continue the existing
agreement with DEW Farms, LLC to provide the City of Raytown 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.
The
Board passed a resolution approving the continuation of an agreement with
Raytown Animal Hospital for veterinary services associated with animal control
in an amount not to exceed $60,000. The
Community Development Department requests continuation of agreement with
Raytown Animal Hospital in providing veterinary services for Animal Control
regulations.
Raytown Animal Hospital, the City’s current veterinary services
provider, was the only provider to submit a bid. The contract is for a period
of two years with the City having the option to extend the contract for one
additional two-year period.
The
Board passed a resolution approving an agreement for planning advisory services
with Ronald A. Williamson in an amount not to exceed $30,000. He will assist staff with complex
development, special studies, and design standards. The City proposes to
continue the agreement with Ronald A. Williamson as described in Article I of
the proposed Agreement. The types of planning services that Mr. Williamson
would provide include:
A.
Preparation of staff reports on various zoning and development applications for
the Planning/ Zoning Commission, Board of Zoning Adjustment and Board of
Aldermen meetings
B.
Preparation of special studies, surveys, designs and reports which may include
zoning and subdivision regulations amendments, redevelopment and other matters
in the field of planning
C.
Attending meetings with City Staff as needed
D.
Attending meetings of the Raytown Planning & Zoning Commission, Board of
Zoning Adjustment, Board of Aldermen and other organizations and committees, as
needed.
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67 comments:
I served on the Board of Aldermen when the city was last audited in the early 1980's. It is true that the city does have an annual independent audit of its books each year. I would not go so far as to call it extensive. The last audit conducted by the State Auditor of the City of Raytown was brought about by a citizen petition drive. The man who organized the petition drive (and was therefore the official petitioner) had the right and responsibility to direct the the State Auditor what was to be audited. His name was John Colt. At the time he was publisher/owner of the Raytown Post.
He directed the State Auditor to limit the audit to the Police Departments. His direction saved the city a lot of money. The State Auditor's office did find some irregularities in how the city's business was conducted. In particular with the handling of police fines collected in Municipal Court. The city then changed the procedures used in the handling of the fine money collected.
There was also some criminal prosecution as a result of the audit.
The city was required to pay for the cost of the audit. I do not remember the final bill, but do know it was a negotiated amount when it was finally settled.
Public comments are just terrible.... The people having a voice is just so, Democratic......
One thing that would be very interesting to see would b e the dollar amount that was educated from reserves in the years prior to this last years budget.
I know that the first year of Mayor Mikes budget also had negative amount that was applied against the reserve.
Maybe I should ask how much the budget of the police Dept. increased in the last few years. I have a feeling that the budget for the police dept. increased rather substantially over the last 2 or 3 years.
Anyone able to help with this figures I do think that it would be interesting.
It appears the insurance business of Alderman Steve Meyers must be slow this time of the year. When he has nothing more to do than send out e mails telling alderman to turn in their paper clips that hold their packets together when given to them to read and study. We do have a very capable city clerk that can handle this Alderman Meyers. Just for your information some alderman do this on a regular basis. I know you feel you must have your hand in everything but sit back, people do know how to do their jobs and do them quite well.
7:51 PM, What you are asking for are public records. You may go to the City Clerk's office and ask to view these records. If you want copies there will be a charge. If they are available online, Theresa can tell you how to access them. Since you are going back in time and asking for more than current records, I suggest you call first to make sure they are available since they may be in storage. I was given the budget to view for a couple of years and each was hundreds of pages in print too small to read.
Andy Whiteman
at 8:19 AM
Well, very few people would be privy to this astounding paperclip caper. This just proves what I have being saying all along. Some Alderman are using this anonymous forum to stir up trouble. Very unprofessional for Alderman to spout off here anonymously. They should be ADULTS, and not behave like children. A great responsibility rests upon you, and the Alderman should act respectfully and cease playing games here.
2:49 pm
Ditto!!! Ditto!!!! Ditto!!
Great post.
If that city will not take a stand to keep Raytown clean than we the citizens will.
Please join me in calling Dollar General corporate office at 877-463-1553 to report their store # 17779 at 9109 E 63rd St needing the lights on the store sign fixed.
They fought the neighbors to bring yet another one of their stores to Raytown than they need to keep it up as well as hire professional individuals in management positions that should identify and report these same issues to the proper teams within their organization so that they can be fixed in a timely manor.
Dear FOP President and officer Rogers,
I find that you both owe the citizens an apology for your actions late last year and fear tactics that Raytown wouldn't be able to ever hire any police officers.
I am sure you know by now and are working hard to get your kick back (union dues) from Brandon Meyer who was sworn in as a police officer at the last Board of Alderman meeting.
Only because they lost twice the amount of officers that were going to get laid off!
The city lost HUGE amount of very experienced police because they felt their jobs were not secure. Wow
The City Administrator and Finance manager would have had to approve the budget before it got to the Board of Alderpersons for approval. The Mayor of a class 4 City doesn’t have that kind of power. Plus their was a budget committee of Alderpersons looking at the budget before it was brought forward. I think the going into the “red” on the budget reserve had to do with pants on fire unexpected repairs
Dear 4:30 pm
Hire one and we have three more leaving because of stability and if you only new what the quality of applicants we were getting you would be scared to death to issue guns to them. But hey what do we now we only work the streets.
4:30-ignorant comments negate the illusion of legitimacy that you thought you had
The true fear right now is the lack of officers. 1 or 2 hired does not come close to fixing it. People are starting to notice the affect
I wonder if the Raytown firemen are getting paid for hours not worked like KCK firemen.
Nobody cares about the officers or lack there of. People only care if something directly affects them personally. Sadly it’s true and too late after something really bad happens
4:30 pm
Ditto on 5:29 pm comment.
A lot of officers went ahead and QUIT because they didn't trust their future in Raytown which made room for the new officer.
Before you post something, do some research so you know what you are talking about.
From last week. I am not pleased the Libraries are now open on Sundays. I do not see the Public Library as an essential public service requiring Sunday hours, they were already open until 9:00 PM 4 nights a week and all day Saturday, If I knew this was part of what we voted for I would have voted no.
7:27 This is why we need a state audit of the police department and an appointed chief.
Let us work together to make Raytown great again!
7:29 The issue in Raytown as our fine Chief of Police made sure was all over the news is the police department.
With that said why are we still working security at Walmart using city owned cars.
Is Walmart paying the city back at at least $50 and hour for the privilege.
The money would sure help to pay of the criminal act against the citizens by big corps like Walmart that are always stilling for the working class.
Clearly the BOA don't care about free market when they allow special police favors for big corps and forgetting the mom and pop stores.
8:50 pm
Hmmm, I dunno. I like to live in a world where as many people are literate and educated as possible.
So am I to believe that someone in the City Gov e-mail loop actually thought my rather obvious attempt to interject some humor after cleaning out a drawer full of binder clips and taking a picture of a large asst was an attempt to mandate a binder clip turn in day? After fielding several e-mails and phone calls from fellow Alderman with humorous alternative binder clip uses, I thought the pun was well acknowledged and received. With that said it would only make sense I recycle those to Teresa as she does no doubt use a lot of those to assemble the varied packets for the numerous boards and committee’s she organizes so efficiently. And hey since it seems I’m not very busy these days at my insurance office, feel free to drop off any unused binder clips you may have laying around in the big barrel inside the front door and I’ll recycle them as well to Teresa.
But it certainly also confirms that things have settled down quite a bit within the walls of City Hall as “Binderclip Gate” 2018 takes front page news prescedence!
Happy New Year Folks!
Steve Meyers,
Alderman Ward 4
10:26 -
You want another appointed police chief? You mean like Willard Ross?
Come on - get real!
Any mom and pop business can have that too as long as they are willing to pay the officer the going rate. Not special privilege, keeps from tying up a couple of officers from the streets that truly can’t be spared nowadays.
That last comment, if true, explains a lot about why the city has its economic woes. Let me get this straight. If you hire an off-duty Raytown police officer the police department throws in a car and fuel for him or her to use while working the job. No wonder the city has gone broke. If this is happening at Walmart it is probably happening at HyVee. Both of them have a highly visible off duty officers as an almost permanent fixture of their security. For those who cannot put this together. I do not approve using my tax dollars to underwrite services to large corporations like HyVee and Walmart. They can afford to pay for their own security services. If they want to use off duty local police, that's fine. But the city should not be under-writing the service by providing a car and fuel to the private service being provided by individuals. This city does not need a tax increase. It needs to undo the nanny welfare state established for large corporations like HyVee and Walmart. I cannot help but get the feeling this is only the tip of the iceberg. I have not been an advocate for a state audit in Raytown. But it is beginning to look like one is needed. Do our elected oficials on the city council know this is going on? If so, why are the allowing it?
Hey 7:50 AM, I don't suppose you get out of the house much so I'll hip you to something. Police all over the US work off duty jobs. Yea, for big companies and entertainment events. For real. Not just Raytown but EVERYWHERE! OHHHH MY!!
4:24 AM, You might want to check with the Raytown Historical Group, but Willard Ross was never police chief in fact Raytown has only had elected chiefs, which has been part of the ongoing issues in Raytown since we became a city.
It appears the main concern and complaint around the officers working the security side jobs is the use of the city vehicle.
Therefore the Board of Alderman need to ask themselves if they would allow members of public work to use the trucks with snowplows to clear private drives and parking lots for a side job or members of EMS to use the spare ambulance to work side jobs like at public / private school sporting events for a side job.
If the answer to either of these is "NO" than it is past time to stop the abuse of power and use of city owned property for personal gain by members of the Raytown police department.
It would be interesting if at least Steve Myers who enjoys responding on this blog would provide his take and if he does see any concerns around a potential discrimination law suits because one department within the city is allowed to use city property for personal gain when no other department is allowed this same privilege and opportunity.
In addition being Mr. Myers is in the insurance business what is the liability to the city for allowing any department to use the city owned property for personal gain.
@7:50
I do not see the problem as long as the cars remain in Raytown while providing private security. There’s not enough gas money here to fix Raytowns problems.
The officer and squad car at HyVee create a visible police presence at a destination stop for the community. It’s good to have squad cars driving in the town limits.
11:59 What is your point!
So the police are visible, but will they handle a complaint from a citizen?
The answer is "NO" and I have heard this from several citizens.
don't look now but ems is about to go under. Better hope the fire department steps up and takes it or we will have that group out of independence and after my experience with them we may be in more trouble than not having cops.
Do all firemen “sell” their shifts like the Kansas City Kansas FD do? Yikes! Talk about wasting tax money. Hope it’s not true here
Police should take police cars to their second jobs. More officers available for emergencies. I’d rather have a police car parked where the office can get to it quick than behind city hall. That’d be dumb and a poor use of resources
So you want to separate officers from their cars to save 5 cents in gas, but don’t care about saving 10 cents in binder clips? Smh
Thank you Steve Meyers for validating the oft overlooked binder clip. #nobinderclipleftbehind
I do not mind the police doing private duty when they are off duty. My point is that Walmart and HyVee should be paying for the use of the cars. Both of those large corporate entities already receive very large tax breaks from the City. HyVee enjoys a half cent CID which which anyone pays on every dollar they pay at the store. The Walmart give away set records. Their tax abatements are so large they literally do not pay any sales tax and very little property tax I do not think giving free use of the public's police vehicles makes any sense at all. When was the last time Walmart or HyVee gave any of you a freebie? Now, will someone explain to me the silly talk about 5 cents of gas being used?
Police cars for police services
Police services paid for by those hiring off duty police
PARKED police vehicles at locations where they can mobilize if needed for public safety or if off duty officers have arrests
Comparing this to other city departments use of equipment while not on the job
Rediculous !! Apples to Oranges
Oh here we go!
Another stupid rumor about EMS
I am not a fan of TIF but let’s speak the truth here. Walmart does pay taxes but those tax receipts go back in to pay for part of the TIF. Without Walmart the TIF would break this city. So if you wish to help the city budget shop business in the TIF area as those taxes collected go to pay the TIF and that takes some of the burden off the General Fund budget which is the city’s main checkbook
TIF- this one was a dumb idea but we are stuck with it for now folks
Just saying peeps
I was a Raytown Fireman for 29 years, first as a reserve then as a paid employee. In my time there we often traded shifts with each other and yes there are those who abused the system by having you work for them and then never repaying the trade. I would guess in my time there I maybe worked 10 or 11 days for free because of this. The Union won’t make an issue of it because they like the practice of trading because it allows them to do thier union business and still get paid by the taxpayer. The worst part of all is nothing in the practice of trading shifts is illegal or against the labor laws so this is perfectly acceptable. Ret-FAO Greezer.
We clearly have some individuals writing on this blog that have been slapped upside the back of the head one time to many by a police officer's blackjack if they truly cannot justify the need to allow EMS folks to using out of service (spare ambulances) for side jobs.
In fairness maybe they missed the new all around Raytown from coffee shops to Facebook about the Raytown High / Raytown South High football game where a player was on the field for more than 20 minutes as a result of an injury.
Just think the reduction in time had two EMS employees who had the shift off were working private EMS duties to line their pockets like the police officers are at Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee. Just like the police they had the spare ambulance with them at the time. They also could be called into active duty for the city if the two main ambulance where on calls and a 3rd unit was needed.
Therefore, anyone claiming the police working security jobs on the side and taking a police car with them could jump into action if additional calls for service where needed and/or to take someone to jail actually justifies allowing EMS employees to have the same opportunity to exploit the citizens of Raytown tax dollars just like the police and personally profit off the use of the city owned equipment and vehicles.
@7:59
The City should charge Walmart and HyVee federal mileage rates for the "squad cars" Roundtrip, police HQ to store. .54 cents per mile. Problem solved.
A 5 mile roundtrip would cost $2.70 per day for one car. $985.50 per year for one store.
HyVee and Walmart can easily afford this. However, as you can see, there is not a great fortune to be made here. This is a drop in the bucket argument that is being made. Lots of folks make these drop in the bucket arguments, thinking that it will solve our 100 million dollar infrastructure backlog. LOL....
It seems that a local blog run by people who spent hours yelling that if we didn't give the police all the money they ask for, we would be murdered in our sleep are now upset that people outside of Raytown think the town is unsafe. Go figure.
It seems that a local blog run by people who spent hours yelling that if we didn't give the police all the money they ask for, we would be murdered in our sleep are now upset that people outside of Raytown think the town is unsafe. Go figure.
I think the last post writer has his terms confused. Insert Facebook Gang where he has local blog and the comment makes a lot of sense.
Gangs are criminal organizations. I think we know who is confused. YOU. 7:29 pm
And one would spend more than that in staff time to bill that out and collect that. Just saying.
Well we are lucky that our Wal Mart super center will still be open. Wal Mart just announced that they are closing 63 super centers none in Missouri.
No - they are closing 63 Sam's Clubs around the nation. They are different types of stores. One is a bulk buying, membership required and one is not.
It will take $450 in staff time at city hall to bill $950?!? Shame on you. The staff I have encountered at City Hall are professional, honest and helpful. I wonder why you do not want corporate America to pay their fair share. They receive huge tax breaks. They pass the cost on to the consumer. But that is not enough in your lonely little world. You think the city should give them free use of police cars when they hire individuals to guard their stores. Unbelievable! I have not met you. But when I do I have a bridge that you may be interested in owning. You can put add it to your very strange views you write about.
They are very professional and are very busy
But paperwork and billing for such things specific is not easy in gathering info, inputting, etc. you are the one that‘ would pay too much for that bridge by spending dollars to save pennies
hahahaha here we go with the fair share argument again. Vote for Opra she will make it fair
Just reading comments in general whether here or elsewhere on the internet and in the news I can see how stupid that the people were in the US and the State of Missouri to elect Trump and Greitens. Everything is going to $%*#!
7:24 entering things is hard.
Just think about last fall and getting the hours entered correctly to pay the 16 police offers that attended a BOA meeting.
If you stop and think about it, by not using police cars for private businesses like Walmart and HyVee you save money. You will not have the expense of the wear and tear on the vehicle. You will not pay gasoline to keep it running. Most important, you will not have to keep record of it! Seems someone posted here that the record keeping along would cost about $960+ dollars to keep track of the expense, etc. Think hard about this. By stopping the practice, (which may very well be illegal) you will save $960 in labor costs as well.
4:10
As a wise person said many years ago. Let those without sin cast the first stone.
1/8/18 6:48 pm
So someone is willing to be a police officer and all the danger that entails and you criticize them? Not cool.
I am glad you are on the street and appreciate your service.
I wonder if the Professional Standards Unit approves of your comments.
So Animal Control would not help a lady who found a wounded falcon caught in a fence. Typical. I think they are truly untouchable. Where is there department head? Who is he/she? Where do they live? What do they do, they don’t help us. They work short days and are never available. You can call the cops but they’re doing good to do their job with fewer cops, they can’t do AC job too
10:01 pm
I've had issues w/ animal control too. I called them because I had a cat that had gotten into my garage and I couldn't find him to flush him out.
The animal control guy wouldn't come over because it was RAINING. What??? That makes no sense whatsoever. All he had to do was set the trap and leave.
I bought my own animal trap. If that happens again I will take care of it myself.
Animal Control used to have a girl several years ago that was really good but she quit to work for another city.
I am really glad that we now try to adopt out strays instead of killing them. That was horrible and sad and backward.
I have posted this previously but...
A couple years ago while walking my dog up Blue Ridge Blvd with my wife, kids and grandkids,
we were set upon by a loose pit bull dragging a heavy chin. He had obviously broken free. Anyway he went after my dog and just luckily I was able to snatch him by the collar and hold him by straddling him and lifting up his front legs.
A guy driving by stopped and offered to help. He called 911 and explained the situation. The 911 operator replied that the police do not answer animal control calls and the animal control person does not work weekends.
So we were left to figure out the situation on our own. I was able to work the dog over close to a street sign while the man wrapped the chain around the post several times. That secured the dog and so I called the 911 person to explain what we had done and went home.
After a short time I returned to see that the dog was gone. Ended up belonging to a guy that lived right there. I suspect he saw what was going on all the time and just lurked around inside his house until I had left then grabbed his dog.
This guy used to walk this dog and another pit bull up and down Blue Ridge. I confronted him one day and he denied that his dog would ever do such a thing. I am happy to say I no longer see him or his dogs around anymore.
i can relate to what your story says about the attitude at city hall. If you have a problem that requires emergency service in Raytown. They seem to have a nine to five mindset. If you have an emergency best you do so Monday thru Friday. With animal control it seems like there is no supervision. The police dispatchers make you think of a linesman protecting a quarterback. If it deals with animals they Will. Not. Put the call through to the police on street. This is not the case in other cities. Independnece and Kansas City have their police answer threatening situations. Yes, a large pit bull attacking people and their dog as they walk up the street qualifies. What bothers me the most is that the leaders at city hall, from the Mayor on down, are well aware of the situation. But they do not do anything about it!
Wish it were not so. But it is.
I guess we were a one-off. We could not have had a more pleasant experience with Raytown Animal Control a few months back. Found a Mastiff wandering on Blue Ridge one evening. The very polite young man at the police department sent out someone from animal control. She arrived within minutes in a Raytown vehicle. She had a great attitude and an even better sense of humor! <3
5.44
Hopefully you were not a "one off".
The expected performance is that routine calls like yours will be handled as it was.
The breakdown was on a weekend call about a vicious dog on the loose being dismissed by the 911 dispatcher. POLICE DEPT DOES NOT ANSWER ANIMAL CONTROL ISSUES and ANIMAL CONTROL DOES NOT WORK WEEKENDS.
Hopefully that snotty, arrogant dispatcher was dismissed and things are now better.
BTW... this was at a time when the PD was fully staffed.
Unless it has changed, there is an on-call Raytown animal control person on duty nights and weekends.
I want to say this policy was implemented a year or so ago.
Call the police non-emergency # at 737-6020 and they will contact the on-call AC person.
8:46: "Hopefully you were not a "one off"."
That wasn't intended as an insult, if you took it that way. We were extending a compliment. Our experience was an example of city money well spent, and some wonderful people that showed a great deal of concern for that animal. And it's not the only positive experience we've had with animal control and police dispatch in Raytown recently. Those are indeed very tough jobs.
Yes. An animal control officer is on call 24/7. Ask the records be pulled to see how frequently they are called out. Get ready for stone-walling and attempts to talk around the issue. Stray animals do not take a holiday on the weekend and leave town. Irresponsible pet owners do not change their habits and become model citizens when animal control is on call.
If animal control is on call 24/7 then why don't they come when we call? I had a problem with a stray cat. I called animal control to come get it and was told they can only put the trap out between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. Oh, and yeah, I had to be there to monitor the trap. What! I called my uncle and he came and trapped the cat. He put it in an old cat carrier and took it over to Wayside Waifs. they said they didn't want it, but he just walked away. I don't know and don't care what happened to it. All I know is I no longer have the smell of tom-cat pee around me house.
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