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| BY PAUL LIVIUS |
will not Go Away
MONUMENT SIGN AT CITY HALL: The Mayor and City Administrator
have been very clever at keeping public discussion of a $40,000* electronic
billboard/monument sign at City Hall. This will be the third meeting in which
the sign is on the agenda. Still, there has not been any public discussion on
the matter.
*The current bill offers three outcomes. One calls for $47,145.00
to be spent on the sign. The other calls for $32,109.00. The third alternative
is to turn both proposals down and make the funds available for other uses in
the city.
Every
time the item has come up the Mayor and City Administrator have quickly asked
the item be carried over before calling for discussion.
This
political maneuvering has been effective at stifling any debate in the previous
two readings of the proposal.
Opponents
to the sign correctly point out the location is a low traffic intersection at
59th and Raytown Road. The traffic count is so low the intersection
does not even merit a traffic signal. The section to 59th Street is
limited to those who live in the immediate area of City Hall. A local homeowner
pointed out the most traffic at along that section of 59th Street is
caused by those who use the local library.
Clearly,
the vast majority of Raytown’s 30,000 residents are not parading by City Hall
on a regular basis.
What Makes This a Bad
Situation: Raytown has many more pressing needs than
wasting $30,580.00 on a sign that most people will not see.
They say
the money can be used for more important matters like street repair, road
striping or hiring more police personnel to free up police officers for
patrolling our neighborhoods.
This
$40,000 boondoggle has caught the attention of many Raytowners. If the comments
on the Raytown Report are indication of the public’s wishes, the Board of
Aldermen should vote this very poor legislation down.
Here are
the comments of Raytowners since the bill was first added to the Board of
Aldermen’s agenda.
Greg Walters
Alderman,Ward 1
"The
proposed monument/informational sign...hard to say who is behind this waste of
the taxpayer’s dollars....rules a previous Board of Aldermen created does not
allow for elected sponsors to be identified..." That needs to change.
Unless matters of national security are involved, the "sponsor"
should be routinely disclosed. Whoever thought up this waste of time and money
needs to step forward. (Unless they're too embarrassed to do so.)
December
27, 2019 at 6:24 AM
NO NO NO on the sign for $40,000.
Don't need it.
Can't afford it.
Don't need it.
Can't afford it.
December 28, 2019
MONUMENT SIGN: Absolutely ridiculous. Sounds like a vanity
project, and I assume that such a board would be costly to maintain and repair.
What is the life span of such a sign? How much STREET can we pave for FORTY
THOUSAND dollars? And such a sign on low traffic 59th Street? Instead, why
don't they keep the City's website updated? These high schools probably teach
web design. Why not have the Mayor or City Administration proctor an internship
program? These lighted up billboards look outdated and scream
"1980's" as it is.
November 30, 2019 at 7:08 PM
$40,000
monument is exactly what this city needs...to show the wasteful spending of taxpayer
dollars by an out of touch administration at city hall. Have these people
actually ever had a real job, or is wasteful spending of a college degree?
C’MON MAN!!!
November
30, 2019 at 11:46 PM
"These
lighted up billboards look outdated and scream "1980's" as it
is."
Agreed. If I need to get City contact information or look for an event, it's not like I'm going to jump in my car in my pajamas and drive up to City Hall to read a lighted sign. It's called the Internet, people, and it's bizarre that this item is even being suggested. It clearly demonstrates that we need to make some more changes at City Hall, IMO. If this billboard goes through, we might as well go completely backwards by allocating even more wasteful funds...for a town crier.
Agreed. If I need to get City contact information or look for an event, it's not like I'm going to jump in my car in my pajamas and drive up to City Hall to read a lighted sign. It's called the Internet, people, and it's bizarre that this item is even being suggested. It clearly demonstrates that we need to make some more changes at City Hall, IMO. If this billboard goes through, we might as well go completely backwards by allocating even more wasteful funds...for a town crier.
December
1, 2019 at 8:08 AM
MONUMENT
SIGN: What purpose will it serve? 59th Street is not heavily traveled. I assume
it is to get some type of message to the public. The traffic is on Raytown
Road, Raytown Traffic-way, or 64th Street but there could be much argument as
to the the best location. $40,000 is a waste of money. A disclosure is needed
if there is a connection between the sign company and any Raytown official. Why
can't the $40K be put towards street repair? When Mayor Bower took office I had
a meeting with him complaining of NO public notice of posting the BOA agenda.
True there is a bulletin board inside city hall but since City Hall is open
only during business hours, the public has no access outside of business hours.
He offered to install a locked bulletin board outside of City Hall. I said that
was a waste of money and suggested that public notices be posted on the front
window of City Hall so that anyone may read notices 24/7/365. He agreed to
posting on the window and from that time Teresa posted public notices on the
window. Some have suggested the internet assuming the city website is updated,
but NOT everyone has internet access. Why waste $40,000 plus cost to maintain
and to operate said Monument sign when a window is available to post public
notices for anyone who is interested?
December 1, 2019 at 12:13 PM
December 1, 2019 at 12:13 PM
Maybe
we could have a pajama party in front of city hall while we are waiting for a
new line of text to stream across an electronic billboard! I agree with an
earlier post. This is the 21st Century. We all carry a miniature billboard in
our pockets. It is called a cell phone. The answers of the late 20th century
like electronic billboards are really a blight on neighborhoods. I know some
people who live near one at an elementary school. They told me the light is
blinding. They had to go buy new shades to keep the light from spelling into
their bedroom at night.
Someone at City Hall must have a pretty big ego to want to see this misguided plan go through.
Someone at City Hall must have a pretty big ego to want to see this misguided plan go through.
December
2, 2019 at 6:50 PM
"Maybe
we could have a pajama party in front of city hall while we are waiting for a
new line of text to stream across an electronic billboard!...We all carry a
miniature billboard in our pockets. It is called a cell phone."
LOL! PERFECT! Standing ovation! Moving forward, suggestions for a more judicious way of spending 40K?
LOL! PERFECT! Standing ovation! Moving forward, suggestions for a more judicious way of spending 40K?
December
2, 2019 at 7:28 PM
It seems
now, that I have to go buy a pair of jam-jams so I can go see the text stroll
with information on the $40,000 electronic billboard. I usually just wear my
skivvies, but being the city can afford $40,000 on a monument rather than
better roads, sidewalks, police protection, etc. I guess I better spend my
money recklessly too.
Geeeez, can City hall get more ridiculous in spending tax payer dollars? City hall: Hold my beer...
Geeeez, can City hall get more ridiculous in spending tax payer dollars? City hall: Hold my beer...
December
3, 2019 at 8:32 AM
Andy makes a good point. The annual upkeep costs over
the years will be another $40-50000 or more. Who knows? No one that’s who. They
don’t care. Ain’t their money. I swear, these people have never had a real job.
Just set back, raise taxes and waste money is all they know.
December
3, 2019 at 10:42 PM
"I
don't carry a Smartphone because I don't have money to waste on one. There are
people who don't have Smartphones and/or internet."
Andy, I believe that many would agree with me when I say that one of my fondest wishes would be to go back to a landline and NO cell phone. But they're a fact of life, and in many cases a requirement in this day and age.
Glad you agree that an electronic billboard is extraneous. They really have gone the way of the landline.
I watched the BOA meeting this evening, and although the discussion was postponed, I was still a little taken aback that they're spending any precious time mulling this over, given the financial condition of the City.
Andy, I believe that many would agree with me when I say that one of my fondest wishes would be to go back to a landline and NO cell phone. But they're a fact of life, and in many cases a requirement in this day and age.
Glad you agree that an electronic billboard is extraneous. They really have gone the way of the landline.
I watched the BOA meeting this evening, and although the discussion was postponed, I was still a little taken aback that they're spending any precious time mulling this over, given the financial condition of the City.
December
4, 2019 at 2:14 AM
Why try
to rush a sign through and then stall it several times? Isn't it better to
scrap it, figure out what you want and then move forward?
Reminds me of several other rush jobs we've been promised will be fixed but never end up that way.
Reminds me of several other rush jobs we've been promised will be fixed but never end up that way.
December
4, 2019 at 6:27 PM
Why try
to rush a sign through and then stall it several times? Isn't it better to
scrap it, figure out what you want and then move forward?
Reminds
me of several other rush jobs we've been promised will be fixed but never end
up that way.
December
4, 2019 at 6:27 PM
"requested
the proposed expenditure of $40,000 for an electronic billboard be carried over
until the January 7, 2020."
WHY are they even wasting precious time that could be allotted for more important matters? For an expensive, unneeded, obsolescent object, at that. Is this a joke? How have we survived all these years without an electronic billboard? Does this not tell you something? Why the push for this now?
WHY are they even wasting precious time that could be allotted for more important matters? For an expensive, unneeded, obsolescent object, at that. Is this a joke? How have we survived all these years without an electronic billboard? Does this not tell you something? Why the push for this now?
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| BY GREG WALTERS |
Other Raytown News
on Tuesday’s Agenda
PARKS AND RECREATION: At its last meeting the Raytown Parks and
Recreation Board voted to authorize the gathering of bids for private security
to patrol Raytown Parks in 2020. The Board authorized an amount not to exceed a
limit of $15,000. The spending bill now goes before the Board of Aldermen for
approval.
VANDALISM AT KENAGY PARK: Parks and
Recreation reported an increase in vandalism at Kenagy Park. The Skate
Board Park and the Little Library were vandalized. The brick restroom was
tagged on three sides over the Christmas Holiday. A police report has been
filed.
GRANT APPLICATION FOR NEW TENNIS COURTS AT KENAGY PARK: Parks is
in the process of applying for grants through the Missouri Department of
Natural Resources to re-build the tennis courts at Kenagy Park. A price tag of
$360,000 is estimated to be the cost for improvements to the tennis courts.
With another $15,000 needed to for turf an trail repair in the Park.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN TO DECIDE FATE OF ROAD PROJECTS: The
Board of Aldermen will consider giving permission for three road projects at
the January 7th meeting. The projects include:
- Intersection of Raytown Road and 350 Highway
- 59th Street from Blue Ridge Boulevard to Woodson Road
- Blue Ridge Boulevard from 59th to 63rd Street
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