Paul’s Rant! BY PAUL LIVIUS

The Mayor and Alderwoman Mary Jane Van Buskirk were obviously in cahoots. A friend of theirs, former Alderman Steve Meyers, was being appointed to the Raytown Planning and Zoning Commission.

Normally, such appointments are non-events. So much so that they are usually left on the consent agenda and not even read into the record. If no one objects, the item is quietly approved and the Board turns to the business section of the agenda.

That night, Mary Jane objected. She wanted the appointment of her friend, Steve Meyers, to be voted on separately. So the Mayor dutifully pulled Mr. Meyers name from the consent agenda for the entire Board to decide his fate.

Meyers is a former Alderman. No one doubts his credentials for a position on the Planning and Zoning Commission. So the Board unanimously approved his appointment.

So why all the fuss?

It did not take long to reveal the real reason for pulling his name from the consent agenda. He wanted to address the Board. In his address he spoke of the need to bring fresh faces to the Board of Aldermen.

He complained of all the grey hair on the Board of Aldermen.

Which was interesting, because Steve Meyer’s hair is completely grey!

I cannot help but wonder if Meyers was aware that had his suggestion been followed by the Board, he would not have been appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission! His crime would have been having grey hair.

This is not the first time some elected officials have tried to make an issue of age. A number of years back Ward 3 Alderman Ryan Myers gained approval from the Mayor to form a Committee to explore tax funding options for the City of Raytown.  

Myers made a big deal about how all the appointees to his Committee would be under 30 years old.

So there you have it.  A conspiracy by the two (Steve Meyers and Ryan Myers) to do away with people from decision making rolls at City Hall if (a) they have grey hair, or, (b) their birth year was too long ago.

Personally, I think it would be better if people were chosen for committees based on their competence and knowledge.

Excluding people because they have too much grey hair or are “too old” has a nasty ring to it. Who’s next? People who are bald?

My final thought on the subject is this . . . The Meyers/Myers boys should spend less time trying to find ways to exclude people from public service. They would be wise to broaden their view of public participation in government by becoming more inclusive.

Mayor calls Special Work Session BY PAUL LIVIUS 

Mayor Michael McDonough has called for Work Session of the Board of Aldermen to discuss General Obligation Bonds (GO Bonds) as a possible way to finance infrastructure projects. 

The meeting will be held Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at Raytown City Hall located at 10000 East 59^th Street. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 and will be held in the City Council Chambers. 

City Administrator Damon Hodges will be running the meeting. He has invited some bond advisors to attend as well. 

There have been previous discussions of as asking voters to increase property tax levy rates on personal and real estate tax in Raytown. A number of years ago the Board created a committee to explore the possibility of creating General Obligation Bonds for funding infrastructure needs in Raytown. However, nothing was resolved from that committee. 

General Obligation Bonds (also known by the acronym “GO Bonds”) are paid for by property tax on personal property (cars, boats, recreational vehicles) and on real estate (homes, business properties, etc.). Taxpayers are billed annually based on the value of the property they own by Jackson County, Missouri. 

The creation of General Obligation Bonds require approval of four-sevenths of qualified voters participating in a general election. 

The meeting is open to the public. The Mayor’s memo did not mention if public participation in discussion will be allowed.

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A “New Year Message” BY ELISA BREITENBACH

Happy New Year to you, Greg and Paul, and all your Raytown Report readers. 

This year has been a very hard year for most businesses in Raytown. Many closed down because of the virus. Ours was able to stay open with the ability to Car Hop. It was truly like working in a storm. 

Life is full of Sunny Days & Storms. 

My husband, Marjain, and I came down with the Covid19 Virus.

I was lucky. I was able to stay at home during my convalescence. My dear husband was not so lucky. His case was so severe that he was placed in the hospital for nineteen days. 

Naturally, during that time we had to shut down Doughboys. 

Fortunately for Doughboys one thing we are great at is weathering storms. During these storms we found out who are true friends are. 

During this tumultuous period we found Doughboys had been recognized by two publishing companies with awards as an outstanding business.

The first award came from Kansas City Magazine as a “recognized destination” by Kansas City Magazine readers. 

A representative of the magazine said Doughboy’s received the second highest ranking (in the donut business) as a destination location readers visited in the Kansas City area. First place was captured by Lamar’s Donuts (which has many locations). He said they were very impressed at the magazine that Doughboys received such a high ranking given that the magazine’s base of readers is primarily in Johnson County and the Country Club Plaza. 

Your story in last week’s Raytown Report covered the recognition we received from a story published By Best Things Missouri. That publication ranked Doughboys one of the Best Nine Donut destinations in Missouri.

Naturally, we are proud of these awards.

We are also very aware that without our base of support in Raytown none of this would be possible. In our view, the awards are nice. But the love and recognition we receive from our local customers is foremost in our thoughts.

Happy New Year to ALL of our friends out there!

Elisa and Marjain Breitenbach

 

Sunny Days and Storms

BY GREG WALTERS

A friend of mine once told me . . . “The Raytown Report is like Pitch Magazine. No one reads either of them. They just “know” what is in them.” 

That keen observation was underscored a couple of years ago when a well known (local) politician told me he does not read the Raytown Report. He called our small publication a couple of colorful names not fit to publish – and then said, “. . . other people read it and tell me what’s in it.” 

Which is kind of odd. 

I rarely agree with the Kansas City Star’s editorial pages. But I do take the time to read the paper myself. Probably because I don’t have professional readers on hand to read it for me. Oh well! 

All of this is back story stuff. It is not meant to persuade or tell a great truth. Consider it to be a conversation. And since I am the only one typing at this point, consider this to also be an invitation to reply. 

I bring all of the foregoing up because of what Elisa did not share in her message about “storms” she and her husband had to weather. 

She is a friend. And good friends can talk to be each other honestly. Turns out what she was writing about were comments published on some Facebook pages that were less than kind.  

One comment read . . . “I hope your husband dies. You both deserve what is happening to you.” Another opined, “I hope you lose your business and they turn the location into a Planned Parenthood Clinic. 

By far the worst result of baseless allegations against the Breitenbachs was they did not follow Covid guidelines as set out by the CDC. As someone who visits Doughboys on a regular basis, I can assure you that allegation is completely false. The minute they tested positive for Covid tests, they shut Doughboys down for nearly two months. In fact, Elisa and Marjain had taken the ten days off BEFORE they tested positive for Covid to take a short vacation from work.

But “haters are haters”, and they rarely allow facts to get in the way of the poison they spread. Still, there are consequences to the lies haters have a habit of manufacturing. 

The worst consequence was when Elisa Breitenbach was verbally assaulted in front of her grandchildren at Doughboys one morning. 

A young man entered Doughboys, screaming vile profanities at Elisa and ended with “you are racist (deleted) and horrible for hating Mexicans”.

Elisa told me, “We were babysitting our two grandchildren that day at the store. When the young man finally left my granddaughter came running over and said “Grandma, that man was scary. Why does he think you hate Mexicans?” 

Elisa told her granddaughter the young man is confused. "People told him lies . . . and he believed them". 

Incidentally, Elisa’s son in law and father of her two grandchildren is Hispanic. Elisa and Marjain paid thousands of dollars to sponsor him to become a legal American citizen. 

Elisa ended our conversation with the following thought. “Look, Greg, it is has been a very hard year. Let’s put it behind us and look forward to a better future for everyone.” 

Doughboys is a jewel in Raytown’s crown. Breitenbach’s little Donut Shop is a destination location. People come to Raytown to see the store and buy their donuts. That is definitely good news for Doughboys and also good news for our city. 

It helps to drive our economy and introduce visitors to other small businesses in the community. 

As an example, people who visit Doughboys will cross the Rock Island Bicycle Trail to do so. They may visit the trail, and, possibly stop off at Crane Brewery as well. This illustrates how Raytown can flourish and, by working together, make
our community stronger and an attractive destination to visit for years to come.

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