It has been a long time since that masterful scribe of the English language has made his presence known on our pages. It is good to see him back!
Paul
Livius Returns!
RECOUNTS - Why they are important
BY PAUL LIVIUS
The November Election seems like it was a lifetime ago . . . to most. But to some, there seems to still be a stinging effect from the results. My view? The election is over. It is time to move.
At the
last meeting of the City Council Ward 1 Alderman Greg Walters was chastised for
exploring the possibility of a recount of the election results. Greg readily
admitted he had explored such a possibility, but learned that Missouri State
Statutes already require a recount because the two Raytown tax questions failed
or passed by less than one-half of one percent of the vote. It is a state law.
The
number of yes and no votes changed slightly, but not enough to change the final
result.
As it
turned out, City Hall had also enquired about a recount of the votes.
Which
just goes to show, it is not always the question that is wrong in some people’s
eyes, but who is asking the question. In this case, Greg was called on the carpet for asking for a recount. Looks like he hit a nerve with his request.
How dare he!
Greg
told me, “There is nothing wrong with recounts. Recounts guarantee that every
vote will be counted.”
He also
shared with me that this was not his first rodeo when it came to recounts.
In
1996 Greg lost an election by three votes. He has asked for, and received a
recount. Turns out one of the votes was disqualified. Greg said, “All that
meant was that I lost by two votes!”
This “calling
someone out” for something viewed as “wrong” by some people, seems to be an petty
strategy of the opposing side.
Richard
Tush, President of the Raytown Democrat Association (RDA), told me of a meeting
prior to the election. Ward 3 Alderman Ryan Myers (who was pro-tax to the
extreme) showed up with his pro-tax group.
Greg was
at the meeting as well.
They
laid into Greg because he was the only “no vote” on the City Council against
the taxes.
This
brought an interesting response from members of the club. State Representative
Jerome Barnes replied, “what is wrong with being the only “no vote” on
anything?”
Mr.
Tush pointed out that being the only “no” vote is not a bad thing. He reminded
everyone in attendance that Greg was the only “no” vote on the deal that
brought Wal-Mart to Raytown. Tush told the members of the club, in that case
Greg’s “no” vote proved to be the “correct vote”.
Not
sure what this foretells, but it looks as though we have the makings of a very interesting
city election coming up next April.
My wise words for this story . . . "Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and hoping the other person gets sick." (author unknown)
Paul Livius Returns!
RECOUNTS - Why they are importantFiling
for public office in the City of Raytown
closes Tuesday, December. 27, 2022.
Those wishing to file for public office in Raytown are required to make an appointment with the City Clerk, Teresa Henry to set a time when she will be available to meet with you.
Ms. Henry can be contacted by calling 816 737 6000 (option 9).
Candidate filings for the City of Raytown
as
of December 7, 2022
Mayor
Michael McDonough
Alderman Ward 1
Demonte
Rochester
Alderman Ward 2
Jason
Sneddon
Jim
Aziere
Alderman Ward 3
Janet
Emerson
Alderman Ward 4
Mary
Jane Van Buskirk
Theresa
Garza
Alderman Ward 5
Diane
Krizek
Something Different, Something New!
 |
| GREG AND MECEE WALTERS |
We have decided to name this section of links "Raytown's Gathering Place".
The inaugural link is to Elisa Breitenbach’s Facebook Page. Elisa and her husband, Marjain, own and operate Doughboy’s Donuts in Raytown.
Though we know she has been in Raytown forever (Elisa grew up in Raytown), we recognize the good they have done for the Raytown community and continue to do so through Elisa's Facebook page.
We are pleased they have agreed to allow us to open the link to the right of this story to Elisa's Facebook page.
Greg and Mecee Walters
P.S. If you are interested in having
your website or Facebook Page added to this sidebar, send your request to us on
or blog page (preferably with a link).
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Filing for Office in Raytown Opens
FILING PERIOD OPENS, DEC. 6 / CLOSES, DEC. 27
The office of Mayor and five of the seats on the Raytown Board of Aldermen will be elected on April 4, 2023. The filing period for public office in Raytown opens on December 6, 2022 and closes on December 27, 2022. Candidates will be filing for a four year term of office.
The following offices will be up for Election April, 4, 2023
OFFICE SALARY CAR ALLOWANCE TOTAL*
Mayor $12,750.00 + $2,700.00 car allowance = $15,540.00
*Mayor and Aldermen salaries (under the total column) show total annual monetary benefits.
Compensation shown includes Annual Salary, Car Allowance, Workman’s Comp/FICA. Elected officials may also purchase health, dental and vision insurance at cost through the city’s health insurance plan.
November
8th Election – Analysis
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BY GREG WALTERS
The November 8th
Election was interesting. The closeness of the race was the
biggest surprise.
Voter turnout for the election hovered around 50% - which is pretty much
average for a mid-term election.
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By comparison, the August 8th Election had a voter turnout of approximately 30%.
Both of the issues had an unusually high under-vote. This means that many people who voted on other issues simply did not vote on the two Raytown questions.
No doubt being the last issue on the ballot can explain part of the under vote. It remains that the under vote as high as shown in the results is exceptional.
Election Judges working at the polls noticed that there were a number of voters who came in, voted, and left very quickly. The opinion overwhelmingly shared was those "in and out" voters were casting votes on the Recreational Marijuana ballot measure.
Since the vote totals were so close they were subject to an automatic recount under Missouri State Law.
The recount did show a very small gain of votes on the two Tax Questions. Question Number Two was a squeaker of an election. The difference between the yes and no votes was only 7 votes at one point. The re-count narrowed difference to even fewer. But there was still not enough of a change in the totals to reverse the final result.
Question One had a larger split and never had much of a chance of picking up the extra votes needed for approval.
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