The filing period is over and the ballot has been set. Now all that’s left is for area voters to study the candidates and issues and then go to the polls on April 3 for the General Municipal & School Board Election.
Most of us send in our house payments, mow the yard, read the home owner’s association newsletter and hope our community’s future will take care of itself.
Engineers and city planners worry and wonder. They think about sustainability in communities. Their profession’s newsletters and conferences address how to balance growth, cost, technologies and tax base.
We’re almost a month into 2012 and few people could have predicted the eventful headlines that would come out of the Platte County administration building so far this year, especially regarding the budget which was finally passed after some initially continuous opposition. While you’ve been able to keep track of the overall discussion and finger pointing that’s taken place through our news coverage, there are a few sometimes subtle, but important themes that haven’t grabbed many peoples’ attention and consideration.
The County Commission has cited one main reason why this year’s budget has required them to make, in some cases, drastic cuts and they’re not afraid to tell you every chance they get. It’s what is referred to as the federal government’s unfunded mandate to upgrade emergency radio equipment. They point it out as a way to lay the blame of the financial burden at the foot of the federal government, but leave out its purpose.
It’s time for a little journalism 101, with an emphasis in discernment. Sound thrilling? You’d be surprised how many assumptions people make about what is and isn’t news, so why not play along to see what you might be missing.
“Heroes don’t wear capes. They wear
dog tags.”
That is a quote from American Legion Post 501 commander Larry Crocket in Weston last Friday during West Platte’s Veterans Day Observance. It was something that struck me hard.
Authorities believe a white 20-year-old Platte City area man, whose body was found in a pickup truck damaged by arson, set a string of 12 arson fires Friday in a Platte City neighborhood.
Authorities believe that the deceased suspect may have been overcome by smoke while setting the fire in the passenger seat of the white pickup. The Platte City Police Department said it is “fairly confident” of the identity of the deceased suspect but will not release it until positive fingerprint identification has been made by the Jackson County Coroner’s Office.
Northland Regional Ambulance (NRAD) District Board of Directors President Kevin Rawlings was charged Wednesday with misusing public information that authorities say helped him net $144,000 in a land transaction last spring between himself and the district.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said Rawlings was charged by Platte County prosecutors onFeb. 1, the day after The Citizen’s weekly deadline, following an investigation by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. Zahnd’s office alleges that Rawlings, 40, of Dearborn, purchased land in an area where he knew the ambulance district was planning to build a new station.
The Weston Brewing Company (WBC) family has yet again expanded with the impending purchase of the St. George Hotel.
WBC owners Corey Weinfurt and Mike Coakley last month took possession of the St. George with the sale set to close this week. The hotel, with its 26 rooms, is open for business with the hotel bar expected to open this weekend serving WBC beers.
The public statements of a candidate for the Park Hill Board of Education have recently made some waves at a meeting of that very Board.
Edward Stephens of Kansas City, who filed for the April election to the Board, spoke at the Board’s regular meeting last week, questioning the effectiveness of spending district money on services for special education students.
After months of analysis, discussion and planning, the Platte County R-3 Board of Education last week unanimously voted to place a 60-cent tax levy increase question on the April 3 ballot.
“This has been a long process,” R-3 Superintendent Dr. Mike Reik said prior to the Board’s vote. “We have vetted the community and received feedback. We have conducted an extensive financial review and we know what our enrollment growth projections look like. It’s time we pull it all together and take the issue to our patrons.”
The ballot question will read as follows and requires a simple majority to pass:
The Platte County R-3 High School in Platte City will have a new principal for the 2012-13 school year. At its meeting last week, the Platte County R-3 Board of Education unanimously approved the hiring of Dr. Patrick Martin to the post. Martin, who has been assistant principal at Lee’s Summit West High School since 2008, will replace longtime PCHS Principal Craig Robinson, who will retire in June.
The 2012 County budget may have been approved, but the ramifications of the budget disagreements are far from over.
On Jan. 5, the County Commission issued an order to stop all work on the planned $21 million in expansions at both Platte County Community Centers. The move was made after a Jan. 3 budget public hearing, where Prosecutor Eric Zahnd suggested the Commissioners ask voters to rescind the one-half cent parks sales tax and replace it with a one-eighth cent sales tax for parks and one-quarter cent for law enforcement.
The Park Hill School District has put the possibility of a levy increase on the back burner, for now.
With the Jan. 24 deadline looming for placing an issue on the April ballot, the Board of Education last week directed district administration to form a steering committee to build a pilot student-centered digital device program for the 2012-13 school year. The committee will also be tasked with determining how best to fund a full program.
Quintin P. O’Dell was brought in for questioning by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department on Jan. 5 in regards to a brutal Dec. 26 assault of a Ferrelview woman that left her fighting for her life. In the hours that followed, as Jan. 5 gave way to Jan. 6, Platte County authorities say that O’Dell, 22, of Platte City, admitted he sliced open the Ferrelview victim with a razor and nearly disemboweled her. They also say that O’Dell admitted that he killed Alissa Shippert on the banks of the Platte River, just east of Platte City, last May.
On Jan. 7, Platte County Sheriff Richard Anderson and Prosecutor Eric Zahnd held a joint press conference at the Platte Resource Center near KCI Airport to announce O’Dell had been charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action in the Shippert killing and first degree assault and armed criminal action for the Ferrelview assault.
Some of his co-workers at Casey’s General Store in Platte City all shared one recollection about accused murderer Quintin O’Dell: he was a big talker.
“It seemed like he always had some kind of big plan,” Casey’s manager Ron Stone said. “He was going to go in the military or move somewhere crazy.”
After the explosive County Commission meeting Jan. 3, followed by a week of special budget meetings, the newly retooled County budget was unanimously passed Jan. 10 with little fanfare.
Last week, every County officeholder, minus Auditor Kevin Robinson, spoke out against the Commission’s last-minute budget revisions. Those revisions were reductions that would cost County employees jobs, call for the closure of the Platte County Annex in Platte Woods, the automation of the County telephone system and the elimination of hand-delivery of County mail. Also of concern to officeholders was the Commission’s proposal to redirect dedicated funds in the Assessor’s and Collector’s offices to the general fund.
After a three-hour public hearing Jan. 3, during which the Platte County Commissioners heard from displeased officeholders, the Commission has unanimously voted to table its approval of the County’s proposed $49.8 million 2012 budget. The Commissioners have set aside Jan. 5 to meet with officeholders to discuss budget alternatives. State statute requires the budget be approved no later than Jan. 10.
Late Dec. 23, at around 3 p.m., according to Auditor Kevin Robinson, he received the Commission’s proposed budget, which had significantly changed from his recommended budget presented in November.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, 2011 flew by so fast we could hardly keep up with it. There was plenty of good news, but many of the highlights of the year were defined by disaster, tragedy and wrongdoing. Regardless, here are the headlines that appeared on the pages of The Citizen the past 12 months.
6: County no longer needs warrant for blood tests of DUI suspects; Weston business owner George Treese killed in July 4 fire; PC police sergeant Bill Babbitt suspended, resigns; Parkville residents bent at recycling public forum; Platte City looks at new audit law; Attorney John Cady obtains $375,000 settlement for Edgerton women; Parkville aims to improve access if Highway 9 floods
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