civil's blog

There has been a lot of grousing on this blog about the City of Independence calling for an election on August 4, 2009, instead of later when there are more items on the ballot. Does anybody know when that may be? The next election date on the Missouri calendar is November 3, 2009 and I know of no planned elections for that date, so it would seem an election in Independence on that date would also be a single item ballot. Anybody know anything different?

There has been a lot of chatter on this blog, some favoring the police tax proposal, some against it. It is not my intent to sway anybody's vote one way or another. I am more concerned that each of us does vote. At the last election about 8% of those eligible did vote. Somewhere between 4 and 5 per cent carried the day. So, of the voting population in Independence less than 5% govern what and how the other 95% function within the city. Sad.

At last there is something out of D.C. I can agree with. Somebody, I don't know nor care who, has suggested that the remaining TARP funds be used to give small businesses direct loans. This was the intent of the bank bail outs, to raise the banks liquidity level so they could provide loans. Unfortunately, instead of lending the banks kept the money to make their balance sheets look better. Elisa is a small business owner. She probably knows better than most that business operates on credit. They take out loans in order to pay invoices early and get the 10 day net savings.

Mr. Robert G. Fisher's guest column "Turning to Socialism? Whiners seem to have forgotten history"(Examiner, July 1, 2009) needs a bit of clarification. First, Noboody is whining about creeping socialism. We are trying to awaken the naive Obama worshipers, such as Mr. Fisher, to the real threat of what this administration is doing to this country.

I was the first to complain about increasing sales tax for anything at this time. I noted when the arena tax was levied that the city was leaving itself little wiggle room for future funding. The citizens now have a choice. Increase the sales tax or skimp on the Police. Some have suggested foregoing the 3% raise for employees. That would yield enough to fund maybe 5 or 6 officers, or about one-quarter the number required. I have read of no other source of funds for the roughly 30 sworn officers the city needs. If anybody has a source in mind I would like to hear of it.

We finally get some positive reporting about the Independence Police Department, but I wonder about the Examiner's sense of importance. On the front page there is a short story concerning the success of the efforts to decrease accidents on I-70, a noble program. On page B-6, behind the sports, behind the comics and one page ahead of the classified, is a story about the SVU, and its work in cooperating with the FBI and Immigration in busting up a human trafficking ring. The article points up that this unit is the only one of its kind in the Metropolitan area.

June 13, 2009. It is not yet legal to sell fireworks in Independence, but the street East of me sounds like a small war. The council, in their infinite wisdom, publicized that  neither the police nor anybody else was going to enforce a fireworks ban. So they shoot with impunity. The council needs to suck it up and see that the laws of this city are enforced. I believe the chief of police still works at their direction. So do some directing. A fireworks exploded prior to July 4 is a misdemeanor. Treat it as such.

There have been a couple of statements made about the IPD that I feel need clarification. The first is the rumor that the department has paid for vehicles it never received. That is false. There was an incident where the vendor went bankrupt before the IPD paid for the cars. The cars were subsequently purchased from another vendor. If anybody can produce evidence to the contrary I would like to see it. More than "he said, she said" please.

Mminnoe, you often refer to the City Manager as Peacock. Interestingly, the Mayor in 1882 was named Peacock. Perhaps your choice of The Fighting Peacocks for the hockey team might be fitting after all.

I wonder at the effectiveness of the continual blogging on criminal activity in Independence. I am sure the Mayor is aware there is a criminal element here. I would think the Council, the City Manager and the Police are onto it. What I hate to see is the vision it gives outsiders of our fair city. I have a friend currently residing in the East. He once lived in Independence. He is making a career move back into the KC area.

In one of the earlier blogs Mayor Reimal was quoted as stating that once rental property made up more than 30% of the housing in a city, the city is in trouble. I questioned the  Mayor about the rationale behind this. He phoned me today with the explanation. As promised, here it is. Basically, the national criteria would dictate an 80-20 split. The problems that develop primarily affect the school system in that rental apartment complexes produce more children at a lower per capita tax return. Also, with a 30% rental population the city tends to be less stable demographically.

A movie that all should see - "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" - really a documentary, but the heroic struggle of one man against insurmountable odds.

This City Council continues to befuddle me. At Monday's (5/4/09) council session Gragg, Paris and Reimal voted against a rezoning application for a portion of the Freedom Landing Development. Gragg and Paris both said the reason for their no vote was that they did not like the location of the apartments planned for the area. Reimal,I guess,  voted no just because he's Reimal. This after Gragg two weeks ago voted for one project and effectively against another because, in her opinion, the one was more likely to succeed than the other.

The news today is that Computers & Tele-Comm, Inc. will be investing $1.67M in the IREC and will occupy 14,000 sq. ft. of space in the IREC with another 10,000 sq. ft. in reserve for any future growth. Is this an investment in the Incubator or is it an investment in equipment for the firm? Mr. Gibson says “…my involvement was contingent upon them (IREC) receiving TIF approval. That’s what the TIF money means to us, though we aren’t getting any of it.

Marcie Gragg is quoted in today’s Examiner (April, 8, 2009) as claiming the $10M granted to the Edwards Group is not a windfall. That depends on how you describe windfall. Granted that the funds will not be disbursed in a lump sum. Nobody ever thought they would. However, the funds do represent 20% of the projected construction cost of the development. That’s a windfall.