EDITOR:

It is time to get rid of 90% of the IRS and save millions of dollars in operation costs and employee salaries. Fire them all, well most of them. The organization is corrupt.

In recent days we have seen the illegal intimidation tactics used against the Tea Party, Jewish and Christian organizations, conservative businesses, and individual patriots who dare speak out against the corrupt Obama administration. Name the topic: Fast and Furious weapons to drug cartels, Black Panther voter intimidation, the Benghazi cover up, illegal seizure of AP and Fox reporter phone records, and now the IRS targeting scandal.

As they say, you just can't make this stuff up. The liberal dream of a utopia on earth collapses under the weight of human imperfection, lies, and a complete lack of leadership.

Now that we have eliminated most of the IRS, how do we get taxes? Some think a “fair tax” is the solution. The fair tax is really a consumption tax; it is a tax on the things we purchase. However, the fair tax would not remain fair. Can you imagine if liberals came to power, the tax on a solar panel would be 2%, while the tax on a handgun would be 50%? It simply would not work. There would be too many lobbyists in Washington DC lobbying for different tax rates to protect their political interests. Over time, it would completely break down.

Here is the solution ─ a flat tax. God only requires 10%, so that is all I am recommending we give the feds (plus, you still have to pay state and local taxes). The 10% tax rate should not permit any deductions, to include charitable contributions.
This allows conservative Christian pastors to finally take a stand and speak out on political issues like the liberal churches already do. You would still need a Constitutional amendment to hold the tax rate at 10%. If you did not have that, the party who loves to spend other people's money (OPM) would fight tooth and nail to get back on the path to the socialist utopia I discussed earlier. You cannot make a tax code any simpler than this.

I am not against taxes. However, I am now against the IRS; they are a partisan organization. Our federal taxes need to be spent on a strong national defense, internal security, some infrastructure, and a minimalist government like our founding fathers intended. That is what the Constitution allows.

--Mike Stark
Platte City

EDITOR:

In almost 30 years the Central Platte Fire Department has never been audited. Every government entity ought to be sifted through as a preventive measure to corruption; audits are healthy.

The audit being done at the fire department is expensive, but as a taxpayer I find it is money well spent to prevent, halt, or correct excessive spending, etc.

Other governments are audited, so why the offense to audit the fire department? I say offense because some are resentful, but that's because it was not their idea. You may know that all is well with the fire department, but it is a healthy practice in this country to prove it via the audit. Why has it taken almost 30 years to get one done?

Meanwhile, many taxpayers are so thankful to those few at the fire department for surrendering to being more transparent, more accountable, and more professional all around. You few are wise indeed.

Still, there's resistance in the area of cell phone and vehicle usage, crafting an agenda using more specific standards, having the right person craft the agenda, and behaving respectfully during meetings.

Being corrected is an opportunity to be humble. The process of correcting the fire department has not been easy, but some have chosen to self correct.

For those not so flexible, what was so good about the 20-30 year old way of doing things? It seems to have meant spending money because it is available, hiring persons or companies without bidding the job out, using the fire house to store personal items, and getting stuff.

It seems the truth about serving a city has not been told: one must be willing to be inspected now and then, to be held to the rules, and be prepared to change. Basically, "Search me, I have nothing to hide. In fact, I've done well and can prove it."

Gentlemen, because you did not correct yourselves, it is being done for you. When inspection is not your own idea, it offends greatly.

Hats off to those who are man enough to be humble and truthful.

--Kelly Goen
Platte City

EDITOR:

If Platte County voters believed they solved all funding our roads and bridges problems by voting to renew the road tax, they will get a surprise.

A report by the Society of Engineers gave Missouri's roads and bridges a D-minus grade. An estimated $3.6 trillion is needed for the nation; the report condensed several pieces of data.

This report by the Society of Engineers underscores the need for serious, professional analysis of Platte County roads and bridges. The quick-fix guesstimate provided by our newly elected county commissioners appeared so easy and simple. Unfortunately, no one actually knows the precise conditions of bridges and roads; no one actually knows the county's future needs for new roads and bridges to accommodate expansion.

As a voter, I asked for a need-based infrastructure study prior to any call for road and bridge taxes. I wasn't opposed to the road tax, but I wanted facts and figures concerning present and future needs.

I do not gamble, but I'll bet within two years Platte County voters will get asked again for additional tax monies for roads and bridges

Of course, these same county commissioners and road commissioners will trot out their soft sell; they will preach their sing along, get along gospel of “trust me, follow me, because I know best.”

--Lee Valentine
Platte County

EDITOR:

Re: “Cats back in the news . . . call it irony . . .”

No, call your editorial BS. I own the building located at 355 Main Street in Platte City and occupied it for years as my law office until I mostly retired, then leased the building to a construction company.

Yes, I have an empathy for cats and maintain a sanctuary for cats that are considered to be “unadoptable” where they are not cooped up in a cage and receive care and attention for the duration of their life. Cats never occupied my building and the construction company did not maintain cats on the premises either.

A friend of mine called and asked if I had read your editorial, which I had not as I don’t take The Landmark because of your news “reporting” and editorials such as this one. Being concerned of the allegation of an odor in the building, I called Chief Carl Mitchell, who assured me that there is no odor in the building and no one from his department has indicated that there is an odor of any kind.

Chief Mitchell took your editorial as a humorous jab at him. I don’t. Get your facts straight before you commit your musings to print.

--M. A. THALMAN
Gower

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Landmark stands purrfectly behind Between the Lines musings and meowsings. Thanks for reading/not reading/reading while pretending you’re not reading.)

EDITOR:

Three weeks ago a Platte County newspaper, which was not The Landmark, ran a front page article on Platte County R-3 with some incorrect information in it on district finances. A letter to the editor was sent to that paper--and then later after the letter did not run--an email with contact information as to where the correct information could be verified, DESE, MH&EFA and Greg Bricker the George K Baum employee who presented the information at the meeting which the article was based on.

That other paper has yet to run the letter or any retraction of the information by the district or the paper. It appears the school district is given free rein to publish anything they want without the information being verified by that paper.

Clearly if you want unbiased, fact-based coverage of anything related to Platte County R-3, you will need to read The Landmark to get it.

I read the statement below at the last board of education meeting last week.

Dear School Board Members

“As you are aware over the last month several items have been pointed out on the website PlattecountyR3facts.com that show misleading or false information that has been given to the Platte County Tax payers over the last several years through meetings, school flyers the media and as recently as the CAC meeting April 29.
These items include:

1, Wrong information listed on 2012 school "annual report" showing Schoolmatch award information. 29 schools instead of 2.437 listed as having received this award nationally.

2, Schoolmatch criteria changed on the District website from actual criteria used by Schoolmatch "not so rigorous as to intimidate their children" changed to "Competitive in academic test scores and academically solid".

3, Bond rating information: "Only 15 as good as or better" used in all speeches and given to all media outlets is wrong. This has led the taxpayers of the district to believe that Platte R3 is one of the top 15 financially managed districts in the state when in fact it is not.

4, Teacher pay in information supplied as recently as last week is listed as $51,235 when this is the Scale pay from 2011-12 school year and the raise for this year is not included or clarified.

5, PCMS and Barry are recognized on the district website as having been recognized as being in the "Top Ten Highest Performing Schools in the State". This is an old award from seven years ago and needs to be removed or clarified so that residents will know that the award is not current to the schools now and in fact no longer exist.

6, From the district website and literature "The Platte County School District prides itself on High Academic expectations and results" High Expectations cannot be argued with, but results is used in conjunction with an award that more than 50% of all other school districts receive. According to Webster's definition of "high" this does not put you "above all others" and so High Results should not be used until the district is able to raise its academics at all schools or just report the schools in the district that do meet High or Lofty academic standards.

7, From School website under "choose our district" The R-3 Schools have achieved the highest honor of academic distinction in the state of Missouri by earning the classification of "High Performing District" since inception. Platte County R-3 has repeatedly received a perfect 14 out of 14 score on the Annual Performance Report by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. The district is proud of excellent facilities and the opportunities for students as a result of "strong voter approval" on bond issues, the most recent being in 2008 for $7.95 million dollars. The district's reputation continues to grow as one of the best school districts in the state as evidenced by its recognition for outstanding student performances, exceptional leadership including board, administration and staff honors, and the wonderful support of a caring.. . Several things wrong with this, "repeatedly" received 14 out of 14. "facilities" (trailers, rising star?) and Last levy not mentioned under "strong voter approval.”

Your own surveys show that 82% of people get their information from the Internet on the district, along with 70% from district newsletters. This alone should tell you how important it is that the information is kept up and is correct.

At the last CAC meeting when asked informally if the "Top Ten" information could be corrected on the website Dr. Reik stated "I don't even know where that is at on our website and if I did we just don't have the manpower to correct all of the old information and keep the website up to date" I could understand this except when Dr. Martin left last year the district managed to erase every trace of his existence in Platte County almost immediately. From the comment by Dr. Reik compared to the actions it looks as if the District has the ability to react to negative information almost immediately but cannot do the same when the information makes the district look good but is incorrect.

Many people make financial decisions based off of the information listed by district websites and mailers, right now someone could be trying to decide if they should move into the Park Hill District or Platte R3 due to the education they want their kids to have. The information listed above could be what leads them to possibly make the wrong decision. From the information put out by the Platte R3 district you would think that we are financially in better shape than almost all districts, have academic test scores in line with all of the best schools and have received many coveted awards for this. You make it public how happy with the districts parents are with the district parent surveys but I do not see the same information immediately made public when the student surveys come back poorly on a school or teachers.

Please consider this the formal request to change the information above. You will also be receiving a certified letter at the district office listing the same. I hope that within two weeks a press release is issued to the papers listing the items that have been incorrectly reported in the papers due to the districts information. The district website should also be updated to show the retraction of information or clarification of what is listed that is incorrect. I expect the same enthusiasm should be given to getting the correct information out as was given to giving out the wrong information.

No matter who provided you the information listed above ultimately it is the districts responsibility to verify and see that it is correct before using it to promote itself, so blaming this wrong information on others or acting like it is insignificant will not be acceptable.

While I am personally very unhappy with how the "Distinction in Performance" award is portrayed by the district you have pushed it to the limits as to making it into something it clearly is not but you have not yet used it in a way that is totally untrue. If you want to continue to promote it, I would hope you would at least list the amount of schools that receive it as other districts do so people realize it is not an exclusive award as the district leads you to believe.”

If you have been to any of the community meetings you would have heard how maintenance on our schools has been delayed due to budget problems, ACT scores are staying about the same as they have for the past 8 years and one of the worst items was the student survey from last fall showing : (2,449 Respondents)

Only 39% of Students in HS think there is "good communication between teachers and students,” a drop of 20% from middle school.

Only 29% think " teachers connect what students are learning to my world.” A drop of 27% from middle school.

Only 37% think "my teacher tries to meet my individual needs as a learner" a drop of 24% from middle school.

Only 50% think "teachers in my school care about me" a drop from 78% in middle school.

Parent surveys are great and that is what we hear the most about but the difference between what the students think and what the parents and teachers think is large. Teachers are at 90% (strongly agree) on "I routinely differentiate instruction to meet the needs of individual students.” Compare that to the students responses.

If you are trusting all of the local papers to give you the correct information on our school district, you may not be getting all of the information, only what the district wants you to see. A good example would be the much publicized "watershed district.”

If you want to see actual growth numbers, go to the growth page on PlattecountyR3facts.com and look at the numbers and website links.

--Kirby Holden
Platte County

EDITOR:

In the May 8th, 2013, Landmark, the front page story revealing the Park Hill School District superintendent’s renegotiated contract with a year extension, including an 11% raise, grabbed my attention. The board of education is going right down the same path taken during Dennis Fisher’s seven year tenure.

This new deal with Scott Springston bothers me for several reasons, the first of which is when hired, he and the current board agreed to terms based on a three year contract. What has changed over the last 12 months justifying he gets that significant of a raise? From my perspective, nothing.

As a parent of a child in the district, it does not appear anything really changed other than the names of administrators filling positions. Dr. Springston says he is working to make the district more transparent. As you highlighted in your between the lines column of the same issue, there were challenges in getting the information needed to write the article. Such a struggle to gain information does not sound like more transparency. I have also not seen any change as to what is happening in the classroom, other than a push to the horrendous Common Core State Standards, but that is another issue.

The second reason the new deal bothers me is Springston is getting an 11% raise. My question here is how much of a raise are the teachers and other classroom personnel receiving? I was not able to find this information, but I am confident it is nowhere near 11%. In addition, I do not know of anyone working in the private sector who got anywhere even close to an 11% raise.

The third item bothering me is the high raise reveals the board of education is not acting in a manner consistent with effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars. If the board is willing to give the superintendent such a significant raise after less than one year of service, what else are they willing to spend money on that does not affect the quality of education our students receive?

Administrative spending does not improve learning and retention in the classroom and does not help to prepare students for either college or career.

It is important to remember that we, the taxpayers, are the ones who will pay this additional $32,829 next year without seeing any improvements in the level of education our students receive. It is time to run our school district in a fiscally efficient and effective way, while providing our students a world class education. The goal of education must be to ensure we are doing what is necessary to prepare our students for a successful future.

--Josh Blackman
Platte County

EDITOR:

I am a small business owner living in Maryland and a former Platte County resident (Platte County High School graduate, Class of 1960).

As the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, becomes the law of the land in annual incremental steps, there have been a lot of newspaper articles and discussions here in the Washington, D.C. media.

Of note is the concern about “affordability” as expressed by two retiring senators who previously supported the law. Both Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D-WV) are backing off their support. Baucus calls it a “huge train wreck” coming in the implementation and Rockefeller said the law is “beyond comprehension.”

Probably the best summary editorial commentary I have read lately in the local media was written by your Missouri Rep. Sam Graves. You can find it at WashingtonTimes.com where it was printed yesterday. Rep. Graves summarizes the various discussions I have seen and also the ones mentioned above. The federal government is about to spend millions on a “PR campaign” to inform all of us citizens of the value of the law.

You do well in Missouri to have such an articulate and candid representative in Congress. Rep. Graves is a frequent contributor of editorials. I only wish that my local Maryland representative had such concern for the affordability by both small businesses and individual citizens.

--David R. Gust
Major General
U.S. Army Retired
Brookeville, MD

EDITOR:

In 2006 after 16-years of employment I left the Platte County Sheriff’s Department to further my career in the private sector. I often read up on Platte County events, as I still consider it my home.

Since Sheriff Mark Owen’s election recently, his office has successfully made a significant narcotic trafficking seizure and now the safe capture of two escaped inmates. Work like this takes a great deal of skill and teamwork.

It’s worth noting that when Sheriff Owen was a deputy, he was involved in the arrest of an escaped inmate from the US Penitentiary in Leavenworth.

Congratulations to the deputies of the Platte County Sheriff’s Office and other assisting police agencies. I look forward to hearing more of your successes in the future.

--Kevin Anderson
Galveston, Tex.

EDITOR:

Last week at the Citizens Advisory Council meeting, Greg Bricker from George K. Baum (the district’s bond consultant) attended and let the participants know that Platte County R-3 Superintendent Dr. Mike Reik had been giving out the wrong information on how many schools have an AA bond rating or better. Bricker said this was due to his supplying the wrong information to the district.

Dr. Reik and the district have been reporting that "only 15 schools have as good as or a better rating than the Platte County R-3 school district.” Mr. Bricker confirmed at the meeting that schools that use the Missouri Direct Deposit program all have a better rating than Platte R-3.

The direct deposit program used to allow the districts to not pay the "cost of issuance" or pay the up to 2% cost of the bond amount for the rating. The state picked up this amount, which is the reason a lot have used it. Currently the cost for the rating is still paid for by the state and if you go through the program you are guaranteed an AA+ rating, better than the AA rating Platte County currently has.

I spoke with the MH&EFA (Missouri Health and Education Financial Authority) this week and was told that in the past two years 319 school districts have used this program, 170 three years ago.

At the meeting, Mr. Bricker also told us that four schools as mentioned on Plattecountyr3facts.com have a AAA rating along with 15 schools that have an AA rating or better. So instead of 15 districts having the same or better rating as the district has told us, the number is actually over 350 (out of about 520).

The Missouri direct deposit program does not always mean you have a district with bond rating problems, districts use it for several different reasons not the least being you get an AA+ bond rating which comes with a lower interest rate.

Secondly, the only fact disputed so far on the website Plattecountyr3facts.com by the district has been the tax levy information. If you did not know it, the amount a taxpayer pays to support his district not only comes from the local levy but also from several sources, including the sales tax that sends money back to the districts under Proposition C.

R-3’s current tax ceiling is 3.8903 with the .9600 debt (previous capital bonds) service added in it takes R-3’s Unadjusted Tax rate to 4.8503 with 4.5288 being the adjusted tax rate. This is the number the district puts on its literature. Prop C tax dollars make up the difference between the two (.3215).

If we roll back "waiver" the Prop C dollars in an election the district, can charge up to the tax rate ceiling of 3.8903 plus the .9600 debt ceiling (previous capital bonds), the district will still get the Prop C dollars and it will be a "voluntary rollback" should they decide to not use the full amount to the ceiling.

This is complicated, but as a taxpayer you are currently paying more than the 4.52 levy reported by the district in taxes to support your district, that is if you ever purchase anything in the state of Missouri.

A quick check shows that very few districts are doing a voluntary rollback but are using the full amount to the ceiling and keeping the Prop C dollars. 445 districts in Missouri currently have a full waiver of Prop C, 40 partial and 35 with no waiver, including Platte County R-3.

Of 14 local Missouri schools, Platte R-3 has the highest debt per student of $20,765. The next closest is Liberty with $14,662 the lowest was Belton with $8,736. Over $891 dollars per student per year goes to just pay the interest on our debt in Platte R-3.

Plattecountyr3facts.com will be adjusted accordingly to show this information.
If you want to check some facts about the district, here are a couple. I received a flyer from the district saying that Platte R-3 school district "was recognized as one of only 29 school districts to receive the What Parents Want Award from SchoolMatch, a national firm specializing in rating K-12 schools by using auditable data."

This led me to believe we were one of 29 schools in the nation to receive this award, that's what it says. Here is the truth about this award: More than 2,400 schools received this award nationally and the criteria for the award has even been "adjusted" on our website compared to what it says on SchoolMatch.com to make it sound better.

When the district reports it has two middle schools both recognized for being in the "Top Ten Highest performing schools in the state relative to MAP scores" as they do under "Awards and Recognition” on the district website, this led me to believe we had two of the top ten middle schools in the state "currently.” That's what it says and that would be correct if this was 2006 and then it would be stretching it a little, since Barry was from earlier in the century.

Dr. Reik made the statement at the CAC meeting that the district does not have the manpower to keep the website up to date. We do have the manpower to change the "Distinction in Performance" award (over 300 schools get this one) every year, which is two lines above this statement on the website.

I think it is time we realize as we move forward the information we are being given by our local school district needs to be verified and looked at a little closer.

--Kirby Holden
Platte County
plattecountyr3facts.com

EDITOR:

Calling all Scout leaders and national representatives.

If anyone is listening in Scouting, how do "morally straight" and any form of open homosexually have a scintilla of compatibility? Please overwhelmingly vote down this outrageous proposal to allow openly gay Scouts into the program.

You MIGHT gain some donors but you will lose the Scouting program and most loyal Scouting parents. Please be circumspect and logical.

Homosexuals are less than 2% of the population. If you pass this proposal you are contributing to and accelerating the loss of family values in a time when they need to be strengthened, not dismantled.

You have already won this battle in court. Don't let political correctness blind you.

--Jim DeJarnatt
Weston

EDITOR:

A few weeks ago in the Platte County Treasures, a school district flier sent out by Platte County R-3, an interesting article appeared entitled Common Core State Standards or CCSS. It would be beneficial for all parents with children and educators in our public school system to begin doing some research on this agenda.

This is what I am discovering: CCSS is an effort to create a national curriculum immersed in social justice concepts that has its roots in international education systems. I believe it's a stealth take-over of our schools and a “one size fits all” approach to education. If you have ever heard of the retired University of Chicago education professor and unrepentant Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers of 1960s infamy, you will find him a leading advocate of this concept. If Bill Ayers supports CCSS, should you?
I understand the benefits of standardization as a former career soldier. Standardization can be a good thing for the right reasons. The problem with standardization of education for children lies not in how the information is presented but what information is presented and who selects the materials to be taught. CCSS takes most of that authority away from the states and local school boards and gives it to the federal government aligned with private associations and non-profit progressive organizations in Washington, D.C. which developed the standards. Over time, each state will give up control of their curriculums.

The federal government used $4.3 billion of stimulus money in 2009 to reward states who were most committed to the CCSS agenda; but they failed to give states, their legislatures, and their citizens' time to evaluate the CCSS before having to commit to them. Many states succumbed to the arm twisting in order to receive Race to the Top grant money.

The exact costs to implement CCSS are unknown, but the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education estimates it to be around $389 million; it could be higher. Another major concern is the amount of personal student data collected for any non-educational purposes without the prior written consent of an adult student or the student's parents. The intent is to maintain data on all students from kindergarten through college, at the federal level.

The research I have done to date shows that some of the CCSS reading materials have an anti-Christian tone and discuss subjects like: social justice, environmental justice, multi-culturalism, and Darwinism, all elements of the today's progressive liberal agenda. Will equal time be given to readings that conservatives would support like: the Christian foundations of our country, capitalism, using our God-given natural resources wisely, American exceptionalism, and intelligent design? Other questions we need to ask are how this affects families who want to home school and how will it affect our private Christian schools?

I would encourage everyone to contact your state legislators and let them know you are very concerned about the path we are on. I want them to support legislation to get our state out of the Common Core. Explain to them you want local control with no further federal intrusion into Missouri education. No where in the U.S. Constitution does it say the federal government should or can be involved in education.

A battle is brewing for the minds of our children. That battle has been on-going since the mid-1960s, but it is intensifying. Our children are not common. I intend to continue my research into CCSS because this agenda appears to teach our children WHAT to think and not HOW to think.

--Mike Stark
Platte City

EDITOR:

The dynamics of the recent Park Hill Board of Education election symbolizes why I love my country and I am willing to die for her.

(If you’re not interested in my analysis or gloating please move on to another page.)
Specifically, I am honoring the First Amendment and I am praising Mr. Edward Stephens. Mr. Stephens is an avowed white supremacist. I consider Mr. Stephens to be my "frienemy.” He is bright, articulate, with exceptional speaking ability, possesses a post graduate degree, is well-dressed and manicured, and dedicated to his belief system. More than I can say for some. Over the last year he and I have met and communicated by phone.

The feeling of mutual respect and willingness for both of us to listen and consider our positions was refreshing. He and I are on the extreme opposite poles of political thinking yet he and others like him are essential for me to affirm my beliefs and ensure I am not entwined in “group think.”

There was one conversation we had in which he inferred he would consider my suggestions for his success in the April school board race. My answer was to the point “apologize publicly” and “win redemption from the voter.” His answer was “I can’t and I won’t.”

Add courage to his resume. The first time he ran he was shredded to bits in the media and the administration at the time began to show signs of balding and stress at the prospect of his candidacy. In April 2012 he gathered just over 280 votes from 5,000 cast. At the time I had fun doing the post mortem analysis in terms of where his votes came from. The answer? Na. Ain’t going to tell you. However, the lion’s share of his votes in 2012 did not come from where you think. They came from the upscale parts of the district--you know, where the educated and the deer and the antelope play.

This time in 2013 he tripled the number. God bless him. Here’s my point. What blessings do we deserve after being born in a country where Mr. Stephens can participate in the discussion of the people’s business in the public square and where the people he is talking to can say no? ALL WITHOUT A SHOT FIRED!

The most distasteful part of my experience on the Park Hill Board of Education was perhaps the intolerance, unwillingness and the inability to listen and integrate an opposing view. The foundation of that era was built on sand and the result was what you saw April 2, 2013.

So, Mr. Stephens, this is your "frienemy" Mr. Sanchez congratulating you on participating in America and what she is all about. Free speech, tolerance, understanding, discussion not argument and a freedom to tell you “you’re wrong.” You see, the Constitution has more cheese than holes.

Side bar: Can’t help it! Regarding the board of education race. The decision rendered upon the detractors and critics of the recent and current board was not provided by me… {A ranting, vindictive, tax and spend liberal, long haired narcissistic show boat, line creek loudmouth, Hispanic know-it-all and former school board member}. The coup de grace was from the ultimate authority, the voter.

Their message was loud and clear. Nothing was close. No horse shoes or hand grenades. No question. The win was decisive, authoritative, and overwhelming in each and every race.

--Fred J. Sanchez
Platte County
Former Park Hill
School Board member

EDITOR:

Getting a majority of Platte County voters to go for that road tax renewal wasn’t too surprising. What was quite surprising was our newly elected county commissioners not requiring a 2013 Impact Study. What they and voters bought were paid bureaucrats wanting to keep undefined tax money to spend ad hoc.

In 1893, a cowboy named Clark Stanley, who called himself “The Rattlesnake King,” sold a Snake Oil Liniment that was reputedly “good for man and beast.” To me, that pitch sounds similar to various Platte County officials saying, “Just pass it. We’ll spend the tax money wisely.”

Wonder if the voters really knew everything inside the road tax package, such as there was a $20 million bond deal in their “yes” vote?

Did voters believe this renewal of the road tax is a cure-all elixir so no future projects can ask for more tax monies?

-Lee Valentine
Platte County

EDITOR:

As a parent and former teacher of North Platte R-1 School District, I recently read through the district boxholder newsletter which is published periodically throughout the year. The most recent edition of this newsletter highlights the candidates seeking a position for the school board.

The honor roll for the junior high and high school is also published in this edition, and I am writing this letter to the editor to express my dissatisfaction, as many members of the freshman class were not included on this list of honor roll students.

Some might think this is trivial and a minor oversight, however this is the tip of the iceberg of incidents demonstrating a lack of professionalism within many avenues of the North Platte administration. We boast many exceptional teachers in the district, however, the lack of proofreading oversight for this mistake is inexcusable. The administration and the staff expect nothing but perfection from the students, yet when an oversight of this magnitude is noticed, the administration simply asks the parents to simply forgive the oversight as they are overworked, stretched to extremes, or it was probably a technical error…the excuses are always numerous and always expected to be forgiven, yet when a student makes mistakes major steps of discipline must be executed and the student’s grade suffers significantly.

This isn't the first time an oversight of this magnitude has been noted in our family. This is the second or third time our son's name has been omitted from the honor roll and his picture, along with several of his classmates, was also omitted from the yearbook. I will note their principal at the time worked diligently with the yearbook publisher to correct this, however it shouldn't have occurred if the yearbook had been properly proofed.
My question to the North Platte administration is simply, who is in charge of proofreading articles before they are printed and who is in charge of proofing the yearbook before it goes to press?

I truly hope the administration (the superintendent and the school board members, since this publication came from their office) will do nothing less than send a personal letter of apology to each of the students whose names were omitted from this honor roll, and write a formal letter of apology to be published in the local papers. These students are diligent in their work and so few are equally rewarded for their efforts. To see this as a minor oversight is inexcusable.

Many other issues or simple oversights in our district have silently gone by the way side, however as a parent of a member of the Academic Bowl team I feel more staff and administration should/could represent the district during these events. The knowledge of these students is impressive, however goes completely unnoticed. For the first time ever the Academic Bowl team and the FBLA chapter hosted the first annual trivia night for North Platte. The students were excited about the event and had planned the event since late November. The group was asked to take a back seat to the girls basketball team due to unforeseen events of the weather, their district playoff game being rescheduled for the same night as the planned Trivia night, and the administration postponed the Trivia night for a week later. I will say the night was well attended, however the Academic Bowl kids don't get the respect they should. As we travel to other schools for these events, there are typically many administrative type personnel in attendance of the event, however, no tie/suit wearing administrators at North Platte.

I have had the pleasure of visiting with the high school principal concerning the omission of the honor roll names and he has corrected this issue on the school's web site. Thank you for this. I have also been in contact with the superintendent via email, and he will get back with me once he has had a chance to visit with the staff involved. Hopefully this oversight will be corrected in a professional manner.

I for one wish to congratulate all the students making the honor roll distinction, and those whose names were omitted: Andrew Roberts Offutt, Callie Pataluna, Kailey Pike, Abigail Poepping, Austin Reynolds, Hanna Rice, Blake Smith, Kaleb Tolbert, Sydney Wagle, Brock Wenzel.

Thank you.

--Becky Wenzel
North Platte Parent

EDITOR:

One of the primary charges of a state legislator is to support the Constitution and, thus, the First Amendment rights of his or her citizens. That is why the legislature’s interest in protecting the paychecks of public employees is heartening.

Currently many of Missouri’s unionized public employees have to “opt-out” of having dues removed from their paychecks that would be used for union political activities – activities with which many employees may disagree. Yet, these free speech dollars should presumptively be the employee’s, not the union’s. The present system has this backwards.

A modest reform that would allow employees to instead opt into directly paying for union political activities would be a wise one. Let employees donate to political causes as they see fit, and let unions compete for those dollars like everyone else.

--Patrick Ishmael
Policy Analyst
Show-Me Institute

St. Louis, MO

EDITOR:

Platte County citizens are being asked to renew a 3/8 cent sales tax for roads this coming Tuesday, April 2.

This is a tax that can and should be left to expire so as to make financial room for citizens to pay for the more immediate needs facing the county and frankly, to pay off county debt. The 3/8 cent roads tax also does not deserve to be renewed nor do the agencies at the county level deserve to win our renewed support. This sales tax is charged to and collected on all citizens of Platte County as well as welcome outsiders doing business in our county, yet, not all of the county benefits from this tax.

Unincorporated southern Platte County does not receive any revenue from the roads sales tax. That of itself is unfair and a good reason to vote no on Tuesday. Another great reason to vote no is that the county commissioners who voted affirmative to place the tax on the ballot either don't have facts straight or refuse to let truth and facts stand in the way of an agenda. According to our very own county treasurer's records, 50% of the 3/8% road tax revenues are distributed to Road District #1, Farley and Weston Special Road Districts and "Other County Projects.” In fact, two-thirds of that 50% go to "Other County Projects.” Interesting to lump almost $2 million per year into a generic fund.

The other 50% of the 3/8 cent road sales tax goes to municipalities within our county, with $1.7 million going to Kansas City out of the $2.6 million collected in 2012.

Following Kansas City, the largest benefactors are Parkville with just $200,000 in 2012 of that $2.6 million, Platte City got $196,000 and Riverside got $151,000 (what is the gambling tax revenue paying for??).

Understandably, Parkville and Platte City would love to see the tax renewed as would all our county municipalities. And coincidentally, Weatherby Lake stands to lose nearly a $100,000 per year in roads money if the tax is not renewed. Surely there is not a conflict with Commissioner Roper to make sure her neighborhood maintains this revenue, is there? The same could be said for Commissioners Soper and Brown as Platte City municipality receives over $150,000 annually via the tax. Though to be fair, I believe Commissioner Brown voted against renewing the tax as proposed.

Who doesn't benefit from the sales tax? Parkville and Platte City Special Road Districts, that's who. In these districts, money levied on our property taxes goes to operate and maintain our roads in these two districts. This is the way taxation should work - tax only those who receive the benefit of the tax revenue.

The Parkville Special Road District is renowned for excellent roads, excellent maintenance and superb winter weather policies and operation. Our district is one locally controlled governmental agency that works. Let's examine the county's record with respect to promises made to roads and infrastructure. In 2002 when the road tax was proposed, many in the outlying county were promised that with their support, roads would be paved. In the corridor north of Hwy 152 and I-435 these promises were ignored until those citizens demanded the promises be fulfilled. But even now, once these citizens leave the roads maintained by Parkville Special Road District as they drive north, they soon realize how pitiful and negligent the county behaves with the lack of good roads and winter weather conditions. Thus, the reward of renewing the tax is undeserved. The citizens need to be able to reserve that money to pay for the unfunded mandate of $10 million dollars worth of new public safety radios that the commission has kicked to this administration to resolve and pay for starting this year.

Further, the radio issue will not magically be permanently resolved after 10 years but we, you and I, will have to tax ourselves to pay for another 10 years and another 10 years after that and so on. There is also the matter of our jail being filled to near capacity as our county grows and the surrounding urban metro area discovers quiet Platte County as a target for crime and finds we convict and put away our perpetrators. The solution here is not to tax the entire county but only enforce collection in the jurisdictions which benefit from a 3/8 cent sales tax for roads or better yet, defeat the overall county sales tax this Tuesday, April 2 and let each benefitting entity put a 3/8 cent sales tax on their ballots in November of 2014 to provide their infrastructure revenue.

We must in this country change the ideology to tax everyone else so that a small entity can play "keep up with the Joneses" but return to the sustainable fact of "if YOU want it, YOU pay for it.”

Vote NO to renew the 3/8 cent sales tax for roads and vote NO for any new bonds. The county needs to become debt free and with discipline and proper fiduciary governance, can operate with cash on the revenues it now generates.

--Russ Wojtkiewicz
Southern Platte County

EDITOR:

In the last couple of weeks, I have talked to a lot of people about our tax situation in Platte County.

In discussing this subject with both residents and business owners, I have found only one person who is in favor of continuing the roads tax. Patrons want to know the planned use for this money.

One bridge in Edgerton, the Clark Avenue Bridge, needs to be repaired desperately or the road will be closed. My question is why aren't they doing this project right now? The rest of the road planning is a wish list for "super roads" and putting more money into road districts that were already doing well without the special tax.

How many of us would like a multi-million dollar savings account to use as the desire moves us?

VOTE NO ON NEW TAXES AND BOND ISSUES.

--Barbara Carney
Platte County

EDITOR:

Platte County has experienced a phenomenal growth in the last two decades and as a result, our roads and bridges have not been able to keep up. Thus the backbone of our plan was “improvement" not “maintenance.” I have seen wonderful improvements throughout the entire county from bridges to intersections to roads.

I believe all of the taxing districts that received funds have done a wonderful job with the extra taxes they received from our transportation plan. Kansas City receives the most revenue because of its population in our county and has constructed improvements in our county that would not have been possible other wise i.e.: Barry Road & I-29. The county has a mechanism in place to monitor and track improvements and expenditures, and citizens can actually see and use the improvement.

I am opposed to using any of the new taxes for “maintenance.” Why: Tracking the funds. Every taxing district already has a revenue stream for operating their roads but lack revenue for improvements. Monitoring and tracking maintenance expenses is almost impossible. Can you imagine if we gave $16 million to Kansas City for maintenance?

The commission (Knight, Short & Wegner) spent two years developing the Roads Transportation Plan. We meet with the school districts, road districts, cities and several civic organizations to get their input. We held two public meetings to gather citizen concerns and improvement wishes. The main work was done by a task force of citizens to help guide the details that we would present to the citizens. As a result we were able to present a concise plan that had accountability built into its structure. When the plan was completed, the commission voted unanimously to accept the plan and recorded the plan for all the public to read.

The lack of planning should be laid at the feet of the previous commission. They were either lazy or did not wish to put a new plan together to present to the voting public. We desire better planning.

--Steve Wegner
Platte City

EDITOR:

“Its' called a campaign for a reason, its war!”

Connecting the dots between former Park Hill School District Superintendents Fisher/Carruth et.al and past and current elections is extremely difficult.

Try nabbing a drug lord in the middle of a drug deal; it's impossible. That's why they are drug lords; they're smarter than the average drug dealer.

We know a particular leader is involved in anything by inference, popularity, resources, history, logic, modis operandi and Deep Throat clandestine “off the record” statements.
Good journalism provides credible information. Opinion on the other hand is just that, an opinion. This is my opinion based on credible “anonymous sources.”

Situation here is no one is willing to go on the record. Perhaps the price of disloyalty would be too much bear.

Cartels work that way.

Here's what we know.

As any given election seems to be “the most important,” this one coming is one final effort for what former school board member John Thomas has called “taking back the board.”

There are two factions going head-to-head.

1. The majesties' army of self righteous indignants, administrative rulers, and herders of cats. They are well-funded, organized, and include household names among the rich, famous and powerful of the school district.

2. A rag tag group of five elected officials and their supporters that is guilty of treason. This dog did not respond when the tail wagged and they hired a superintendent that was not of the royal blood line.

Picture Braveheart…these 5, (there are 3 left), could understandably say, “There are so many.”

The election of 2011 saw a political miracle. Janice Bolin won her race by a substantial margin, actually a huge margin. How? Not doing a thing really as campaigns go. No door-to-door knocking, minimal signs, minimal internet, no mailer, no discernible organization plus she had lost the Park Hill National Education Association endorsement that year to everyone's surprise. However, she hit the Powerball and miraculously her name was placed first on the ballot, plus she had the superintendent's muscle behind her in the guise of a 10,000 piece mailer promoting the “NO TAX INCREASE BOND ISSUE.”

As it happened, there was only one board member’s signature, Janice Bolin. A free mailer of 10,000 pieces that would have cost others thousands. None of the other board members were asked to sign.

Imagine this, what would you think if Ivan Foley registered as a Democrat? That's how mind boggling her substantial victory was.

The structure and foundation of the administrations' rule was beginning to crumble about this time.

Fast forward. New superintendent, new county commissioner, angry people, and the cost of tar and feathers went sky high. There are now a lot of election time vendettas.
There have been public displays of loyalty to the ex-superintendent to the point of being embarrassingly obvious. At the Banneker fund raising breakfast, past and current board members and district fund raisers were sitting at Dennis Fisher’s table at his invitation.
Most recently at the teachers’ annual retirement breakfast, candidates Scott, Goodwin, Burr and Woodward were reportedly escorted by you guessed it, Dr. Dennis Fisher.
Deep Throat who commented to me on the condition of anonymity, said that Fisher and his buddies are extremely busy for what's being called THE SLATE. THE SLATE promises to have a very nice mailer coming soon to your house. The money used and the name of the printer will unfortunately not be known until after the election. There is a sitting board member whose family business is printing.

Well, there you have it.

With rain in the forecast; the turnout April 2 will probably be dismally low. A handful of people will determine the outcome of this most important election.

Hey kids, keep your fingers crossed as the grownups play war.

WHO SHOULD WE VOTE FOR?

Who should we vote for the BOE? There are essentially 3 races: one, two and three year terms. The 3-year post has 2 open seats, the 1 & 2 year each have 1 open seat. I am humbled for your trust in my opinion and judgement. I thank you and recommend the following leaders:

1 year seat, CHRIS SEUFERT (Asst. Prosecuting Attorney), with the carnage and violence in our schools of late, his expertise is vital and essential. He is also on the side of transparency… a true advocate for the safety and education of our children.

Two-year seat, without question, MATT PEPPER. He brings a perspective not yet seen on the board. As a former reporter predominantly covering stories about Park Hill, he's in the "know." He is business- oriented having his own business in real estate. BUT! HERE IS HIS REAL VALUE… He is a 2005 Park Hill graduate with honors, bright, articulate, and with a definite feel for the skills it takes to work within the culture of board dynamics.

Three-year seats, again without question, SUSAN NEWBURGER and TODD FANE, vice president and president, respectively. Why? For continuity and leadership. It's virtually impossible to drive a car in forward motion without rear-view mirrors. Herein lies the value of good board dynamics: the ability to listen, govern and lead all within a historical perspective. Most importantly you must choose them for their BACKBONE, INTEGRITY and COURAGE to withstand the noise and pressure of a rowdy and loud self-ingratiated MINORITY and stand up for the welfare of the majority, staff, taxpayers and our greatest assets… the children. Having served with both, I can attest to their leadership skills and fair-minded perspectives, even when we didn't agree.

--Fred Sanchez
Former Park Hill
Board Member

EDITOR:

One big problem with many elected officials is they believe they are the sharpest knife in the drawer. But experience shows that governments over spend, and always want more of our tax monies. Our current county commissioners are no exception, because they want this 3/8th cent 10-year old road tax renewed.

There are many reasons to vote “NO” on the road tax renewal on Tuesday, April 2:

1.Platte County voters' originally approved this 10-year tax increase for specific highway purposes. They were told it would expire with a date certain.

2. Here is a major concern. If the road commissioners have new road projects or other maintenance goals, then they can propose a new targeted road tax, rather than piggy backing on an old tax plan.

3. Ten years ago, voters gave the commission tax monies to complete a list of roads that would get upgraded and bridges to replace. A decade of spending and fixes on these projects is plenty to meet very old objectives.

4. If you own just one car, you currently pay three different road taxes: personal property, federal/state fuel tax, and the 3/8 cent road tax.

Be warned: we voters will face another, but necessary new tax issue in August!

Because of a federal mandate, Platte County entered an emergency radio contract of approximately $10 million. As of now, there are no dedicated funds to pay for our new $10 million radio system, and it is a must-do.

Two Platte County commissioners are newly-elected with their personal aspirations and ravenous appetites. So, take immediate action by voting against the first big tax gulp.

Next, please share this bad news taxation information with your Platte County e-mail contacts, personal friends and neighbors.

Voting “No” on renewing the road tax is the responsible thing to do.

--Lee Valentine
Platte County

EDITOR:

Concerning the renewal of the Platte County sales tax for transportation on the April 2 ballot, I must ask: What transportation improvements are proposed for the next 10 years? What transportation improvements were proposed during the first 10 years of the tax but not completed? If the majority of improvements have been completed, why is there a need for another 10 years of the same tax?

Why haven’t the commissioners invited a discussion on how the estimated 50 million tax dollars will be spent?

As I contemplate these questions, I am also considering the federally mandated emergency radio debt of over 10 million the county has incurred with no funds appropriated for. I understand an additional tax, be it sales or property, will be placed on the already burdened taxpayers to pay for this debt. The taxpayers I have talked with do not want any additions to their tax bill.

Do we need another ten years of a transportation tax or can we pay off the radio debt?
Don’t raise our taxes.

--Jane Scheckel
Kansas City in Platte County

EDITOR:

The Parkville Board of Aldermen wants voters to approve a 1.5% use tax on the April 2. Voters should reject this as there is more than enough money coming into city hall. After some inquiries and reviewing the 2013 budget, the board should be embarrassed for even suggesting this tax.

Parkville's problem hasn't changed; it has too much debt. Until the board openly acknowledges this and deals with it, voters shouldn't give them another dime.

The main elephant in the room is, well, the room. City hall has been crushing city finances ever since bond financiers and developers convinced the 2004 elected board to build a city hall they couldn't afford. Payments don't end until 2027, by which time the building will need major maintenance. Any astute businessman would recognize the problem and deal with it. Instead, the board attempts to sell residents paintbrushes and white paint.

The 2013 payment on city hall is $463,000, or 14.4% of general revenues, about double what most businesses would allocate to rent. If the police are relocated out of a prime retail/office area, what remains is meeting space and general office space for fewer than 20 employees. Rent can be cut by over $200,000. It's time to end the "creative financing" experiment deceptively put in place by the 2004 board.

Another elephant, which is not in the budget, is on the west side of town. $6,275,000 of neighborhood improvement district (NID) debt was issued in 2007. Interest on this debt has never been paid. Instead, interest and financing costs are added and compounded. The debt now totals $7,710,000, with interest running. The board has repeatedly "kicked the can". One could claim this is a form of insolvency. Who is liable for the debt? Parkville residents of course; over $4,000 per household. While the board recently made assessments for a portion of this debt, collection is another matter.

A former elected official told me in 2008 that there is no risk on this debt. Is this the reason the board wants yet more money?

And what does the board do when their heads are in the sand on major finance problems? They hire somebody to ask us how we like our sidewalks. Professor Higgins (The Music Man) came to town and sold the board on a $156,000 Livable Communities Study. Pick an hourly rate, but a blended fee rate of $225 equates to 695 hours of time. Viewed another way, the mayor and all eight aldermen could spend every minute of every two hour board meeting for 19 months discussing this issue. What do they not now know that could possibly take 695 hours to learn?

Always be suspicious when a government entity tells you the budget process went smoothly. Budget processes are by design a means to identify and eliminate unnecessary expenses. The process should be painful if the details are being appropriately challenged. Below are some of my findings after reviewing the budget.

·The board said the proposed use tax will provide core funding for expenses, including street maintenance. However, street maintenance is paid for by separate transportation taxes that generate about $800,000 annually. These taxes appear to be more than adequate to cover annual operating expenses of $645,000 and periodic equipment costs. The city started 2013 with a transportation fund surplus of $113,000.

·The Administration budget includes a reserve appropriation of $250,000. However, there are unspent project funds going back to at least 2011. Further, the transfer out of the Projects fund is $280,000, meaning that $30,000 of prior reserves is being spent on current operating expenses. This is called rearranging the deck chairs.

·The Brink Meyer retaining wall project includes a contingency of $111,700. The city recovered $1 million and budgeted another $200,000, for a total of $1.2 million. The base project is budgeted at $914,000. This wall collapsed in 2009. Isn't three years long enough to get a firm cost estimate for a retaining wall?

·The board increased the administrative charge to the sewer fund from $75,000 to $100,000 to cover administrative overhead and the cost of billings, which it assumed in 2012. However, the sewer fund budget includes costs for salaries, postage and printing totaling $25,133 that were not in the prior three years' numbers. This appears to be duplication.

·The budget includes a city administrator salary of $105,000 and a community development position with a salary of $75,000. Adding in benefits and related costs of 25% means a total of $225,000 for two positions. Are two executive level positions necessary for a town of 5,000?

·$30,000 is budgeted for Miscellaneous Obligations? The budget states this is for "miscellaneous settlements and obligations." This is what is known as lack of disclosure.

·Another contingency reserve of $11,500 is included in the Administration budget.The budget states this is for "unexpected and unbudgeted purchases."

·Channel 2, the editor's favorite, is budgeted at $34,950.

·Legal fees average over $100,000 annually. If I recall correctly, there are now two attorneys at some board meetings. Is this necessary?

·There was no budget summary available as required by state statute. If the budget process went so smoothly, why isn't this document available?

The Parkville board, after approving a budget that in my view has layers of fat, that has various contingency reserves, that includes two executive level positions for a small city, that spends excessively for office space, among other issues, believes it needs to milk its residents for more money. And they wonder why the NID debt burdened property is still not developed.

Potential homeowners and small businesses are savvy enough to look at tax layers and other hidden costs when they relocate. Another tax layer is not going to encourage development. More homes and businesses on the existing empty properties, which would contribute under the numerous tax layers already on the books, are going to produce far more revenue than this 1.5% tax. Mayor Jim Brooks and the aldermen need to tighten the city belt and take legitimate steps to clean up the debt mess left by previous boards, at which point they could probably reduce tax rates.

Upon my initial inquiry about the use tax, I was told by an elected city official: "We have been missing out on these taxes." A follow up question yielded: "Everybody else is getting this." What is it that causes otherwise successful people, once elected and sitting around a table in a building both paid for by the public, to believe they have a right to confiscate the private property of others? The board has problems it needs to address.

Giving the board more to spend isn't the answer. Rejecting the proposed 1.5% use tax is.

--Gordon Cook
Parkville

EDITOR:

We are all “For the Kids.” We know a good school attracts families and businesses. I hope every person living in the Platte County R-3 School District supports our schools and wants the best education for the children. Some think the education standards can be raised by increasing school taxes. Others take a more tempered approach and are not enamored with higher taxes, government over-spending, and excessive debt. Many of these individuals don't see any correlation between higher taxes and improved academic achievement. Today, families are having a tough time making ends meet. We need to achieve a balance between local taxation, education goals, and debt.

As of June 2011, our school district was $79,292,607 in debt (Westbrook & Co. Independent Auditors' Report). I cannot find the exact debt as of March 2013, but I would like the school district to show the public their current debt and the plan to reduce it without going to the taxpayers first. The voters should know this information, especially if the school wants more of our hard-earned money through a future permanent tax levy increase.

In addition to our property taxes, one of the many ways our schools are funded is through Proposition C, Missouri's one-cent sales tax, approved by voters in 1982. Did anyone have a hard time understanding the question placed on the ballot in April 2012? Did you notice it was the district's desire to “fully eliminate” the Prop C Rollback? Why is eliminating the Prop C Rollback so important to the school? If you are a concerned taxpayer or a business owner, you do not want to eliminate the rollback clause. I'll try to explain, although it's been difficult finding any information that doesn't require a lawyer to interpret.

To the best of my understanding, the Prop C Rollback allows the property tax rate to adjust up or down annually depending on the state sales tax collections sent to the district. For example, as sales tax collections increase, the property tax rate decreases and vice versa. This limits local government spending and taxation as the tax base expands. The Prop C rollback is a benefit to taxpayers and businesses. Had the voters said "Yes" to the ballot language last April, we would eliminate the requirement for the district to “rollback” or reduce our property tax rates when sales taxes revenues are high. Said another way, elimination of the Prop C rollback is an irrevocable increase in the operating tax levy. This all sounds confusing, but it is very important to understand.

I applaud the recent outreach efforts Superintendent Dr. Mike Reik and the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) has made to the voters. I and many others participated in this effort. In the local media recently, Devon Bradley, CAC co-chair asked: "Do we take the previous question back to voters as it is or do we make some changes to it?" Well, I hope this letter helps answer that question. The voters must decide for themselves, but for me, any attempt to “fully or partially eliminate” the Prop C Rollback in a future ballot question will get my NO vote.

--Janet Stark
Platte City

EDITOR:

Are all those roads upgraded and bridges replaced in Platte County now that the 10 year tax plan is coming to an end in September?

Ten years ago the commissioners drew up a list. Now they want another 3/8 cent sales tax (on the April 2 ballot), without showing us a list. If this tax passes, they can spend the money however they want for 10 more years.

As costs go up, groceries, gas, you name it, my budget gets tighter. Especially for those of us on a fixed income, we are pinching pennies. Additionally, because of a federal mandate, the county has an emergency radio contract of approximately $10 million with no dedicated funds to pay for it. This funding is not considered in the proposed roads tax. So ANOTHER TAX will be coming in August.

How about letting our local government know that we are onto their plan, and STOP THE SPENDING. Vote NO to the tax on April 2.

Tax and Spend is not the way we want our government to run, especially with an outstanding bill of $10 million that isn’t covered.

If we have elected new commissioners with wisdom, they will prioritize, cut, line-item-veto, and find a new solution to pay the radio bill, before asking us for free money so they can spend it.

Vote no to the tax on Tuesday, April 2.

We can do better, together.

--Rita Wiese
Kansas City
in Platte County

EDITOR:

I am a resident of Clay County Missouri. I am also a regular reader of The Landmark, and even though I do not pay any taxes to the Park Hill School District I was appalled at the response of a Park Hill District teacher to your reporting on the superintendent's salary.

I applaud your work. I only wish that I had a paper of record over here in Clay County to do the work that you do on a regular basis in Platte County.

I am also a public school teacher. To say that I was fascinated at Ms. Dozier's response in the Feb. 27 issue of your paper is an understatement. One of the biggest problems we face as teachers is that the public, especially the conservative public, does not trust that we are responsible with their money. The superintendent's salary that was exposed plays right into and confirms that perspective.

Frankly, I was offended at the size of the superintendent's salary. I do think that a superintendent should be well compensated, but there is no rational justification for a $454,000 compensation package that includes a luxury car.

If I was a patron in Park Hill, I would be asking even more questions. Like, why does Liberty have 784 more students than Park Hill, but yet have an average teacher's salary that is $10,947 less? Or, why is the annual cost per pupil in Park Hill $875 more than Liberty? (All data based upon 2012 information on the DESE website.)

What Ms. Dozier fails to understand is that when districts are this irresponsible with funding it harms public education as a whole. As teachers we should only defend our districts and school boards when they behave appropriately. This was not such a case and should have been exposed for all the public to see.

--Andrew Palmer
Kansas City in
Clay County

EDITOR:

As a conservative taxpayer, I will always be suspicious of any proposed tax increase.
The government has a very bad record when it comes to spending other people's money, especially at the federal level. Not all taxes are bad and they are needed primarily in the areas of national defense and public safety. However, the temptation to raise taxes is almost irresistible for government because political agendas put people in power that have the ability to vote for more spending, which usually requires higher taxes.

The average taxpayer must hold local, state, and federal governments accountable. Unfortunately, we have one political party that wants to lower taxes and one that wants to raise them. I admit this effect is less at the local level, but it still exists. Part of this challenge comes from the unionization of workers who receive taxpayer dollars. Before you get upset, let me explain. I don't hold the public union workers at fault. I hold the union leadership at fault. They are the ones who take the “mandatory” union dues from membership and funnel large portions of it back into political parties and campaigns who support their agendas. This helps to elect those political officials who then turn around and vote to raise taxes and the cycle repeats itself.

Many times these tax increases are focused on salaries and benefits that exceed the private sector averages. What is really troubling is that many of these public union bosses are making large 6-digit salaries from “laundered” tax payer money.

You can see now why taxpayers and voters must be very wary of all tax increases, due to conflicts of interest. Again, I am not saying all tax increases are bad. However, as a former federal employee, I can assure you that when the profit motive is not a factor in the operation of your “business,” there is always waste because it is so easy to spend money that does not impact your bottom-line. I mention the federal level here, but this is a problem at the local and state levels too.

We must be watchful and politely challenge every proposed tax increase. We must hold local officials accountable and respectfully demand they show us their prioritized spending requirements, their prioritization of cuts, and their current debt.

We cannot afford to fund 100% of anyone's agenda in today's economy. Good budgeting reaches a balance between cost and benefit. The challenge for the local taxpayer is to “see the books” and expect our officials to be completely honest with us

They will always have the upper-hand. Typically, they will be better educated then we are, know the exact details and requirements of their job, and have insider's information not available to the public. Our job is to engage and ask the tough questions.

Let's start doing that at all levels of government.

--Mike Stark
Platte City

EDITOR:

Since the declaration by Justice Louis Brandies that “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman” open records laws at all levels of government have been referred to as “sunshine laws” and passed with the intention of keeping government open and honest. Combining sunshine laws with the freedom of the press can provide a critically important check on inappropriate government behavior.

Last week in a letter to the editor, a reader of The Landmark expressed that she felt that The Landmark’s unveiling of certain activities by the board of education and administration of the Park Hill School District “portrayed the district in an unwarranted negative light.” This is exactly the type of bureaucratic lockstep thinking that perpetuates the type of inappropriate activities that were brought to light.

The blame was placed by the reader on the beams of disinfectant and not the actions of the board and administration that were being exposed. While I agree there is a negative light, the source of the negative light is the light reflecting off of the actions of the board of education and administration and not the sunshine which exposed such actions.

The reader seems to have entirely missed the point of The Landmark’s coverage when she irrelevantly points to the press coverage of another district. The issue at hand has to do with the Park Hill district’s lack of transparency in its actions as well as providing incomplete and inaccurate information in response to a sunshine request and has nothing to do with the compensation package of another district.

Even if her point had been relevant, her response is nothing more than the district’s well-loved tactic of justifying its own behavior by pointing to the behavior of others, which is simply relative accountability.

Perhaps the reader would prefer that the taxpayers of this district remain in the bliss of darkness regarding the actions of the district. However, I believe every parent, taxpayer, and staff member of the district is concerned about the image of Park Hill. This image must be based on truth and transparency and not merely a façade of shiny awards and misdirection.

To ensure the image of the district is what we desire it to be, the board of education and administration must be held to a standard that is higher than the standard of: “They did it too!”

--Timothy J. Thompson
Park Hill Graduate and Parent
Kansas City in Platte County

EDITOR:

The Park Hill National Education Association (PHNEA) endorsed Jeff Goodwin for the board of education.

Susan Newburger, the incumbent who is a former teacher at Park Hill South and along with her husband Michael are respected civic contributors throughout the community, was thrown under the bus.

Newburger was one of the five who voted for Dr. Scott Springston as superintendent of Park Hill. While his selection was marred with controversy and hysterics, staff members, teachers and patrons are now voicing their opinions that the relationship between the current administration and the teachers has improved since Dr. Springston took charge.

Transparency is at its height. The administration’s contract that PHNEA fought to be published is now finally side-by-side with the teacher’s contract on the website. Also, something as simple as a superintendent’s signature on all negotiated contracts is now policy. The teachers have respect and a voice and they know it.

Relationship with the human resources department under Dr. Bill Redinger has turned around. Teachers say there is now open communication and collaboration. Unlike the past, they are not adversaries and there is no more intimidation. The teachers are now associates and can take ownership in the success of the district as they partner with the administration.

So, shouldn't someone who was partially responsible for this renaissance receive the support of PHNEA? Instead, PHNEA decided to play politics and back Goodwin.
Jeff who? Volunteering for district activities or school committees, or some kind of service usually precedes the gift of election to the board. He has done nothing. Nothing, nothing at all in the service to the district. He was anonymous until after the selection of Dr. Springston. He has never attended a board meeting prior to the selection of Springston. He hasn’t earned it.

Here’s the deal: Goodwin's wife is a teacher for Park Hill and sat in on the board candidate interviews. She also sat in on the deliberation of the candidates. How do you keep a teacher from talking a few of her colleagues into joining a 10-15 member panel to influence an important decision for Park Hill? This behavior behind closed doors is exactly what the prior administration was all about and PHNEA hated it.

Despite the fact that the decision made by Newburger and four other board members has advanced PHNEA's mission, "to advocate for the rights and interests of students and our members," she was left in the cold. PHNEA gets an F.

I mean, OMG who can relate better to the teachers than a former teacher? There's a strong probability that PHNEA will not bat 100% this election with this one. Hmm, the last two years hasn’t played out well for them either. Perhaps a political consultant is in order. Or a class in common sense. You take care of your friends 101.

This time, the PHNEA has erred big time by playing politics and they know better. Last year, Bev Vogt out of the clear blue, this year, a teacher’s husband? Let’s see…there’s the old conflict of interest card.

This April, I encourage each staff member to ask yourself a question before you cast your vote. Do you believe Park Hill is a better place to work? If the answer is yes, then you know what to do. Give yourself an A.

A clarification: I have not spoken with Ms Newburger for months nor do I intend to. Half the time we never agreed on things when we served together. I am only expressing what I believe to be right and just.

A voice for the redistribution of common sense and intelligence.

--Fred J. Sanchez
Former Park Hill
School Board member
Platte County

EDITOR:

The voters in Missouri spoke against ObamaCare and its expansion by 70% in 2010 and yet, across party lines, our legislators are considering doing just the opposite.
About 900,000 people in Missouri are currently on Medicaid but with the offer of “free” money from Washington, another 300,000 would be added. This influx of money that is promised to fully-cover the expansion will expire in 2016. At that time, Congress will begin to send less and less and Missouri will be billed more and more to cover the expanded Medicaid.

Sure, when the amount we receive from Washington is reduced, we could cut education or something else but our elected officials rarely, if ever, have the courage to cut anything. The easiest and likely result will be an attempt to raise taxes. I’m contacting both my state representative and senator to ask them to please hold the line on any Medicaid expansion.

After all, the money they’re discussing is actually mine.

--Susan Phillips
Platte County

EDITOR:

I would like to address your article published in The Landmark on Feb. 6, 2013, regarding the transparency of the Park Hill School District.

As I was reading your article, images of Boss Pendergast's devious political machine swirled through my head: shady dealings in dark restaurants and tit for tat nepotism negotiations. You supported the view that the Park Hill School District's budget process in regards to salary is filled with dubious, fraudulent, or even illegal dealings. The accusations you presented are serious and may have ill effects on the future of the district.

To prove your point you included interviews from two people; one of whom is a former (school board) member who brought a gun to a school board meeting. There were no interviews with current teachers, administrators, or patrons. There were no statements from former Superintendent Dennis Fisher. There were no indications that any attempts were made to reach Fisher; this seems like a responsible reporting goal since there were allusions to the fact that Fisher may have been involved in violating the Missouri Constitution. There was no mention that Fisher had spent more than 30 years in the education profession, more than a decade of which was in Park Hill. There was no mention of an interview with Dr. Kelly, the current superintendent of business and technology in the district. There was no mention that the Park Hill School District has been awarded the Meritorious Budget Award for five consecutive years.

In The Landmark article, I did not notice any reporting of any other similar school district's superintendent's salary and benefits package. As reported in the Columbia Tribune in 2008, “the Parkway School District pays Superintendent Robert Malito a base salary of $200,715 and contributes $2,500 a year for a tax-sheltered annuity. Malito is allowed $4,000 in travel expenses. The district also pays premiums on a $350,000 life insurance policy.” Again, this was in 2008, and the Parkway School District is similar in size and demographics to the Park Hill School District.

Although I admire your gumption in uncovering a meaty story, I feel your energies would be more beneficial if they were used in more thorough and unbiased research and reporting. This article portrayed the district in an unwarranted negative light.

--Angela G. Dozier
Kansas City
(Teacher at Park Hill)

EDITOR:

A letter to Rep. Sam Graves:

You know Sam, the people in your district are getting rather put off by you and your cronies directing this country through crisis management. You and your bunch have had two years and now an additional two months to deal with the idea of automatic cuts known as sequestration.

It is obvious to anyone that balances their checkbook that cuts must be made. It is also obvious that you and your cronies that deal with OPM (other people's money) have little or no respect for tax money. The House controls the purse strings, and not one of you have the fortitude to do what is right and that is to cut spending. You are afraid of your own economic shadow. Both parties have voted for higher spending and this president is very appreciative of that. You, as a member of the House, have the ability to cut spending and do what is right for the country. And it is impossible to do it in one week.

You can begin with farm subsidies which seem to be a pet project of yours, but you can continue with foreign aid, stop sending aid to North Korea and Iran when they won't feed their own people. Medicare and Medicaid must be revamped. How about cell phones for welfare recipients? I think that could be eliminated. Or take the 1% approach. Cut everything 1% each year. Make it a real cut, not just reducing the amount of increase by 1%.

If you need more help balancing your checkbook, give me a call, I put my number on your form. If you need help balancing the federal checkbook, give me a call on that one, also. Cuts are not going to feel good but for the 20 million or so Americans currently out of work, it seems only fair.

--Jim DeJarnatt
Weston

EDITOR:

Expanding Medicaid is a case study of what is wrong with politics in America.
Gov. Nixon says his proposal to expand Medicaid would provide health coverage to additional Missourians over the next three years at no cost to the state. Nixon said they will cover 100 percent of the costs for calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016.

He is implying that expanding Medicaid will not cost us any money the first three years and then only a small percentage after that.

Well, it depends on what the meaning of the word is is ... or in this case, us and they.
“Us” would be those who live off of the government – not the recipients of Medicaid – but the federal and state bureaucracies that thrive by expanding their client base.

“They” implies the federal government, that the federal government will pay and it won’t cost you or me anything. Gov. Nixon has fallen for one of the classic blunders of deception.

The most famous is “Never get involved in a land war in Asia” but only slightly less famous “Never use the Modern Greek Political system as your mentoring guide.”

The reality is Missouri taxpayers still pay for 100% of the Medicaid program, but first run that money through the most inefficient federal bureaucracy prior to the money coming back to Missouri.

The whole concept should be abandoned based on that inefficient model alone, but then if you look at Medicaid in a close analysis; it is a terrible health care system that many doctors won’t participate in.

Fortunately some Missouri lawmakers such as House Speaker Tim Jones are publicly opposing Medicaid expansion. We need more strong solid voices backing up the speaker. Please ask your Missouri state representative and senator to stand strong against expanding Medicaid.

--Paul Hamby
Maysville

EDITOR:

I understand that the Platte County budget was passed with a 3% pay raise for county employees. This is short of a 5% raise recommended by Auditor Kevin Robinson, whose county employee spouse also benefits from the increase.

Seems like a nice arrangement. I’d be happy with a 3% pay increase, after the economic state we’ve endured in the past decade. Raises covering increased cost of living have been rare and unfortunately most of us are down 2% as of January.

It doesn’t make it easy for the average citizen to help maintain and grow the economy with consumer spending if our government continually demands tax increases. Let’s hope our new commissioners are being responsible with our tax money and realize that raising taxes is not a good solution for an ill conceived budget.

--Bryan Ivy
Platte City

EDITOR:

I have a point of contention with our middle school's lack of public acknowledgement of the students in the 7th and 8th grade accomplishments. They publish all of the high school students making the Principal's Honor Roll, the "A" list, etc. However, there is nothing said about the future high schoolers and their accomplishments. I am a proud grandmother and just learned that my grandson, Ethan Ventress who is in the 7th grade, was selected to the National Junior Honor Societey. They will have a ceremony at the school recognizing his and others’ accomplishment. I think this is great because they didn't have a National Junior Honor Society when my two daughters were in school.

When my daughter, Kelly, was in high school, she was selected to the National Honor Society her sophomore year. They had a very unique ceremony (which they don't have anymore) in which the student selected was tapped on the shoulder by his/her sponsor and given a rose. It was all unknown to the student, and their parent(s) were there to witness this "tapping" ceremony. I believe they are recognized for their achievement by letter. I know my grandson learned this way.

I think our schools need to do a better job of acknowledging the excellent students we have and what they are doing. Usually we just hear who brought a gun to school or something else of an unsavory nature.

Let us be proud of our students and their families in a positive way! Let us be proud of our teachers. Everyone likes to read about his/her son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter and NOT just for the sports!

--Sharon Aring
Platte County

EDITOR:

I was just informed that a prescription drug monitoring bill was introduced into the Missouri House of Representatives (HB 347). I am dismayed that this is coming up again after Senator Rob Schaaf was able to filibuster it last spring. I am against having this database, which will contain every person who gets a controlled substance in it.

I understand Missouri is one of the last states to have this. I say it is time for Missouri to take a stance against taking away a citizen's right to privacy. Why do we continue to take away a law abiding citizens right to privacy because some people want to circumvent laws and abuse the system? I will agree that a database would make my job as a pharmacist easier in identifying pharmacy hopping/doctor shopping drug abusers, but I am not willing to sacrifice my privacy for that. There are other ways of keeping these people from getting controlled substances without having our names put into one more database that could be hacked.

What if one of these people stole your identity to obtain controlled substances and you had to get a prescription for a legitimate reason and you can't have it because you have a history of doctor shopping? People who doctor shop and pharmacy hop usually use other names or some variation of their real names.

Some arguments that I have heard for this database are to keep controlled substances out of the hands of our young people. I ask you, how does a database keep young people from obtaining controlled substances? Those kids that are selling controlled substances in high school are getting them illegally in the first place.

I have an example that actually happened at my pharmacy. The grandson was picking up his grandmother's pain medication for a hip replacement and was keeping it for himself. He actually had her calling and requesting for refills. We were eventually suspicious of this person because of the behavior that he exhibited and he was caught. He wouldn't have been in the database, she would have been. There have also been many times when people who have chronic pain had it stolen from their house by relatives or friends of their children.

As far as laws, I have had many people arrested in my 19 years as a pharmacist for passing fraudulent prescriptions. Guess how many I have had to testify against? Zero! It is so difficult to get these people and when we do nothing is done. What good is a database going to do? It won't stop those willing to break laws to get them. That kid that was stealing from his grandmother? Nothing happened to him.

So what do I think should be done to curtail some of this drug using? Limit refills on controlled substances. Right now a doctor can give someone 6 months of medication. Limit how soon a controlled substance can be refilled. Now it is up to the discretion of the pharmacist and the doctor on how early a prescription can be filled. At our pharmacy, we don't allow anyone to get a controlled substance any earlier than 2 to 3 days before the patient would be out of medication without getting an okay from the doctor, but not all pharmacists are as diligent.

We don't need another database to put in legitimate patients’ names.

--Tammy Thompson
Kansas City in
Platte County

EDITOR:

Thank you for your views last week on the county commission’s plan to renew the sales tax for the road district and the lack of a need for the new Tahoe at the fire department.
ALL elected officials need to wake up and realize that we are in a slump as far as household income in Platte County and they need to help, not make it worse.

Last year, The Landmark reported that household income is down 5% in Platte County in 2011 according to the Census Bureau. That's from over $65,441 in 2009 down to $61,863 in 2011. A loss of almost $300 per household per month.

As reported this week in the Falling Star, according to the Federal Reserve from 2007 to 2010 the average American family's net worth dropped almost 40%. This has erased almost 18 years of savings and investments. People are dipping into their retirements to pay their daily bills at an alarming rate.

Commissioners, if you must meet with the various boards before making a decision on the budget now is the time you do it to let them know they need to find ways to cut.
Yes, I wish we had endless dollars to buy new emergency vehicles every year, have a student to teacher ratio of 1 to 1, give each student a laptop computer, have smart boards in every classroom, repave every road every year and give everyone raises every year but guess what? We can't. The stats above show the average household cannot handle it any longer.

My mother, who lives on a fixed income said it best this weekend. She said she can't vote for anymore raises for anything as everyone has continued to ask for more from food to taxes and all of those little increases have added up to one big number, finally getting to the point that you just can’t handle anymore when your income has not increased at all or gone backwards.

I bet there are a lot of people in Platte County in this same situation and it would be really nice if all of the elected officials at all levels would try to recognize this and tighten their belts until this downturn in the economy has passed.

We cant seem to get it done on a national level but maybe we can start locally.

--Kirby Holden
Platte County

EDITOR:

If Dec. 7, 1941 will be infamous for Japan, then Jan. 22, 1973 will be infamous for the United States of America.

55 million+ abortions have been performed since Roe v Wade, killing off factory workers, teachers, business men and women, and yes, even politicians. The overwhelming majority would have been taxpayers. They cry out from the grave but Congress, the Supreme Court, and yes many of us turn a deaf ear.

When will America wake up and make it a life decision instead of a lifestyle decision?
All reading this are thankful their mother chose life.

The headline story today shouldn't be Obama, but Colin Kaepernick, the sensation of the San Francisco 49'ers. His birth mother, a single mother of a bi-racial child, chose life and adoption rather than terminating her child. This child has done quite well, thank you.

Ponder, if you will, who else we, yes WE because WE tolerate this insanity, have aborted, killed.

--Jim DeJarnatt
Weston

EDITOR:

I recently read the NRA’s Institute of Legislative Action list of celebrities, journalists and national corporations who have directly supported anti-gun organizations [Daily Caller 3/1/2012].

It surprised me to see that more than half on the national corporation list are from our own state of Missouri. The list includes American Century; Multi Cinemas (AMC) Entertainment; BJC Health Systems; Blue Cross Blue Shield; Earthgrains; General American; Hallmark Cards; Health Midwest; James B. Nutter; KC Chiefs; KC Royals; Mallinckrodt; Silver Dollar City; Site Oil; Southwestern Bell Telephone; Sprint PAC; SSM Health System; St. Louis Rams; St. Louis University and Unity Health.

Not to ruin anyone’s day, but could this mean we are no longer a redneck state?

--Susan Phillips
Kansas City
in Platte County

EDITOR:

Let's talk about the Social Security tax going back to 6.2% from 4.2%.

I paid Social Security taxes all my working life...the full amount. When BO gave a "tax holiday" of 2%, I called my Congressman (Graves 202-225-7041) and asked if all the people paying in less to Social Security (immediate reward) would have their benefits reduced by a similar amount at retirement (long term reward). The answer of course was no.

So, everyone got a tax "cut" and benefits. But now that they have to start paying for their own retirement they are up in arms about a supposed "tax hike.”

Even conservative news stations are portraying this as a tax increase. Most, if not all, of the complainers would never save for their own retirement anyway and we would then be supplying welfare checks for them in their "golden years.”

This "immediate reward" at the expense of the "eternal" is too alluring. Hogwash!
Republicans have tried to change the Social Security system to provide an incentive to save for the future. But Democrats demonize, denounce, denigrate, and demoralize anyone who would so brashly suggest we should plan for our future. And they win the argument because most would rather have fast food in three minutes than a sit-down dinner at home that might take three hours.

Sometimes elected leaders must "lead" instead of follow the polls. Most parents know that a child left to their own devises will soon be totally unruly. The Bible puts it this way, "The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother." Pv 29:15

It is time for Congress to do what is right rather than what is popular. I'll give them two years.

So let's stop all the talk about a tax hike on the working class. You are saving for your own retirement. If you don't like Social Security, come up with a plan to improve on it and a method of funding it (saving), submit it to your senator or congressman, and follow it through the system to its completion.

Oh, my mistake! That requires thinking and that would take time away from our iPads, Kindles, Game Boys, etc.

Never mind, my Droid is ringing.

--Jim DeJarnatt
Weston