• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

Sometimes elected officials get caught unaware

Ivan Foley by Ivan Foley
February 12, 2020
in Between the Lines
4
SHARES
111
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

You can decide for yourselves whether you think Mike Reik, superintendent at Platte County R-3, is over-compensated, fairly well compensated, under-compensated, or right on target.

My primary reaction is this: the information in the front page article further confirms a long-held belief that school salaries are heavy at the top (administrators) and not heavy enough in the classroom (teachers).

RelatedNews

Things are happening within Central Platte Fire

County getting ready to rearrange some chairs

Bringing you up to date in Kansas City

And that’s true not just at R-3 but across the field of public education.


A most interesting part of the article for me is the way Sharon Sherwood, school board president, is in denial about the 50 percent increase in Reik’s compensation since he started 11 years ago.

“That can’t be right. There must be a mistake. I can’t speak to the 50 percent increase because I disagree with that,” Sherwood told our reporter at various times in interviews for the article.

I don’t know her well but I get the impression Sherwood’s heart is in the right place. She seems nice and polite, gives off a grandmotherly vibe (I bet she bakes great sugar cookies) and seems to have good intentions, so I don’t want to throw too much shade here. But the facts are this: the salary and benefit numbers that show Reik’s total annual compensation has increased by more than 50 percent were provided by the school district itself.

So either: 1. The school board president doesn’t trust the numbers the school district’s central office provided to the newspaper; or 2. She was totally unaware the superintendent’s total compensation had climbed to those heights.

Which do you think?


I should be shocked by school board members’ apparent lack of awareness of the total value of the superintendent’s compensation but upon further review I would say that I’m not.

We found the same lack of awareness among Park Hill school board members in 2013 when we did a similar story on the total compensation for that school district’s former superintendent Dennis Fisher.

Sadly, sometimes elected officials are on cruise control and they don’t pay attention to as many important details as they should. When it comes to public dollars, details matter.


Hats off, by the way, to Reik and others in the Platte County R-3 central office for working with our reporter to acquire the total compensation numbers. They did work with the newspaper in a transparent fashion once we made it clear we wanted items beyond what is typically reported as “salary.”


Reik’s compensation package includes items listed in documents as health insurance, disability insurance, a $150,000 life insurance policy, mileage, retirement benefit, something called “administrative benefit,” vacation day pay out, annual leave day pay out, and more.


A man recently tried to rob the China Wok restaurant in Platte City. The suspect walked into the business and showed a knife. The restaurant owner pulled out a bigger knife. Suspect ran away. Proof that size does matter.


Not gonna lie, I’m pretty pumped that the final meeting of the sales tax advisory committee is later this week. They’re warning us this could be a longer meeting than normal. No big deal. Listen, I sat through a viewing of The Irishman, although it took me two nights. Anyway, if you don’t have a life feel free to bring some popcorn and meet me at the resource center Thursday night.


As we headed to press Tuesday morning, Chiefs fever was still wild and crazy in Platte County. Case in point, a line started forming outside Dick’s Sporting Goods at Zona Rosa Monday night for a Tuesday morning giveaway of around 225 wristbands that guaranteed you a spot to get an autograph of standout Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu on Tuesday night.

This is borderline nutty. The first person in line said he got there at 4:30 Monday afternoon. One guy reportedly went to the grocery store, bought a boatload of hot dogs and started grilling them in Dick’s parking lot for his fellow Chiefs fans as they waited through the cold.

I’m a big Chiefs fan myself but let’s do a sanity check. This time of year it gets cold outside, guys, especially overnight. And it’s just an autograph, guys. If Mathieu writes like most celebrities you won’t even be able to decipher the signature.

Oh, well. To each his own. You be you. We won’t judge. At The Landmark, we love all you crazies.


They say Kansas City has the biggest Dick’s.


I was referring to the sporting goods store. True story. Google it or something.

(You can find Ivan Foley not waiting in a line for autographs or not staying out overnight in the cold. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com )

Tags: platte cityplatte countytaxeszona rosa
Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley, owner/publisher of the Platte County Landmark, has been on the news beat in Kansas City's Northland for 40 years. He provides weekly observations in his Between the Lines column and serves as host of Landmark Live, a light-hearted videocast featuring newsmakers in the Northland.

Related Posts

Downtown Platte City

Caution tape around downtown building

by Ivan Foley
February 3, 2023
0

Caution tape surrounds a commercial building at the northwest corner of Third and Main Streets in downtown Platte City. City officials say a few bricks at the top front of the vacant building had worked loose and fell to the...

KCI Airport

KC’s new airport ready to fly on Feb. 28

by Ivan Foley
February 3, 2023
0

FOUR-YEAR BUILDING PROJECT WILL SOON OPEN An opening date has been announced for Kansas City’s $1.54 billion new airport terminal, located in Platte County at the site of the existing KCI Airport. Kansas City officials this week the new airport...

First Watch is open at Tiffany Springs

First Watch is open at Tiffany Springs

by Ivan Foley
February 3, 2023
0

MAHOMES-OWNED WHATABURGER ALSO PLANNED A First Watch restaurant has opened at Tiffany Springs in Platte County. The new First Watch opened recently near the N. Ambassador/NW Skyview intersection at Tiffany Springs. The official address is 9021 N Ambassador Dr., Kansas...

Platte County Resource Center

Sheriff’s office planning to move out of Platte City

by Ivan Foley
February 3, 2023
0

New home may be resource center near KCI A plan is in the works that would move the Platte County Sheriff’s Department headquarters out of the county seat of Platte City. As exclusively reported last week by The Landmark, the...

Next Post

R-3 leader's pay has grown by 50% in past 11 years

Popular News

  • First Watch is open at Tiffany Springs

    First Watch is open at Tiffany Springs

    40 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Caution tape around downtown building

    30 shares
    Share 12 Tweet 8
  • Sheriff’s office planning to move out of Platte City

    18 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 5
  • KC’s new airport ready to fly on Feb. 28

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Culinary-inspired library planned at Green Hills

    101 shares
    Share 40 Tweet 25
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Online
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem
    • Login / Sign-up
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved