I have received word that Mark Vasto, who served as a reporter at The Landmark in 2003-04 and later was publisher of a short-lived newspaper in downtown Parkville known as the Parkville Luminary, passed away Aug. 20, 2021 in New Jersey. Vasto was 49.
More on Vasto at a later time.
Hey, if you rely on natural gas for your furnace (as we do at The Landmark office) and you haven’t yet opened your most recent heating bill, I would advise you to sit down before you do. Maybe enjoy a relaxing beverage or two. Yikes.
Many of you won’t be receiving this news in advance of the event, but tonight (Wednesday) at 6:30 p.m. Jason Maki will be giving testimony in the ethics case involving Parkville Mayor Nan Johnston.
This will be worth your attention. And yes, it may be over by the time some of you have this copy of the newspaper in your hands but wait. . . you can watch the video of the hearing by going to parkvillemo.gov/government/city-meetings/
Follow the Municipal Official Ethics Commission prompts on that page and you’ll find the video, unless it mysteriously disappears or there are curious technical problems. Not that something like that would ever happen at Parkville City Hall.
If you’re into the drama that is Parkville city politics, these ethics commission hearings on the antics of Nan–Nantics, if you will–will be far better than a night of Netflix and chill. Find the video on your cell phone then cast it onto your big screen.
Speaking of drama, the three-members of the Platte County Commission seems to be wondering whether they should put a roads sales tax question on the ballot. The 3/8th cent roads tax, which has been in place nearly 20 years, is set to expire in 2023.
I can understand a discussion may need to be had over tweaks that may or may not need to be made to any road tax proposal, but the fact that the county commissioners seem to be up in the air over whether they’ll even place a road tax question on the ballot is bizarre. What’s wrong with the future of a roads tax being decided by the people instead of by a majority of a three-member commission?
It’s another example of the often control-freakish behavior that has been a feature of the time in office for Ron Schieber and Dagmar Wood. They’ve tried to control the library district, tried to make decisions for and withhold federal funds from the health department, have longed for a prison-sized local jail, have pretended to be experts on jail populations and seemed to enjoy seeing high numbers of incarcerated folks, among other things. Dagmar on a couple of occasions even promoted the idea that the sheriff’s department should be rounding up all the folks who have outstanding warrants for misdemeanor traffic violations. A little extreme, maybe?
Put a road tax question on the ballot and let the people speak at the ballot box. That’s not too much to ask of our elected officials.
A roundtable discussion via videoconference was held on the future of the road sales tax last Tuesday, Feb. 15. If you missed it, you’re out of luck. A little investigative journalism by Beth McPherson of the Weston Chronicle–who asked county officials where she could find the video of the meeting–exposed the fact the county did not record the videoconference. That’s unfortunate. A discussion of the future of the road tax is kind of a big deal. You have the latest technological advances at your fingertips. This is 2022.
I tuned into the roads tax videoconference for about an hour last Tuesday night. I cut it short because I was on deadline and busy composing last minute material. When I checked out I told myself: “Self, no worries. You can go back and watch the video later.” Welp. So much for that.
Here are a few of observations from the portion of the meeting I was able to catch.
Aaron Schmidt of the Platte County Economic Development Council had a solid presentation on what he termed the importance of the roads tax and the successful projects to come from it. He suggested some adjustments to the tax distribution formula in the future, with the suggestion that more money be directed to the cities.
Frank Offutt, administrator for the Platte City Special Road District, had a detailed and impressive presentation, even providing some historical context dating back to the 1986 efforts of former county commissioner Max Hunt at sustaining and repairing a vital county road network. “A law passed by the state legislature was the successful effort of Max Hunt, thus allowing the county to consider a roads tax,” Offutt said. Offutt said that the roads sales tax needs to remain at the 3/8th cent level. “The cost of service is not decreasing. Funding that is sufficient to meet those increases and avoid deferred maintenance is a necessity,” he said. Offutt, on behalf of the road district, recommends no change to the current distribution formula. “All 23 political subdivisions within the county that are charged with road maintenance have benefitted to various degrees, thus the present model provides evidence that the distribution of funds is working,” he added.
Kent Stelljes, mayor of Weston, had a well-spoken presentation. It was my first exposure to Stelljes, and I was impressed with the way he handled himself. (Sidenote: I have no idea of his political leanings or if he has ambitions, but Stelljes might be a person to keep an eye on in local politics, if that’s something that captures his fancy.)
(Join Foley in a watch party of Parkville Ethics Commission meetings. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com for details)