In case you haven’t heard, the Mid-Continent Public Library Board of Trustees last week voted to cut the library district’s tax levy by two cents, which means a $1.3 million drop in revenue for libraries in the three-county district of Platte, Clay and Jackson.
It’s a move that is praised in some circles but criticized in others. One letter to the editor in this edition opposes the library tax cut. Another letter to the editor is already in for next week’s edition which also hammers at the board’s decision to cut revenues for the library district.
Leading the push for the tax cut was the Platte County delegation on the board of trustees, specifically Gordon Cook. Cook at last week’s meeting indicated all three counties have seen growth in assessed valuation and as a result tax revenues from the counties will grow as well, so there is no need to keep the tax rate at 34 cents per $100. The cut drops the rate to 32 cents per $100.
Anyway, there’s a factual summary. If you ask around it’s not hard to find opinions being registered on either side.
Another factoid: Whether you’re a fan of all library decisions or not, here is something you can’t argue: Library ballot questions typically get overwhelming support among voters. Yes, even in conservative Platte County, which may come as a surprise. Remember in 2016, even Platte County voters heartily approved of an eight-cent tax rate increase for the Mid-Continent Public Library system by a margin of 59% to 41%.
District-wide the tax increase gathered more than 61% support.
Joe Vanover, second district county commissioner for Platte County, has some thoughts on the library system. The Landmark reached out to him for a feature story about the new culinary-based library that has opened, and Vanover did not have a pro-culinary response.
“Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Wikipedia have done a better job at the traditional role of public libraries in recent years. Now the library is struggling to find a new mission for the millions of dollars in taxes it collects,” said Vanover. “If the library wants people to learn to cook, it should support the Northland Career Center where high school students prepare for careers in the food service industry. And there is no need to compete with the cooking classes by our school district community education programs or the nutrition programs hosted by the MU Extension office. The vote by the library trustees on Sept. 20 to lower the tax levy was a step in the right direction,” he added.
Speaking of letters to the editor, there are plenty of them in this week’s Landmark. For a newspaper publisher there’s no better judge of success in your publication than to look at how much engagement it gets from readers. A great way to judge engagement is the number of letters to the editor a newspaper receives. There are seven in this edition, six on this very page and a seventh elsewhere. On top of that, we received an eighth letter to the editor but had to push it back till next week for the purposes of space.
Wow. Not only is that a compliment to the newspaper, more importantly it’s a compliment to our readers, and as you know I’ve always bragged that The Landmark has the smartest readers. You are engaged in your community and also engaged with your local newspaper. Both are great things.
On top of that, take a look at the wide variety of topics addressed by our readers in those letters. Talk about diversification: traffic conditions on the west end of Barry Road, growth concerns for Weston, a policy committee proposal at Platte County R-3, the library board tax cut, worries about cronyism in local politics, a proposed quiet zone for train horns in Parkville, and encouragement to employ your voting rights.
That tells you this newspaper and its readers have a variety of interests of importance to the community. Thanks for reading. And engaging.
Landmark Live update: We do have new confirmation from State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer. He has agreed to appear on our episode set for Thursday, Oct. 20. The show goes live at Platte County Landmark on Facebook at 6 p.m. that night, and the video will remain on our Facebook page for later viewing. It will also be available on our YouTube channel.
Topics? We’ll have plenty. Taxes, whether there are/should be limits to how much a county assessor can increase your real estate valuation from year-to-year, the possibility of legalized sports wagering in Missouri, thoughts on the Kansas City police board, whether Luetkemeyer would consider becoming state attorney general if that position becomes available, state road and bridge funds, differences within the Republican party, etc.
I think the folks who think Missouri should not legalize sports gambling are the same folks who thought Elvis should not shake his hips on television.
I was in a local hardware store (Running Horse Ranch and Home to be exact) one day recently helping the owner celebrate his birthday. There were a couple other folks standing near me as we awaited instructions on how we could enjoy the free lunch we’d been invited there to devour. Soon the store owner ventured over and introduced me to the guys standing in my vicinity. One was a relative of the store owner and the other was a man he introduced as Scott Wedman. I said, half-jokingly: “You mean the former NBA player Scott Wedman?” Joke’s on me. Turns out it was indeed the former Kansas City King/Boston Celtic Scott Wedman. Wedman was not wearing the championship rings he won as a member of the Celtics, otherwise I would have assumed, you know, that he was that guy.
Anyway, Wedman and I sat down at the same lunch table and now, to no one’s surprise, I can tell you that Wedman will be an upcoming guest on a future episode of Landmark Live. We’ll wait till closer to basketball season. Maybe we’ll get a game of H-O-R-S-E arranged between Wedman and Guy Speckman. Stay tuned for details.
In the meantime, here’s a quick YouTube video to give you a little background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU072Huy-Bg
(When he isn’t unknowingly standing next to NBA players you can reach Foley by email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)