Co-worker Cindy continues to speak ill of the movie Dumb and Dumber and I for one will not stand for slander of a cinematic classic.
You might be wondering how the search for a permanent city administrator for Platte City is going. Or maybe you weren’t. After all, there really shouldn’t be any reason to rush the search. Interim administrator DJ Gehrt has been busy doing things like saving the Hwy. 92 widening project that former administrator Marji Gehr and former mayor Tony Paolillo seemed anxious to pronounce dead. Gehrt no doubt has also been busy trying to unburn some bridges that were torched by eight months of Marji Mayhem, whose personality was not a good fit for public service.
As we reported a few weeks ago, Gehrt has saved the Hwy. 92 widening project east of I-29. Some rounding up of more third party funds combined with another kick from city coffers is expected to officially make it happen.
But anyway, back to the search for a permanent administrator. I’m told there were about 80 applicants reviewed for the post. That number has been narrowed down to 12. Those 12 will do videoconference interviews. After that, the number gets narrowed to three-to-five finalists who will come to Platte City for on-site interviews.
Geographically speaking, of the 12 remaining candidates word is that several are scattered in the area between Kansas City and Lawrence, two are specifically from the KC metro area, one is from Texas, one from Illinois and one from Ohio.
Gehrt indicated it is reasonable to expect the city to make an offer to the eventual top candidate sometime around the end of July.
It’s official. The good news is that the Fourth of July will officially have a daytime celebration in Platte City. The even better news is that it will be back on Main Street where it belongs.
We can thank the Platte City Chamber of Commerce for saving this year’s daytime festival. The City of Platte City is stepping away from being the leading organization behind the work that it takes to put on the event, citing lack of personnel available to handle the many duties. Up stepped the chamber of commerce and director Jamie Kacz. The chamber says it has built a roster of 28-30 volunteers who are ready and willing to work on July 4.
“They have come up big,” Gehrt says of the chamber.
With a volunteer workforce now in place, the city has agreed to put $10,000 to $12,000 toward the daytime Main Street fun, which will be held from 9 a.m. to noon. That’s about an hour shorter in duration than previous festivals and it also starts a little earlier, to try to avoid the hottest part of the day. The $10,000 to $12,000 put into it by the city is about half of previous festivals. The main difference–in addition to the city not having to pay overtime to its workers–is that there will not be free offerings from food trucks this year, a tab which the past three years was picked up by the city. The plan is this year’s food offerings will be free hot dogs.
And as there has been for more than 20 years, there will again be a nighttime fireworks show in Platte City, with the fireworks purchased by the city. The fireworks tab will be $17,000 this year. The fireworks provider has told the city shipping costs are down so they can get more bang for their buck this year. Gehrt says the city has chosen for a longer show rather than to direct more of the savings to a bigger finale.
The nighttime show blasts off about 10 p.m. at the Platte County School District property along Hwy. 92. The show is visible for quite a distance and you can find many open areas for parking for quality viewing. Some of the popular viewing locations in the past have been Hillcrest Thrift Shop parking area, Platte Valley Park, the Mid-Continent Public Library parking lot, Price Chopper’s lot, Platte County High School parking area and Platte City Middle School parking areas, as well as parking lots at Siegrist Elementary School and Compass Elementary School.
Reminder that the largest tax increase in Platte County’s taxing history will be on the ballot on Aug. 6.
One of the county commissioners proposing the largest tax increase in the county’s history is on that same ballot and wants to become your tax assessor, of all things. I don’t know, guys. Having someone who is campaigning for the largest tax increase in county history placed in charge of assessing the taxable value of your home and property sounds dangerous.
Remember that time in 2020 when Platte County sold voters on a quarter cent law enforcement tax for operations? Yes, I’m sure you do.
Remember when they told us in 2020 “hey, even if you pass this sales tax for law enforcement operations we’ll soon need another tax–in fact, an even larger tax–for more operations?” No. You don’t remember that. Because they didn’t say that. They didn’t tell us they’d want a $420 million tax just four years later, with about three fourths of that going to “operations” of a jail.
Don’t allow yourselves to be tricked or be confused by some of their wording when county officials talk about revenue from their proposed jail tax. For instance, they might say something like “if revenues come in above expectations” or “if we house outside inmates that revenue will be used to pay down the debt more quickly.” Don’t be fooled into thinking that “paying down the debt more quickly” will end the proposed 20-year half cent sales tax. Their August tax proposal is not set up that way. The majority of the tax would go to ongoing jail operations. The new tax would continue even after construction debt is gone, as the tax is assigned to not only build the more than 470-bed jail but also to operate the new three-story behemoth.
(Find Foley quoting lines from Dumb and Dumber, Blazing Saddles and other masterpieces. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)