Starting this Wednesday morning/finish a column/press day with a breakfast of champions: leftover frozen pizza. Sorry for the not-so-humblebrag.
It feels like it has been a marathon but let’s finish strong with a sprint to the finish. I’m talking about the Nov. 5 election. Just a couple more weeks to go before we can mark that off our to-do list. That being the case, there’s a lot of local election-related stuff to cover this week. Let’s get rolling.
Time for an occasional reminder about political letters to the editor. The Landmark’s policy is to cut off letters to the editor two weeks in advance of the election. Reason for this is to prevent someone from sending in a “shots fired” political attack that cannot be answered from the other side prior to the election. With this in mind, if you have a letter to the editor dealing with any topic or candidate on the Nov. 5 ballot please be aware the final Landmark edition your political letter can appear is next week, the Oct. 23 edition. Deadline to get your letter to me at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com is 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 21.
To be clear, this two-week-out policy only deals with letters. Remember, your “shots fired” political advertising can be placed at any point. Political ads dealing with any topic or candidate on the Nov. 5 ballot are accepted for any edition of the paper. Publication dates remaining prior to the election are Oct. 23 and Oct. 30.
I know there is much unorganized opposition but I’m not aware of any organized opposition against the Metropolitan Community College attachment proposal to the Platte County R-3 School District. If you’re aware, let me know. Voters who reside within the R-3 district will decide whether or not to approve the attachment, which would bring a tax increase of .1780 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. It would allow students within the R-3 district to attend MCC colleges at a reduced rate of tuition (see details in our story on page 4).
There is an organized group in favor of the MCC question and there are signs the group is being somewhat active. I found a flyer at my residential door this week urging a yes vote on the question. The flyers were paid for by a group known as “MCC Works for Platte County.” The group’s committee disclosure on the Missouri Ethics Commission website lists the treasurer as Robert C. Blann, of Kansas City, in Platte County. An Oct. 7 filing by the committee listed total receipts for this election thus far at $1,405. A $1,000 donation to the group was made by KC Road Lawyers, LLC, Lee’s Summit.
A group called Citizen Engaged PAC, Linda Yeager, treasurer, has sent out flyers in opposition to Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3, which is the abortion question that will be on your Nov. 5 ballot.
Citizen Engaged PAC has also purchased online ads (you may have seen them on Facebook) in opposition to the quarter cent children’s fund sales tax proposal in Platte County.
John Elliott’s firm known as Inside Information is involved with Citizen Engage PAC. Expenditures for the group as of an Oct. 15 filing (including payments made by credit card) include $306.12 to Inside Information for “list purchase,” which I assume is for a voter list, and $1,124.44 to Inside Information for “signage.” The $306.12 expenditure is listed for opposition to the abortion question and the $1,124.44 is listed as an expense for opposition to the quarter cent children’s fund sales tax question.
On its Oct. 15 report, Citizen Engaged PAC lists total receipts thus far in this election as zero, which tells us expenses thus far were made via credit.
Platte County 4 Kids is the name of the committee believed to be actively working to pass the quarter cent children’s fund sales tax. That committee lists Greg Plumb of Parkville, former alderman at Parkville and professor at Park University, as treasurer. Deputy treasurer is Laura L. Loyacono, of Kansas City.
An Oct. 11 financial report from Platte County 4 Kids indicates the committee has received $14,200 to date for this election. The largest financial contributor to the group thus far is MOCSA, which lists an address of 3100 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo. MOCSA stands for Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault. MOCSA is a Kansas City area organization that helps victims of sexual assault and abuse, and works to prevent sexual violence in the community.
Other large contributions to Platte County 4 Kids have been made by The Family Conservancy, 444 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kan., with a donation of $3,000; and development firm Hunt Midwest, with a donation of $1,000.
The Family Conservancy website says its mission is “helping children and families achieve a lifetime of success.” Their website goes on to say: “The Family Conservancy creates equitable opportunities for all children to thrive and experience wellbeing throughout their lives, because the first five years of life represent the most important period of human development.” And the group lists its vision as “bright futures for children and families.”
Platte County 4 Kids says it had $4,200 on hand at the beginning of the latest reporting period, then took in the $10,000 donation from MOCSA. It currently lists money on hand at $14,182.
Get details about the early voting option in Platte County on our front page. Count me as one who will be partaking in the early voting option period, which begins next Tuesday, Oct. 22, and it’s something you may want to consider as well.
The reason I’m excited about the early option is that in the presidential election of 2020 I stood in line for 65 minutes at the Seven Bridges polling site south of Platte City to cast my ballot mid-day. It’s a good thing the weather was cooperating with 70-degree temperatures because as you can imagine the line stretched far beyond the outside of the building and up a side street.
There will be no long line of that nature if you choose to take advantage of the early option. In fact, I did it back in the summer for the August election, not out of fear of there being a long wait time at an August election day but it just more conveniently worked into my schedule.
My buddy and I apologize for not bringing the Royals a victory in either of their home playoff games last week. We let you down. Shout out to an alert Landmark reader watching the games from his home in Montana who spotted us on his TV screen, sitting in the second row down the first base line during Thursday night’s game. That’s impressive, eagle eye kind of work. There should be a free subscription for your alertness. Operative phrase being “should be.”
(Vote early but don’t try to vote often, could get you in trouble. Platte County ain’t Chicago. Tell us your election stories at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
