Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Current Update: Heroes Pull

This great event, with all donations going to Kansas Special Olympics is scheduled for Mar 16, 2014 right after the Shawnee St. Patrick's Day parade.


The "Shawnee City Hall Crusaders", currently, as a team are leading all the other teams in terms of funds donated.


The individual breakdown for the SCHC is as follows:


Maureen Rogers    $240
Michelle Distler    $140
Neal Sawyer          $120
Stephanie Meyer   $  20
Jeff Meyers           $  20
Matt Schmitz         -0-
Dan Pflumm          -0-






An individual can donate in various ways, and if they choose, can have their name shown as "anonymous".  Please remember these are classified as charitable donations.


Donations can be marked for a specific team, or even to a specific team member




A complete list of teams can be found at:
http://heroespull.ksso.org/




The Shawnee City Hall Crusaders can be found at:
http://heroespull.ksso.org/2014/schcrusaders/
They were the largest team donation receiver last year.




And then, last year's top individual donation getter, Councilmember Michelle Distler can be found at:
http://heroespull.ksso.org/2014/schcrusaders/mdistler/  Can she repeat?




Donations of any amount are appreciated



Thursday, February 20, 2014

UPDATE For the Heroes Pull

This is a fun event to watch, and any funds donated go to Kansas Special Olympics.


An individual can donate various ways, and if they choose, can have their name shown as "anonymous".  Please remember these are classified as charitable donations.


A complete list of teams can be found at:
http://heroespull.ksso.org/


The Shawnee City Hall Crusaders can be found at:
http://heroespull.ksso.org/2014/schcrusaders/


And then, last year's top donation getter, Councilmember Michelle Distler can be found at:
http://heroespull.ksso.org/2014/schcrusaders/mdistler/


Donations of any amount are appreciated

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Bomb Threat Hoaxes

The Shawnee Dispatch just ran an article about various false bomb threats being called into local businesses http://www.shawneedispatch.com/news/2014/feb/19/nieman-road-cvs-quicktrip-victims-false-bomb-threa/


Suffice it to say, when emergency service personnel (fire, police, EMS)  are responding to these types of calls, then they are unable to respond to real emergencies.


Calling in false threats of a bomb in a business is a mean and cruel thing to do. 


It is requested that anyone with any information about these threats is asked to call the Shawnee PD, 24/7 at 913-631-2155.


Keep in mind it could be your or a family member who might really need the assistance of our first responders and would be unable to get it because they are responding to a deliberate false alarm.


Again, if you have any info, please call, 913-631-2155



Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Shawnee Heroes Pull

The Shawnee Dispatch has a real nice article about this event at http://www.shawneedispatch.com/news/2014/feb/17/shawnees-heroes-pull-set-march-16/


It will take place on Sunday March 16th.  I attended last year and it was fun to watch.  Add to that, it is a great way to raise funds for Kansas Special Olympics.


Last year the city hall team which included both elected and staff personnel was the number one fund raising team, and the number one individual was on that team, Councilmember Michelle Distler.


We expect to have information in the next few days as to who will be on the city hall team and how to make a contribution to that team or designate it for a specific individual on the team.


Last year Shawnee's Fire and Police personnel also had teams participating.
WARNING!!!!!! The City Manager of Shawnee has determined that local bloggers post items that may contain bad or misinformation. Please read these posts with care and determine for yourself whether the information is valid.



Thursday, February 13, 2014

We've Gone International

Every once in awhile we notice a solitary "hit" to the blog from outside the United States.  Earlier this month we got a bunch of hits from Aruba.  Just like last summer, we got a bunch from Portugal & Spain.

We figure it has to be one of two things happening:

1.  We are gaining an international audience
2.  Some Shawnee folks have gone on vacation and just couldn't stay away from this blog.

We'd bet it's item 2 above.  If you are the person or persons from Shawnee who went on vacation and viewed this blog from there, thank you.  We appreciate the traffic.

WARNING!!!!!! The City Manager of Shawnee has determined that local bloggers post items that may contain bad or misinformation. Please read these posts with care and determine for yourself whether the information is valid.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

No Spring Mail In Ballot for Sales Tax

When the item came up last night for the sales tax questions there a surprise move.  Council member Jeff  "The Arrogant One" Vaught proposed that a). the Parks & Pipes sales tax renewal question go on the November general election ballot and that b). a proposed new sales tax for pavement be tabled until after the new budget session.

What this does, is it effectively eliminates the city from spending over $63K for a mail ballot and letting the item(s) go on the general election ballot at no charge to the city.

This was a surprise move as Vaught was a major proponent for a spring mail ballot so that the "deck could be stacked".

What was the motivation for this sudden turnaround?  Could it have been that maybe there was push back from other council members about spending over $63K for a spring mail ballot, as shown on this blog? Could it have been the fact that the Shawnee Dispatch published info from the JoCo election office that indicated the cost could go over $70K?  Could it have been because he didn't want a public, on the record discussion, showing how the city's original estimate of $40K for the election was flawed and severely understated?

Anyway, the good news is that there will not be a spring mail ballot and the associated costs that go with it. The item(s) belong on the November general election ballot at no cost.

For the record:  As a citizen of Shawnee I would support the renewal of the Pipes and Parks sales tax and would support a new 1/8 sales tax for pavement.  If there is a shortfall by going for 1/8 instead of 2/8 we can then discuss how to use more of the Deffenbaugh impact fee for pavement. That will involve further discussion about how the $1.5 million for economic development is being used.

Hint:  On economic development, it is my opinion, and has been for quite some time that we need a destination venue...............not more fast food restaurants and gas stations on Shawnee Mission Parkway. We need something that will heavily attract folks from outside of Shawnee, to Shawnee on a regular, steady basis.

WARNING!!!!!! The City Manager of Shawnee has determined that local bloggers post items that may contain bad or misinformation. Please read these posts with care and determine for yourself whether the information is valid.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

City Council to Vote on Sales Tax Ballot - 2/10/14

One of the agenda items on the Shawnee City Council meeting for Monday Feb 10, 2014 is a sales tax question.

Sales tax issues have to be submitted to the citizens.  What the council votes on is how much to ask for, how to word the ballot, and which election to have it presented to the voters.

Among the items to be considered are:

1.  A renewal of the 1/8 Parks and Pipes program
2   A new sales tax of either 1/8 or 2/8 for pavement
3.  Whether to make the above separate questions or combine them into one question
4.  Create a special mail ballot election in the spring (at an estimated cost in excess of $63K) or to put it on the November general election ballot at no charge to Shawnee.

The council meeting starts at 7:30PM.

WARNING!!!!!! The City Manager of Shawnee has determined that local bloggers post items that may contain bad or misinformation. Please read these posts with care and determine for yourself whether the information is valid.



Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Special Maill Ballot Election Could Cost $70K

An article in the Shawnee Dispatch states that the proposed mail ballot election for an increase in sales tax could run as much as $71K.  See the article at http://www.shawneedispatch.com/news/2014/feb/05/shawnee-discuss-special-mail-ballot-election-sales/

That is even higher than my original estimate of $63K.  Both of these estimates are higher than the city's estimate of $40K, which is unrealistically low.  The question could go on the November general election ballot at no charge to the city.  That is the way it needs to be done.

If you haven't read them already, you can scroll down to my three posts that show how I calculated the $63K cost.  Very basic and simple math.  No fancy calculations needed.  Why couldn't the city manager do the same thing?

The posts are:  Sales Tax Vote - Deception #1 1/20/14, Sales Tax Vote - Deception #2 1/21/14 and Sales Tax Vote - Deception #3 1/30/14.

The item needs to go on the November ballot, not a special election in the spring.

For the record, I do support a renewal of the Parks & Pipes, a new 1/8 for pavement, and having them appear on the November ballot as two separate questions, not one, as some would like.

The council will be voting on this Monday night, 2/10/14. The meeting starts at 7:30PM.

WARNING!!!!!! The City Manager of Shawnee has determined that local bloggers post items that may contain bad or misinformation. Please read these posts with care and determine for yourself whether the information is valid.


Sunday, February 02, 2014

Council Expenses - National League of Cities - November 2013

The National League of Cities holds two conferences a year.  One in November at rotating cities and one in March, in Washington DC.  Any long term reader of this blog knows that I feel valuable information can be gleaned from these meetings.  My only objection has been the number of people that have attended.  It has always been my opinion that, especially with a tough budget, we only need to send four people, two council members, the mayor and the city manager.  They can then come back and inform the rest of the council as to what information they gathered.




Last March, Shawnee only had one person go to the Washington DC conference, and that was Mickey Sandifer.  Ironically, he came back early because apparently his vote was needed at a council meeting.  Heck, by coming back early he missed the most important day, the day that local officials get to meet with our congressional delegation.  Oh well................




This past November the meeting was in Seattle, Washington.  We had six people attend.  Needless to say, the biggest spender was Mickey (Traveling Man) Sandifer.




Mickey Sandifer            $2,670.00
Jim Neighbor                   2,009.30
Jeff Vaught                      1,887.41
Neal Sawyer                    1,725.05
Carol Gonzales                1,717.98
Mike Kemmling                 932.60
                                     =========


Total                            $10,942.30




The city council has cancelled the council meeting for Monday, March 10, 2014.  Probably because that is when the NLC meeting is in Washington, DC.  Let's see how many folks are going on that one.


WARNING!!!!!! The City Manager of Shawnee has determined that local bloggers post items that may contain bad or misinformation. Please read these posts with care and determine for yourself whether the information is valid.

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Criminal Stupidity

This one is too funny.  Now this person could be facing possible federal charges:




Press Release Case Summary


Case Number:
CN1400395
Date Entered:
01/28/2014 16:06
Location:
5800 Block Renner RD
Type of Incident:
Classification:
FRAUD / FORGERY / ID
Incident Summary:
Subject used counterfeit bills to pay court fees.