Hello Citizens of the City of La Plata – First off I would like warn you if aren’t a citizen of La Plata then this will probably not be very interesting reading – With only a little over two weeks before the April 8th Election, I would like to clarify one thing …. No matter which of the three candidates for the La Plata Mayor’s position is elected there are certain things that will have to be done and a change in leadership will NOT reduce your utility bill, immediately correct the sewer issues, or provide the city with newly paved streets. It would be great to be able to wave a magic wand and erase all the problems that face our city as well as most other small to medium size communities that don’t have revenues from huge industrial companies. In reality, this won’t happen no matter who is elected and for those that don’t know, the Mayor has no voting power except in case of a tie vote! Also, I would like to see more citizen involvement at the City Council meetings to discuss citizen concerns instead of them just being discussed at private gatherings ….nothing is ever solved when all the facts aren’t known and tempers get heated ..….yes it gives us satisfaction sometimes to “get it off our chest” as you would say but the end result doesn’t provide a solution to the problems. There are four areas that I continually hear discussed and I don’t have all the answers or solutions but arguing certainly doesn’t resolve them ---QUESTIONS: 1) The utility rates are too high so therefore people are moving and there are lots of vacant homes and businesses that no one wants to occupy because of the escalated rates & why did the city allow for a locked in agreement that doesn’t allow them to seek other sources of electricity? – 2) Why wasn’t the engineering firm and contractor for the previous sewer/water projects held accountable for the deficiencies in previous projects & why are we once again using the same engineering firm – Why weren’t they held accountable for leaving our City streets in such poor condition – 3) Why hasn’t more of the sales tax money “ear tagged” for street repairs being used for that purpose & how do the citizens know if and when they approve another bond issue that the money will be used for the designated projects and not to purchase another City Police car? --- 4) Why are the City Police out patrolling on Sunday morning when most citizens are merely coming and going from church instead of during times when crime would be more likely to happen? ANSWERS: As I said, I don’t have access to all the information but I have been attending the City Council meetings since filing for the position and have gained some knowledge but when I try to explain it I am constantly met with argumentation and a brick wall by some individuals that just want to constantly complain. I was an elected city official/employee during some of the previous issues involving the utility rates, sewer, and water projects – 1) Utility rates have been escalating for several years in all surrounding areas whether they are served by Tri-County Electric, MEC, Ameren, Adair Rural Water, or Macon Rural Water … we are NOT the only ones seeing the increases. As for vacant homes and businesses ….many of the homes are either priced too high to purchase or the rent is so high that it isn’t an affordable living option. As for businesses … I will use one particular instance of a business that closed last summer – La Plata Short Stop was a GREAT asset when it was established and was welcomed by the community which it served. A few years back just up the street a business opened that has the backing of a nationwide chain! Then came the increase in gas prices – the former proprietors have told me numerous times that the past few years after the rise in fuel costs, they actually lost money every time someone pumped gas at their pumps unless the customer came in and purchased a pizza, sandwich, soda, candy bar, etc. Therefore, providing the service of a gas station for the past few years was only for the convenience of their longtime customers as they were going or coming home from work & in hope of enticing individuals to purchase their other merchandise….but eventually they were forced to close. They didn’t fail as business owners…..the economy failed them with the escalating prices of gasoline, utilities, and other items they had to purchase to operate the business and the fact that “the little businessman” can’t compete with the one up the street that has nationwide backing. La Plata is one of thirty-five members of a group called MoPEP (Missouri Public Energy Pool) which formed several years back under the direction of MJMEUC (Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission) which has a membership of 67 municipally-owned retail electric systems. MJMEUC manages all the resources of these 35 cities to achieve economies of scale from new supplies, optimize use of existing supplies, and utilize the strengths of this group of cities to provide reliable low cost electrical power through joint action. The 35 member cities make the decisions, with MJMEUC providing the opportunity for joint actions for providing the services at the lowest cost possible. At a recent council meeting and in information that I personally received as being a customer of Adair Rural Water at our farm, I learned that the City of Kirksville was forced to raise their water rates and therefore Adair Rural Water rates were increased since they are supplied by the City of Kirksville. Obviously, Adair Rural Water must pass the increase in rates on to their customers to offset their increase. -- 2) The current engineering firm has been associated with the City of La Plata for as long as I can remember and have some very knowledgeable employees….yes, there was an employee of the firm hired to oversee and inspect the project but certainly wasn’t on site 24/7 or in each of the manholes, etc. during the project – so who is to determine that they were responsible for the developing issues that have resulted from the deficiencies that occurred during the projects or the poor condition or our City streets. Sadly to say, that is all “water under the bridge” and no matter how much talking is done it can’t reverse the situation we as a community are facing and we must move forward to correct the underlining problems. 3) As far as how “ear tagged” money is spent ….having worked for the City I know that they are accountable for each and every dollar that is spent when it comes time for a yearly audit. Monies collected from the street repair sales tax or a future bond issue for sewer repairs must be set aside and spent for that purpose and NOT the purchase of an additional City Police car…..several disturbed citizens have informed me this weekend that the City has purchased yet another police car …in the past, I know that the City has purchased several retired highway patrol vehicles from Missouri State Surplus at a very reasonable cost …. I was sure there was a very logical reason for making the purchase. During one of the city council meetings I attended, Police Chief Bunch reported that a grant had been written and approved for the purchase of an additional vehicle. After listening to the complaints, I contacted Police Chief Bunch who confirmed that the vehicle was in deed purchased with grant monies and only $200 of the city monies taken from the Police Budget was used in conjunction with the purchase. It would appear to me that that the City would have been very negligent in serving its citizens if they hadn’t taken advantage of this purchase… again gossip without knowing ALL the facts! 4) The responsibility of the City Police Department is maintained by a Police Department Advisory Board which is comprised of two council members and the City Police Chief. When the need be, the city council members will discuss issues within the department. I don’t believe the intentions of the department are to greet our local church worshipers with citations on the way to and from church. Comments that I have heard from the police department and council members regarding the issue is that on Sunday mornings they do in deed receive several calls from residents regarding issues that happened over the weekend and therefore it is cheaper to have an officer on duty than to pay call out fees every time someone calls in a report. These are only a few of the concerns that I have heard and been approached with since filing for the position ……my comments concerning the issues are based only on the knowledge as a citizen that I have been able to obtain through research. I would like to once again see more interest shown in community involvement and volunteer services of members of the community. For many years, my late husband J.W. Bragg, dedicated many, many, many hours of volunteer service to the La Plata Golf Course along with several other individuals called the La Plata Men’s Golf Association…..I was very proud this morning when my son called and said he had been out at the golf course to a meeting one night this past week and was again out there today with some individuals discussing plans to replace the old bridges going across the creek that his Dad was involved in building many years ago. Many individuals in past years, have also volunteered their time for improvements at the Santa Fe Lake, City Park, and La Plata Reservoir and with the efforts of community involvement, I hope that these facilities will serve as recreational areas for many years to come. Again, anyone having any concerns please feel free to contact me and if I can’t answer your question I will make every effort to find out the answers. Thanks for listening .....by working side by side and together instead of against each other we can once again make La Plata a place where we are proud to call home!
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 23:59:08 +0000
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