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Independence, MO —
What’s next in Independence? April 3 was Election Day and as expected, there was an April 4. Everyone is still here, the community has serious issues, and we have two new faces on the City Council.
Maybe it’s time to kick around some ideas for the council to consider – some new ones and some recycled ones.
We still need an audit/review looking at what went wrong at the Bass Pro development. The problems started well before the economy crashed. We need independent experts who understand major retail development. We should learn from the mistake, and there should be some accountability (and maybe they will find that missing hotel).
How about a blue-ribbon committee to provide some recommendations to improve the openness of city government? The benchmark should not be the state law; it sets minimums. Our goal should be to have as “open” a city government as possible. Such a blue ribbon committee should include lawyers with expertise in the topic, the media (they have a particular view of these issues and often some wonderful background) as well as some citizens who occasionally seek information from the city. The ideas could be as simple as putting all city committee meetings dates and times on the web, with agendas and minutes as well.
Independence has a Tax Increment Financing Commission. Let’s reformat it to also spend time reviewing, in depth, the present TIF programs. Let’s get another set of eyes watching those programs so we are less likely to be surprised, like city staff was with the Bass Pro site problems. If we only knew one month out that the city was about to get hit with a $3.6 million problem, we need a better tracking system.
Let’s not raid the city health insurance fund. If city staff thinks that account is flush with cash, then it’s time to hire an actuary and publicly study the issue. We need to make sure we are not creating a financial problem for the next City Council by raiding the fund.
During bad times, think about when the good times return. Maybe we should have another community discussion and process such as “Fast Forward Independence” from the mid-1990s. It’s time to start looking for broader community engagement.
Maybe we should ask the new council to open the doors on back-room decision-making. Instead of the “daisy chain” decision-making process on the third floor of City Hall, we should ask for more debate and discussion at council meetings.
What’s next in Independence? April 3 was Election Day and as expected, there was an April 4. Everyone is still here, the community has serious issues, and we have two new faces on the City Council.
Maybe it’s time to kick around some ideas for the council to consider – some new ones and some recycled ones.
We still need an audit/review looking at what went wrong at the Bass Pro development. The problems started well before the economy crashed. We need independent experts who understand major retail development. We should learn from the mistake, and there should be some accountability (and maybe they will find that missing hotel).
How about a blue-ribbon committee to provide some recommendations to improve the openness of city government? The benchmark should not be the state law; it sets minimums. Our goal should be to have as “open” a city government as possible. Such a blue ribbon committee should include lawyers with expertise in the topic, the media (they have a particular view of these issues and often some wonderful background) as well as some citizens who occasionally seek information from the city. The ideas could be as simple as putting all city committee meetings dates and times on the web, with agendas and minutes as well.
Independence has a Tax Increment Financing Commission. Let’s reformat it to also spend time reviewing, in depth, the present TIF programs. Let’s get another set of eyes watching those programs so we are less likely to be surprised, like city staff was with the Bass Pro site problems. If we only knew one month out that the city was about to get hit with a $3.6 million problem, we need a better tracking system.
Let’s not raid the city health insurance fund. If city staff thinks that account is flush with cash, then it’s time to hire an actuary and publicly study the issue. We need to make sure we are not creating a financial problem for the next City Council by raiding the fund.
During bad times, think about when the good times return. Maybe we should have another community discussion and process such as “Fast Forward Independence” from the mid-1990s. It’s time to start looking for broader community engagement.
Maybe we should ask the new council to open the doors on back-room decision-making. Instead of the “daisy chain” decision-making process on the third floor of City Hall, we should ask for more debate and discussion at council meetings.
Should we put the tourism tax back on the ballot to shrink it and direct those funds to higher priority needs? I doubt the voters rank spending huge sums of money on tourism billboards over public safety.
Can we seek out any further regional efforts to save money in the long term? We are splitting off from the regional bus system but joining with others regarding a regional animal shelter. Maybe it’s time to look at the age old idea of a regional jail?
If we need more cops, maybe we should ask why we send officers to do reports for insurance companies at non-injury car wrecks. Yet we investigate very few burglaries where clearly there is a criminal who will keep returning until we interrupt that bad behavior.
We have many boarded-up small businesses. A common complaint has been how Independence is not “small business friendly.” Let’s appoint a group of citizens to dig into this and make Independence truly welcome small businesses (other than payday loans and pawn shops).
The city’s main electric power plant is almost 55 years old. We are now being forced to buy antiquated power plants to meet the community’s needs. A few years ago City Hall was discussing the need for a new coal-fired plant. What is the plan?
While City Hall needs a moment to digest the meaning of having 72 percent of the voters repudiate the property tax proposal, we also need to keep looking forward.
