Park Board

[stevecox]

I remember when I was at KBTN, there was a Park Board member (I don't remember his name) that didn't even live in Neosho... he lived north of Joplin. But, every month he would travel down to Neosho and sit on the board meetings and vote on projects using Neosho tax dollars. I ran a news story questioning how a Joplin resident can vote on Neosho tax dollars, and boy! Did the city government get mad at me! He was a member of that "good ole boy" network, and they got really huffy that I exposed this. Of course, the wise citizens of Neosho began calling city hall and demanding that park board member be replaced. SOMEONE has some sense in that city!

[Scutter]

Come to think of it Steve, I don't believe our City Manager lives in the city either.

[stevecox]

The city manager should be required to live in the city limits. That is one thing.... but the city manager is an appointed position. You can go to the city council about that. But, the city manager does not vote to use taxpayers dollars like a board member would. I think everyone serving the city should live in the city... serving the county should live in the county, serving the state should live in that state...etc.

[Scutter]

Steve, I hate to tell you this but things have changed here. The council does not control the city manager now, the city manager controls the council. They are nothing more than a rubber stamp approving his actions after the fact.

[stevecox]

Thats too bad. We had guys like LeRoy Shantz on the council who, although rather talkative, would not hesitate to take control. He was a good representative! I am not sure what the council is like now... but is a goofy looking Carl Cobb on the council? What happened to him>?

[Scutter]

I don't know him Steve. Our current council is composed of Howard Birdsong; John Ball; Jeff Haas; Cheryl McCormack and someone else so notable I can't recall his name. It is a pretty anemic group.

[stevecox]

I remember Howard Birdsong and John Ball. They both seemed somewhat impressed with themselves...especially Howard. Ann Winegardner hated him, but I was ordered to be nice to him because "he makes advertising decisions" for the wire company he worked for (sorry I can't remember the name). John Ball, I believe, was at Tyson Foods. He was nice enough, but always looked at you like he was being nice out of neccessity rather than by choice. I don't know any of the rest of them. Boy, in the olden days, Jim Taylor and LeRoy Shantz would NOT let anyone take their time in the spotlight, much less take the reigns of power. Too bad things have changed so much.

[Scutter]

Welp, Howard and John are still "legends in their own minds" and Jeff inherited daddy's money, his business and his seat on the council. As for McCormack, the jury is still out on her. She is newly elected and time will tell how she rises to the challenge. None of them have what it takes to buck Jim Cole, I guess that is what we get for electing working folks to the council. There is always the presumption that they are being controlled by the folks who pay their salary in real life. As for the other guy, I guess he is at least keeping a seat warm.

[stevecox]

You make an excellent point about small-town politics. The guy you are fighting with in the council may have the power to shut down or hurt your business... (or, in my case, I had to report nothing but good stuff so that business owners wouldn't get mad at KBTN)... so go with the flow. It makes me wish I had run for Neosho City Council. Boy, would THAT have been fun!

[Scutter]

That is what makes Jim Cole's pronouncement of having an open door policy such a complete joke. There are so many ways a city government can hassle anyone who is critical of their decisions or policies that most folks just hold their silence. It goes deeper than just building codes and merchant's licenses, it gets into easements, elevation certificates and water flows, air flows, crubing and guttering assessments, street maintenance, placement of water hydrants, dumpster placement, hazmet regulations, city contracts, snow route removal, zoning and such a number of city ordinances and codes that a vendictive city employee can cost a business owner a whole lot of money and/or business. And now they are trying to force restrictions on the building owners in the "historic downtown" section of town and, if successful, I suspect the rest of the city. I just hope the folks fighting that do not find out the hard way just how vendictive they can be.

[stevecox]

I hear you! I saw examples of that first-hand.... when someone would bring something to the city council. If they were in the "in crowd".... that person would be a shoo-in. But, if the person was not in the "in crowd", or out of favor with a council member, there would be endless, meaningless discussions and voting.... and, in the end, a denial. The victim could not protest, because it was their elected board members, our government, in action. Small town politics was really something to see.

[Scutter]

I guess nothing ever changes Steve because it is still that way. The amount of success you will have with the council is determined by a number of factors, none of which really address the magnitude of the problem.

[stevecox]

I guess the only way to survive is play the political game, and do what you can. The bad new is, it's that way everywhere. I know the more independent city council members were shunned and made fun of.... and the powerful ones were brown-nosed. I guess the only solution is to vote for someone else or run yourself. Ha! Good luck on THAT one!

[Scutter]

That is our plan Steve. We are trying to line up folks to run as we speak. We never want another incumbent down here to run unopposed ever again.

[stevecox]

I wish you the best of luck with that. Our democratic system has its ups and downs..... the best way to fix things is to run or support somebody in running. An incumbent running with no opposition is the worst thing that can happen to our system. That way, the same joker can keep coming back and is never held accountable. I think accountability is the key factor. When I was a member of the media, I tried to hold those accountable that I didn't think were getting the old job done, but my bosses at KBTN would not allow that, for fear of financial retribution. I was able to assist in justice in my own way when I testified in the hearing for George Kelley, when he sued the city for wrongful termination. Remember the age discrimination suit? I was the only witness.... and the city offerred settlement immediately after my deposition. I don't remember the amount George was awarded, but it was over 100,000 dollars. I bet the Neosho City Council would have loved to tar and feather me after that! I remember their attorney went after me with lots of venom in the deposition, but I held to my story and he could not shake me. That put a little dent in the good old boy network!!!!

[Scutter]

Well Steve the beast survived and has grown more heads.

[stevecox]

At the time, I heard that each city council memer resigned. But, fortunately for politicians, the public has a very short memory.

[Scutter]

have been asleep at the wheel for over forty years or there would not be a need for this board. They have blindly accepted that everything was fine in their beautiful little town and finally came to the self delusion that it actually was. Add to that the tendency of all those in the town elite to jump upon anyone who even mentioned a problem and painted those people as troublemakers or less than desirable citizens and you have the seeds of stagnation which has finally reached full circle. Problem is that the problems are not going to go away until good people run for public office and the people become responsible enough to go vote in the city elections.

[stevecox]

I am a huge believer in organized debates, and a news media that is responsible enough to tell the truth about what is going on. Unfortunately, the news department at KBTN was that in name only, as the owners were more concerned about image than truth. And of course, you are not going to get much from a daily newspaper who has such obvious ties to the city council. The Joplin paper tried so hard to report accurately and truthfully, but (I believe her name was Debbie) the reporter was laughed at and shunned by the Neosho elite. Looks like not much has changed there, either.

[Scutter]

Nope, not one durned things here has changed in the last forty years except for the first names of the people who are trying to control every aspect of life in this community.

[stevecox]

Yep... I remember really big power and control issues. I also remember subtle threats or promises to David Winegardner, that if I didn't just report the rosy, happy news that all was okay in Neosho that someone would be pulling their advertising. There were times that I thought it would be so fun to win the lottery and not have to depend on advertising to run a true news station... but, of course, that did not happen. I really don't think its too much different in Neosho than it is here in Kansas City, with the power structure in place, the elite running the government, and such. The difference is, that the media is much more powerful and has the ability to sway opinion with more force than it did in Neosho.... and is more independent. The key word is independent.

[Scutter]

One of the things that I notice here Steve, is that the people who are supposed to have money don't and the folks here really do not know the few who have the money and the contacts on a national and state level. I guess it is just an outgrowth of what I used to call the "little 400" or the families that tried to call the shots because they gave the impression of wealth when there were some very quiet citizens here who could buy and sell them. Some of those members of the "little 400" are still considered to be power players without a power base. Far worse than those are the people who are striving hard for social acceptance and are willing to defer to those folks on almost every community issue. Funny thing is, those people are beginning to piss a few of those with some real "drag" off to the point that I can envision some real change being forced upon the elitist in the very near future.

[stevecox]

I think for that to happen, there has to be people moving in from outside the accepted "power base"... who do not enjoy playing the political game, and want to see things changed.. not just because "we have always done it that way". If movers and shakers come into the area and really stir things up, then things will change. But, if you keep the same old stagnant few running things things will not change, because there is no need.

[Scutter]

Those with the power to shake things up are here Steve, they just never paid much attention to the town until these people allowed it to become bad enough to attract public notice. I really don't think those folks will keep their cool much longer. Of course the changes will not be publically touted but will occur nonetheless.