Restaurant fees all over again

Friday, June 15, 2007
KC loses appeal on fire inspection fees
Kansas City Business Journal

Kansas City's attempt to charge businesses and multifamily dwellings for fire inspections is unconstitutional, the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled this week.

In a 3-0 decision Tuesday, the court affirmed a lower court's ruling that the city's ordinances to charge as much as $100 per inspection and certification of compliance violated Missouri's Hancock Amendment because they imposed fees without voters' approval.

Alan Holtkamp, assistant city attorney for Kansas City, said Friday that the city was unsure whether it would appeal the ruling.

The fire department continues to perform inspections, but they're paid for out of the city's general fund.

That's also how the inspections were paid for before 2003. At the time, city officials looked at ways to raise revenue to support the fire department's work and passed the ordinance to mandate the inspection fees.

The Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Kansas City filed a lawsuit against the city in 2004 in Jackson County Circuit Court.

While that case was pending, the city amended its ordinances to require a fire inspection with a fee of as much $100 or give building owners the option to have private engineers do the inspection and pay the city $10 for an inspection certificate.

The circuit court ruled in favor of the BOMA and ordered the city to repay all fees collected under the ordinances.

BOMA President Scott Du Vall couldn't be reached for comment.

Traffic-light cameras increase accidents, foster poor driving

Appeared in the Voices of the day column of the News Leader

Traffic-light cameras increase accidents, foster poor driving

Jason T. Umbarger • January 10, 2009

Numerous studies from academics, various departments of transportation, governments, insurance carriers and motorist advocacy groups clearly show the automated traffic camera systems present a threat to the safety of motorists.
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I was surprised to find in my research that the automated enforcement is not an effective means to bring about a decrease in accidents. The most effective ways to prevent the classic T-bone accident the cameras purportedly prevent are an increase in yellow light times and larger traffic signals. The surveillance of intersections actually brings about an increase in accidents. Traffic is safest when it is most predictable and consistent. Some drivers behave differently when they become aware they are being surveilled. As a result, numerous studies have demonstrated the placement of cameras correlates with an increase in rear-end collision accidents. At the same time, the majority of traffic camera citations are for red-light runners who enter the intersection 0.1 seconds or thereabouts after the light turns red. T-bone collisions adhere to a profile featuring accidents far later following the red light. The lights are thus ineffective at reducing T-bone collisions and actually cause injuries and property damage from rear-end collision accidents.

While any given municipality may have been fortunate enough to experience a decrease in accidents, I would urge a closer examination of the statistics. We should keep in mind accidents and fatalities nationwide are down as a result of improvements in automotive safety, a period of increased gas prices (thus lower traffic numbers) and recession-related decreases in driving. Correlation does not necessarily imply causation as many municipalities would have us believe, particularly in the wake of a sea of academic rigor contrary to the city's contention that automated enforcement in any way improves motorist safety.

The motorists of Missouri deserve better. Missouri motorists deserve the protection of trained professional police officers to issue citations in a safe, prudent and humane way. Our motorists simply cannot be made to suffer the replacement of our policemen with robo-enforcement.

Jason T. Umbarger, MBA, JD is an attorney and lives in Springfield.

NORMAL scare tactics being applied

Once more local government is using the scare tactics of old to convince voters they must comply with governments wishes. Normally anytime a tax proposal is placed on the ballot city or state officials will be lining up to sing the "woes me song" that if this isn't done then "X" will not get completed or "Y" will not be hired. It has become evident over the past several years that Springfield has a crime problem, not an issue, but a problem, and yet we are still short police officers on the street.
We are going to see on the ballot a measure which will help bring the pension system back into financial reality with a 1% tax increase proposal, but instead of educating the public on why this is of the utmost importance the scare tactics of old are used to bring about compliance. Instead of leaving the people at the mercy of the criminals, how about we take cost cutting measures in other areas and actually put the protection of the people as the first priority.
Take wage reductions, eliminate some non essential services that the city currently provides, put in place a retirement system where the employee actually has to contribute money into it, unlike the current LAGERS system where there is NO contribution from the employee and a higher cost is passed onto the taxpayer.
The article in question states that Mr Burris has said that "if we are standing in a hole we must stop digging" if this is the case why are we NOT hiring additional police officers to protect the people from an escalating crime problem.
We all have the reasonable resources to form an opinion on whether this measure should be passed or not we don't need officials of government trying to FORCE the passage of this measure by scaring people into doing so.

Knowing what I know about polls I know how easy it is to screw with the results simply in the manner of which the question is asked.

One question I would ask on this poll is did they interview 200 people from each area of town for this total of 800 or did they only call one zip code area ? Simply by manipulating the area of this poll you can skew the results quite easily.

Although nearly 80% of the respondents know of the pension shortfall I wonder what minuscule percentage actually has a grasp of understanding on why it occurred ?

If people vote NO for this tax measure you can be assured that the reason they voted NO is because the understanding that this could occur again quite easily, or they are opposed to paying for something which they have already paid for once. Why would anyone pay for the same thing twice and only receive it once, makes NO sense to me but then again I look at items with some common sense.

As for recycling efforts in the city what prevents these respondents from calling there waste hauler and requesting a recycle bin, or saving the items and placing them in city owned bins throughout the city. When city forces these waste haulers to provide these services many of these same people will probably complain that the monthly cost of trash removal is going to increase.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/36924924.html

Springfield Residents Satisfied with the City

By KSPR News

Story Created: Dec 31, 2008

Story Updated: Dec 31, 2008

Nearly eight in ten Springfieldians say they like the quality of life in their city, but there are plenty of things they'd like to see improved.

About 800 people were surveyed about the state of the city.

They said traffic flow, street upkeep and police protection were the biggest priorities for the next couple years.

Nearly 80% of people said they knew about the shortfall in the police and fire pension fund.

About one in four people said they were "very willing" to approve a sales-tax increase to replenish the fund.

A similar number said they would not vote for the tax hike.

City leaders say the results show the need to keep the public in the loop.

"Our goal is to make sure we educate people. What we find is when we educate groups of people, the vast majority say I had no idea, and I'm convinced," Springfield City Manager Greg Burris said.

Folks said they would like to see more recycling and energy conservation efforts in the city.

Springfield parks got high marks.

Overall, 66% of those surveyed said they were satisfied or very satisfied with city services.

Armed officers raid home, hold mom, kids for 6 hours

YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK
Armed officers raid home, hold mom, kids for 6 hours
Health department cops allege licensing issues over food co-op
Posted: December 17, 2008
11:20 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83865


Jacqueline and John Stowers

An Ohio family whose members have served their friends and neighbors with food cooperative services involving bulk and discount supplies has been targeted in a raid by armed law enforcement officers wearing black fatigues who forcibly rounded up the mom and 10 children and held them for six hours.

The raid prompted a complaint filed today on behalf of the family by the Center for Constitutional Law at the Buckeye Institute. It alleges authorities "made a haphazard unannounced entry into the property with guns drawn, as other officers surrounded the property, with guns drawn," then "confiscated the family's personal food supply, personal computers, and personal cell phones."

The complaint names the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Lorain County General Health District and the state's attorney general. A spokeswoman at the Department of Agriculture said its officers were at the scene in an advisory role. A spokeswoman at the county health agency refused to comment except to explain it was a "licensing" issue regarding the family's Manna Storehouse.

An prosecutor assigned to handle the case declined to respond to WND requests for a comment.

It's not the first such case of authorities invading a home over issues involving the operations of food co-ops. WND reported several months ago when authorities in Pennsylvania demanded $4,000 in fines from a farmer who provided raw milk to friends and neighbors.

That case also was highlighted by a SWAT team-like raid on Mark Nolt's farm, when government agents confiscated tens of thousands of dollars worth of his products as well as pieces of machinery he used for his milk handling and sales.

John and Jacqueline Stowers, whose Ohio home was raided, explained their work in providing affordable, healthy foods to friends and neighbors in a video posted both on YouTube and on the Buckeye Institute's website.

The video also is embedded here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83865

In the video, Jacqueline Stowers describes how she first started ordering bulk health foods for her own family, and gradually other families asked if they, also, could gain access to the food sources.

Then, about a year ago, the family had a conversation with county officials about licensing. The family asked questions but heard nothing further until the armed raid Dec. 1.

"We had a sheriff's department group of about 11-12, I don't know, 13 men come into our home. It was violent, it was belligerent, they didn't identify themselves," she stated.

She and 10 children were forcibly herded into a room and held there for at least six hours, she said.

"In the meantime we had people with guns inside and outside," she said.

The Buckeye Institute's Maurice Thompson said he took legal action in Lorain County Court of Common Pleas because of alleged violations of the Stowers' constitutional rights.

"The use of these police state tactics on a peaceful family is simply unacceptable," said Buckeye Institute President David Hansen. "Officers rushed into the Stowers' home with guns drawn and held the family – including 10 young children – captive for six hours. This outrageous case of bureaucratic overreach must be addressed."

The Buckeye Institute argues the core issue – the right to buy food directly from local farmers, distribute locally-grown food to neighbors and pool resources to purchase food in bulk – are rights that do not require a license.

"The Stowers' constitutional rights were violated over grass-fed cattle, free-range chickens and pesticide-free produce," said Thompson, the institute's Center of Constitutional Law director. "Ohioans do not need a government permission slip to run a family farm and co-op, and should not be subjected to raids when they do not have one. This legal action will ensure the ODA understands and respects Ohioans' rights."

The institute said licensure law enforcement is one thing, raids are another.

"The Buckeye Institute seeks an injunction against similar future raids, and a declaration that such licensure laws are unconstitutional as applied the Stowers and individuals like them," the institute said. "There has never been a complaint filed against Manna Storehouse or the Stowers related to the quality or healthfulness of the food distributed through the co-op."

Online bloggers raged over the situation.

"Agents began rifling through all of the family's possessions, a task that lasted hours and resulted in a complete upheaval of every private area in the home. Many items were taken that were not listed on the search warrant. The family was not permitted a phone call, and they were not told what crime they were being charged with. They were not read their rights. Over ten thousand dollars worth of food was taken, including the family's personal stock of food for the coming year," said one.

The complaint notes Manna Storehouse deals with wheat, flour, sugar, grass-fed beef, lamb, turkey and eggs from free range chickens, mostly coming from local farmers. The raid was based on an affidavit from Ohio Department of Agriculture agent William Lesho that "makes numerous conclusory and unsubstantiated claims," the complaint said.

The complaint states:

• The affidavit does not indicate that the Stowers are dangerous.
  
• The affidavit does not indicate … exigent circumstances … that would warrant using force.
  
• The police knocked on the door, and Katie Stowers opened.
  
• Police shoved Katie to the side and immediately entered the residence without first announcing (1) that they are police; or (2) the purpose of the visit.
  
• During the raid, at least one, if not several police entered the home with guns drawn, and the Stowers home was surrounded by police who also had guns drawn.
  
• Once having obtained entry… the lead officer … with his gun drawn, swiftly and immediately moved to the upstairs of the home, where he found eight small children."
  
• The officer used physical force to get Jacqueline Stowers and her children down the stairs.
  
• The officers held the Stowers family captive in their living room for in excess of six hours.

The complaint raises issues of unlawful search and seizure, taking of private property, due process and unlawful application of police power.

.

So good it had to be repeated

Taken from the S~N~L and the author of this piece is spot on.

If the bailout of GM, Ford and Chrysler occurs (as I project it will) the Congress and administration will appoint a "car czar" to administer the Big Three. As you may recall, the government has taken over the lending institutions in the previous bailouts.

The United States began to slide down the slippery slope to socialism many years ago. The current depression/recession has only provided more grease at the bottom. We are now at a 100 mph slide into a totalitarian, Big Brother government. Yes, a large part of the problem is our government in their trade agreements, open borders policies, undeclared wars, foreign aid, the Patriot Act and other unconstitutional acts by our elected representatives. However, the major culprit is who you see every morning as you look in the mirror. Yes, you! Or us! We have met the enemy and they are us!

We, the people, are responsible for the mess we are in. We never voted. We voted strictly along Republicans or Democratic lines. We listened only to the "campaign bites" for years. We did not hold our elected officials feet to the fire. We allowed the republic to become a democracy. We allowed our government to drag us into numerous undeclared, thus unconstitutional wars since 1945. We allowed the so-called trade agreements and open borders to rob us of our jobs. We flocked to the "big box" stores to buy the cheap goods manufactured by slave labor in China or elsewhere. We have allowed the Federal Reserve to steal from us on a daily basis.

We, Americans, have for many years had a good ride, not taking responsibility for maintenance of the republic, too busy with our iPods, cell phones and football.

When in years to come, our grandchildren will ask Grandpa/Grandma "Why am I a slave?" Look them in the eye and tell them, "Well, I don't know, I just didn't get involved but I always felt somebody should do something. I do remember the Super Bowl of 2010, what a great game!"

John P. Fitts, Noel

one more laws to criminalize actions which harm NO one

Mr Norr,

This might seem like a lunatic fringe element but how about we not criminalize talking on a cell phone while driving, but increase the penalties for being involved in an accident while using the phone. I have for years conducted business while driving by using the phone, of course I have a bluetooth headset and thus I'm not distracted, and I haven't had any accidents. The problem with this mentality is your trying to criminalize something which not everyone has a problem with. Punish the offenders who are distracted and causing accidents and not those who have NOT caused any accidents.

Norr targets cell phone usage

Teens shouldn't talk on the phone while driving, he says.

Chad Livengood • News-Leader • December 14, 2008

• • Buzz up!

Several Missouri lawmakers want to rein in the use of a cell phone to converse or send text messages while driving during the 2009 legislative session.

Two bills introduced this month for the upcoming session tackle the problem. One seeks a ban from talking on a cell phone while driving altogether. The other would require a person to have a hands-free listening device, like a headset or Bluetooth wireless earpiece.

Rep. Charlie Norr, D-Springfield, is not convinced either bill could pass, but he wants to pursue legislation this year to at least ban teenagers from driving while talking on the phone.

"I guess there's a better chance of passing that than infringing on the rights of adults," Norr said of his proposal. "Driving is a full-time job. You have to pay attention every second."

Entering his second term in the House, Norr and the Democrats remain in the minority, which means the chances of getting his own legislation passed are slim. But with Democrat Jay Nixon in the governor's office, Norr is hopeful lawmakers will address the growing number of Missourians living without health insurance.

"We need to work on that to get people access to medical care," he said.

Republicans hold a 89-74 majority in the House.

Norr, Nixon and other Democrats view increasing the state's contribution toward Medicaid as an economic development tool. For every dollar the state spends on the entitlement program, the federal government matches it with $1.62, officials say.

"Why wouldn't we do that?" Norr asked.

Norr said an investment in Medicaid would create health care sector jobs and new tax revenues for the state, which officials say faces a projected $342 million mid-year budget deficit and possibly larger shortfalls in 2010.

At a minimum, Norr said, policymakers need to reform the amount of money the Medicaid system requires users to spend before qualifying for taxpayer-paid benefits. Norr said the amounts are often too burdensome for the working poor and disabled and should be lowered.

Like others in his party, Norr wants to re-examine tax credits going to subsidize the operations of large corporations and the ethanol industry.

Norr also has signed on as a co-sponsor of Springfield Rep. Sara Lampe's House Bill 71, which would require payday loan lenders to notify borrowers of their balance due every three months.