Mayor Landwehr's Blog

Five Things That Take 18 Months

Sponsors of the proposed sidewalk moratorium said at last night's City Council meeting that they may shorten the proposed eighteen month moratorium for "infill" developments to allow time for the finalization of a master plan and a new ordinance that allocates costs better. But I could not stop assembling a list of things that take that long:

1.        Building three medium size houses.

2.        Giving birth to two humans.

3.        Earning half the credits required to graduate from college.

4.        Lewis & Clark reaching the Pacific Ocean.

          and . . . . I guess . . . . 

5.  Figuring out a way to improve the sidewalk ordinance.

We Might Hear Echoes of the Past @ the New Ecco

Last night at the Old Munichberg Association meeting new owner Don Powell announced plans for the historic renovation and re-opening of Ecco Lounge, a Southside tradition going back to 1945. Part of the credit goes to Larry Kolb and Steve Rollins for getting the ball rolling in this important block on Dunklin Street. 

News Tribune Headline / Article about City Levy is Inaccurate

8-19 Follow up:  The News Tribune posted a brief correction of their story the following day. We will keep this post active because it contains background information on the issue.

Levies and assessments are not simple subjects. Tonight's headline incorrectly states that the proposed city rollback of property tax "could cost county $360,000.00."

Both the headline and the article confuse the city council's decision on the levy with a completely separate matter announced by County Assessor Chris Estes in a letter to dozens of local officials, including the City Council. 

The Estes letter cites a recent decision by the Missouri State Tax Commission supporting an appeal by Scholastic, Inc. and lowering the assessed valuation of that large facility. The impact of that State Tax Commission decision (not the city's levy) could cause a reduction of property taxes paid by Scholastic to all local taxing entities (primarily the school district) in the amount of $360,000.00.

Last night the City Council simply postponed a final decision on the city levy until the impact of this 56 page opinion could be ascertained. 

We will ask the News Tribune for a clarifying article asap. 

Arthur Frommer Highlights Hometown in NY Radio & Blog

Arthur Frommer was clearly delighted to receive such a warm welcome last week from his home town. He reciprocated by spending the first ten minutes of his radio program to tell the world what a nice town we have. Check out the podcast: Podcast about Jefferson City. And his Blog Piece is nice too. Thanks, Arthur! Hope to see you again soon.

Major South Side Redevelopment on Dunklin Street

Larry Kolb and Steve Rollins are doing something we've been trying to encourage for years: redevelopment of an entire block instead of a piecemeal approach. It's exciting and encouraging. 

I interview Larry and Steve for a segment on JCTV Channel 3. Here's the first part. The half hour show with all the pictures will air on Tuesdays at 5:00 and Thursdays at 5:30 during July on Mediacom Channel 3.

City Among Best Wine Venues In U.S.

U.S. News and World Report in their Money Section had a recent article revealing that Jefferson City is one of the top ten places for wine lovers to retire. The author says we have a "low key lifestyle" and we are "not that glitzy yet." (Could someone tell me when we're close to being glitzy?)

Fechtel and Scheppers need to hop on this. I think Cole County is absolutely one of the nation's ten best places for BEER LOVERS to retire. Wine venues are a dime a dozen. With Bernie and Joe and Prison Brews, we could really get on the map. Randy Allen and Missy Bonnot and all those economic development gurus at the Chamber need to work this hard.

Katy Trail Visitors are Reminders of the Untapped Resource

Thousands of biking enthusiasts come along the Katy Trail, look at the nation's most beautiful state Capitol Building from a half mile away, and . . . keep peddling because there is no safe access across the bridge. Compare this situation with other venues like Hermann that enjoy considerable tourist traffic on account of the new bridge that has a wide protected bike/pedestrian lane. It's integral to their promotional efforts.

David DeSimone and Nick George are cycling from Florida to Oregon. Friends called ahead and asked for lodging and we were glad to provide a hot shower and BBQ. Their effort is named Biking For Balance. We had a chance to visit after dinner when they arrived earlier this week. They're both engineering doctoral students. 

 

What's "wrong with this picture" is that we had to pick them up across the river and haul them into Jefferson City.Their visit reminded us of the need to complete the access now being designed. It's more than just a fun amenity. It's tourism dollars and image -- a long term investment that will pay for itself many times over. Thanks to the Missouri State Parks Foundation, our own Parks Department, MODOT  and others, we are very close. 

Cam Fine Deflects DC Thump on Jefferson City

Cam Fine is a native son trying to talk sense into the Beltway Bureaucrats. He's the CEO of the ICBA - Independent Community Bankers of America. In this recent interview on CNBC the starched shirt with the cable down his back wanted to poke fun at Jefferson City as one of the "hardest" (to memorize) state capitals. Cam responded with his own analysis of Washington: it's like "Jeff City on Mega Steroids." Having lived there for three years, I would have not been so gentle. 

More important, he gave a critique of Obama administration's proposal to create yet another federal agency devoted to consumer protection in banking. Cam pointed out they already have an agency doing that type of review. Regulated banks weren't the problem. 

Here's the link. The State of Financials - CNBC.com

East Side Walmart Makes Donations at Opening

The first store manager for the new East Side Walmart is Jefferson City native Scott McCutchen. At a ceremonial opening on Thursday Scott presented donations to the Samaritan Center, the ABLE Learning Center, the JCPD Canine Fund and the Jay Band Boosters. Here is a part of Scott's remarks. Go to the Highstreet Beat videos on YouTube for remarks by the Mayor, Randy Allen and new Paul Hinman, the new Jay Band guru. 

Midwest Block: Lessons For Us All

My perspective of the controversial Midwest Block re-zoning case was supposed to be from the sidelines. After recusing myself months ago from voting, the week prior to the council's vote approving the expansion was pretty interesting. The council voted, and tonight, two weeks later,  the ordinance went into effect automatically without my signature under provisions in the City Charter. I remain cautiously optimistic about the future. Here's a summary of events leading up to the vote --   a perspective "from the sidelines":

On Tuesday a neighbor said I was turning my back on my family. On Wednesday I was accused by a MB executive of going behind his back to influence the decision.

Before the hearing the County Commission wrote a letter threatening to withhold promised cooperative street funding. At the hearing a former mayor apologized for requesting the letter.

A civic organization where I am a board member took a public position without approval of its board. I will give them the latest of version of Corporations 101 for Christmas.

Planned Unit Developments remain as mysterious as the Blessed Trinity. I still think "PUD" in our code really stands for "Prettymuch Un Decided."

A broadcast email prior to the hearing said the Mayor was conspiring to influence the council. A council member after the hearing said he appreciated how I did not try to influence his opinion.  

The Comprehensive Plan was not a factor. An unsigned, unreviewed document presented without prior notice was a huge factor. 

Regardless of our positions, maybe we can all look back and learn something from this zoning case. For my part, I have concluded it is no fun at all sitting on the sidelines.