Sales pitch set for ‘Transformation’ tax

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Local Chamber of Commerce supporters on Monday will formally ask the Jefferson City Council to hold a public vote in February seeking a 10-year half-cent sales tax to raise more than $41 million for the chamber’s “Transformation” plan.

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At the Transformation steering committee meeting Wednesday, members received a draft ordinance that will be presented to the City Council on Monday and could be acted on at the Nov. 7 council meeting.

The Transformation process produced a final list of 30 projects with a cost of nearly $41 million.

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Gotigers 1 year, 7 months ago

Seriously? The chamber is hiring 3 public relations firms? 3? How many consultants are we going to hire at $50k a pop to tell us what we already know? I would love to support this but I have no faith in the decisionmarkers as to how the money is spent.

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

Where are you going to get consultants to work on this for $50k each?

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

I am voting "NO".
The increased trash fees and the city keeping the refunds of the "optional services" that are never used is enough for me.
This town is crooked and corrupt.
VOTE NO until they refund the ambulance tax and reduce the trash fees.

hudson 1 year, 7 months ago

just say no to more taxes !

NoMoBigBro 1 year, 7 months ago

I said it in my username. ;)

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

Grace you sign yourself. You often lament the nature or immorality of government, or that a particular party is evil, or that some process needs watching or changing; but your statement above sets your real agenda very clearly . . . the best government is no government. People with massive resources, private armies, or a direct connection to God can afford to get along without government, but most of them have been defeated over the centuries, leaving the rest of us dependant to greater or lesser degrees on governmental structures to mediate our conflicts and interests through politics. Your love of theorcracy or anarchy, the only alternatives, suggests you fall into one of the groups not wanting government. Since you're middle class at best, and don't have an army, your religious motives are showing through the skin of your usual arguments. I shudder at the nature of the church of your fevered dreams.

evenkeel 1 year, 7 months ago

asb, I think you are jumping the shark here. I have read many things that Grace has posted and I have never gotten the impression that Grace is an anarchist. Posting "Just say NO to government in general" is not the same as "I want NO government." That is a leap. Does Grace believe in limited government? I think she does. So do I.

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

He was wealthy enough to ride out the brutality of generational revolutions, and he was prone to hyperbole. Revolutions need purpose and to provide sound alternatives, and democracy usually provides those in time to avoid bloodshed. A revolution without bloodshed isn't.

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

I don't think this is neccesarily true. For instance, the immorality of not allowing gays to marry the person they love is finally being torn down. Soon gays will be as equal as everyone else, and sexual orientation will not be an immoral excuse to discriminate.

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

And discriminating against a person because of his sexual orientation is moral? Would you wish to do away with many of the civil rights laws and go back to a system that allows discrimination based on skin color, race, disability, sex, etc.too?

NoMoBigBro 1 year, 7 months ago

So lifer, where exactly do YOU draw the line between exactly what kind of sexual orientation is acceptable and what is not? I'm curious! Do you believe that one with a sexual orientation towards children is ok? This is usually where the hypocrisy of those spewing the "discrimnation of sexual orientation" argument seems to come out. On One hand they don't want it, then on the other hand they will say it is acceptable.

Homosexual behavior is just what it implies, behavior. It does nothing that NATURE intended sex to do... the continued survival of a species. So their argument is that we should be allowed special consideration based upon the kind of sex we like. Yea, starts to sound really ridiculous when you start to break it down. So tell us then, how far can you deviate from NATURE's intended purpose for sex before it is unacceptable to the "discrimnation of sexual orientation" crowd?? Is same sex deviation from nature's purpose just the first step you try to get passed universally by the government? Where does it go from there?

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

I see no reason to discriminate against a person who was created with an alternative sexual orientation, or even acting out in an alternative sexual orientation in a consensual, non-harmful manner.

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

NoMo – you weren’t here for the exhaustive threads on gay rights, so for the record: 1. No one (with a brain) says pedophilia and bestiality is ok. The issue is what goes on between two consenting adults. 2. There are tons of instances of homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom. So “nature” seems to not see anything wrong with it. 3. You said: “So their argument is that we should be allowed special consideration based upon the kind of sex we like.” No…their argument is they should be allowed the exact same consideration as heterosexuals. To do otherwise is the definition of discrimination.

tonto 1 year, 7 months ago

As Ronald Reagan said, "there you go again" with that bogus comparison of gay rights and pedophilia. No one (other than NAMBLA) is willing to approve of pedophilia. Calling homosexuality a behavior that people choose goes against the science that has explained it as a genetic difference between people. They were born that way, and denying them the opportunity to love another person of their choice is, more than anything else, stingy.

3bunnies 1 year, 7 months ago

somehow we have come complete circle and somewhat off topic.

NoMoBigBro 1 year, 7 months ago

I was actually talking about the Government passing laws that are based upon who someone prefers to have sex with. I just usually play 'devil's advocate' in this type of discussion. I don't have a problem if you want to go sleep with someone of your own sex. I just don't want that pushed on me. It's a slippery slope. Like I don't want to go use the men's room and have some guy trying to check me out, or even worse, try and proposition me. Yes, it's happened to me before, very unsettling. Do women want men in their restroom ogling them when they are doing their business, well some may, but most I think not. But if I were to advocate that gays should have a different restroom, I would be called out for discrimination. If we are all equal, why do men and women use different rooms? Civil unions are fine, why is that not acceptable to the gay community? Most that call out for gay marriage are usually the same ones that are anti "bible thumper" anyway, because the bible says that it is wrong. Yet marriage is pretty much a religious ceremony. But then again they will holler that a judge can do the ceremony so that makes it non religious so it's ok. But isn't marriage based upon the words of the bible?

JMO 1 year, 7 months ago

I just don't know why we don't call every civil ceremony - whether gay or straight - a "civil union" and every religious ceremony - ditto - a "marriage". Then courts HAVE to perform them and churches can have their own rules and marry whoever they want as they see fit. (And no one say churches can't discriminate. If that was true, non-Catholics could be married in the church and divorced Catholics could take communion. Of course they can discriminate.)

I suppose since all the laws currently say "marriage" my idea would cause too much paperwork.

And we are WAY off the subject of the article. :)

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

Amen, JMO! You get it. Government needs to get out of the marriage business- that should be the business of the church. Government can perform civil unions.

Keep government out of my religion and keep religion out of my government.

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

I have no idea how you read an accusation of cowardice into what I said about Jefferson's penchant for hyperbole (usually to our benefit), but you've done that often enough I shouldn't be surprised. Democracy is dulled in America by the too-great influence of money, but it still shines enough for anybody to see. A government based on morality is a theocracy. Go to Iran.

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

I do not even slightly call Jefferson a coward, you construct that from a fever. The truth of our liberty shines in every forum, every paper, every nut march, every wacko religion allowed to steal and scam and every letter to the editor. Your vapours in print are perfect proof.

JCLifer 1 year, 7 months ago

;"There is no democracy in this country. There is a facade of democracy but nothing more,"

Which is a pretty good thing. The last election showed that the people are too dumb to run themselves. They voted for a man based on the color of his skin, which is about as racist as one can get.

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

Fundamental issues of morality are defined uniquely in each church. Theocracy is evil.

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

Show me one body in the name of humanism and I'll show you a mass grave in the name of Christ or Mohammad. Forcing a way of life is your theocratic dream's goal, not my democracy.

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

Non-Christian does not equal humanist except to Jerry Falwell and Grace. Humanism is both a specific, non-lethal, philosphy and the more general concept of people first - religion second. None of your list of bad-boys fits either.

JCsleeper 1 year, 7 months ago

Well heck, we're already paying 3.5% combined county and city sales tax on top of the 4.225% state sales tax. What's another .5% to make this little slice of heaven even better? Between JC and Cole county sales taxes and the often 15-20 cent surcharge on fuel, it might be time to shop in Columbia. Still think the $800k property tax levy for the ambulance should have been refunded to the JC property owners. Can't vote for this tax. Might as well be throwin' shelled corn to the hogs. Most of it will get lost.

online_editor 1 year, 7 months ago

I have removed the many Hitler comments for being off topic and leading us further off topic. In accordance with the article's topic, let's learn what opinions each of you have about the proposal to put a sales tax on the ballot to fund the Chamber's "Transformation" plan in Jefferson City. This is a local issue that would need to be approved by a vote of city residents to be implemented. Thanks. --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune

asb 1 year, 7 months ago

'course now it looks like I'm talking to myself, thanks Rick.

3bunnies 1 year, 7 months ago

apparently they did not sign the Norquist pledge.

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