Jefferson City looks for citizen input on various projects

Mayor: Town hall meetings to help council set priorities

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Jefferson City is hosting three town hall meetings starting this week, looking to gather citizen input on a number of projects.

Mayor Eric Struemph said the town halls, which begin Tuesday, will focus on four main city issues: the conference center, the old Missouri State Penitentiary, the multipurpose building and downtown parking. He said there also will be an opportunity for people to give their opinions on what should be city priorities.

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Town Hall meetings schedule:

• 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lewis and Clark Middle School

• 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Thomas Jefferson Middle School

• 6:30 p.m. May 1 at Lewis and Clark Middle School

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rodinman 1 year, 1 month ago

The city council and city adminstrator need to read the citizen survey that cost $10K. Infrastructure. Infrastructure. Infrastructure. Conference center should be private money.

herewegoagain 1 year, 1 month ago

Really, these are the city's four main issues. I bet everyone is sitting in their home this morning saying "if only we had a conference center and more downtown parking all our worries would be satisfied" NOT... Maybe MSP shoud to a stat park. Multipurpose building, please.

JCsleeper 1 year, 1 month ago

Are they expecting different answers than the survey ?

rodinman 1 year, 1 month ago

I'm sure they are expecting answers that mirror those proposed by the "transformation tax." I'll wager that the town hall meetings conviently coincide with dates approved by about 400 people.

JCLifer 1 year, 1 month ago

Conference Center: The voters already passed a hige sales tax for a conference center. what happend to all the money that is being collected? If you need more, then private investors should put in the rest, and private investors should own and operate the conference center. The voters will not approve any more tax money to go toward a conference center. Here is a tip: If you want private investors to spend their money in this town, the city will have to treat them a whole lot better than they have treated the Puris. The Puris invested millions of dollars of their own money to rebuild the shabby old hotel landmark that can be seen from miles. Now this property is a very nice addition to our city, and it is actually producing some revenue and providing some jobs in our town. However, instead of thanking the Puris, the greedy City Hall and Chamber have attacked the Puri's other property outside the city limits in a very specific and unfair annexation. Does anyone think the Puris are eager to invest one more penny in this town now? Shame on the greedy Chamber and City Hall.
Missouri State Penetentiary: This is state property and a state issue. Sure, the city and the Chamber of Commerce would like for the state to just hand them all the property for free, however, there is no compelling reason for the state to do so. If the state ever decides to sell the property, then perhaps the city or private investors may wish to purchase parts of the land. However, until that happens, the city should refocus its drooling chops from this property. The only thing I would ask the city to do is to ask the state to clean it up, abate the toxic waste an asbestos, and tear down the old rotting buildings and crumbling walls. The state should not be allowed to have decaying property and trash piling up inside the city limits.
Multipurpose Building: This has been long needed in this town. However, the need is not so great as it once was because of other entities working to fill the voids. CMRC with its HealthPlex facilities, three YMCA facilities, tens if not hundreds of thousands of sqare feet space vacant at Capital Mall, and plenty of vacant retail space all over town are available to be used. In addition, Truman Hotel and Capitol Plaza have recently undergone renovations to their convention space, and the Pruis have renovated and expanded the DoubleTree Hotel. If the city wants to expand the multipurpose space, it should only do so if business studies ensure that it is needed and will be used. Since the City has a very poor track record of being involved in things like this, it would be best to let private investors or other groups like YMCA handle any improvements or expansions

JCLifer 1 year, 1 month ago

Uptown Parking. First, the rest of the city's parking meters need to be removed. Then, enforcement of parking limits needs to be done only along High Street and maybe 200 and 300 blocks of uptown intersecting streets. Harassing people who want to work or do business uptown needs to stop. We probably do need another parking garage, but alternative ways of financing it without increasing taxes needs to be done. A quick fix to relieve parking pressure uptown would be to run a couple of shuttle vans from remote lots like the state used to have. BOTTOM LINE: Taxes are plenty high right now. The taxpayers will not vote to increase any more taxes for City Hall. The emphasis needs to be on cutting waste at City Hall and making those operations more efficient and effective. The city has hundreds of vehicles in its fleet- those need to be evaluated and reduced to essential services only. Parks and Recreation is spoiled with huge amounts of revenue. They need to focus on spending their money where it has the biggest impact instead of trying to all things and everything to everybody. Salaries and positions need to be studied to ensure we have ample staff to cover essential services, but as people attrition, those positions from "fluff" programs and projects need to be eliminated. The attitudes at City Hall need to change to be of service to citizens, not to be adversarial. City needs to treat businesses well, and not dump on the business investors who spend their money here.
Rodiman is so right: The city spent all that money for a survey not very long ago, and the results of that survey have been completely ignored. That survey needs to be dusted off and revisited. The city needs to re-evaluate its snug relationship with the Chamber of Commerce. There is way too much in-breeding and nepotism between the two. City Hall needs to realize the Chamber of Commerce is not the one who pays the taxes in this town. The Taxpayers pay the taxes, and it is time that City Hall start serving the taxpayers, and not the Chamber.

Souperstar 1 year, 1 month ago

I ditto lifer. Given the track record here, you will not pass another tax increase in this town. Voters have spoken on numerous occasions. Listen once and for all.

spelchek 1 year, 1 month ago

You lost my support when you forced people to pay for a service provided by one vendor (or else) without asking first. I love recycling, but I love choice even more. Actions have consequences; the lack of citizen enthusiasm to increased taxes to pay for the city's pet projects should speak volumes. I have to agree with those mentioning the survey and finish by saying these meetings smell of pandering.

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