Transform Jeff City sales tax defeated

Now, get some groups of REAL PEOPLE together and get together some realistic projects that will benefit all the tax payers in this town, as well as create some good-paying jobs. If you can get rid of all the corporate welfare that benefits only the Chamber, we will be more supportive.

Forget the Convention Center. Forget St. Mary's remodeling

Build an outdoor ampitheater at one of the parks.
Upgrade and expand the indoor shelter at McClung. Build a multi-purpose COMMUNITY CENTER. Fix up the run-down parks. Pave our crumbling roads. Put in more sidewalks all over town. Enforce the codes, especially on the East End- East McCarty, old houses, etc.

WE WILL APPROVE THIS KIND OF STUFF IF IT BENEFITS US!!!

tonto_goldberg 1 year, 3 months ago

Those are better projects than the Chamber was promoting. Please send them your list.

Sequoia 1 year, 3 months ago

These are some great ideas from Lifer. I think this speaks for a lot of people.

I think the fact that this Transformation package came together is a good sign for Jefferson City. I think the list of projects got a little carried away into things that people thought were silly, or involved projects like the convention center that just didn't make financial sense. It seemed like Transformation was kind of a cut-and-paste of urban planning ideas and some local-business gifts that didn't seem to work together.

A good first try. Don't waste the time and energy put in so far. The Chamber should do more groundwork, more homework and come back.

Jefferson City has a great corridor that runs west from Riverside Park/Lewis and Clark School along the river, through the MSP/Capitol area and west to the mall and new YMCA. Nice mix of commercial, residential, office and parks and easy transit routes.

The City Council should designate that as a growth area to encourage private high-density development channeled into those commercial areas. Simple infrastructure improvements will attract investment. Clean streets, wide sidewalks. Run an easy, convenient bus line up and down the corner. Make it free sometimes. Sell ads on the buses to make them colorful. Put up a few simple, clean shelters with those heat lamps you see in Chicago. Run a free bus line at night so people can go out and get home easy without driving. Incorporate the pedestrian bridge across the river... that trail is awesome.

Keep the energy going. Do more homework. A good plan is out there.

rodinman 1 year, 3 months ago

I see the 2010 Citizen Survey was correct. Number one priority is infrastructure maintenance. I walk and bicycle all around town and I see many streets in need of repair and sidewalks that would force a wheelchair bound person into the streets. To attract businesses the city needs to focus on promoting the qualities it has: air quality, low traffic, low crime, low cost of living. Easy acces to large cities such as KC, StL, and Columbia without the inherent problems of large city living.

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

Amazing that they ignored the survey results.

RetiredOne 1 year, 3 months ago

They didn't ignore survey results -- convention center was low priority at minimal cost (survey) = full speed ahead at any cost (council/chamber interpretation)

tonto_goldberg 1 year, 3 months ago

Amen to that.

JCsupporter 1 year, 3 months ago

I think the only thing we did today was tell young professionals and developers that we don't care whether they come to Jefferson City or not. That we don't care about the future of our community. I wasn't enamored with all of the projects either but at least it was a plan to move our community forward. It's unfortunate that the community doesn't realize the amount of work by Chamber volunteers and staff over the years to bring business, jobs and a better quality of life to our community. If you don't believe Chamber members are REAL PEOPLE then you probably don't belive our community needs to improve. I guess it's your turn to put together your group of REAL PEOPLE to do the stuff that benefits you.

Gabrielle 1 year, 3 months ago

"c'mon little one, take your medicine - its good for you"

Forest 1 year, 3 months ago

Yep. As malmo noted below this "transformation" seemed to benefit a small portion of town. Just yesterday I was trying to walk somewhere as my car was in the shop. Guess where I walked? In the road -- there was no sidewalk. But guess where there is a sidewalk: On Christy by the rock quarries south of Riley Chevrolet leading down to 179. Seriously? This town doesn't have (decent) pedestrian options where people actually live and work but a) there's a sidewalk by the quarry that goes nowhere and b) downtown is the only district worthy of 'transformation'??

Plus the "budgeting" for the projects was very suspect. $150k for an old town trolley?? Google failed trolley boondoogles in other towns let alone a town where you can walk from one end of "old town" to the other in 5 minutes w/o breaking a sweat.

$200k to relocate the Union Pacific Rail Yard? You telling me we can move the rail yard for only 33% more than it takes to buy a used bus and paint it to look a trolley? Or for a fraction of the $1.3 million to landscape Capitol Avenue? What's on Capitol Ave that draws a lot of traffic? Yes a lot of historic homes, but what's gonna make them an "attraction"? Seems $1.3 million to beautify Capitol Avenue was merely to 'payback' supporters of this 'transformation' that own the Capitol Ave property (marketing firms like Comminique, lobbyists, lawyers, etc.)

Forest 1 year, 3 months ago

And what is the $100k for Millbottom directional signage? Go up the hill one way you get to the capitol. The huge domed building makes that direction obvious. Go the opposite direction you go past the SOS office and to Paddy's and the bridge. That's fairly obvious with the current signage. Go south you find Hwy 50 and MO Blvd.... the concentration of stop lights and traffic makes that obvious. The only other directional option is the train tracks and the river. Is $100K really necessary to highlight the obvious? Do we really want to be a tourist center for people who find themselves in the millbottom and too stupid to figure out where the capitol and downtown is located?

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

Shame that even after a significant spanking in the polls, the supports are still talking about how the voters are to dumb to read and understand about the projects or else they would have voted for them. That is an arrogant and insulting attitude. If they would read the comments, the reason it didn't pass was that people did read about the projects and they thought that most of them had serious problems or else that there was little benefit to the majority of the citizens here.

I certainly didn't see anything that would have led to higher wage jobs being created for our town. There sure was plenty of on going maintenance and operational expense that was not explained how we were going to pay for all that from these projects.

Again, most people I talk to really want this town to improve, and they understaznd it takes money to make improvements, However, they want to spend their money on things that help them, not big business.

The Chamber and City Council really ought to listen to these comments and also take a real hard look at the survey responses. They also need to rescind the ambulance tax and start walking their talk to rebuild their credibility with the voters.

They have the hotel tax already- they should use that money to build and operate a small modest conference center. If they can show success with that, they might be able to later gain support for enlarging it and making it nicer. Based on all the shenanigans and bad blood of the past, the voters are not going to give them any more money for a conference center until they use the money they already have promised and use it well on a successful project.

That is the way it is. The people have spoken several times. It is time for the Chamber and the Council to start listening and acting.

spelchek 1 year, 3 months ago

What jclifer said...

mia 1 year, 3 months ago

Maybe they will demand another vote, like on the casino.

jousley 1 year, 3 months ago

LOL

bornhere 1 year, 3 months ago

The council and chamber are out of touch with Jeff City’s average residents. Get your head out and we can all move the city forward.

Gabrielle 1 year, 3 months ago

I am surprised too....now what?

malmo 1 year, 3 months ago

People will vote to tax themselves when it makes sense. Don't spout and pout when the majority doesn't agree with what is presented.

The Jefferson City Downtown Area Chamber of Commerce should remember today and not forget that the west side, east side, north side and south side are viable growth areas too.....

beachbum 1 year, 3 months ago

Since the Chamber could not get this done, maybe it is time for Randy Allen to be replaced!

thatguyagain 1 year, 3 months ago

I'm a 29 year old young professional who has been watching Facebook and Twitter all night and this is a travesty that it didn't pass. Sure hope more of my friends don't move to Columbia, St. Louis, or Kansas City like they've been talking about... I hope many of you that voted no get involved like the folks trying to pass transformation invited you, or come up with a plan of your own. I commend the Chamber, City Council, and those that worked on this for putting together a plan to move our community forward - better than anything else I've seen. For those that voted no, I hope you don't complain about state wages remaining stagnant (where do you think those funds come from???? taxes, duh!), the quality of life in Jefferson City, crime, or any other nonsense. At least these people put together a plan. I voted yes for this measure and hope it comes back. If you voted no I hope you either get involved next time around or come up with a better plan on your own. The "average residents" were invited to participate in this process. Hopefully next time they will get involved. At the very least I hope they take notice of the vacant buildings around this town and take satisfaction in knowing they voted against creating economic growth.

The most disappointing facet is I was handed opposition propaganda at the polls today and cannot find any facts to corroborate most of the stuff that was on their sheet. I think those of you still speaking poorly about this plan were led astray. What a shame.

jousley 1 year, 3 months ago

I am very interested to know how a parking garage , sidewalks and a conference center will keep young professionals. I was young once too and those were not on my radar.

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

Oh, the Trolley rides between the pubs would be handy for the young professionals. It would also benefit the homeless people to give them someplace warm to sit during those cold winter evenings.

JC27 1 year, 3 months ago

That attitude. That's what kills me about you people. "What's your plan"....we aren't members of the city government. We aren't Chamber members. We don't have to be. You put forth a proposal. We rejected it. You tried to make voters believe that "Transformation" didn't mean $50,000,000 tax increase. We didn't buy it. You seem to want to point your anger at anyone who opposed it but really you're just mad at democracy. Tough. That's the way it goes. That group spent $70,000 buying radio, tv, newspaper ads, billboards, yard signs...the opponents individually paid for a small ad in this paper and the voters still said no. That says a lot more about your proposal than it does about us. I'm a 28 yr old, "young professional" (I'm getting tired of people being self proclaimed "Young Professionals like they deserve some special consideration or treatment), and I'm business owner...and I'm darn happy with the outcome. It's already hard enough to make it in this economy. This vote didn't help, but it didn't hurt me...so I'll mark it as a victory. Way to go Jeff City.

Forest 1 year, 3 months ago

The "average" citizen did participate in a 2010 survey. You might read through it: jeffcitymo.org/documents/CityofJeffersonCitizenSurveyReport.pdf
Sales tax does NOT pay state government wages.
From posting your thought process and inability to analyze, I can see how you would think this 'transformation' was a good idea. Maybe you might be better off by forgetting FB & Twitter and educate yourself.

viktorkowski 1 year, 3 months ago

what a coincidence, I'm a young professional as well. I did not vote for this measure. You see I own a business, but in Columbia. why you ask? because the old boy network in this town is very restrictive. The same old boy network that thought of this entire scheme to get tax dollars from the people in this town already having a hard time with low paying jobs. If you have been around long enough in jefferson city you would know why others don't bother to show up for these meetings. They are only a pony show for a few select old families that have run jefferson city for years. I wouldn't waste my time on something that would only benefit a select few. Come back to the table with your ideas broken up. Let us vote on each idea on it's own merit. The tax should end as soon as the project is paid for. giving money to the city to go crazy with is well crazy. look at the current fiasco with that mess on mccarty st now. they have spent how much on those properties to turn and decide they want to place the convention center in the middle of the prison development. crazy.

melbrooks 1 year, 3 months ago

Vik, I'm curious: if you're a young professional whose business is in Columbia, why pay attention to what happens in JC? I would think you'd be so busy with thunderous business in Columbia that JC really would not merit your time.

I keep seeing this charge: "only a select few benefit." How does prison redevelopment benefit "only a select few"? Does a vacant St. Mary's negatively affect "only a select few"? If not, why would the redevelopment of St. Mary's benefit "only a select few"?

You claim the "same old boy network" was behind Transformation. So, the over 400 volunteers are all part of the "same old boy network"? I didn't know JC had that many old boys. (Well, we are getting older!) Who are these all-powerful families?

Tell you what, Vik--instead of the "good old boys" bringing anything back to the table--you bring YOUR ideas to the table. It's easy to be an keyboard critic. Let's see you take the lead. The rest of us will be waiting to see if you are willing to put your time and effort into more than a few keystrokes in these forums.

viktorkowski 1 year, 3 months ago

touch a nerve did I? and please I go by Viktor. Why you ask concern myself with ol JC? because I live here and pay taxes here. It should be my business. I think the people have spoken.

melbrooks 1 year, 3 months ago

Ok, Viktor. How about answering the questions I posed?

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

We are still waiting for the list of the 400 everyday people volunteers that put all this together. No one has ever published the list of these people.

We are also still waiting for the list of "Hundreds" of organizations who said they would move their conferences to Jefferson City if we have a conference center. That big list of organizations was talked about several times, but it was never published.

We are still waiting for the Jefferson City Ambulance Service to start up. The city passed the Ambulance tax, but we never got an ambulance service. Why not rscind the tax?

We are still waiting for the conference center that was promised by the huge hotel tax we approved. Where is it? Why would you ask for more money when you haven't even completed what you promised the last tax increase? You still don't know where you want it, and you still can't tell us who would use it, or how much it will cost to operate.

We are also waiting for the list of high wage jobs that were promised to go along with Transformation. Where is this list?

It is very obvious where the problems are, and the voters were wise enough to see them, even though you tried to ram this down our throats in such an awful election. If this proposal had been on the November ballot, the spanking would have been much more severe. It would have been defeated easily 75%/25%.

viktorkowski 1 year, 3 months ago

I understand you are just trolling, but I will answer later today when I'm not as busy. I will do it only as a courtesy of a successful person myself and do want improvements in ol JC. Just not the boondoggle that "pat yourself on your back" hive mind the chamber put together.

melbrooks 1 year, 3 months ago

Posing and answering of questions is usually part of a conversation. Trolling is making outrageous statements to stir up participants--which I obviously did not do. Why do you make the accusation?

Forest 1 year, 3 months ago

I completely agree with Viktor. There is too much indecisiveness with JC "leaders." Always has been. Likely always will be. When there is a plan for "growth" it's solely for the benefit of the those that.... well you should be able to figure it out.

Also, I've explored establishing a business in this town. Just not attractive. Not because there isn't a pretty Capitol Avenue but because of the city government.

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

We are already paying a pretty good lug of taxes to the city. A good hard performance audit needs to be done to examine what the city is doing with all the current tax money, and they need to figure out ways to reorganize city hall to use our money better and more efficiently. Our town is being funded pretty good already, and City Hall is wasting that funding by not taking care of the infrastructure.

Use what you are getting now better, and then you will be trusted with more. Feeding a wasteful and lazy pig more is not helpful to anyone.

rodinman 1 year, 3 months ago

Just heard on the radio that the mayor will continue to fight for transformation. I guess he does not listen to the citizens. He needs to leave office. He fought for this tax after voting to spend $10K for a survey lthat said "no" to these ideas. I presume his business attitude is "I don't care what my consumers want I will give them what I want and they will like it."

dokeus6 1 year, 3 months ago

No that is the policitians way. They don't listen to the people. They listen to what the businesses say. It's about time the citizens of this city, county, state, and country take back what is ours. This is a democracy.

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

That is why he will be voted out too. These politicians need to start listening to the people they supposedly represent. We can keep voting them out and voting down their crazy tax increases. Too bad we have to pay for all these elections.

viktorkowski 1 year, 3 months ago

can he be removed from office? is there a way to recall? just some things I would be looking at when a mayor goes directly against the citizens

seeno 1 year, 3 months ago

"People don't care what you know until they know that you care" Treating people like they are of value and decent pay are two things employers can do to attract and retain well quailified people. My professional daughter is currently doing temp clerical work. One of the business owners grilled her about why she did't have a job in her profession and then said, "Well, it could be worse, you could be working at McDonalds." Better pay=Bigger tax base=Big money for the city. Their is enough money between some of these supporters they could likely write a check for the trolley car,but I doubt it will draw more professonals.

viktorkowski 1 year, 3 months ago

nobody should be treated like that. unfortunately, this is the old jefferson city way. I would encourage her to seek employment in columbia, where education is valued

LuckNLove 1 year, 3 months ago

Yes, I don't agree the Transformation was ready to vote on but it is sad to see so many people gloating about their votes.

I, for one, would like to see the St Mary's complex demolished and the highway interchanged corrected from its current deteriorating fiasco into a more appeal and driver friendly interchange.

If the city is really trying to vitalize the town, why did they put in a hideous walkover on the bridge? It is an eyesore; however, it is certainly nice to ride from the city to the Katy Trail.

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

AMEN!!! Demolish that eyesore St. Mary's, the old JCD building and some of the other stuff around there. Get rid of the Tri-Level and put in a decent interection. Save lives and millions of dollars of carnage and property damage, make the area in view of the Capitol more attractive, and improve traffic flow. That would do a lot for years and years of Transformation!

hudson 1 year, 3 months ago

LESS taxes, less goverment . LESS GOVERMENT, LESS TAXES .

Forest 1 year, 3 months ago

Want to hear my plan on growing Jefferson City:

1) Transportation. Spend money on roads. Realize that round-abouts need to be a certain diameter before they are effective. The 2 roundabouts by Menards are so small you have to stop to determine whether the car coming the other direction is going by you or going to come around and t-bone you. Stop building roundabouts that are ridiculously too small and I would support a tax increase to provide funding for the street department.

2) Transportation. Sidewalks. Want more of a community feel? Make it possible for families and individuals to get out enjoy the community, meet other citizens, and get exercise. The greenway is nice but sometimes I'd like to go for a walk w/o driving several miles to a park. Walking in my neighbor would allow me to get and know my neighbors. Walking in the park just gets me a lot of "hellos." Make it easier for those without vehicles or those of us with our cars in the shop to get around. Many of us are not afraid to walk several miles... let us get off the roads - both while driving AND walking.

3) Transportation. Buses. I don't use the buses but know many that would if the service was properly structured. I see many empty buses. I refer you to the 2010 Citizen Survey peppered with comments about the bus service (and sidewalks and roads). With the large concentration of gov't workers downtown, JC is missing a golden opportunity to do something positive for its citizens. Trust me a lot of gov't workers making 25K would love to use the bus rather than drive each day but not when it would take an hour plus to get there (that's if you're lucky enough to have the bus come by your neighborhood).

4) Realize we are never going to be a major tourist destination. Promote & improve what we have: MSP, decent (but small) parks, and quiet, peaceful lifestyle. Yeah I know the Transformation would fund the MSP project but the plan was wasteful and the CVB is not credible.

5) Deliver past-due promises to areas that were annexed nearly a decade ago.

6) Stop annexing. 10 years ago citizens were promised that if annexation approved the city population would be 50K+ and Fortune 500 companies would flock here. The city limit signs today says 43K. City leaders couldn't even properly count people living in annexed areas and we are suppose to trust them with $40MM more in taxes?

7) Become more small business friendly.

8) Make it EASIER to visit downtown. The meter-free parking on High Street is great but is defeated when parking meters are all around. I was downtown yesterday to pick something up. All High Street parking was gone. Since I had to park at a meter on Monroe I did not stop by the other 2 stores I had considered shopping at.

I have more but it all comes down to common sense. Focus on your strengths before you waste money on your weaknesses; you will only lose your strengths and be left with weaknesses.

tonto_goldberg 1 year, 3 months ago

All good ideas. Send them to the council and the Chamber. Please.

Forest 1 year, 3 months ago

Yeah, I guess the Council and Chamber are so out of touch and lazy they wouldn't bother reading comments here -- the only newspaper in town. I used to opine to them in the 90s when I was a "young professional" but it was wasted energy. And in the couple years since I've returned, I see nothing changed.

LuckNLove 1 year, 3 months ago

Wonderful ideas! I agree the bus system could be greatly improved. I haven't used the public bus in Jeff City since high school. While I was on vacation in Portland, they had a wonderful transit system that was used heavily. I also loved that Portland had bike racks on the buses.

I agree that the downtown shopping would benefit from improvements but as we can see it is revitalizing itself without the "transformation" tax.

You should most definitely send your ideas to the chamber!

Forest 1 year, 3 months ago

...deleted by user.... (Hey Newstribune how about a delete option when my comment doesn't go where I was expecting.)

againstran 1 year, 3 months ago

Now that the Convention Center is defeated, the lodging tax can be repealed. The Convention and Visitor Bureau is nothing but a Chamber front. Competitively bid out the little that they do to a different private entity.

spelchek 1 year, 3 months ago

You can fool some people sometimes but you can't fool all the people all the time.

JCsleeper 1 year, 3 months ago

Gotta wonder if this won't be repackaged, tweeked a little here and there and put on another off-election ballot some time in the future. Wonder if now some of these ideas will happen with private funds like they should. Maybe leaders will give thought to razing some of these derielict eysores.

JCLifer 1 year, 3 months ago

Yeah, and gasoline is $3.35 in Jefferson City, but only $2.29 in Columbia.

How about the city leaders start working on a gas price TRANSFORMATION???

Transform Jeff City sales tax defeated

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