Misrepresent Moore and “All this is about is taxes”

In case you missed the news over the past few weeks Michael “Misrepresent” Moore, the self-proclaimed “community activist” and “government watch dog” targeting Kirkwood, filed yet another frivolous lawsuit against our City. Misrepresent Moore was suing the rest of us in Kirkwood over the funding of the new Memorial Walkway.

This latest lawsuit … just like Misrepresent Moore’s previous lawsuit was thrown out by the judge.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

How many frivolous lawsuits has Misrepresent Moore filed or threatened to file against our community and our officials since he started targeting Kirkwood in 2005?

Here is an article from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (StLG-D) about the lawsuit:
http://www.globe-democrat.com/news/2010/may/05/judge-throws-out-kirkwood-memorial-suit/

Here is an important quote I want to bring to your attention from Misrepresent Moore in the article:

“Moore could not be reached for comment on Wednesday morning. He said last week that the suit is not about race, Cookie Thornton, or other issues. He said he was not trying to stop the building of the memorial and supports it. “All this is about is taxes,” he said.”

Are we really supposed to believe “All this is about is taxes” from Misrepresent Moore?

If “All this is about is taxes” … then why does Misrepresent Moore not appear to pay his personal property taxes in Kirkwood?

Let's look at the facts ...

I can not find a Michael B. Moore that has paid personal property taxes at his alleged address of 311 Attucks St., Kirkwood, MO. This is the address he used when he ran for Mayor and City Council in 2008. As an aside, I have never been able to find where Misrepresent Moore got an occupancy permit to be a renter at this residence which is required in Kirkwood.

I can not find a Michael B. Moore that has paid personal property taxes at his address of 10838 Big Bend Blvd., Kirkwood, MO. This is the address he has been using as a “registered voter” in Kirkwood. In addition, I can not find any personal property tax information for the person Misrepresent Moore shared the occupancy permit with at this residence. So, is anyone in the household paying personal property taxes for a car or other property?

The only place I can find personal property tax information for Michael B. Moore is at his old address in Creve Couer, MO. Please note it is three years of back taxes owed from 2005 through 2007:

Account Number: 853394235
Record Status: Active
Name: Moore Michael B
Taxing Address: 11501 Craig Ct
Saint Louis, Missouri 63146
School Sub Code: 108D
City Code: 082
Site Code: 0406
Total Assessed Value: 0
Tax Rate: 7.1822

Personal Property Tax Due: 853394235

Tax Year - 2007

Taxes - $112.69

Interest - $42.64

Penalties - $2.71

Amount Due - $158.04

Tax Year - 2006

Taxes - $108.41

Interest - $69.38

Penalties - $3.56

Amount Due - $181.35

Tax Year - 2005

Taxes - $154.38

Interest - $123.72

Penalties - $5.49

Amount Due - $283.59

Total Amount Due >> $622.98


So, from 2008 until now … where has Misrepresent Moore paid his personal property taxes on his car and any other personal property? Has he paid any taxes at all in our community?

Maybe it would help if Misrepresent Moore worked at being an actual tax-paying, productive member of our community … rather than pretending he is a “community activist” or a “government watch dog” and filing frivilous lawsuits.

Finally, I can only hope our local press will make sure they point out what Misrepresent Moore really is and has really done in Kirkwood, if they are going to let Misrepresent Moore continue "to play make believe" in their reporting.

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An Open Letter to KeithMail Recipients

On February 22, 2010 I received an email from Keith Williams, the founder of KeithMail (Kmail) offering all City Council candidates an “opportunity of submitting a statement that Kmail can forward to our readers.” His email ended with “We don't want to leave anyone out. Kmail and all Kirkwood appreciates the effort that each and everyone of you is putting into this campaign. Together we will make Kirkwood even better.” You can see the full email below.

Due to the unusual situation Keith has placed me in regarding KeithMail, combined with his disingenuous offer, I will not be responding to what he tries to portray as an “opportunity.”

Somehow, in Keith’s world …

I can submit to Keith a candidate statement, but I will not be able to see what the other candidates might submit, because Keith has excluded me from receiving KeithMail all together?

How does that make any sense?

It is important to remind KeithMail recipients that I have been purposefully excluded by Keith from receiving any of his dispatches, since the inception of KeithMail. This is despite my numerous requests to be added to his alleged “100% free …service for all of Kirkwood.”

I do not know what possesses Keith to exclude me. Over the years he has never offered any explanation or given any rationale for what has been solely his choice. This kind of continued exclusionary and restrictive practice shows that Keith and his KeithMail are far from fulfilling any of the self-aggrandizing proclamations he has made about having a “community oriented” newsletter.

Besides, if you want to know more about my campaign, you can simply go to the campaign website 24/7 and not have to worry about whether you get KeithMail or not. There you can find out more about me, why I am running for City Council and how you can get involved at:

http://www.joeforkirkwood.com/

Have a great day!
Joe

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The email from Keith:

22 February 2010

Dear Kirkwood City Council Candidates
David Poger, Bob Sears, JoeToenjes, Paul Ward, Iggy Yuan

Along with spring time our Kirkwood Elections are really not too far away. Kmail would like to offer you the opportunity of submitting a statement that Kmail can forward to our readers to help them make an informed opinion about you in the voting process unfolding in early April. I know each of you are anxious to get your word out to the public and Kmail is here to help you and the public get to know each other.

If you choose to offer Kmail something we can print, please try to keep it reasonably short as has been done in years past. We prefer not to edit. If all goes well, Kmail might ask you for a follow up later on. It would be helpful if you could get your essay to us by March 1st.

In addition to your statements, Kmail may offer a straw poll before the election date again this year. The last one was exceedingly accurate and was lots of fun to produce. The phenomenal subscription growth of Kmail continues as we look forward to your participation. We hope to be of service with offerings such as yours and from the others who are running in this very important civic election.

Would you be kind enough to let me know you got this message? Kmail wants to make SURE each of you have received this offer and wether you wish to participate or not. It also helps us to certify your Email address is correct. I know our readers will look forward to your "blurb" as will I. We don't want to leave anyone out.

Kmail and all Kirkwood appreciates the effort that each and everyone of you is putting into this campaign. Together we will make Kirkwood even better.

Keith Williams
for Kmail and Kirkwood

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Take The Time To Read This Article ...

Hello Folks,

With all the hype and media over-exposure Kirkwood has gotten in recent weeks concerning the Justice Department Agreement signing and the second anniversary of the City Hall tragedy, I wanted to point out to you all a good, well-balanced article recently written by fellow Kirkwoodian, Bill Freivogel at the St. Louis Beacon. The 2-part article is titled, "Kirkwood's Journey."

Here is the link to the main page for the series:
http://www.stlbeacon.org/content/view/100029/34003/

Take a moment to read it.

I think Bill has done an excellent job of putting into a more realistic perspective a lot of what we heard in television reports and interviews, as well as read in other publications over the years regarding the Meacham Park Neighborhood in Kirkwood.

His article in my opinion gets a nod of F-A-B --- Fair, Accurate and Balanced.

I left my response to the article on the Beacon's web site.

Have a great day!
Joe

Scamboozle 2010 - Part I

As a new election season is upon us in Kirkwood, I wanted to return to a posting from the end of our last full City Council election period in 2008.

For a little review here is that posting about the Webster-Kirkwood Times’ own Don “Scoop” Corrigan’s attempt to “Scamboozle” our community with an editorial on a subject matter he obviously never did any research on – City Elections via a Ward system versus an At-Large system:

http://joekirkwood.blogspot.com/2008/05/scoop-bamboozle-scamboozle.html


I clearly point out how uninformed and off-base Scoop is with that editorial given what should be his own practical experience voting in his own Ward 1 in Sunset Hills. Yet, as far as I have seen Scoop still stands by his “Scamboozle” – “Wards are better than At-Large” nonsense of a premise.

Well, here is the upcoming election information for Kirkwood and Sunset Hills provided in recent editions of the Webster-Kirkwood Times and the South County Times:


Candidates
Kirkwood City Council (3 open seats)
Joseph L. Toenjes, 329 Rose Ln.
Bob Sears, 308 Altus Place
David Poger, 4 Thorncliff Ln.
Paul W. Ward* **, 224 S. Geyer
Iggy Yuan* **, 1231 Wilton Ln.


Sunset Hills
Mayor R. Michael Svoboda,* 10231 Kennerly - William J. Nolan Jr., 1470 Royal Spring Dr. - Mary Beth Wymer, 13041 Pagada Parkway - Frank Gregory, 9811 Eagle Crest Ct.

Ward 1 Franklin A. Hardy Jr.*, 421 Rayburn Ave.
Ward 2 Thomas A. Hrastich*, 9255 Birch Tree Ln.
Ward 3 Stephen M. Webb,* 11948 Lombardy Ln.
Ward 4 Claudia J. Svoboda, 10231 Kennerly

* denotes incumbent
** Petition filed, city is awaiting verification by St. Louis County Board of Election

So, here is the updated election facts regarding Scoop the journalist’s “alleged” better Ward system in his own Sunset Hills versus what is factually proven to be better At-Large system we have in Kirkwood:

Sunset Hills from April 1996 to April 2010:
Mayoral Elections – only 4 out 8 had more than one candidate – 50% of the time the voters of Sunset Hills DID NOT get a choice for Mayor
Overall City Council Elections – only 22 out of 56 had more that one candidate – 60% of the time the voters of Sunset Hills DID NOT get a choice for City Council member
Don Corrigan’s own Ward 1 City Council Election – only 5 out of 14 had more than one candidate – 64% of the time Scoop DID NOT get a choice for City Council member
Overall Candidates per City Council seat – only 82 out of 56 – 1.46 per seat

Kirkwood from April 1996 to April 2010:
Mayoral Elections – 3 out 4 had more than one candidate – only 25% of the time the voters of Kirkwood did not get a choice for Mayor
Overall City Council Elections – 9 out of 10 had more that one candidate – only 10% of the time the voters of Kirkwood did not get a choice for City Council member
Overall Candidates per City Council seat – 42 out of 26 – 1.61 per seat

The numbers have only gotten worse for voters in Sunset Hill’s Ward system on the City Council level. So, I have to wonder if the turnout will continue to be worse in Sunset Hills versus Kirkwood?

We will have to wait for the results which will be published in a future posting "Scamboozle 2010 - Part II."

Assuming Scoop Corrigan will go to the polls for this year’s City Council elections and has over the last 14 years in Sunset Hills, I have to wonder …

Just how does a journalist ignore going to the polls 9 out of 14 times to vote for only one ward candidate,

then continue to stand behind an editorial furthering the “advantages of wards”as a means to getting

more people “a seat at the table” and end it by questioning if an at-large system

is right kind of representative democracy for another community?

This question is made that much tougher given this election in Sunset Hills could easily result in the Mayor and one of the City Council members from Ward 4 residing in the same household.

Funny ... did Scoop’s “Scamboozle” editorial ever mentioned the concepts of “concentration of power” and “nepotism” that is consistently found in Ward systems?

Finally, will Scoop ever do an editorial to retract his uninformed and factually inaccurate claims in order to set the record straight on Ward systems versus At-Large systems …

OR

… will we see a “Scamboozle 2012” posting?

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