Low Bid Recommended.

The City Council will hear the first reading this evening of an ordinance to accept a bid of just over $1.4 million for renovations to the Municipal Golf Course recommended by the Public Safety Committee. The Council will meet for its regular meeting at 7:30 in City Hall.

The bid includes site preparation, earth work, green construction, sand bunker construction, tee construction, drainage, irrigation grassing, eight foot cart paths and approximately $150,000 in other miscellaneous work. The architects estimate for the complete project was just over 1.6 million.

The recommended company of Wadsworth Golf Construction submitted the low base bid of $1,361,392 which included a six foot cart path. The option of eight foot paths added approximately $70,000 to that figure.

Six different golf course construction companies submitted base bids ranging from the Wadsworth’s low to a high bid of $1.72 million form Landscapes unlimited. Three of the companies submitted base bids within a few thousand dollars of $1.5 million.

CAPITOL REPORT

by Steve Hunter
State Representative District 127

The House has begun full House debate on the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget for the State of Missouri. Both the House and the Senate must pass the budget before the May 5th deadline. The budget is the number one priority of the legislative body and a great deal of time and debate will be spent on this subject during the coming weeks.

One of the most important issues is the funding of the foundation formula for education. After little debate this bill left the House fully funded and, hopefully, will stay that way as we move through the legislative process. I believe that one of the main responsibilities we have as a state is to make funding of education our top priority.

I am also aware that there are two different philosophies that dictate where the monies for the increase funding should come from. I believe that if we put the education of our children at a premium we should also put the funding for that education at the top of our list of funding obligations. I also believe that the money for education should come from General Revenue. Unfortunately, this is not the case in this state.

The Governor and the leadership in the House feel that the only way that we can afford to fully fund the foundation formula is to make the state more reliant upon gaming. This is why the Governor has instituted a new Keno game that will begin in June at restaurants and bars around the state. The House has also passed increased boarding fees and commission fees on existing gambling boats. The education lobby is then told to go out and lobby for the increase in gambling revenues or education will not be funded.

I feel education is being held hostage as a way to expand gambling in the state. If this is not so, then why don’t we base the growth of additional gambling revenues on expanding social programs or other functions of government? Why is it that education is always at risk when it comes to the decision on whether to increase gambling or not? During the school year, many of your children come home with candy or gifts to sell to raise funds for a school project. Many of you hate to see these programs because you know that you will be the primary purchasers of these products. I believe the current leadership in our state uses the education lobby for the same purpose. They are told to go out and sell a product or they will not receive the prize --- and that prize is funding for the education of our children.

We currently spend over $5.6 billion on Social Services, but only $4.4 billion on Elementary and Secondary Education. From Fiscal Year 2001 to Fiscal Year 2002, the budget for Social Services increased 19.28% while the budget for Elementary and Secondary Education increased only 4.48%.

This alone speaks volumes about what our spending priorities are. I have recently read many articles on the results of gambling and the effect that it has on the lower income segment of our society. The studies I have seen indicate that the more affluent a person is the less that person spends on the lottery. Therefore, the lottery really is a tax placed on the poor in our effort to find funding for education other than General Revenue. While it is true that lottery funds do go to education, the General Revenue dollar that used to go to education before the lottery is now being diverted into other departments and programs.

It might come as a shock to many of the citizens of the state that we are now spending less percentage-wise on education than we were nine years ago.

In the 1992-1993 state budget, the percentage of the budget spent on education was 38.1%. This percentage has steadily declined with the 2000-2001 percentage being 31.1%. I do not believe it is a healthy sign when we as a state keep spending more on social services than we do on education.

As usual, I can be reached at (573) 751-5458, or Room 103 BB, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or by email at shunter@services.state.mo.us if you have any questions or comments.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126

This week we returned to the Capitol from spring break and picked up right where we left off, working on the budget. When we got to the bill dealing with higher education things really started to get exciting.

As you may remember, a professor at the Journalism School of the University of Missouri instituted a policy forbidding the wearing of patriotic lapel emblems. The policy not only applied to on-air time, but also on personal time.

Several of us in the Legislature expressed our dissatisfaction with the policy, not only to the professor, but also to the University President and Chancellor. We were told that we couldn’t interfere with academic freedom.

We were told there would be nothing done about the situation and that we should leave them alone. What they failed to understand is that as long as the taxpayers are footing the bill, they should have a say in policy.

It turns out this wasn’t the only problem we have in Missouri with the MU system. It turns out we also have a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City that has published articles condoning pedophilia. There is no way this sicko should be teaching anywhere, much less at a publicly funded university and I sure don’t want him teaching in Missouri.

Mark Wright, R-Springfield, offered an amendment to take some funding away from UMKC. I offered the amendment to take away funding from UM-Columbia because of the Journalism School. At first, the Chairman of the Budget Committee, Tim Green, D-Spanish Lake, stood up and defended the University system funding. After awhile he finally said that he was tired of defending the lack of leadership at MU and that they could come over and defend themselves.

We were successful in taking money away from both MU and UMKC. It may not be the most perfect way to get their attention, but with the system the way it is, it is the only avenue we have. If the professors want to teach that kind of stuff and the University Presidents, Chancellors, and Curators want to allow it, then they can open up their own schools with their own money and teach whatever they want. Until then and as long as the taxpayers are footing the bill, the taxpayers should have a say in what goes on. This week they did.

As usual, I can be reached at House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101, or 1-800-878-7126, or mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions, comments, or advice.

It always amazes me to look at the different prices companies come up with for different aspects of a large construction job like the golf course.

With six different companies biddin’ on the work, you see some fairly consistent trends then outa nowhere one bid is way out there.

The bids on the tee construction portion ranged from the low of $6,325 to a high of $44,100. It’s hard to tell exactly, some companies may figure some of the cost as earth work or site preparation. But the bids on the irrigation ranged from $270,000 to $373,500.

Even throwin’ in the wider cart paths, the total bid for the recommended bid is less than the next lowest base bid. Good market for buildin’ golf courses I guess.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune- Brooks Hospital

The Super Handyman

by Judith Sheldon

DUCK THE QUACKS: Spring may signal the return of song birds, but the Quack is always among us, and every now and then I like to remind you how you can avoid becoming a victim of unproven medical treatments touted by men and women whose concern is not for your well-being, but for the health of their bank accounts.

Some signs that should warn you to avoid scamsters include the following:

* The product or treatment is referred to as amazing, miraculous, a medical breakthrough, etc.

• The product or treatment is said to be based on a "secret" or "ancient" formula.

• The product or treatment is said to have immediate and lasting results with no side effects.

• The product or treatment is promoted only through back page ads, direct mail, telemarketing or infomercials.

• The product or treatment uses testimonials from "satisfied" customers to "prove" it works.

Most of the time, the worst that can happen to you is you’ll lose your money for worthless products or treatments. But sometimes, much harm can be done if people waste time with these scams when they could be undergoing timely (and lifesaving) competent medical treatment.