Speak Out 5/4/15

Please reprint

conference list

I'd like to see the DAR rerun the chosen girls and boys that we named for the Ozark Foothills Conference. It was so small we couldn't find it. I was told it was in yesterday's paper but I had to search several times to find it because it was printed so small I had to use a magnifying glass to read it. The kids in our area work very hard for this honor and it's a shame it was treated with such little recognition. Thanks so much.

City Council

has one chance

Well, I am totally shocked at the current situation with Mr. Kaplan and what all he has done and how many people are not aware of all the poor decisions he's made using the town's money. I just read the article about the two candidates running for city council and again I couldn't believe what I read in the sections that had to comment on Kaplan and what he has done. I have kept informed about Kaplan since he was hired without the facts, which can't be disputed such as hiring unnecessary consultants and so on. There are a lot of people who have not. They only listen to random gossip around town. I've read every article and watched all the council meetings on TV. The article from the paper states the fact and it can't be disputed. I realize the people running for city council must be diplomatic, but it seems that they have not been informed of all that Kaplan has done so far. He's going to ruin our town and there's nothing really intelligent about this man. He just makes it try to appear that way. His former employers can tell you that. Those of us who are informed of all of his incompetent dealings don't need to get to know him better. His actions and words have already proven he's just not qualified for this job and he will bankrupt our town and move on. People need to read all the back issues of the paper regarding the city council meetings. The facts are there--plain and simple. We must get this man out and when his contract is up in the summer you need to invest in looking for a person who is qualified and fully vet him. Check their background and previous employers. Don't just check their friends. The real facts are out there. Just because you think a person acts qualified it doesn't mean they are. People may be softening on Kaplan because they deal with him face-to-face and they can't be objective because he appears to be polished and smart, but he's not! He's actually going to ruin us and the council is gonna have one more chance to make this right when contract time is up, so please don't blow it!

Use Kinyon for new city hall

[email]

I wanna know if they need a new city hall and police station so bad why don't they use Kinyon. They've really done a lot of good work over there and it's a central location. It would be accessible. Has a parking lot area. Seems to me they be better off not to destroy everyone of our old buildings and that one is has been fixed up really nice. I'd like to see Kinyon used and plus there's a lot of thugs in that area so it would be nice to see ah maybe the crime rate might go down a little bit. Thank you.

Why not fix

it immediately?

I wanted to call Speak Out and say that I never heard of anybody being so dumb as the City of Poplar Bluff! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! Who in the world would stay all those years in City Hall and let it leak and get worse and worse and worse and not fix it? Would a person do their house that way? Why, no! If my house gets a leak, why I fix it immediately. Why didn't they fix the City Hall's roof as it happened? And it wouldn't have cost very much, but instead of just waiting until it fell in around our heads. All I can say is--dumb! dumb! dumb! Thank you.

Retrofit older site for city hall

If Poplar Bluff is as broke as they're claiming it is seems to me that instead of building a brand new building you couldn't afford to do that. You can't afford to buy a house, put 'em up and tear 'em down so you can put the police station wherever you want it.

I don't know why you don't try to purchase Kinyon from the owner, have it retrofitted with an elevator and bathrooms on the top floor and them you have a gymnasium there --you could rent that out and bring some income in for the city. Doesn't seem like City Hall does much anyway. At least it wouldn't all be a negative, but since we're so worried about public buildings that don't bring any money in I'm sure not thinking we need a brand new City Hall or a brand new police station. Thank you.

Laws or fines

Shouldn't laws on the highway be applied equally to everyone? People driving a car without a seat belt get a ticket, but motorcycles don't have a seat belt. If this was about safety then motorcyclists would not meet the criteria to travel on the highway. Maybe it's about collecting fines.

Next committee needs to better

I feel it is very important for the new selection committee for the next city manager (which I hope will be soon) to do a better job than this one did. A personal interview is not adequate decision on an executive. You must seek records from where he's been before -- records that may be in different electronic communications. Certainly this will take time, but the newspaper has done it and then you, the search committee, must do the same thing. If this had happened, I don't think we'd have the city manager we have. If they had followed proper avenue and had had experience with this type of work of selecting somebody for an executive position.