District Councilmember Pat Jones hosted a party at the Fire Museum for the ladies at City Hall. We sampled treats from the Cabbage Roll before the program of Christmas songs performed by young miss Hannah. We enjoyed a variety of desserts along with coffee, tea and punch. A gift exchange and a visit from Santa ended the afternoon.
Council members met at Camp Marvin Hillyard August 28 from 9 am to 5:30pm for the priority-setting retreat.
Clark Hampton served as facilitator.Public Works Director Bruce Woody and Communications Director Mary Robertson assisted.
Ted Allison from the Chamber and Scott Johnson from the Community Alliance made presentations.
City Manger Vince Capell, Chamber CEO Ted Allison, Executive Director of the Downtown Partnership Becy Boerkircher and I attended a three day conference in St. Louis Aug. 10 - 13.
Although an overcast sky had threatened rain earlier Saturday morning,City Council members lined up along Noyes Boulevard under sunny skies for a 9:30 am parade start. The theme, "Ponies to Planes," referenced both the beginning of the Pony Express 150 years ago and the week-end airshow at Rosecrans Field featuring the Blue Angels. Also in the parade were the Budweiser Clydesdales.
Although six of us have previous experience...ranging from 12 years (DJ) to seven months (Jeff); none of us have served before on this council. So we start our term with new viewpoints and new expectations.
Sun, bright blue skies and spring temperatures greeted us in Washington, D.C. when 27 or so members of the Community Alliance partnership arrived for the annual legislative lobbying trip March 16 - 17.
Although Health Care Reform was the hot topic of national discussion and congressional debate throughout our visit, we focused on St. Joseph community priorities during our individual conferences with Sixth District Congressman Sam Graves and Missouri Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill.
Steve Johnson used feedback from last year to fine-tune the schedule so that we had lots of opportunities to talk with one another informally (several times during delicious meals ) as well as do some sightseeing during our 24 hours in the capitol.
***NOTE: Midwest Airlines now charges $25 to check a bag. But you still get warm chocolate cookies in-flight.
The Missouri Municipal League annual conference was held at TanTarA this year. I served on the nominating board which met Sunday evening. Lisa Robertson, the city attorney, was elected to the Board of Directors.
The Community Alliance decided to fly in to Washington early this year because of the stimulus funds being allocated. After checking into the Hamilton Crown Plaza Hotel, we met with our lobbyists, the Ferguson Group during lunch. Then we went to Capitol Hill to meet with Rep. Sam Graves. We had time before the evening reception to look briefly at the new Visitors Center which recently opened underneath the Capitol building. The next day we visited Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill in the morning, had a debriefing lunch, stopped by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History museum for an hour. The schedule kept us busy so we were ready to get on the plane that afternoon and return home.
Council members, Chamber members and community members flew to Washington to meet with our Congressional representatives. Click the button to view a short slide show (approximately3 minutes) of the two days we were there. And look to the right for a few snapshots.
