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"IRRESPONSIBLE, RECKLESS, DANGEROUS": Mayor McDavid ramps up rhetoric over student apartment repeal

Pot calling the kettle black? 

COLUMBIA, Mo 4/19/14 (Analysis) -- Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid has joined city manager Mike Matthes and Opus Development Group representatives in a rhetorical war against supporters of a petition to repeal City Council approval of a six-story downtown student apartment.  

But facts and laws suggest the rhetoric applies to City Hall rather than to the over 3,600 people who signed the Repeal 6214 petition .

"I believe the effort to run Opus out of town is dangerous .  I think it's reckless , and I think it's irresponsible ," McDavid told KOMU yesterday .    "If we go that road, we're going to be in a multi-year legal swamp from which the outcome is unclear."

Earlier, Matthes called petition suppporters "short-sighted and foolhardy."   Attorneys for Opus now say the petition "violates the C...

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MIDKIFF: When CoMo development trumps public interest, a state park suffers

MIDKIFF: When CoMo development trumps public interest, a state park suffers

A priceless park's future suddenly clouded

 

by Ken Midkiff

 
COLUMBIA, Mo 4/18/14 (Op Ed) -- I had not planned to attend the April 7 Columbia City Council meeting , but at 6 pm – only an hour before it started – a city employee called me.  He asked that his name not be revealed for fear of retribution, and my plans changed.

 

Rob and Sarah Hill's proposed Parkside Estates subdivision (49 houses, next to Rockbridge State Park) lacked adequate storm water controls, the city employee told me.  Spring rains had caused about six inches of mud from the Hill’s development to cover Deer Run Trail in the park , he said.

 

Had I received the call earlier, I would have visited the site and verified the mud.  Instead, I attended the City Council meeting poised to testify (I trusted my source) when Parkside came up f...

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CoMoTOWN: Where wealth, power, greed, land, and City Hall converge

CoMoTOWN: Where wealth, power, greed, land, and City Hall converge

Are one man's secretive holdings influencing city policy?

COLUMBIA, Mo 4/17/14 (Op Ed) -- It's a few blocks in downtown Columbia I call CoMotown , like Chinatown , the famous movie with Jack Nicholson as detective Jake Gittes, investigating land, power, wealth, greed, and corruption at City Hall. 

CoMotown starts on the NE corner of Providence and Walnut streets, home of Schilb Antiquarian, Sun Loan and Tucker's Fine Jewelry .  
 
The address:  100 N. Providence Road.   

Down Walnut, CoMotown includes the Columbia Daily Tribune building -- call it Trib One .   It takes up almost half the block, where Walnut intersects N. 4th Street.   The address:  101 N. 4th St.     

Across 4th and to the left is the Tribune Printing Building, aka Trib Two , at 100 N. 4th Street .  It takes up the entire block, just kitty-corner fro...

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GLADIATOR: CoMo city manager spars with public about sewers, student housing

GLADIATOR: CoMo city manager spars with public about sewers, student housing

Calls opposition to student apartments "shortsighted and foolhardy"
 
COLUMBIA, Mo 4/15/14 (Beat Byte) -- Reacting to sustained public opposition over student apartments, bad sewers, and his failed TIF plan to fix downtown infrastructure, Columbia city manager Mike Matthes is taking off the gloves to spar with his critics. 

The 3,600 people who signed a petition to walk back approval of a six-story downtown student apartment are " shortsighted and foolhardy ," Matthes told KOMU last week.  "Some folks, including [petition organizer] Jeremy Root , have said they don't want any more students," Matthes continued.  "I am puzzled how you could feel that way in a college town." 

Breaking a year-long email silence with retired Columbia public works supervisor Bill Weitkemper , Matthes responded to one of near...

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A HUMANE CHOICE, Pt. 2: Records suggest CoMo feral cat regulations an abject failure

A HUMANE CHOICE, Pt. 2: Records suggest CoMo feral cat regulations an abject failure

A humane and simple thing becomes hopelessly compl...
A HUMANE CHOICE: CoMo regulations force feral cat caretakers to choose life over law

A HUMANE CHOICE: CoMo regulations force feral cat caretakers to choose life over law

The unintended consequence of a well-intentioned o...

NONONO: Yes Yes Yes, says music reviewer, about Swedish trio coming to Blue Note

NONONO: Yes Yes Yes, says music reviewer, about Swedish trio coming to Blue Note

A modern pop anthem comes to Columbia

By Hilary Sco...
A CONTAGIOUS VIBE: Jenny Teator and the Fevers, a music review

A CONTAGIOUS VIBE: Jenny Teator and the Fevers, a music review

Catch the Fever

By Hilary Scott

COLUMBIA, Mo 4/10/14...

THE REPEAL IDEAL: Real leadership pushes back on student apartment hustle

THE REPEAL IDEAL: Real leadership pushes back on student apartment hustle

The People have spoken

COLUMBIA, Mo 4/9/14 (Op Ed) -...
A SHALLOW SEASON: Thoughts on 1st Ward, 5th Ward, and School Board races

A SHALLOW SEASON: Thoughts on 1st Ward, 5th Ward, and School Board races

A shallow bench, a shallow field

COLUMBIA, Mo 4/6/1...
NEW DETAILS SURFACE: How

NEW DETAILS SURFACE: How "special" Council meetings to approve student apartments violated law

Petition signature gatherers near goal

COLUMBIA, Mo...
REMEMBERING: Dr. Marvin Mack, physician, teacher, and most of all, friend

REMEMBERING: Dr. Marvin Mack, physician, teacher, and most of all, friend

"Your staff at the Walk-In Medical Clinic wants to...
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ARTIST OF THE MONTH: Lizzie Bryan

Tornado

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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