According to Bill Bach, Municipal Utilities General Manager, the average utility bill will be increased from $16.34 to $28.44 if the City of Poplar Bluff votes YES to the Sewer Bond this November. That is a 75% (SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT!!!) increase every month!!!! That's $2900 each over the term of the bond! And why do we need these sewer improvements?
The Missouri Ethics Commission has determined that I could either have a full hearing in Jefferson City on September 24th on the proposed violation or pay a $200 fine. Since the cost of taking a lawyer to a hearing in Jeff City is far greater than the $200 fine...it seemed to be the best option.
Yes, I'll disclaim that I'm biased right off the bat. But I've also been around music my entire life: signed to a national record company in the early 90s and toured as an artist for 12 years. My oldest son's songwriting ability is remarkable for the age of 14. Coming off his July-released song on iTunes "Can't Handle It", this week Ben wrote a song for one of his best friends whose father was recently deployed to Afghanistan. The song is called "Baby Just Fall" and a video of the song is available for you to view.
It was clear from the beginning as I was bombarded by countless questions that it wasn't going my way. Here's an example: Becker: Both Wally Duncan and Bill Bach have repeatedly said they never received any notification and never received a letter from me regarding the date of the Dispute Hearing even though we contacted the city four different times: two by phone to the City's lawyer in St Louis, once by email (Feb 21) to the City's lawyer in St Louis and once by letter (Mar 14) to Mr. Bach.
It's not that I expected anything different, but I certainly went to the MU Advisory Board meeting on Monday with a glimmer of hope that these five businessmen of our community on that board would challenge the city employees or ask them to prove their statements.
