Mole Hill of Jewels

In the February 2007 issue of the Localite an advertisement, paid for by Councilman Ken Owensby of Ward III appeared on page 14:

The invoice reproduced in the above ad is dated 8/21/2002. The invoice states it's for service pins from 2001. 14 awards are listed for a total cost of $1350.00 (an average of just under $100.00 per award). Each award is designed to recognize employees for their years of service to the City of Overland, ranging for 5 to 30 years.

Councilman Owensby's ad states:

"Here's the bill for the jewelry that they bought with your money! Every time you pay your trash bill in the future please remember this bill and that while you now have to scrimp and save to come up with the trash money they were buying jewelry when they had control of the city finances!"

When referring to "they" Councilman Owensby should have actually said "we". At the September 9th, 2002 City Council meeting, though Councilman Owensby did raise a few questions concerning this bill, he voted to pay the bills as presented, which included the bill he now references in his Localite advertisement. According to the minutes of that Council meeting:

Mayor Dody called the question for approval of bills submitted for payment. Mayor Dody polled the vote as follows: Paul - Yes; May - Yes; Stuckey - Yes; Allison – Yes; Hodge - Yes; Owensby - Yes; Saye - Yes; Kientzel - Yes. Motion carried unanimously.

The invoice in the ad references awards for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, etc. Based on this it appears that the City of Overland recognizes employees for every 5 years or so of continual service to the community. The average pin on the invoice costs $100.00 which breaks down to $20.00 per year being recognized. If the average employee works roughly 2000 hours per year (40 a week with 2 weeks vacation) that means the community is spending approximately one additional penny per hour to recognize our employees' commitment to our community.

According to sources at City Hall these employee service awards have existed for decades, going back through several previous administrations. In general, it's common practice for governments, businesses, schools, and even volunteer organizations to recognize those who have been with them for several years or more with service awards like these. As hard as the employees of Overland, Missouri work, it would seem that the least we could do is give them a small thank you gift like this every 5 years or so.

Councilman Owensby seems to imply a lack of fiscal responsibility on the part of "them" in his advertisement. The ad suggests the purchase of "jewelry" in 2001 partially created the situation in which residents are now paying for their trash pickup today. However, It was not until June 28th, 2004 that the City of Overland started seriously considering having residents pay for their trash service themselves.

An example of fiscal responsibility in the eyes of both Councilman Owensby and then Councilperson Purzner can be seen in their repeated efforts to get the City of Overland to fund a Skateboard Park (as seen in the Council meeting minutes from May 12th, 2003, June 9th, 2003, June 23rd, 2003, July 14th 2003, August 11th, 2003, September 8th, 2003, September 22nd, 2003, and October 27th, 2003).

The skateboard park idea seems to have been dropped in the end of 2003 due to issues concerning insurance coverage as well as the cost of building the park. It was Councilperson Purzner who theorized that the building cost would be approximately $10,000.00 (though the City of Florissant's skateboard park, built around the same period, cost approximately $120,000.00).

Apparently $10,000.00 or more for a skateboard park (that would have likely created a blizzard of liability suits against the city) was more acceptable to Councilman Owensby than $1350.00 for 14 awards recognizing the service of our fine city employees (even though he voted to pay for them). Councilman Owensby frequently mentions the needs of our senior residents when addressing concerns about city services. Perhaps he intended on implementing a senior citizen discount at the skate park.

I attempted to contact Councilman Owensby on this issue. However, he had not returned my call by the time of publication. Councilman Owensby is welcome to add his own comments to this article if he chooses to do so. He is also welcome to contact me by emailing me here or calling me back at the number I left on his answering machine.