point of view

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." – Robert McCloskey

As a lifelong student of communication, I spend much of my day connecting with others—in person, over the phone, on Zoom, in writing, via email, in groups, and one-on-one. Despite this constant practice, I know I will never fully master the art of perfect communication. It fascinates me how the exact same words, spoken in different contexts or conversations, can convey entirely different meanings. This underscores the incredible power of language and the nuances it carries. Communication, at its core, is truly an art form. As Prof. Stanzi Comstock aptly said, “All of everything is a point of view.”

Monday, noon - Hospital Board of Trustees

Tuesday, 4pm - Municipal Court; 6pm - Park & Recreation Board

Thursday, 7:30am - Council Work Session; 10am - Housing Authority;

11:30 MML Westgate Meeting @ Hall of Waters

Friday, 8am - Meet your State Legislators, Gladstone

City Council agenda items under development include Community for All Ages Program annual update; agreements for clearing junk & debris; structural engineer on-call agreement, asphalt bids for Boundless Backyard parking lot & driveway; replacement of Pool Pack & closed session.

MML is an association of city government for Missouri. Westgate division includes all cities in Platte, Clay, Ray, Jackson & Cass Counties. Our regional meetings provide a chance for local elected leaders & top city staff to network & hear from speakers on timely topics. The speaker will discuss the World Cup KC 2026.

Meet your State Legislators social is a casual opportunity over coffee & pastries to meet & visit with our local elected officials. ES State Representative Mark Meirath & State Senator Kurtis Gregory will be among those in attendance.

Celebrating work anniversaries this week - Yolanda Luke, Group Fitness Instructor & Angela West, Water Plant Operator - 3 years; Camden Dickey, Firefighter EMT & Samuel Lehr, Lifeguard - 1 year.

• Our agenda software, Novus will be obsolete in the next couple of months, & we have been transitioning to a new platform under Civic Plus. We still have a little more to learn before we feel like we are operating smoothly.
• We are also upgrading our building permits, code enforcement & business license software to Civic Plus; as we are working through the transition, we will be looking for ways to streamline the process of licenses & permits.
• We are evaluating employee health insurance proposals.

Lot of good but some room for improvement. Seems to be getting better. Glad we have QuikTrip now. Community center is a real asset to the town. Read it on www.niche.com