Welcome to Sunshine Week at the Branson Edge
This week we'll be following up on our decade long quest for open honest government. We'll explore the geo-political borders and psuedo-government entities within the Branson, Missouri area. We'll be inviting local politicos to share their ideas for the future of Branson and thoughts on open government. We'll be taking politicians to task and explore the dynamics of Missouri's most prosperous tourist destination.
City Government is the cornerstone of democracy. The word politics comes from the word "Polis" Greek for "City-State" the political unit the United States political boundaries emulated. Scholars estimate the first noted democracy, Athens, at a population between 100,000 to 200,000 citizens.
As the United States expanded from 13 Colonies Westward across the plains grids were hacked out and plotted in 36 mile squared chunks and marked Townships and Range.Legal property descriptions are described according to these grids.
Public education was the only consideration and a square mile for every grid was established for school district funding. Translated today, the property tax levy of 3% is within close proximity of property tax which public education is funded by.
An interesting fact regarding the establishment of political boundaries in Taney County Missouri was the state of inebriation of one of our early map makers. As a result, much of Taney County was marked within Arkansas for decades.
This week we'll be illustrating the Sunshine Law and its application to the "city-state" and how to combat the festering plagues that appear when Governing officials take a stand against open government.
For months, we've laid out the income for the city of Branson in hopes corporate news outlets will pick up on an often misunderstood and evaded element of our community - facts:
The front page of the Branson Edge has the 12 month rolling income statistics for the city of Branson. Stop by and take a look before the document is moved to another location.
**********
Let's open this week up with a verse from the hand of King Solomon. Personally, I prefer the poetics of the King James but the Living text frames the dialogue in a clearer fashion:
Proverbs 17:8
Living Bible
A bribe works like magic. Whoever uses it will prosper.
King James 17:8
A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth it prospereth.
