FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Russ Wojtkiewicz, Candidate for Platte County Clerk 

WojtkiewiczforPlatteCoClerk@gmail.com

816-343-4439

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586302395298

Blog: https://plattevalleypolitics.blogspot.com/

LOCAL MUSIC ICON "OUTLAW JIM" EATON ENDORSES RUSS WOJTKIEWICZ FOR PLATTE COUNTY CLERK

PLATTE COUNTY, MO – June 29, 2026 — Conservative community leader and frontman of the popular local band Outlaw Jim and the Whiskey Benders, Jim Eaton, has officially announced his endorsement of Russ Wojtkiewicz for Platte County Clerk.

Speaking from his property last week, Eaton emphasized the urgent need for trusted, non-politician outsiders in county governance to protect local taxpayers.

"I’ve known Russ roughly 20 years. I like Russ and he’s not a politician," Eaton said. "Someone, grassroots, with conservatism in mind at every step needs to be in there because the rest of us taxpayers are paying out the ying-yang on all these issues and, you know, like a typical government entity they still need more money. We feel like we’ve paid enough."

Wojtkiewicz, a professional electronics & music engineer running a citizen-led campaign focused on fiscal accountability and transparency, welcomed the endorsement from a prominent voice in the Platte County community.

"I am incredibly grateful for Jim’s trust and endorsement," said Wojtkiewicz. "Jim is speaking for thousands of Platte County residents who feel that local government has lost sight of the taxpayer. While the County Clerk doesn't set tax policy, the Clerk does hold a vital watchdog role over county administrative operations. My pledge to our community is to bring an engineer's eye for efficiency to the courthouse, ensuring our county operations run strictly by the book and with absolute transparency."

The endorsement marks a major grassroots momentum boost for Wojtkiewicz's campaign as the community prepares for the upcoming August 4th primary election. On April 23rd, former Presiding Commissioner Ron Schieber endorsed Russ for Platte County Clerk.

For more information on the campaign, visit https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586302395298 to view our Campaign Facebook page.

𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 | 𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟒 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

If you’ve been looking at the upcoming August 4th primary ballot, you’ve likely seen Amendment 4. There is a lot of noise surrounding it, so let’s look at the actual mechanics of what it proposes for Missouri's referendum and initiative petition process.

Currently, if citizens gather enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, it passes with a simple statewide majority (50% + 1 vote).

Amendment 4 proposes a structural change: to pass, a citizen-led amendment would need to win a majority of votes in every single one of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. Sort of like a “mini-Electoral College.” It also locks in constitutional bans on foreign spending in ballot measures and introduces stricter penalties for petition signature fraud.

As your candidate for County Clerk, my job isn't to tell you how to vote on policy. My job is to understand the administrative blueprint of our elections. While the Platte County Clerk has no authority over county elections, the Clerk can serve as a watchful watchdog for Platte County citizens.

If Amendment 4 passes, it will fundamentally alter how ballot measures are evaluated and tracked. It makes the geography of the vote just as important as the total number of voters. Additionally, the heightened focus on petition security means local election authorities—in our case, the Platte County Board of Elections—will need to remain incredibly vigilant against signature fraud to protect the integrity of the process.

Whether you believe changing the threshold protects our state constitution from outside special interests, or you believe it weakens the voice of the statewide majority, it is a crucial vote that will shape Missouri's future.

Make sure you are registered by July 8th so you can have your say on August 4th!

#WojoForClerk #PlatteCounty #WisdomWednesday #Amendment4 #ElectionIntegrity #BoringEfficiency 

 

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 | "𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬" 𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬?

My notebook was packed and my schedule was cleared to attend the County Commission’s 2:30 PM public work session on the Homestead Act. Like many of you, I wanted real answers on why the implementation of this vital property tax relief is stalling and what needs to happen to get it into the hands of our taxpayers.

Instead, the meeting was cancelled late last week.

According to Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker, the public session was called off because significant progress is being made behind the scenes.

While I sincerely hope this means the administration is finally cutting through the bureaucratic red tape to deliver relief to our hard-working citizens, it would have been nice to still hold the meeting and bring the public attending up to date on the progress of implementing the Homestead Act. 

As a private-sector business owner, I know that if a critical project is facing delays, you don't cancel the status meeting with your stakeholders. You double down on transparency, lay out the bottlenecks, and show your work in the bright light of day. Our citizens—especially the seniors who packed the Platte City library town hall recently out of fear of being taxed out of their homes—deserve absolute clarity.

If there is a real, functional plan to implement this relief, it should be mapped out in the open for every taxpayer to see.

I intend to reach out directly to the County Administrator to get the concrete facts on what this "progress" actually looks like and what the definitive timeline is. I will find out the truth and report it straight back to you.

When I am your County Clerk, the doors will stay open, the schedules will remain clear, and the taxpayer will always have a seat at the table.

#WojoForClerk #PlatteCounty #TransparencyInGovernment #TaxpayerFirst #BoringEfficiency

𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 | 𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐱 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬

The Platte County Assessor is conducting several town halls to educate property owners on the looming 2027 property reassessments. Overall, these sessions are informative, even though the Q&A periods are quite restricted. This past week, the town hall at the Platte City Mid-Continent Public Library hosted an overflow crowd—mostly made up of senior citizens deeply concerned about losing their homes to skyrocketing property taxes.

Because this issue impacts every corner of our county, I highly encourage residents to attend the upcoming sessions, which all begin at 6:00 PM:

• July 15 – Green Hills Branch (MCPL)
• August 18 – Dearborn Branch (MCPL)
• August 19 – Parkville Branch (MCPL)

I am actively researching this entire issue to determine exactly what the County Clerk's office can do to curb rising property taxes and protect our residents.

While Missouri statutes restrict a County Clerk from directly cutting tax rates, the Clerk is responsible for managing a fair, accessible, and transparent Board of Equalization (BOE) appeals process. Furthermore, I believe the local implementation of senior tax relief is being made overly complicated. I am on a thorough fact-finding mission regarding how these complex state frameworks—from the original SB 190 senior freeze to the newer ballot measures mandated by Senate Bill 3—are being handled locally. I will testify to my findings at every opportunity, as well as publish them here and on my Platte Valley Politics blog.

To that end, I will be attending the Monday, June 22nd County Commission work session regarding the implementation of these property tax relief measures. I know Commissioner Fricker is pushing hard to get relief implemented for 2026. While the involved elected offices state vehemently that they are trying to implement it this year, their actions to date suggest otherwise.

Perhaps there are legitimate technical reasons for the delay, and perhaps not. I intend to find out and report the unvarnished truth back to you, the taxpayer.

Our campaign runs lean, smart, and efficient. Every dollar you invest acts as a levee wall against big-budget bureaucracy and helps us bring business logic to Platte County. If you want to help us keep our message strong, visible, and independent of political games, consider investing in our team today:

• $75 secures a 4'x8' Highway Sign for high-traffic routes.
• $390 funds 50 Yard Signs for our volunteers.
• $610 sends a targeted mailing to 500 high-turnout households.

Invest in Transparency Here: https://secure.winred.com/wojtkiewicz-for-platte-county-clerk/donate-now

#WojoForClerk #PlatteCounty #FiscalFriday #TaxpayerFirst #SB190 #SB3 #BoringEfficiency

𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 | 𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

I look at things a bit differently than the average citizen. Ever since the 7th grade, I’ve had a habit of taking standard topics, writing off-the-wall narratives about them, and winning awards for doing so. That isn't a "pat me on the back" boast—it’s just how my mind works. I look at a situation and naturally take a completely different tack than everyone else looking at the exact same problem.

Knowing that, believe me when I say I look at the County Clerk’s office through entirely different eyes.

I have no intention of conforming to traditional "government structure." Instead, I am focused on putting a keen, private-sector eye on how to better serve my fellow, hard-working, taxpaying Platte County citizens—no matter your political party affiliation or ideology. Sure, we will disagree from time to time, but such is life. We can be civil. We can find common ground. And if we cannot, you are entirely entitled to your opinion. That is exactly what living in a FREE SOCIETY is all about!

Elect me as your next Platte County Clerk, and let me work to put policies and a culture in place that transform not just the Clerk’s office, but influence other elected officials to look at their operations in a completely new light.

Let’s get along and cooperate rather than operating as independent silos in a constant competition for power and authority. Our jobs should be about serving the citizens and taxpayers, not expanding bureaucratic empires using your hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

#WojoForClerk #PlatteCounty #WisdomWednesday #TransparencyInGovernment #BoringEfficiency #TaxpayerFirst #FreeSociety

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

A foundational rule of engineering is that you cannot fix a structural flaw if the schematics are hidden from view. The same is true in public service. Complete transparency is the only way taxpayers can truly trust their government.

Recent reports and photographs circulating in the media have pulled back the curtain on local campaign coordination. Seeing self-described "independent" candidates caucusing across the county line with partisan political operatives raises serious, legitimate questions for Platte County voters.

When candidates run under the banner of independence, voters expect genuine separation, not coordinated strategies designed to blur the lines on the November ballot.

This is exactly why our campaign is built on absolute transparency. A County Clerk's office is the keeper of public records, the administrator of the Board of Equalization, and the line of defense for the taxpayer's dollar. That role requires a leader who operates strictly by the book, respects statutory boundaries, and does not engage in backroom political theater. The current Clerk’s office is constantly getting attention for questionable ethics in dealing with public documents and records requests. This must end. The public deserves a Clerk who fulfills Sunshine Law requests transparently, promptly, and without weaponizing bureaucratic roadblocks to hide public data.

Platte County families and senior citizens deserve a Clerk who says the same thing in private as they do in public—someone focused entirely on lean operations, boring efficiency, and holding the line against bureaucratic bloat.

We are running a transparent, grassroots, taxpayer-first campaign, and we rely entirely on open support from neighbors like you to cross the finish line. If you want to help us keep our message strong, visible, and independent of political games, consider investing in our team today:

• $75 secures a 4'x8' Highway Sign for high-traffic routes.
• $390 funds 50 Yard Signs for our volunteers. (Or $300 if adjusting for bulk math)
• $610 sends a targeted mailing to 500 high-turnout households.

Invest in Transparency Here: https://secure.winred.com/wojtkiewicz-for-platte-county-clerk/donate-now

#WojoForClerk #PlatteCounty #TransparencyInGovernment #BoringEfficiency #TaxpayerFirst