Another great factoid from our Campaign Coordinator Rachel Kautz -

On this day, July 2nd, 1776, Congress voted in favor of Independence while meeting in Philadelphia at Freedom Hall.

There are eight more events that happened during 1776 all the way through December.

Enjoy this weekend when our nation holds its 250th Birthday Celebration!  Celebrate greatly and safely!  Be thankful we are still in a free society due to the efforts of the Colonial men and women and the generations of veterans and patriots over the last 250 years.  They risked and lost their lives for the cause of Freedom!

Let's honor them by keeping this Republic and our Freedom!

𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 | 𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 Pride, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞

It is July 1st, and in just three days, our extraordinary nation will celebrate a historic milestone—250 years of Freedom and Democracy!

Independence Day isn't just a holiday; it’s a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when citizens unite under the principles of liberty, accountability, and self-governance. Here in Platte County, we live out those values every day through our tight-knit communities.

To celebrate America's 250th, our campaign will be walking in the Parkville 4th of July Parade this Saturday!

Want to skip the sidelines and march with us? We would love to have you!

• 📍 Where to meet: In the Parkville Commons Behind the Parkville Price Chopper.  Not exactly sure our parade position.
• ⏰ When: Saturday morning at 9:00 AM (Look for a group of bright Red T-shirts and a 1978 Ford F150!).
• 👕 Bonus: Come march with us, and we'll get you geared up with a campaign t-shirt while supplies last!

A Note on the Heat Wave: While we are excited to celebrate, this July heat is no joke. Please look out for your neighbors, check on our seniors, and stay heavily hydrated. If you or someone you know needs a break from the high temperatures, please utilize our local cooling centers—such as the Parkville and Platte City County Community Centers or your closest Mid-Continent public library branch.

Just a note of extreme gratitude to all who have visited this Facebook page this week!  Monday’s video post of the legendary Jim Eaton endorsing our campaign has seen 4,000 views since going live!  We’ve gained several followers but are still short of our goal of 100.  We need just 16 more!  We are now in our last stretch till the August 4th primary.  We need your help and support!

Let's have a safe, proud, and historic Independence Day weekend, Platte County!

#WojoForClerk #PlatteCounty #WisdomWednesday #America250 #ParkvilleParade #CommunityFirst #StayCool #outlawjimandthewhiskeybenders #parkvillemo #thecraic

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