What a wonderful 4th of July and 250th Birthday celebration in Parkville, Missouri this morning!

Yes, we had a little rain and there were nearly 60 entries, many of them politicians running for office.  Yours truly was there handing out small flags and greeting the folks on the parade route.  Many commented and liked the name and asked how you say “Wojtkiewicz”.  Well easy - “Walk-a’witz”.  But Wojo will also be on the ballot name.  We received some great support and a few “I’ll vote for you” from the great crowd.

A huge thank you to my volunteers - Evan who lent his 1978 Ford F150 and drove; Phyllis Hartley and Rachel Kautz for walking with me!  And to all the supporters who dropped by while walking for area candidates with well wishes and support.

It was wonderful to see all the kids, many in Red, White and Blue.  Some adutls festooned 1776 costumes!  But all braved the rain and were having a great time!

Yes, there were too many politicians.  Me included.  I am sure many in the crowd grew weary of seeing the throng running for office and hearing the endless campaign rhetoric from the reviewing stand.  But we all need to get you, the voter, to know who we are and what we are about.  Many of you are very receptive and take an active part in County Politics and vote at every chance.  That is a Patriot!

Am looking forward to the rain clearing off, sitting down to the ribs I have smoking in the smoker on my deck and enjoying an evening and night filled with fireworks.

Happy 4th Y’all!  And God Bless America!  May she continue to be the beacon of Freedom!

Russ “Wojo” Wojtkiewicz for Platte County Clerk

Another great factoid from our Campaign Coordinator Rachel Kautz -

On this day, July 4th, 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence while meeting in Philadelphia at Freedom Hall.

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

Enjoy today when our nation celebrates 250 years!  Celebrate proudly 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!

 

💥 𝟒,550 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 & 𝐀 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭

Wow. Our Monday video endorsement from local legend "Outlaw Jim" Eaton has blown past 4,550 views!

That tells us one thing loud and clear: Platte County residents are tired of the typical political games. They want common-sense, independent accountability in the courthouse. We are successfully reaching the everyday taxpayers who just want local government to run efficiently and stay out of their pockets.

But to keep this momentum surging all the way to the August 4th primary, we need to keep fuel in the tank.

Unlike the establishment, our campaign doesn't rely on big political action committees or insider money. We are 100% grassroots, funded by citizens who want a watchful watchdog looking out for their tax dollars.

Whether it’s $10, $25, or $100, every single dollar goes directly toward getting our message out to voters, printing signs, and keeping our campaign truck rolling.

If you believe it’s time for an engineer’s eye for efficiency—and a Clerk who works for you, not the bureaucracy—please consider investing in our campaign today.

📩 How to contribute:

You can contribute on line at our WinRed account:
https://secure.winred.com/wojtkiewicz-for-platte-county-clerk/donate-now

Or we accept cash and checks to: Wojtkiewicz for Platte County Clerk, 6324 N. Chatham Ave, PMB 314, Kansas City, MO 64151.  Please include information for MEC records - Name, Address, Employer, Retired or if Self-Employed your occupation.

Thank you for the incredible support this week. Let’s keep pushing forward! See you on July 4th in Parkville!

#WojoForClerk #PlatteCounty #GrassrootsPower #FuelTheTruck #TaxpayerWatchdog #BoringEfficiency #parkvillemo #America250

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

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