A day trip to the Missouri State Capital was doable as it wasn't that much farther than Lake of the Ozarks from Hermitage. It was a place that my Czech Cousins wanted to visit and I knew it well. I had retired from working for the state in 2011 after about 30 years as a real estate appraiser. I always had a home office but did have to come here for periodic meetings and updates. I did rent a townhouse in 2006-7 where I stayed during the week and came home on weekends. I knew the city well enough. Going back to familiar places for the first time after about 12 years was also therapeutic.
The Great Seal of Missouri
When my Czech Cousins said they would like to visit the capital of Missouri in Jefferson City, I got on the phone and called Jeff Schmidt, one of the managers of the State Tax Commission. I was thinking he could give a tour of the current STC in the impressive Truman Building where I had been Ratio Manager with a picture window office on the 8th floor overlooking the Missouri River and the State Capitol around the office corner. It was a great view of many impressive points of interest! Jeff was happy to hear from me but quickly mentioned that the STC had moved to a new location and that building was having construction in front so we would have to come to the back side. The first STC building I worked at was similarly located but next to the now condemned state prison. So no tour of the Truman Building but we set up a visit in his office before our tour of the Capitol Building.
Jeff, Jan Elliott, and I all interviewed for the position of Manager of the State Tax Commission back in 2005 when Jim Follina retired after about 27 years of being the only previous manager. After I resigned, the manager position was left open for a very long time until the local Assessor, Shaun Ordway, left his newly elected office in Cole County to take my place for a short time. He didn't finish either job! I had recommended both Jan and Jeff for my manager position as they both were good people and highly qualified to be a manager having had a very similar perspective as I had for many years working on the field/office ratio staff. Jan was manager longer than Shawn. Then I recently saw that Jeff was in the present manager position from the STC website. I was very happy in the way everything eventually turned out!
The Ratio Study Department was one of four departments that made up the State Tax Commission headed by three commissioners that were appointed by the elected governor in office at the time; they change as politics change. The Ratio Study Department alone had over 35 employees and was the largest. The Ratio Study purpose for many years during Reassessment was to produce a defensible real estate property ratio for each of the 114 counties and City of St. Louis between the Assessor's Office and our department that was used in the School Foundation Formula in distributing state money to county schools. When I was hired as the next Ratio Manager in 2006-7, the purpose changed to being an oversight agency. My main purpose was threefold:
1. Put together a report on how the Missouri Ratio Study got to this point after 27 years, report on where we are now, and put together a plan for the future incorporating accepted National Appraisal Practices. I worked closely with the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) for weeks first hand after they moved their headquarters to Kansas City, Missouri. I contributed to the updated IAAO manual and my vote counted in the final product. I also worked closely with a full time Statistician on staff to develop a product that was user-friendly for the Assessors and elected officials. We were now transparent.
2. Re-organize and reduce the Ratio Study staff. I found the strengths and weaknesses in our field staff and applied appropriate policies and procedures to developed a more defensive accountability in use of funding. I interviewed over 100 new appraiser applicants and hired and fired as needed eventually reducing our staff to about 25 by the time I resigned.
3. Report to the three Commissioners at weekly staff meetings. I was accountable only to them. I originally was told I was hired as Manager of the Ratio Study because of my "Dr. Phil-tell-it-like-it-is" honesty and my close viewpoint of the field staff operation after working in that position for about 20 years at this point. I was one of the few field staff that was there from the beginning of statewide reassessment. The State Auditor at that time, Claire McCaskill, had identified the State Tax Commission as the first state department needing a major transparency overhaul in 2005. Her extensive audit was my guide.
There were several reasons why it was time for me to leave the manager position. When first hired as Ratio Manager, I told the Commissioners I could do the job of "Department Transparency" in three years as that's about the time I was eligible for full retirement. I had some neck problems and surgery was in my future before I retired. My diabetes was totally in control when I came on but within a few months in this position, the stress caused the need for me to progress to daily medication. The final reason I chose to resign was because the Commissioners had changed from allowing me free-reign in my policies and procedures to improve the Ratio Department in the first year to "do what we want based on our politics" in the final two years. I could see they were moving towards complete political power compliance and I was surprised it took this long! It was not a game that I could play in all good conscience. I did all that I had set out to do in 18 months instead of three years.
The stress increased as did my 'pain-in-the neck' especially with Charlie the newest Commissioner who didn't last long in that position after I left. Anyway, I negotiated with all the Commissioners in my resignation. They could see that I got the job of Ratio Study Department transparency done as I I said I would but I did it in half the time. All that was left was to test my new policies and procedures in the field and make any necessary changes that could be only identified when actually applied. I would like to go back to a field appraiser position to help test all that I had developed. I also wanted to be the highest paid field appraiser on staff which I would never have gotten if I didn't leave it for the manager position and then come back. I went back to a home office and field position with territory close to home for the final three years of my state employment which also included extensive paid medical leave for my neck surgery and recovery. It was a very smart move! State retirement pensions are based on the highest three years' salary.
After I resigned, the staff was reduced to about 30 employees for all of the Missouri State Tax Commission. The current Manager, Jeff, does the work of two departments that were combined to not only set the ratios but also help the counties when needed. There's still the Legal and Original Assessments Departments; both greatly reduced in staff. There are still the three Commissioners; all new again.
The new State Tax Commission of Missouri is located at 421 E Dunklin in Jefferson City. Jeff welcomed my Czech Cousins and I. We visited about an hour catching up on families, changes, and people still around. I was very happy to hear Jeff was retiring soon and this was his last day coming to the office. I congratulated him! Nothing stays the same but Jeff and I had a great conversation and Paul and Lucy had a glimpse of what I did in my career.
Jeff also reminded me that I was the one who field trained him in commercial appraisals in Cedar County back in the late 1990s! I remember that early time before we all used laptop computers and digital cameras. All the appraisals we did were hard copies with a completed county weighing up to15 pounds! Several at a time were carried to locations to be reviewed before we got a central portal after they were digitized during my time as manager! I also remember showing Jeff a CD for the first time when my new 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix was set up with a CD player for music. He had no idea how it worked! Soon after, all our work was put on CDs. It is likely that everything is accessible through the state portal now and completely paperless. That process started when I was manager.
After our visit to the new STC, we parked at my former parking lot at the bottom of the hill where the Truman Building is located and across the street is the State Capitol and Governor's Mansion. I am standing on the sidewalk same side of the street as the Capitol. Behind me is the front of the Truman Building. There are three more levels on the back side down the hill to make an eight story building.
I enjoyed getting away from the office whenever I could especially at lunch time. I would walk several blocks away and back again. I had a favorite Greek restaurant and so many interesting shops along the way. I also loved to walk around the Governor's Mansion gardens where I would bring a lunch and sit in good weather.
This is the view of the Capitol Building dome on the left and the Truman Building on the right from where we parked a couple blocks below. My old STC manager's office was near the left corner on that top 8th floor of the Truman Building.
The following photos are outside the Capitol Building and then the Governor's Mansion:
View of the Missouri River from the north side of the Capitol grounds.
View of the Capitol Building from the Governor's Mansion
The Governor's Mansion outside and Gardens
American Beauty Berry, a Missouri Native and my favorite!
Overview of the Governor's Mansion landscape and gardens
The Capitol Tour begins with my Czech Cousins Paul and his daughter Lucie at The Great Seal of Missouri in the center of everything!
Most of the masonry materials came from Carthage, Missouri. They all show a variety of ancient fossils up close.
The Lounge was closed off for remodeling. I asked real nicely of our tour guide if we could take a peak inside because I had been here before and the wall art by Thomas Hart Benson was amazing! It had a big story to tell about Missouri history and our guide was ready to tell it and made me very happy to share it with my Czech Cousins!
Overview of the work of Thomas Hart Benton in the Lounge. A guard came by when she saw someone was in a place closed off and she saw our guide with us. She said to move along soon. We did.
The second floor is where the representatives meet and the lobbyists lobby. The beautiful hallways are covered in art that changes in perspective just like the representatives depending on which side you are on!
The end of the hallways on the second floor are said to be acoustically engineered to keep voices in place not allowing people to hear what is being said nearby. Great for lobbyists to make deals and politicians to negotiate!
Our tour of the Capitol continues in Part 2...
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