Suddenly, People Caring About the East Side

We all know now what happened on the City Council this week.

Kansas City Council Renames The Paseo For Martin Luther King

Kansas City Council votes to rename The Paseo

The City Council of Kansas City, Missouri voted this week to have the name of The Paseo changed to Martin Luther King Boulevard, of course.

Stunningly, all of a sudden, people, lots of white people, who are never over there, are suddenly lamenting the name and name change.

We segregate an entire race on the East side of the city and for decades, at least, and by very discriminatory laws, make sure they go to crappy schools, are paid less and don't have good access to  better-paying jobs or transportation but by God, suddenly name a street over there something else and people start getting bent out of shape about something not in their own area.

Those people over there.

How dare they?

A New Airport and Strange Bedfellows, Part II

After this morning's post on the airport and me teaming up with--gasp--a Right Wing blog, I wanted to also post this, their 2nd note on the stupidity and irresponsibility of throwing away our existing airport, only to build another.

The Emperor’s New Airport

At a recent Kansas City Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, Aviation Department Director Mark VanLoh walked the committee through a slide show featuring lots of exciting computer graphics of an airport that does not exist and likely never will. VanLoh said the images were merely “conceptual;” no architect is bound by them. Yet several news outlets have picked them up to illustrate what the proposed terminal could look like. This future airport is as real as the fabled emperor’s new clothes.

Why is fanciful airport art an issue? Kansas City officials argue that we need a shiny new terminal because we are losing market share to other airports in the region, such as Branson, Mo., and Wichita, Kan.

On KCPT’s Week in Review program (comments begin at 5:07), Scott Parks of KMBZ 98.1, in a courageous act of honesty, questions the whole concept of a city “losing flights” to another city. He says:

Maybe I struggle against this panel mentally. I don’t understand how Kansas City is losing flights. Airlines are a business. If people want to fly to Kansas City for business, for pleasure, to visit family, whatever, they’re going to fly to Kansas City. I heard the argument this week that we’re losing flights to Columbia, we’re losing flights to Branson, we’re losing flights to Wichita. Well if I live in Seattle and I have family that lives in Kansas City, I’m not flying to Wichita and then driving three hours to Kansas City. I don’t understand how flights that were supposed to be coming to Kansas City are now going to Wichita or Branson.

The conversation immediately moved to the cost of security and Kansas City International Airport (MCI); no one addressed Parks’ concern.

Just like the old ministers in Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” Parks states the obvious — doing so almost apologetically. But he is exactly right. If proponents want to argue that the airport is unattractive as a hub — a place where people make connections to other flights but not itself a destination — a shiny new terminal will not address that problem. It will only exacerbate the problem if it results in higher costs to airlines who are already being lured elsewhere with cash.
Week in Review was rife with those same slick computer-generated images that were shown at the transportation committee meeting. Those images are meant to appeal to emotions. The Kansas City Star reported that the aviation department has contracted with an outside public relations firm for $117,000. Are presentations to the Kansas City Council and the public already focused on selling slick and colorful images rather than answering substantive questions? The city council’s committee hearing suggests the answer is “yes.”

Kansas City Mayor Sly James has called for an “adult discussion about the facts,” and that is good. But he and others on the City Council have yet to make their case that the Emperor is not naked.

New airport proposal making for "strange bedfellows"

Seriously.

Talk about strange bedfellows.

As I've shown here, I'm squarely against the idea of trashing the existing airport and design, only to tear it down, throw it away (in a dump) and build anew. It's monumentally expensive and irresponsible both fiscally and environmentally.

What I didn't know was that the very Right Wing Show-Me Daily blog was and is also with me, with us, on this point and issue. They sent me the following and it seems important to read, know and acknowledge:

Airport Transparency

Kansas City is in the midst of a debate about whether our airport should undergo a renovation that would cost at least $1.2 billion. There are many questions about this, and Kansas City Mayor Sly James just called on the city to have an “adult discussion about the facts,“ but the City Council has no interest in actually answering questions. In fact, City Councilman Russ Johnson, chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, refused to answer questions from the public or from the media about his hearing on the matter.

At that hearing in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Kansas City Aviation Department Director Mark VanLoh walked the committee through a slide show detailing the problems with the existing Kansas City International Airport. Chief among the reasons for spending $1.2 billion on a new terminal is “poor passenger experience.” Yet none of the material available to the public gives any indication of how the Aviation Department concluded passengers have a poor experience. When I asked about the Aviation Department’s methodology, Johnson responded that my questions would not be answered (questions start at 1:13:30). This matter is important because in 2010, J.D. Power and Associates rated the same airport as “highest among medium airports,“ writing: “Kansas City International (MCI) ranks highest among medium airports, and performs particularly well in three of the six factors: airport accessibility, check-in/baggage check and security check.”

In his later remarks disparaging J.D. Power, Johnson wrongly referred to the company as a think tank. It is not. It is a customer satisfaction survey firm that McGraw-Hill owns. J.D. Power is likely known to many voters because its ratings appear in numerous television commercials. VanLoh even said that when J.D. Power rated MCI the best in 2010, his department asked if they could publicize that rating and were told it would cost $80,000 to do so. They were likely correct to demur. But if VanLoh and his colleagues are going to rate the same airport as providing a “poor passenger experience,” it is reasonable to ask how they did so when they endorsed Power’s “best in the country” rating just a few years prior.

If the Aviation Department and their chorus on the City Council want to tear down a much-loved and nationally recognized airport, the public deserves transparent processes and substantive answers to serious questions regarding the endeavor’s necessity.

So good for them. Good for us.

On this one issue, anyway, we can put aside our differences, join forces and get this bone-headed idea of throwing away an airport, itself thrown out.

It's done. We have curfews

I heard on KCUR this evening that the City Council and Mayor James got their curfews passed. As I said earlier this week, it seemed inevitable. They had to have solutions by tomorrow evening and a heavy police presence just wasn't going to cut it. The details, according to The Kansas City Star: • From Memorial Day weekend through the last Sunday in September, it will be 9 p.m. for all youth under age 18 for five entertainment districts in the city — the Country Club Plaza, Westport, the Downtown Business District, 18th and Vine, and Zona Rosa. Elsewhere in the city during the summer, the curfew will be 10 p.m. for youths 15 and under and 11 p.m. for 16 and 17-year-olds. • The rest of the year, from October through Memorial Day, the curfew for all minors will be 11 p.m. weeknights and midnight on Friday and Saturday. • The fine for parents of curfew violators, currently $1 for a first offense, will increase to a maximum of $500 for each offense. With as many layers as it has for the different ages and different parts of town and times of the year, I doubt the police appreciate this little gift. Let's see if this all works. Here's hoping it does. Link: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/18/3084943/kc-sets-earlier-curfew-hours.html

Did you vote?

The wit, wisdom and insight of  H. L. Mencken:

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office. 

Here's hoping you did, folks.

How about that new mayor?

Vote, I tell you!

The wit, wisdom and insight of  H. L. Mencken:

If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.

Fortunately for us, we don't have any cannibals.  Go vote, folks!

We're running out of time!

The wit, wisdom and insight of  H. L. Mencken:

It doesn't take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause. 

And it takes you and I voting, folks!  Go get 'em!

How many times do I have to tell you?

The wit, wisdom and insight of  H. L. Mencken:

Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.

Still, that said, you gotta' go vote today, folks.

Vote today!

The wit, wisdom and insight of  H. L. Mencken:

 

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

Still, we need you to vote today!

Go! Now! Vote!

The wit, wisdom and insight of  H. L. Mencken:

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

 

Still, we need you to vote today, folks!

Go vote!

The wit, wisdom and insight of  H. L. Mencken:

Democracy is only a dream: it should be put in the same category as Arcadia, Santa Claus, and Heaven. 

In spite of that---go vote, folks!

Could this be the shooting in town that finally gets people to react?

This may be it. This may, possibly, be the event that gets the mayor, Mrs. Mayor, the City Council, City Hall and the community and church leaders to finally, finally wake up and react to shootings, "drive-bys", murders and killings in the area. Breaking news today: Man Killed At KC Bus Stop-- Area Packed With Lunch Crowd, Convention Goers A man was killed at a Kansas City bus stop early Thursday afternoon, police said. The shooting happened at 12:28 p.m. The bus stop is at 12th Street and Brooklyn Avenue. Police department spokeswoman Stacey Graves said the man died at the scene. Police tell KMBC's Micheal Mahoney that the man was in his 30s. Mahoney reported the shooting has all the hallmarks of a targeted killing at one of Kansas City's best known corners. A Gates BBQ restaurant and a popular soul food restaurant are at the intersection, which was packed with lunch goers. Among those in the area at the time of the shooting were convention goers from a national Baptist convention in Kansas City. Marlayne Henderson was inside her hair salon when she heard the gun's roar. "It sounded like the Fourth of July. That's what it sounded like," she said. "It was so heavy we could feel the vibrations and we were inside the shop! And that's about 100 yards away." Police said someone in a gray or silver car fired the shots at the man. The initial investigation indicates that at least 11 shots were fired in an area no bigger than a closet. Maybe, just maybe people will do something now. If this doesn't do it, I don't know what will. But then I thought they would have before now. Especially and specifically Mr. and Mrs. Mayor and the City Council. Link to original story: http://www.kmbc.com/news/24942664/detail.html

Is this when the city finally gives a damn about killings?

Sure, we can have over 60 minority people killed in the first half of the year and no reaction from the Mayor, their office (lol), the City Council or community or church leaders. Sure. Everyone has written about that, including me, here. But now, here's a young white woman--a new mother--who gets gunned down at a friend's house over the weekend while in the friend's very private home. Is this the event that finally wakes the city up to the fact that we need to do something about the shootings and killings and "drive-bys" in the city? Part of me hopes it is and the other part is so disgusted that nothing, to date has been said or done about it, it's hard not to be a bit jaded by the silence and acceptance of the area's "leaders" of the whole murder and murder rate situation.

When will we ever learn?

Another promising young life was taken this week.

Another tragedy.

It's been a busy week for me so I hadn't seen the paper and didn't know of it.

One Juan Garcia--a promising, hard-working young student--was gunned down at his home, I understand.

And for no good reason, of course.

So tragic.

Kevin Hopkins, Jr., some months ago--and many more--too many--before and now this.

No point.

No need.

A life gone.

A beautiful young person.

And still no call for cohesion and work for solutions from the Mayor, his office, the City Council, the local churches or church or community leaders.

That makes no sense to me at all.

Calls to repair sidewalks around schools but no call to try to work against senseless shootings and murders in the city.

Link to original story:
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/06/01/1986181/family-friends-mourn-teen-slain.html
http://www.kctv5.com/news/23778070/detail.html

Notes on a Mayor

I have to say, I think the Mayor has this one right.

You'll have to see the Star this morning (Pg. A4) and its article about the mayor saying that $2 million of the city's money should no longer go to the Truman Sports Complex.

Yeah. You bet. He is right. (for once?).

And for a lot of good reasons:

First, it's not contractual. This was never set in stone anywhere and we've been doing it just to be "nice guys."

But you know what? This is in the midst of the worst recession in 80 years, since the Great Depression. Times are difficult, to say the least, and that's the 2nd reason.

Third, we really could use that money on our infrastructure like roads and bridges and sewers and who knows what all. We just hope the mayor can keep his mouth shut the rest of the time he's in office so it doesn't go to settle more lawsuits against him. (Seriously, have you ever known a Mayor to have had more public lawsuits against him because he's mayor? I can't think of any. I wonder what this clown has cost us so far. Good question. Note to self: possible additional blog entry).

Fourth and finally, both the Chiefs and Royals have taken millions and millions of dollars in taxes from the citizens of Jackson County, Kansas City (and for that matter, from Johnson County and Kansas), even though they are extremely profitable monopoly businesses. They'd have a lot of chutzpah complaining about missing this $2million. (Not that they won't complain about it, it wouldn't be surprising).

Now let's hope that, if they go through with this, the city really does spend the $2 million on street repair.

Coincidentally, there's a campaign being put on right now by the area's Heavy Construction Association to the tune of $110,000 (and possibly more) that starts soon and goes for the next year.

It seems the big boys are starting this "Stop the Nonsense" PR campaing "to pressure the" city "council to spend more general fund money for capital maintenance projects such as roads and bridges."

It seems the budget for these projects is down $7 million and they want it back, at minimum.

Hmmmm. Isn't that what the Mayor said he would do in his campaign for the job he has, make us "The City that Works"?

"An early draft of the group's campaign...shows plans for a broad-based critique of the mayor and council on radio, in newspaper ads, billboards and direct mail to residents."

The mayor will most assuredly bear the brunt of this negative campaign, too. To criticize "the council" is too vague. I'll bet most Kansas Citians can't even name one council member.

So here's one more group aligned against the mayor and our current local government.

It would be nice if those folks would wake up down there and give us the kind of efficient government the mayor promised and that we should, rightly, have, instead of things like Ed Ford's boneheaded idea of expanding the city North with his Tomahawke Ridge boondoggle.

Here's hoping.

Have a great weekend, y'all.

A challenge to our city leaders

Questions that should be asked and answered by our Mayor, City Council, City Manager and all other leaders in the area, in case we could reduce the number of shootings and murders in town:

1) What are the organizations CeaseFire and Aim4Peace? What do they do?

2) Who is involved in the organizations?

3) Are they working effectively in town to reduce shootings and murders and possibly to otherwise improve our city?

4) What do they do? What are they doing in town?

5) What is their budget?

6) From where have they gotten their present, previous budget, to date?

7) Aim4Peace says they are short on funds. Is CeaseFire short, also?

8) If they are short on funds, are there good reasons for that?

9) If they are effective, would transferring city funds to either or both organizations help Kansas City reduce the number of shootings and murders in the area and/or otherwise improve life in Kansas City for a good number of our citizens?

Let's see if it happens.

Is this city getting collectively more stupid?

I don't mean to be alarmist or to over-react but really, that's the question I come up with today.

Of course, we have our stupid and irresponsible mayor and his wife, supposedly to lead us and they've proven themselves, time and again but now all this.

Something called a "Tomahawke Ridge" subdivision to add 316 more acres and more than 600 homes, eventually, to the city is being considered today at 1:30 pm by the City Council's Planning and Zoning Commission.

(I ask again, too--since when does the Native American Indian word "tomahawk" get a British "e" on the end? Answer: when you want it to sound expensive or special. And you're a developer).

It doesn't look good.

It looks as though this council wants to pass and accept this bone-headed boondoggle.

Forget that we can't take care of our streets and sewers already, with what we've got. Forget that there aren't enough fire stations up that way already and that the Fire Chief thinks it's likely not a good idea. Forget that they city planners think it's misguided sprawl we shouldn't do or have. And forget that it further weakens the city's core.

Forget all that.

Some developer wants to make money--and likely give some to Council members, in the meantime.

Hell, yeah!

So what should happen won't and it looks as though we'll get this thing.

Dammit.

(And when did our local paper cover this locally important story? Yesterday. Once. At the last minute. Way to go, Kansas City Star. Way to not report.)

One silver lining to this expansionist crowd is that the Star has come out with an editorial agin' it. In fact, they've had a few. Here's another.

Thank goodness for that, anyway.

In it, they also support my idea that the "e" on the end is--there's that word again--stupid.

Then, for more local, home-grown ignorance and, yes, stupidity, look no further than the Star (at least they reported this), reporting that a committee has been formed, for pity's sake, to look into repealing the earnings tax in the city.

Check it out:

"Opponents of the earnings tax in St. Louis and Kansas City have established a campaign committee and will begin to gather petition signatures within the next weeks to put repeal on the statewide ballot."

"The group is called Let Voters Decide. According to attorney Marc Ellinger, the commitee will circulate a petition that would allow local voters a chance to decide if the E-tax should be phased out in Kansas City and St. Louis."

"(UPDATE, 9:25: Businessman Rex Sinquefield has given the committee $500,000 to get started, records show.)"

Yahoo!

How, exactly, are we going to pay for anything if this goes through?

We'd lose two hundred million dollars a year in operating fees if we do away with this.

We can barely keep sewers running and streets operable now. How can we do it if we're broke?

And some people, including people downtown at City Hall, including, in this case, the Mayor, think this is a good idea.

Note that this wealthy chucklehead Sinquefeld is financing this nightmare. Apparently he benefits from this going through, while at our collective expense. He's been pushing it in St. Louis and now here, both.


So there you go, Kansas City, to repeat, stupidity reigns.

How soon can we quit this?

I wonder how long this is going to take

From Summer June 09

Apparently, over the weekend, a water main blew on Southwest Trafficway at 39th Terrace, between 39th Street and Westport Road. For those of us who travel this, we know it all too well.

They were busy shutting off the water when it happened but check out this picture Monday evening and now, again, Tuesday evening.

Plate over hole?

Check.

Barricades?

Check.

Warning cones?

Check.

Big electric sign to get people over, to one last open lane?

Check.

City crews working on it so the street gets open quickly since it's a major thoroughfare?

Oh, heck no.

So as one writer on Tony's KC blog wrote today, "we have cool sports stadiums for losers, a train station but no trains, a war memorial that loses millions and a hip new downtown entertainment district that will probably last another year or two. Who cares about streets, bridges and sewers? The real estate crowd need to unload some more downtown lofts before KC files bankruptcy."

I'd add that we also have a City Council and Mayor who want to hand over 20.5 million dollars to a developer--on the front-end of the project--to develop a 30-acre eyesore in the worst real estate market in 70 years, since the Great Depression, when we don't need more commercial or retail sites, but we don't have good streets or sewers and other infrastructure.

But I digress.

The question is, how long 'til this little mess is cleaned up on the Trafficway?

Don't hold your breath.