Saturday, November 10, 2007

Auditing The Auditor Mayor

The Garden Partiers have spoken - the blog will continue to be there for City Hallers on the quest for, to paraphrase Superman, 'Truth, Justice and Honesty In Government." We will set up a mail forwarding account. Your written tips may circumvent the world before we receive it but we will eventually get the mail. When it is set up within the next week or so we will provide you with the mailing address to GPS. We're a team, we're a winning team - if it takes us the next 41 months to weed out the bad players, the corrupt players, then that's what it takes.

If we are serious about asking the State Auditor to step in then we can begin to take the steps to make that happen. There are two ways to request the State to do a municipal audit. One is to get petitions signed. The number of signatures required is a percentage of those who voted in the last gubenatorial election - so we would need a certain percentage from each of the 3 counties that KCMO includes. The second way to get the State to do a municipal audit is a direct plea to the Governor but we would have to have a smoking arsenal - just not the smoking gun. It can be done if we're serious. The State Auditor's Office would come in and audit the entire City operation - every single department. Municipal audits are time consuming and very expensive. We have the paperwork from the State Auditor's Office if we're serious about this. As stated previously, we would need people working to get the required number of signatures or we need the proof. In the meantime the State of MO Auditor's Office - Confidential Hotline Number for Fraud, Waste and Abuse 1-800-347-8597 or go to the website: http://www.auditor.mo.gov/
Let's discuss.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Missouri State Govenor Blunt will be in Kansas City on Tuesday, Novemeber 13 at 6:00 PM or there so after. He will be the keynote speaker for the celebration for the New Police Training Academy. Maybe that would be a chance to put a bug in his ear.

Anonymous said...

reading from some of these posts, since I do work for the City, I'm not smart enough to do math.

How many signatures do we need from each County. An overall audit would be a good thing. It would expose where a lot of money has been wasted. This isn't WC's fault but has been festering for 20 years. If we want this City to work, we need all the facts to start fixing it.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE folks at city hall, get the proof we need to end this madness. Don't be afraid!!

Anonymous said...

Nuts and bolts.
1. How many signatures do we need?
2. How is this divided between the counties?
3. Do we start a political action committee to take this needed action?
4. Are city employees barred from signing or distributing a petition?
5. Next steps...organizing this effort. Can we put together an online meeting?
6. Can there be an online poll to count the initial participants?
7. And last, aside from city hall hierarchy, who else would work against this action?

Anonymous said...

People are afraid. There's an explosive City Manager, a stubborn, vengeful mayor and wife, cowardly, subservient department heads, and a whole team of lawyers waiting at their command to prove the employee wrong. The taxpayers get what they deserve; they voted it in. If they don't want to hold them accountable, why should any of the bureaucrats? The mayor says that what he and nine council members did by throwing out the light rail vote is perfectly legal. Maybe so. But is it moral, ethical, good for the citizens? If there never was a chance for it to be done, financially or otherwise, it should not have been presented to voters in that form. Or at the very least, there should have been some real discussion, not just the KCATA griping about losing funds. Taxpayers have been duped and duped again. I don't have a problem with employees collecting paychecks for mediocre, lackidaisical performance when the top dogs are accountable.

Anonymous said...

I am continually dismayed at how the Mayor's ego and family interfere with his job performance! The latest items being his failure to follow state campaign laws on check writing and letting his wife spend the campaign money (why is this no surprise). And telling staff that his wife is "mayor" too (again, why is this no surprise). Ed Wolf should also resign-- he isn't anything but a political favor that Funk is forcing the taxpayers to pay.
Squit/Squat is truly an embarrassment and major disappointment.

Go forth with the audit or a recall campaign and get Squit/ Squat OUT!

Anonymous said...

This City Council is a major disaster. They beat the drums, go through the motions of taking action and then collapse in fear of the "Black Bloc" of three council persons.

Why does every business decision become a racial issue? The Council won't take action against the City Manager's outrageous behavior and inappropriate decisons because he is black. They won't enforce the city's policy against pornography because the offender is black (plus favored status with the CM and the Black Bloc). They won't make good business decisions that don't favor minorities because of their fear of the Black Bloc.

Hey -- check the US Census data. Kansas City, Missouri is 62% white,30% African-American, and 8% Hispanic and other. The Black Bloc does NOT represent the total citizenship of this city! It's time to let other "races" have an equal status in city dealings.

I'm all for racial equality, but this city government is being run on a premise (nay, actuality) of black supremacy. Attend any meeting of divisional and departmental mangement any where in the city and you will notice that 60% to 100% of the management is African-American. Take note of the recruiting/hiring at division/department levels and you will notice that 90% of the recruiting is pre-designated for African-Americans only.

Council -- pull yourselves together and do what is right for the CITY -- not for the African-American minority!

Counter or put aside the constant barrage of racial insinuations and start running this city based on true equality. We are a diverse citizenship -- only 30% African-American!

I honestly can't believe that the African-American citizenship of this city is in favor of this intimidation form of representation and look forward to hearing from others regrding this issue.

Anonymous said...

Sadly, this blog made race an issue. Minus the awful comments and editorial related to minorities, this blog might have some credibility. Unfortunately, the skunks blew it from the beginning.

Anonymous said...

On the mayor: whenever there has been suppression of thought, people have used allegories, such as nursery rhymes, to talk about those in power. Jack Sprat could eat no fat, and his wife could eat no lean. And so betwixt the two of them they licked the platter (Kansas City) clean. Does the mayor have horns?

Anonymous said...

2:41 - I wish race didn't have to be an issue either, but it does. Race is the MAJOR issue we're dealing with. There is no credibility in any other argument.

Anonymous said...

To 2:41: The skunks didn't make race an issue -- the City Manager did, along with the three African-American council persons. I wish it weren't so, but it is true. Cauthen has made it very clear in both his hiring practices, comments to staff, and direct orders to hiring managers that he wants only persons of non-white ethnicity to be promoted or hired. He gave a few "passes" on this rule, but it became clear that those were exceptions not to be repeated. He has continued this injustice by constantly stirring up and calling forth for support from the "black majority" that materializes at any discussion regarding his transgressions.

Cauthen is a very intelligent and knowledgeable manager and could do wonderful things for this city-- if he would stop putting race first and foremost ahead of good business. He didn't need to do that to win support from city staff, but he did and those actions are unconsciousable, intolerable, and indefensiable. Although I admire his intellect, I can not support keeping him as our City Manager so long as he continues his racist policies.

One only has to observe the various discussions regarding his contract to see that he is playing the race card to his maximum advantage and aligning himself with the so-called "black majority" in this city. I checked and 8:42 is correct: within the city limits of this city, African Americans are a MINORITY of 30% of the total population. I agree with 8:42. The Council needs to stand firm for what is best for Kansas City and ALL its citizens and quite running scared of this blatant intimidation tactic.

P.S. It is interesting to note that Denver is only 10% African-American. One wonders why Cauthen is so blatantly racist after spending most of his career in that city. Is it because there is so much more opportunity to behave so in our city?

Anonymous said...

We need to find that direct link to Jefferson City to go right to the govenor to order the State Audit on Kansas City. There are so many areas in which need to be audited! From construction accounts in CIMO, 1 Percent Art Program, the MBE/WBE program, WC himself, Phillip Yelder, Ollie Johnson, Councilman Riley, just to name a few.

There needs to be an audit on the MBE/WBE program on how it is handle the goals that are set forth for participation. There are two BIG BULLYS on the 4th floor Phil Yelder and Ollie Johnson! You talk about racist! And when did those two men have the added job description of negotiation with minority contractors? Why does Phil Yelder get to ask a contractor "How much will it cost the "City" to keep you in business? The "City" does not want you to fail! Now if that is not opening the check-book, then I don't know what is. Aren't all contractor suppose to be able to perform the job that is specified without it costing the "City" extra, because WC says make this problem go away!

So yes there is racial tension in the City of Kansas City, MO, and it all started when WAyne Cauthen came to town. He has an agenda and one adgenda only! So if you are a white professional then don't apply for a management position with the city, because he won't hire you! Sad to say but everyone in the metropolitan area knows that!

Mayor and City Council wake up!!!!!!! What is in the "BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY?" My tax dollars are not being spent wisely!