Posted by Anonymous 12/13/07 7:21 a.m.
Wait until the "citizens" that are coming out in support of keeping Wayne and his toadies find out how close the City is to being bankrupted by all of Wayne's pet projects. These TIFS are really making a dent in the city's funds. I hear there is a scandal brewing over another $10 million that EDC is claiming is still owed for old projects-- that's half the city fund balance! And I heard that all these TIFS and extra pet projects are the reason that Budget hasn't been able to finish the next year budget -- can't find the additional $50 million needed to pay for all the spending that WC won't cut back on. He's spending money like it grows on the trees downtown!And he keeps trying to hide the truth from the Mayor about the problems-- that's why he has to GO. Wake up Kansas City and check out the facts about the city's financial condition that WC has put it in! Come on KC Star, get the facts out in front of the citizens about how bad the budget situation really is.
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6 comments:
Yes. We will continue down the road to fiscal chaos. We have proven by today's action in Council that we are lead by a bankrupt Mayor. This Cauthen win is unnecessary. But for funkhouser and consort to usurp our charter is absolutely unthinkable. How in heaven's name did this ridiculous administration manage to make Cauthen look remotely creditable!!!! OH Man! Oh Man! Oh Man!
Listen up Funk... GET RID OF YOUR ADVISORS TONIGHT! Starting with Squitiro, move on down to Wolff, next axe Blackwood, and that guy you brought up from auditing. Leave Dottie alone. She has cried enough because of Squitiro's meanness. Bernetta can find another berth in City Hall. Ruth has shown courage and is not taking your crap. She's a keeper. So is that Shawn guy when he gets back in country. Grovel to Britt. He worked hard for you during the campaign, he did not deserve to be treated like rubbish by you and yours. Crispin being shown the door is a given. Joan I make no comment other than she is not a forceful being. Next.. your weak-kneed kitchen cabinet is history. You did not hear them any way so no loss. Get the meanest people you know who are critical of you and who will stay in your face. You have no discipline so this drastic measure is a baseline.
Next.. stop screwing up. Just stop it!
That is right. The city manager is driving the city into bankrupt. The star does need to check out the city's bonding capacity. Let's not forget all the money that he gives to minority contractors that raise enough hell that he sends in Phil Yelder in to make the problem go away. He has pushed for construction projects to get out the door for bid when they are not ready. Put he is more worried about his bonus that he gets for every Capital dollar spent. Construction projects are costing at least 30% or more than they should. We need to back Mayor Funkhouser for making the right decision by getting rid of Wayne!
Oh, Funk! What have you done now??? Why, oh,why, don't you try to line up support before you go blundering into decisions? NOW, you have clearly made removing Wayne both a RACIAL and a POLITICAL POWER TRIP issue! Surely you could have found a better way of doing this and surely you could have found two neutral council persons who could have been swayed by your logical reasoning in reaching the decision? Reasoning which you have made even more political by refusing to share with the council! You idiot!
So, take it to court. Not that I believe that you have much of a chance of winning in court.
Oh, woe! We are lost. We've been "funked" as one black Coucil woman so obscenely put it. The tyrant is here to stay and will be worse than ever as he wastes our city's money on his Denver friends and toadies. AND his clearly racially motivated projects/pets!
Does any one see a way out of this mess?
Astute?? Let's not confuse hasty, angry reactions with sensibility and logic. The 9 are correct to be angry, but that doesn't make their knee-jerk reaction "astute", by any means. Funk needs to lay out his reasons for wanting Wayne to resign to each City Council member (OK, just the 4 potential swing votes) and ask for their IMPARTIAL input and how they would vote after learning all the facts.
Funk obviously doesn't understand how important the council is in making decisions about matters that have such a huge impact on the city (so, HE is not astute, OK --but he may still be making the RIGHT decision).
Funk needs to get to work and fix the mess he has created by being open and honest about his reasons for wanting Wayne gone. Come clean, Mayor! And give the council another opportunity to review their decision and make an "astute" decision (if they are capable of putting their anger aside and doing what is best for the city).
Note to the mayor:
Gloria CAN NOT STAY. It is that simple. She is about to cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Funk - While I applaud your loyalty, your statement "she will be there as long as I am" leaves us little choice. I smell a recall.
1-The debate so far has been about race, not about competency. The #1 problem - GLORIA - This is about Gloria. How much of the debate revolved around Gloria? It's obvious. She's a liability and needs to be controlled.
2-If you can't manage your own wife, how in the world can you manage this mess at city hall?
3-If Gloria gave a diddly about you, you wouldn't be able to drag her into city hall. If I was causing 1% of this grief to my spouse in ANY undertaking, I would back away. Gloria's insistence on staying around is NOT LOVE, it's control. There's another word for it, but I won't go there.
4-I'm not an attorney, but it would seem to me that NOT being a city employee, Gloria is PERSONALLY responsible for her actions. Now, that doesn't absolve the city and our deep pockets in that the city has ALLOWED the hostile work place to exist and continue, so our tax dollars will pay, BUT I don't see where city dollars can be used to defend GLORIA from personal liability or to protect her personal assets. If a city employee gets sued, their assets are generally protected, but I don't see that with Gloria. So, is it worth your house and savings?
To all -
What are we to do?
Thursday will go down as one of the city's darkest days. I don't see a win here. Whatever happens will be about race, not performance. I saw little, if any, discussion on competency, leadership, or ethics. There were attacks on the mayor's wife for which he bears responsibility, but beyond that, not a lot of discussion about the real issues.
I think the mayor tried to take "the high road" but didn't do a very good job of executing it. He tried to go on record as saying he and the city manager "had different visions" and let Cauthen move on to work "his magic" somewhere else. Cauthen decided to play the race card and make a stink (personally I think he saw this coming and has been laying some groundwork to strengthen that card's value - the timing of the complaint against Gloria was awful convenient)so now the mayor needs to get honest with the people.
As sad as it is, Funk is still our only hope here (I don't see Blunt stepping in), but first he's got to lose Gloria from his staff. That's what kitchen counters are for. After losing Gloria, he's GOT to lay out all the issues. He HAS to lay out to the council and the people HIS REASONS for not renewing WC's contract.
The incompetency. Funk knows budgets and finance. Point out the flaws in the direction we've taken. ANYBODY can rebuild downtown with borrowed money we can't repay. I could drive a Ferrari if I didn't have to make the payments! Point out the hundred's of thousands of dollars in waste and favors. Point out the deficit and budget shortfalls and draw the line back to WC.
Point out the ethical issues. The documented and reported travel expenses are just part of the story. There are more and in the time he's been in the Hall, he should know where to look or just look here and we'll tell him. Point out the unlawful and unethical contracts and outright awards. If WC wants to make it a race thing, then go there. Equality is one thing, even a degree of MBE advantage, but MBE exclusivity is another. I am amazed at the number of MBE's we deal with that have NO OTHER CUSTOMERS. They cannot or will not compete in the marketplace! If WC wants it to be a referendum on racial preference, so be it.
Go to the HR issues. WC is the CEO here. He is ultimately responsible for it ALL. Go to LT's pornography and WC's refusal to deal with her. We're going to have to pay backpay and reinstate all other employees who have been fired for the same thing. Discuss the widespread hostilities throughout the city from upper management down, including the City Manager's Office. The voters would be shocked to hear the things that are going on under WC's nose and with his implied approval. It shouldn't be hard to find examples of the horrible morale of the employees and city wide fear employees have of management. The entire city is a hostile workplace and efforts to prevent it are nonexistent.
Let's look at the whole copier thing. That got a lot of traction with the public and there are more stories just like it. The early termination of 4 directors (3 white, 1 black) to be replaced with 3 black and 1 white (if memory serves me right). Look at the competency of the people WC has personally selected. The best people available for any job are always minorities from Denver? How is that? Any leader can be judged by those he chooses to assist him.
Funk, MAKE YOUR CASE! The case is there for somebody to pick up. Either YOU do it or pack your bags.
My prediction - Funk can't stand up to Gloria, he can't take the heat of city hall. I see a resignation. I'm not and haven't been a big Funk supporter, but nobody wins from a mid-term special election, especially one that will be 100% race based. I was just looking for a new job. If he doesn't get this mess right, I'll be looking for a new home town.
TIFS on the Plaza. TIFS for Blighted Briarcliff. Deals with special interest groups-(ordinance#050917). Did Mr. Cauthen's job require him to try and stop or slow the 'wide-open' financial spigot for these special interests' groups? What of the complete disregard of the Funkhouse audits during the Barnes/Cauthen administation? Despite the new Mayor's many misteps, I continue to watch with enthusiasm, this 21st century,KC version of "Mr Smith goes to Washington"!!
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