Saturday, December 15, 2007

Mr. Mayor, Pull Yourself Up - Get On It

This is posted Sat 12/15/07 9:21 a.m.

Foghorn said...

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.December 15, 2007 9:21 AM.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The case against Cauthen is very strong, and Funk can make it. There are many of us inside and outside of City Hall who have something to contribute.

Wayne's reign is a scandal, and the media have had no interest in it.

Time to use the Bully Pulpit.

Anonymous said...

Funk can still pull this off if he simply recognizes that --as much as he hates it -- this requires a POLITICAL action on his part. I think he believes that political negotiations, etc., are beneath him and that "right makes might". Machivelli, etc., have demonstrated over and over again that this is not true and Funk simply can't rely on taking the high road or ignoring the politics going on in city hall.

The obvious option is to talk privately one-on-one to the council members who simply voted for Wayne's contract for pure spite; offer up the facts behind his decision to ask Wayne to resign. Cindy Circo has stated publicly that she is "neutral" on Wayne. There are at least three others who could potentially switch to Funk's side if good reasons were given. (And we all know that there ARE good reasons to get rid of Wayne!) Funk needs to work with these council members and get some on his side. Then he can veto the ordinance and get the votes to nullify it. (He only needs ONE more vote!) That would avoid a potentially dangerous and costly court battle and get Wayne out sooner.
And if the "negotiations" require him to offer to boot Gloria out of City Hall -- so much the better! Funk needs to wake up and realize that this is POLITICS -- and Gloria is a political liability that is costing him credibility and stature.
Like the title says: "Mr. Mayor, Pull Yourself Up - Get On It"!

Anonymous said...

Look, the Funk will NEVER, I repeat to all NEVER get rid of Gloria. The Funk will go down the road of self-destruction...the die is cast. He really doesn't care about any of us, it's about pay back, plain and simple. You would have to be from a different planet not to figure this out.

Anonymous said...

Look, the Funk will NEVER, I repeat to all NEVER get rid of Gloria. The Funk will go down the road of self-destruction...the die is cast. He really doesn't care about any of us, it's about pay back, plain and simple. You would have to be from a different planet not to figure this out.

Anonymous said...

I will pass on the issue of whether W.C. is a good city manager or not. What disturbs me most about this situation is: (1) How poorly Funk handled it with his unilateral action, but then (2) how poorly the 9 council members responded with their own equally unilateral action. The 9 wish to claim that they were only responding to Funk's lack of inclusiveness (and rightfully so at first), but then they themselves respond with an equally non-inclusive action by ramrodding a 3.5 year contract down the taxpayers throat with NO, and I mean NO, notice or discussion. We voted for these people, and they left us (and the other council members) out of the loop as well. I for one would have like to have known what they were doing before it was done. This was bad government, and bad politicians, at their worst.

At that point, the gang of 9 lost any credibilty to claim the moral high ground that they were only responding to, and thus trying to fix, Funk's lack of inclusiveness. This is clearly just a "show" argument without real substance. Clearly, this was nothing more than a power play by BOTH sides to get what they want. Saddly, in this power play the real losers are the citizens of this city that have to watch 13 adults behave like spoiled children. I have lived in this city for alomst 45 years, and I have NEVER been this disgusted with a council before. ALL of them are merely advancing their own agendas at our expense.

I have watched the hearing twice and I am very disappointed in many of the people I personally supported with both money and time. However, I am most disappointed in two people: Cathy Jolly and Beth Gottstein (Jan a close third). Each ran on a platform of cooperation and advancing the agenda of the people/city over thier own. They showed their colors by joining into the fray and adding their voices to the cacophany of anger and hate. These two women know better, they just chose to pursue their own agendas over what was right: Attempting to work a resolution of the matter before embarassing this entire city with their conduct and chaos.

As Shakespeare wrote, "A pox on all your houses," and truer words were never written about this council. This ENTIRE council should be ashamed and embarassed about how they are behaving. If they are not, then Lord knows I am embarassed enough by them for all of us. I have to spend this Christmas explaining once again to my in-laws in Kansas why I and my husband still live in KC. My residency has just become much harder to defend. I am sad tonight for my city, and that this is my city council.

Beth, Cathy, Jan, Cindy and Ed, please grow up over Christmas, because right now you are killing us.

Anonymous said...

The new councilwomen are weak--they'll flip if they get enough flack. Get over Gloria she's here to stay--she's not the issue anyway.

Anonymous said...

I agree with everything that you have written. Being a former City employee for we years, I could not handle the unethical and immoral wrong doings going on in City Hall and CIMO. Funk has got to make the political right move. Funk put out the facts as to why you go not want to renew his contract. There is plenty of evidence of his misdoings and his lack of responsible leadership. And I am with you about finding a new home town! Now that I do not have to live in the city limits, I will be putting my house on the market so that this disfunctional city does not get my tax dollars to misuse. Between the racist pig we have for a city manager and the irresponsible city council, it is time to find a new home town!

Wake up Funk and do the right thing! Get rid of the wife and tell the council and the public why you do not want to renew WC contract. I pray that the charter gives you the power to overturn what our irresponsible council did on Thursday! Wake up Kansas Citians, the city is in debt!!!! And it is WC fault!

Anonymous said...

if wayne was so dam good why did one of his own that he brought with him quit as finance manager.

Anonymous said...

Since WC and LT seem to like porn, maybe now they can hire Paul Morrison to work on the 29th Floor since he's out of a job.

They wouldn't need it on camera, they could just go snooping around closets and bathrooms to get their jollies.