Saturday, January 31, 2009

Billionaire Claire Steps Off Her Private Jet to Attack CEOs

Mixed emotions here. I'm glad to see somebody talking boldly about CEO compensation, which has spun wildly out of control.

It just strikes me as odd that the messenger is our own billionaire Claire McCaskill, who is the 14th wealthiest member of an incredibly wealthy congress, and has a private jet at her beck and call so that she doesn't need to brush up against commoners at the airport.

Salary caps are a nice soundbite, and Claire is milking this one for all it's worth - probably more than it's worth, actually, given the multiple ways that Wall Street can funnel millions without resorting to salary lines.

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Friday, January 30, 2009

Funkhouser Demonstrates Great Scheduling Judgment

Over at Funk's Front Porch, he posts his schedule for yesterday morning:
9:30 a.m. Councilmember Ford

10:00 a.m Doug Hotten of MAST
I suspect Mark anticipated the tenor of his first meeting accurately.

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Too Much Cooperation? - Day 54 of the Jackson County Ethics Crisis

Cooperation is generally a good thing, but it has its limits. In the legislative world, too much agreement is a red flag that something is amiss. If a roomful of elected officials sworn to represent their constituents don't ever disagree, they are either not facing genuine issues or not having the courage to dissent.

Over the first 4 meetings of the 2009 Jackson County Legislature, Bob Spence is the only legislator to vote "no" on anything. No other legislator has broken from the herd even once. (To be completely fair, as always, I should point out that Fred Arbanas abstained from a vote to congratulate him on his birthday, and Scott Burnett abstained from the vote electing him Chair. So at least two legislators have a vocabulary that exceeds "aye". It's also worth noting that Henry Rizzo didn't abstain from the vote electing him Vice Chair, secure in his knowledge that ethics rules don't apply to the Jackson County legislature.)

During that time, the Legislature has spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars, and changed the law in a fashion that will almost certainly cause children to be harmed in Jackson County, as well as property damage.

More tellingly, nobody has dared introduce an ordinance reversing the Legislature's anti-ethical exemption of itself from the Jackson County Ethics Code. I had correspondence with one legislator who agrees with me that the exemption should be reversed, but he won't introduce such a measure unless he knows it will pass. Sadly, going on record supporting ethics is less important than avoiding the wrath of the legislative leadership.

Folks, a good legislature is marked by spirited debate and respectful differences. A bad legislature is marked by fearful cooperation and gutless orthodoxy. A legislature that agrees on everything is not doing its job.

The Jackson County legislature is not doing its job.

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Jackson County 2nd At-Large District - Day 53 of the Jackson County Ethics Crisis

I'm an optimistic person, and I believe that the Jackson County legislature will reverse itself on its misguided attempt to exempt itself from the Jackson County Ethics Code. I hope we won't need to attempt an initiative campaign, or recruit candidates to run against the incumbents.

All that said, now is the time for people to start thinking about running in 2010, and I want to encourage that thought by posting profiles of various districts. Today, I'll talk about the district that ought to be most "in play" of all the districts - Henry Rizzo's 2nd at-large district. I'm choosing that one because, even though I live in his district, Henry Rizzo failed to respond to my polite email seeking information about his vote on the ethics ordinance. Non-responsive politicians are a pet peeve of mine.

Here's a map of the district - it covers a huge swath of Kansas City's most politically active and wealthiest section. It includes almost all of the County inside the 435 loop south of the river, including the Ward Parkway corridor. There are lots of people in that geographic zone with serious political insight, good connections, and experience running in elections. Certainly someone out there who ran for Mayor, who has termed out of another office, who ran for State Rep, or who has always wanted to get involved with elected public service, would be willing to step up and put his or her name into contention to run against Henry Rizzo, especially in light of his insistence that the Jackson County legislators should not be overseen by the Jackson County Ethics Commission.

Rizzo is vulnerable for a whole bunch of reasons beyond his rejection of ethics. He was behind the recent fireworks legislation, which is already attracting some scrutiny regarding who is really profiting. He's also pleaded guilty to a charge of providing a false statement to a financial institution, a federal offense. I could list more, but the clear message is that Henry Rizzo would face a difficult time running against a fresh face with a concern for ethics.

Take a second and look at this map. Think about some of the politically-involved people you know in that area. Next time you see them, ask them whether they might be interested in running for office . . .

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Cauthen Consistent, Council Confounded

For the second week in a row, Wayne Cauthen has demonstrated his disdain for the City Council by skipping the Finance and Audit Committee meeting.

While I tend to criticize our City Manager for his resume lies and participation in the looting of the city, I have to admire him for this one.

Wayne Cauthen claimed in his resume that he has "Corrected the city’s previously structurally imbalanced budget." Now, if he shows up and participates in a committee meeting where the City Council is struggling to come up with $85 million to correct the city's structurally imbalanced budget, wouldn't that be inconsistent? In Wayne's World, the budget problems don't exist.

The Council's frustration with Cauthen must have been heightened by the fact that Cauthen sent Chuck Eddy, a $140,000 expense item, to attend the hearing in his place. That's just kind of rubbing their nose in it, don't you think?

While I certainly understand their frustration, I hope that the Council uses this opportunity to ponder the fact that Funkhouser was right to fire Wayne Cauthen, and their childish decision to give Cauthen a 3 year contract out of spite was the single most destructive mistake made by this City Council.

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All the News that's Comfortable to Print

In case anyone was wondering whether the Prime Buzz Blog Watch column would mention the massive blind spot in the Star's coverage of Jackson County, don't be silly. Instead, they found space for a piece about being a careful pedestrian in Kansas City.

As Elvis Costello wrote, "I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused . . .".

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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Why Does the Star Ignore the County? - Day 52 of the Jackson County Ethics Crisis

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a savvy former politician who told me that when he was being interviewed by TV people, and he said something he didn't want broadcast, he would drop an F-bomb into the sentence. Video editing capabilities of the day and pressing deadlines kept him out of the news when he didn't want to be there.

I have discovered a similar trick that works to keep the KC Star from putting something in the paper. Just mention "Jackson County". The Star will lose interest and flee from the story.

I attended an introductory meeting for an unofficial committee focused on city business last week, and I was not at all surprised to see two, count 'em two, Star writers there. I asked one of them afterward why they double-teamed a city issue, but nobody was writing about the fact that the Jackson County Ethics Commission was NOT meeting, because nobody had been timely named to it.

Similarly, there is nobody writing about the fact that this is Day 52 of the Jackson County Ethics Crisis, with the Legislators continuing in their refusal to be governed by a local ethics commission.

It's even reached the point that the Star downplays Jackson County issues on the Prime Buzz. Recently, I did two posts in one morning - one was about a minor argument I had with another local blogger, and the other was an analysis of whether anyone would agree to serve on the Jackson County Ethics Commission, and raising the question of whether it was even ethical to serve on it while it was barred from taking on the tasks assigned to it in the Jackson County Charter. The Prime Buzz's Blog Watch column ignored the post about an important issue for Jackson County governance and wrote about the other.

Who, at the Star, covers the City? Lynn Horsley, Deanne Smith (who I understand has a vested interest in keeping County coverage positive), Yael Abouhalkah, and anyone else with a spare moment and a scrap of paper. Who, at the Star, covers the County? Well, let's see - Mike Mansur does a decent job when he has the chance, but it's only one of his many assignments.

The result is that you have the Star double-teaming a committee meeting, but ignoring the Jackson County Ethics Crisis. The result is that the Star didn't even mention that the Jackson County Ethics Commission had resigned until weeks after it had happened. The result is that the Star STILL has not reported that the time has lapsed for the ethics committee selection board to appoint replacements, with the result that Mike Sanders now has that duty.

For some reason, the Star has decided that it should not flip over the rocks in Jackson County government. It's kind of sad, because the more I look, the more I find. I'd love to see what a real journalist could do with these stories.

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BJCP! Back to School!

The time is finally nearing!

A while back, I wrote about the Beer Judge Certification Program, and a local opportunity to become an expert on beer styles and judging homebrew. Yesterday, I received an email announcing the class schedule - one Sunday afternoon per month until July, when we take the final exam to become certified beer judges.

(Rumor has it that we will be invited to assist with the judging at the Kansas City Biermeisters' 26th Annual Regional Homebrew Contest - one of the select few homebrew contests that lead toward the much-coveted Nationals. If you've never had the opportunity to participate in a high-level brewing contest, where you focus in on a particular style and taste the best samples produced by some of the best brewers side by side, you're in for a treat.)

If you contacted me before about participating in the class, but didn't receive an email yesterday, then contact me again so I can make sure the organizers get in touch with you. Even if you didn't contact me, but want to join the class, email me.

For the first time in my academic career, I am truly looking forward to homework assignments.

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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Burning Houses, Severed Fingers, Blinded Children - Jackson County Wants More of These - Day 51 of the Jackson County Ethics Crisis

Our Jackson County legislature has legalized the sale of fireworks in Jackson County. They claim that the reason they are doing so is to help nonprofits.

No, seriously, they are claiming that.

I attend a lot of nonprofit meetings, I read a lot of nonprofit publications, and I know a lot of nonprofit executives. Never once have I heard anybody propose that fireworks sales are the solution for the funding crisis faced by nonprofits. Not once.

And, really, Mr. Rizzo and Mr. Tarwater, if you want to help nonprofits increase revenues, why choose a seasonal item that causes fires, traumatic amputations and blindness? Nonprofits have funding needs all year, not just in July. Why not let nonprofits sell drugs, or run brothels? There's a lot more money in those vices than you can get from the chump change people fork over for bottle rockets.

Perhaps I am mistaken. Perhaps Henry Rizzo and Dan Tarwater have been talking to the National Society for Blind Homeless Kids Missing Fingers.

Or, perhaps they have lined up some donations from people with ties to the wholesale fireworks industry.

It has now been 51 days since we have had a fully staffed Jackson County Ethics Commission with the power to investigate our Jackson County legislators. As long as the legislature exempts itself from local enforcement of the Jackson County Ethics Code, Jackson County voters should assume the absolute worst of legislators.

With characters like Rizzo and Tarwater helping out the fireworks industry, it's hard to believe anything but the worst.

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Excellent News on Race Issues

After generation after generation of racism, diversity has become an unstoppable force. Especially if we stop talking about it.

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Monday, January 26, 2009

Day 50 of Jackson County Ethics Crisis - Will Citizens be Forced to Use Initiative Petitions to Get the Ethical Governance Promised in Our Charter?

Jackson County Government has been in an ethics crisis for 50 days, and the crisis shows no sign of fading. Instead, it worsens.

Way back in the beginning of December, Sly James resigned from the Jackson County Ethics Commission. His resignation started a 30 day time frame for a new appointment by the ethics committee selection board. Unfortunately, that board failed to appoint a replacement in time, so, under the County Charter, Mike Sanders is now the only person with the authority to make that appointment. Similarly, the remaining ethics commissioners each resigned before Christmas, and the 30 day period for their replacement has passed, as well.

In the time when Jackson County has been without an Ethics Commission, the Jackson County Legislature has run amok. First, it passed an ordinance which illegally purports to rob the Commission of its role in overseeing Jackson County Ethics. As if to demonstrate its utter contempt for ethical standards, the County Legislature then selected as its Chair a member who has already been fined for a state-level ethics violation.

Why has Mike Sanders failed to appoint a new Ethics Commission? Probably because ethical citizens are hesitating to join a Commission which is directed by the Charter to do that which is barred by ordinance. It's an untenable position, and I certainly understand why good people would not want to be a part of an atmosphere that is rapidly descending from unethical to actively anti-ethical.

Is there a solution to this ethical toxicity created by the Jackson County legislature? We have a completely empty Ethics Commission, and it appears that nobody will fill those seats. At this stage, even if Mike Sanders were able to find willing participants, what kind of credibility would they have? For all concerned, it might be best to leave the Commission vacant as a symbol of the Legislature's disdain for ethical standards.

If the Jackson County Legislature persists in its rejection of local ethical oversight, citizens have two methods of fighting back for their Charter. As I've mentioned before, replacing the incumbents in 2010 may be relatively easy and bring a bunch of fresh faces to the legislative body.

The second method, and one that is becoming increasingly attractive, is an Initiative Petition. With under 7000 valid signatures on Petitions, we could force a vote in Jackson County about whether we want our Jackson County legislators to be subject to local ethical oversight and local ethical standards.

If we time this correctly, we can gather the signatures on spring weekends and get the issue on the ballot in August. It's going to take a lot of work and a bit of money, but this is the sort of project that ought to catch fire. There are a lot of people who knocked on doors and organized successfully for the November elections, and new potential candidates for office should be eager to align themselves early with the pro-ethics side of Jackson County.

It's day 50 in Jackson County's ethics crisis. In the coming days and weeks, I'll be posting more about this problem. Stay tuned.

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

What Have You Learned in the Past 3 Weeks

Here's what my state representative, Jason Kander, has come up with for the past 3 weeks. I can't claim to have been as productive . . .
10. While it's an honor to receive an appointment to the budget committee as a freshman, it's also pretty intimidating to be on that committee when Governor Nixon is inheriting such a troubled deficit.

9. Just keeping up with my day-to-day schedule is a challenge! Whenever I think that I've caught up, I come back to my office and find a desk full of legislation, research, or correspondence that needs my attention. If you know me at all, you know I actually love this aspect of the job.

8. It's going to be tough to get used tousing language like "the gentleman from St. Louis County" when giving a speech.

7. Reporters pay VERY close attention to the words you use and they are definitely earning their salaries.

6. It's easy to lose touch with reality if you spend too much time talking only to other politicians (especially if you only talk to folks from your own side of the aisle). I've learned a tremendous amount by setting up phone calls with Department Directors, University Presidents, etc.

5. My staff is incredible. Without my legislative aide or my interns, I think I would be a complete and total mess.

4. The Republican majority has the option of shutting the Democratic minority out of all policymaking for no reason at all.

3. The title of a bill may sound good, and the summary may sound great, but it's extremely important to read the actual language. I almost got burned on this a week ago and I've resolved to treat every potential "yes" vote like I do a potential signature on a contract.

2. A law degree and some experience practicing law is, I think, a real advantage. I count myself very lucky to come into this with so much experience interpreting and arguing over the meaning of state statutes.

1. It seems like there are at least five lobbyists for every one legislator in the Capitol at any given time
Keep on keeping on, Jason.

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SUNDAY SHOCKER - Squitiro Taking Over as Chiefs Head Coach

On the Sunday before the Super Bowl, new Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli shook up City Hall and Arrowhead Stadium by announcing that Gloria Squitiro will be replacing Herm Edwards as Head Coach of the Chiefs, effective immediately. "Squitiro knows how to make things happen in Kansas City," Pioli explained, "and she's not welcome at her first choice of workspaces, so I thought we should let her try her hand at coaching a football team."

Ed Ford, of course, was the first to criticize. "She has no experience!", he shouted from the back of the room, where nobody had been paying attention to him. Pioli replied that Herm Edwards had plenty of experience, and "look where that got us." Clark Hunt chimed in that Ed Ford really ought to spend at least a little time doing something other than attacking the Mayor and his wife, but Ed Ford shook off the suggestion. "I paid Pat Gray good money to conduct a 'push poll', and I want my money's worth. If I don't have Gloria to attack at City Hall, somebody might start asking why I haven't accomplished anything."

The traditional media were in a state of shock. Steve Kraske and Deanne Smith were seen sadly handing over thick files to Jason Whitlock and Joe Posnanski, and CJ Janovy was rumored to be in despair. "Squitiro was Janovy's muse. CJ managed to create a cover story out of nothing but snark and Photoshop," a source from within the very quiet Pitch newsroom whispered. "I gotta go and empty the trash now."

In her first address to the team, Squitiro was clearly relaxed and in her element. "You big lugs," she shouted, "you've probably heard a lot about me. Most of it's not true, but losers like to talk. I like to get results. If I took a funny-looking, dour accountant and ran a campaign that made him Mayor, it will be easy to take a 2-14 group of losers like you to the Super Bowl. Alvin Brooks was a helluva lot tougher to beat than the San Diego Chargers, I tell ya. From now on, we're wearing orange!", she shouted, and then murmured, "and I'll be attending your team physicals, too." The players squirmed a little upon hearing that.

One of the Chiefs players, speaking under condition of anonymity, seemed pretty pleased with the choice. "Sure, she hasn't coached before, but she never worked in a Mayor's office before, either. She's smart, aggressive, and not afraid to say what's on her mind. I think she might fit into the NFL even better than she did City Hall."

Brandon Clark, a skycap at the Kansas City Airport, was enthusiastic about Squitiro's new role. "I've seen her stand up for herself when she thought the officiating was questionable, and she will dominate the sidelines."

Contacted at her Northland home, Frances Semler remained bitter about her experience with the City. "I just hope she takes a hard look at that Gonzalez guy!" she shouted, before slamming the door on a reporter.

Clark Hunt seemed especially thrilled with the salary negotiations. "She works for free!", he exclaimed. "That frees up lots of money to spend on draft picks. And I think she might be able to convince Funk that city support for the Jackson County Sports Complex should keep on flowing. Can't get much further East Side in Kansas City than Arrowhead Stadium, so keep that money flowing."

Jan Marcason expressed frustration that Squitiro had circumvented her anti-Volunteer Ordinance. "Volunteers are bad people," she complained. "We need to find a way to regulate everyone who works for free in this city, especially Gloria Squitiro. Ed Ford suggested in one of those famous backroom meetings that I should have named my ordinance the anti-Gloria ordinance, and included a provision that told her to stay in her house at all times, but I didn't listen to him because I wanted to make it look like I was spending time on something that wasn't so mean-spirited and foolish. I guess he was right. Mean-spirited and foolish isn't really unusual on this Council."

Mayor Mark Funkhouser seemed happy with the turn of events. "I'll be spending most of my office hours at Arrowhead Stadium now, rather than my house in Brookside. It's more convenient for the residents of the East Side, and I'll be holding Town Hall meetings at the Stadium on a weekly basis."

Wayne Cauthen was unavailable for comment on the news. He was busy negotiating with Cordish to give them the parking concession for Arrowhead, in exchange for a handful of promises.

"This is a great time for the Kansas City Chiefs franchise," Scott Pioli gushed. "Gloria Squitiro has watched her husband try to lead 12 Council members at a time, and he's made some great plays, like the New Tools initiative, a better budget and an economic development policy, and he's made a few bad calls, too. Like a football coach, he has done it by empowering the members of the Council to make the right plays. Now, Gloria gets to try to manage 11 players on the field at a time, and accomplish her goals through them. It ought to come easy to her. She can trade the ones that aren't doing their jobs, but Funk doesn't get to do that."

(UPDATE!: I received a gentle and good-natured email from the fine folks over at FuKCed City, who pointed out that this post bears more than a passing similarity to their post of a little more than a month ago entitled "BREAKING NEWS: One Arrowhead Shocker!" and reporting that Gloria Squitiro was becoming the team's General Manager. All I can say is if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they should feel incredibly flattered. I can't even deny that I read the piece when it was posted - I read all their posts, because they're great. It must have stuck in the back of my mind, and come out in a more wordy and less original form. My apologies to the crew over at FuKCed City, and, if you haven't bookmarked them yet, add them to your list of regular reads.)

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Sunday Poetry: Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll

Jabberwocky
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
the frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the maxome foe he sought-
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood a while in thought.

As in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came.

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack.
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"Has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay!
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

- by Lewis Carroll

_________________________________________

What is the point of "Jabberwocky", one of the most beloved poems of the English language? Fun. Read it out loud, and you find yourself performing it. Like the lyrics of a song you know well, it's hard to read without feeling the rhythm and music, and having them filter into your voice. Reading "Jabberwocky" in a monotone is a joyless but impressive feat of verbal self-control.

Do you want to know what the strange words mean? Unfortunately, Lewis Carroll provided a few definitions, both in his own commentary and in the form of Humpty Dumpty opining on the poem in "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There".

Personally, I choose not to accept the meanings Carroll offers. "Mimsy" means frivolous and whimsical when I read the poem, and "brillig" means bright and brilliant.

As Alice describes the poem, "... It seems to fill my head with ideas -- only I don't know exactly what they are." Well stated, Alice.

One final note before I'll ask you to go back and read the poem aloud again - note the power of poetic form. The rhymes carry you through the poem, even without meaning, and the "duDAH duDAH duDAH duDAH" of lines like "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!/The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!" give a satisfying beat. And consider the impact of the repeated first stanza - it adds a seriousness and completeness to the poem, even though it is nonsensical. Repetition is the same poetic trick employed so hauntingly by Dylan Thomas in "Do not go gentle into that good night", and it works in both. While "Jabberwocky" is fun and deserves to be enjoyed as fun, a student of poetry can see that there's a lot of interesting work going on in its frabjous stanzas.

Now, please take a couple moments and read the poem aloud. I hope it lightens your heart and brings a smile.

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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Put Gitmo in KCMO - Budget Problems solved!

"Intelligent, well-intentioned" Kansas Citians (and the rest of us, too) are facing an $85 million collar budgetary shortfall in the upcoming year. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is trying to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison, and relocate the prisoners. Also meanwhile, the County and City are in talks about merging their prison, but wondering where they will find the money.

Does it really take an apparently unintelligent, poorly-intentioned person like me to tie this all together?

Bring the terrorists to Kansas City! Get federal dollars to build a brand-spanking new prison facility in Swope Park to house everyone from hardened terrorists to housing code scofflaws. This project would have access to the kind of black-budget, military/industrial complex dollars that would make Halliburton executives twitchy. I'm talking big time stuff. Obama has made a global promise to close Gitmo, so we have him over a barrel. Money will not be an object. Dare to dream.

After construction, we have the benefit of long-term, high-paying jobs. How long is the "Global War on Terror" going to last? Given that terrorism, the enemy, has been with us for countless generations, I think we would be wise to anchor our economy on an industry that has even more staying power than greeting cards and pick-up trucks. Flocks of the nation's best and most highly-trained prison guards and, umm, "inquisitors" (think Jack Bauer) would relocate to Kansas City. Our paltry $85 million shortfall would disappear quicker than the permanent Republican majority.

Think about the spin-off effects. Hundreds of hard-core, bad-ass prison guards living around Swope Park. Do you really think that the Kansas City gangs will survive the influx of new residents accustomed to dealing with al-Qaeda? Our penny-ante "tough guys" will flee the city when they realize they have zero street cred in a city that houses the big time.

Some may be wondering why I suggested placing the facility in Swope Park. Of course, the focus on east side development is a part of it, but there's an even better reason. The Zoo.

We have a facility already build that is designed to keep lions, tigers, kangaroos, gorillas and even birds caged in. It would be the perfect Prison Yard, and finally generate the kind of visitor traffic the thing needs to survive. (Technically, putting prisoners on display violates the Geneva Conventions, but, in the face of an economic meltdown for Kansas City, I see what Alberto Gonzales meant when he called the conventions "quaint", and, really, putting the prisoners on display will prevent them from being tortured. Isn't displaying them the lesser of two evils? Especially when you figure in the tourist dollars?)

I know, I know, that some wimps are going to whine that having such dangerous people in our fair city is dangerous. Already, the Senators of Kansas and California are whining about how terrible it would be to put the alleged terrorists in their midst.

Gutless NIMBY punks. Missourians are made of sterner stuff.

Even if we weren't, we're pretty well situated to remain safe from terrorist prison breaks. They can't get to us by sea. If they want to come by air, they have to fly over hundreds or thousands of miles of our air space, and we have Whiteman Air Force Base practically next door to scramble the jets. If they come by land, Missouri is situated so they have to go through multiple states' jurisdictions to get to us, so countless jurisdictions will get a crack at them before they even get here. Go ahead and take a look at the 8 states that border us. While I abhor the thought of racial profiling, do you really think that terrorists from Wherever-istan aren't going to stand out on their road trip here? Especially if they raise suspicions by eschewing McRib sandwiches on their highway stops?

It's crunch time for Kansas City, and innovative solutions are necessary. Even if Yael Abouhalkah does not list me among the intelligent and well-intentioned citizens of Kansas City, I'm determined to do my best.

Put the Gitmo in KCMO!

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Thursday, January 22, 2009

How to Help Bring Ethics to Jackson County

I've been on a bit of a roll lately, directing attention to the false arguments and nasty implications of the Jackson County legislature's refusal to submit to local ethics oversight. The attention is having an impact - KKFI has done a show on the topic, the Star has condemned the bad behavior, and, for the first time ever, the Jackson County Courthouse has climbed into my Top 10 sources of visitors! Folks, that's a lot of hits from one location, and I can't help but wonder if they're reading my coverage of their lack of ethics, or if they're checking out my "99 Bottles of Beer on the Blog" series. Either way, welcome!

While that's all been fun and good, a bunch of people have asked me in person and through email what they can do to help. People are sincerely angry that the Jackson County legislature is violating the County Charter and refusing to submit to local ethical oversight. By popular demand, here are a couple ways you can help in the effort to bring ethics to County government.

1. Write the legislators! This whole scandal stems from a belief that they could get away with this ugly subterfuge without anybody paying attention. They almost succeeded - if the members of the Jackson County Ethics Commission had not all resigned in response to the ethical shenanigans of the legislature, this whole issue might have escaped notice. Now, we need to let the legislators know we're paying attention. Here are their email addresses:
Scott Burnett - sburnett@jacksongov.org
Theresa Garza Ruiz - tgarza@jacksongov.org
Henry Rizzo - hrizzo@jacksongov.org
Fred Arbanas - farbanas@jacksongov.org
James Tindall - jtindall@jacksongov.org
Dennis Waits - dwaits@jacksongov.org
Dan Tarwater - dtarwater@jacksongov.org
Greg Grounds - ggrounds@jacksongov.org
Bob Spence - bspence@jacksongov.org
If you would prefer to call their offices or use old fashioned mail, you can find their phone numbers and addresses by clicking on their names on this page. Please contact them and let them know that you want ethics in Jackson County.

2. Talk to them. If you see them out someplace, like in a store or at a neighborhood event, politely mention your concern to them. Most of them are quite nice people, and most are unlikely to take a swing at you if you are polite and sincere. Truly, they are (mostly) fine public servants who are doing this job for good reasons, so the tone to take is one of gratitude for the many good things they do, but concern about this uncharacteristically unethical move.

3. Educate yourself about the County. I've posted links to the Jackson County Charter, the Ethics Ordinance and the Missouri Ethics Commission site on this website already, and, if you want your own copies, email me and I'll be happy to get them to you. The Jackson County Government does not get nearly the attention in the press that the City government gets, but it has a huge budget and impacts a broader geographical area.

4. Educate yourself about the Ethics issue. Unfortunately, if past behavior is a predictor of future performance, if you do contact one of our legislators about this issue, they will try to fool you with bad arguments, half-truths or outright lies. They may claim they are covered by the Code, or that the Missouri Ethics Commission has laws that apply to them. Ask them if they will be subject to ethics discipline if they show up to a meeting drunk, and that should stop them in their tracks.

5. Start talking to someone about running for the Jackson County Legislature. I mentioned above that the County doesn't get much press scrutiny, and the flip side of that coin is that none of the Legislators is all that well-known or popular. On top of that, every single one of them signed onto a law that exempts them from local ethical oversight! How simple will it be to pound on that fact in an election? How many voters (and donors) will respond to a simple promise to support an amendment of our Ethics ordinance so that it will apply to the legislators? How will any of the incumbents get around the fact that they supported the exemption? If you know someone who ran for office, but didn't make it, this is a grand opportunity for him or her to give it another try, with a built-in advantage. Call him or her and suggest this opportunity to run in 2010.

6. Write a letter to the editor. If you want to lift a line or an argument from this blog, have at it. The Star doesn't have anyone assigned to cover the County fulltime, so, if this issue is going to make it into ink, the letters page is the most likely candidate.

7. Talk about the issue to everyone you know with an interest in politics. Right now, this issue is generating a fair amount of buzz in the political community, and a few things are rumored to be coming up soon to keep it there. That's the kind of pressure that politicians respond to, so keep up the good work!

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Obama Less Ethical than Rizzo?

While the rest of the country has been celebrating the election and inauguration of President Obama, Jackson Countians are stuck with the troubling realization that President Obama is less ethical than the sterling characters who rule the Jackson County Legislature. On his first day in office, President Obama suffered the ethical lapse of imposing new ethics standards and making them apply to himself, and enforceable by an entity that is part of the federal budget. Close observers weren't caught off guard, though, in that he committed the same gaffe in the Senate, when he joined in the push to increase transparency and ban lobbyist gifts, again with federal enforcement.

According to the ethical whiz kids at the Jackson County Courthouse, federal ethical oversight is unethical. Just as the Untouchables argue that they cannot be investigated by a group that is part of their budget (ignoring the Sheriff's department, the Prosecutor's Office and the County Courts), the same logic would demand that we ban local oversight of our federal government, as well. Perhaps we can get the government of Canada or Mexico to oversee our ethics, if local oversight is too corrupting for the sensitive souls on the legislature. Or perhaps the U.N. should step in and take control.

Does that sound right to you? It's the exact same argument that our Jackson County legislators are trying to make.

Somehow, I have more faith in President Obama than in our Untouchables.

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Jackson County Ethics - Is Someone Drinking on the Job?

Does someone on the Jackson County Legislature have a serious drinking problem?

One of the mysteries surrounding the Jackson County Legislature's violation of the County Charter has been their motivation for making themselves "Untouchables" for the Jackson County Ethics Code. They claim that they are covered by the Missouri Ethics Commission, but informed citizens know that the MEC is strictly limited by law to "enforcement of conflict of interest and lobbying laws (RSMo 105.450-498) and campaign finance disclosure laws (RSMo 130)." The MEC does not and will not enforce the Jackson County Ethics Code, and anyone who says they will is either lying or misinformed. Even if the MEC wanted to, Missouri law does not give it that power.

Obviously, there are major differences between the Jackson County Ethics Code (here it is in pdf format) and the Missouri Statutes policed by the MEC, but yesterday evening a political insider asked me for specifics. Beyond the point that one is enforced locally and in public, while the other gets enforced behind closed Jefferson City doors, I pointed out that they differ in various specifics. I was unprepared to answer the question forcefully, though, so, when I got home, I started looking at some of the differences.

There are a bunch, of course, but the one that jumped off the pages last night was this one:
In addition to being a violation of other laws, it is also a violation of this chapter for any public servant to: . . . Be found guilty of violating the County's policy prohibiting the possession or consumption by employees of alcohol or any controlled or illegal substance in any County facility, vehicle, or work site, including lunch periods and rest breaks; prohibiting public servants from driving or reporting to work, performing work, or visiting a work site while under the influence of alcohol or any controlled or illegal substance.
Setting aside the obvious fact that this provision completely demolishes Rizzo's argument that the County Legislators dislike "double jeopardy", this might be the key to understanding the whole thing.

The MEC will not investigate allegations of drinking on the job.

As a determined advocate for Jackson County ethics, I knew that it would help my cause to come up with a term that encapsulated the controversy in a phrase. A couple weeks ago, I tried out "Unethical Enablers", because the legislators had made it much easier for future, less exemplary politicians to get away with unethical behavior. At the time, I had no idea that their behavior could also be explained in terms of enabling other problems, but, wow, there it is. The Jackson County legislature has exempted itself from an Ethics Code that encompasses drinking on the job, or showing up at a Legislative session drunk.

Why?

Now that the voters are paying attention, will they amend their ordinance so that they are governed by the Jackson County Ethics Code, and overseen by the Jackson County Ethics Commission?

(Note on comments - this is not the place to speculate about whether any specific elected official has an issue, and I will delete all such comments.)

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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Trouble with Traffic

Yesterday, I posted an ill-tempered little piece directed at a blogger I usually enjoy. It was in response to what I perceived as a smugness-tinged piece he had written, but, really, I could and should have clicked past his piece and kept my mouth shut. I posted from annoyance more than anything else, and it was a stupid thing to do.

As a result, I got about 150 additional hits on that page than I would normally receive on a Monday morning post - and, since Monday was a holiday, the effect of my bad behavior was probably less pronounced than it would normally have been. I was rewarded for being a jerk.

That's why I'm glad I don't draw any money from this blog. On a typical Monday outside of election season I get between 400 and 500 unique visitors. If my ad revenue depended upon traffic, I'd be sorely tempted to be controversial for controversy's sake.

Interestingly, and not surprisingly, I also drew a lot more truly nasty comments and emails yesterday. Nastiness attracts nastiness. In its own way, my little blog contributed to the ugliness of the blogosphere yesterday. I'm just happy my wallet doesn't make me feel like it was worth it.

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Who Will Appoint the Jackson County Ethics Commission? Is it Even Ethical to Serve on it?

Is it ethical to serve on a body which is statutorily prohibited from doing what the County Charter orders it to do? Is it ethical to participate in a sham when your predecessors resigned to expose the sham?

Those questions are probably being pondered as we speak by a few citizens of Jackson County. In fact, it may be that the County is having sufficient trouble finding willing participants that the duty of filling the seats has shifted from the Ethics Commission Selection Board to Mike Sanders, the Jackson County Executive.

According to the relevant Charter provision,
There shall be an ethics commission selection board, which shall appoint all of the appointees to the ethics commission. This board shall consist of the executive director of the Mid-America Regional Council, the dean of the Henry W. Bloc (sic) School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City. Within thirty days of the effective date of this section, the selection board shall appoint five residents of the county to the ethics commission. The commission members shall select their own chairman. Thereafter, within thirty days of the occurrence of a vacancy on the ethics commission, the selection board shall fill the vacancy. If for any reason the ethics commission selection board fails to timely fill any vacancy or position on the ethics commission, the executive shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy or position.
The first ethics commission resignation came in early December, so the selection board is no longer empowered to make the appointment, and the duty falls to Jackson County Executive. I'm not certain of the resignation dates of the others, but I believe they were completed before Christmas (though the Star did not report on the resignations until weeks later). It appears that for at least one, and perhaps all of the commissioners, the ethics commission board has failed to timely fill the vacancy, and now the executive shall appoint a qualified person.

It's no wonder that the selection board has faced a challenge in trying to fill the Commission. The Charter grants the Ethics Commission the power to hold legislators accountable, while a recent ordinance passed by the Legislators purports to strip that power away.

If a good, ethical citizen wants to take a seat on the Commission, his or her first duty will be to sue the Legislators to reverse their illegal, Charter-violating ordinance exempting themselves from local ethical oversight. If, on the other hand, you agree to simply ignore the Jackson County Charter, you are exposing yourself to clear questions about your ethical judgment and the legitimacy of your role.

Who wants to step into a mess like that?

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Monday, January 19, 2009

Raining on Straw Men?

I gotta get this one off my chest. Midtown Miscreant is a dramatic blogger with a flair for tough-guy self-importance, and he writes some interesting pieces. He does a good job taking snapshots of rundown property, for instance, and the descriptions are tolerable if you ignore the "nobody goes into these places and comes out alive, except for me" braggadocio. Those of us who are well-traveled in KC and aren't so gullible just roll our eyes and enjoy the photos.

Today, though, MM tries his hand at punditry, and makes me wish he had stuck with scary tales about seeing broken windows in an abandoned building.

Sorry, MM, you're not big enough to, as you claim, "piss on the parade." If all you can do is put up imaginary straw men like gays who believe he will usher in federal gay marriage, or "black folks" who allegedly believe he will "automatically right history's wrongs in this country" and issue reparations checks, you're wasting electrons.

It's an exciting week for America, and the parade is going to be fantastic. Change - real, substantive change - is coming to our Government, and that is a wonderful thing. It doesn't mean that everything will turn rosy on Wednesday, or that we won't be disappointed in some of the decisions that Obama will make (heck, I'm already disappointed in a couple). But there's a wide gulf between the absolute ideal and the current reality, and I think everyone is ready for movement in the right direction, without expecting to ever get there. America and its voters are smart enough to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Except, perhaps, for that grumpy old man standing there wetting himself, thinking that he's dampening the parade.

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Greg Grounds Fights Dirty - The Funding Issue

The Jackson County Legislature has pulled out all the stops in a desperate attempt to make their refusal to accept ethical oversight seem less offensive. One of the more shameful bits of misdirection they've employed, though, is a claim that they've excused themselves from local oversight because the Jackson County Ethics Commission ought not to "be subject to the people they are investigating not funding them."

What?!?!

For those not paying attention, Legislator Greg Grounds, in one fell swoop, impugned the ethics of the citizens serving on the Ethics Commission, accused his fellow Jackson County legislators of corrupt behavior, and misled the Jackson County voters.

Let's talk a little bit about the "funding" that Greg Grounds thinks he can use to control the Ethics Commission. How much do you think the Ethics Commissioners are profiting from their work on the Ethics Commission? If you read his nasty little insinuation, you probably imagine that they are paid something in the mid five figures to clean up after our legislators, but you would be horribly mistaken.

The members of the Jackson County Ethics Commission do not get paid for their service. Indeed, after they angered the legislators by holding a hearing, the County responded in petty fashion by refusing to pay their parking. While there are some other costs associated with the Jackson County Ethics Commission, any claim that the Commission is in thrall to the dollars is a red herring - a stinking, rotten red herring that Greg Grounds should be ashamed of tossing into public debate.

His argument also falsely impugns the ethics of the Ethics Commissioners. Does he really think that the Ethics Commission would "go easy" on the legislature because of a few dollars of funding, which will never, ever, come near to them personally? His suggestion that the legislature would actually have the guts to refuse to fund a legitimate investigation is also a huge insult to what I truly hope is a less corrupt body than he implies.

Finally, Greg Grounds' opinion that the legislature buys off whomever it funds is insulting to the law enforcement and court system that it does fund. By Grounds' logic, he should be immune from prosecution in the Jackson County Circuit Court if he embarks on a crime spree. The prosecutors would be unable to prosecute him, because they are funded by the legislature, and the courts would not be able to convict him, because their personnel are on the Jackson County payroll. In Greg Grounds' self-important mind, the jail could not dare to hold someone of his stature.

It is truly sad to see a Jackson County legislator believe that the entire mechanism of County Government is controlled by his almighty dollar. It is truly insulting to see a Jackson County legislator threaten a volunteer board with a cut in pay. Most of all, though, it is infuriating to see that Greg Grounds and his fellow legislators think we're dumb enough to fall for it.

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Dumb People

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Sunday Poetry: Forgetfulness, by Billy Collins

Forgetfulness

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

- Billy Collins
____________________________________________________

Last Sunday, I wrote about William Shakespeare, universally recognized by critics as one of the best writers ever to write in the English language. Today, I present Billy Collins, who attracts the loathing of academics, but the love of the untutored masses. Billy Collins has served as the poet laureate of the United States, and yet the tweed crowd declares that, "Collins is much less interesting than kitsch," and ask “The world can stand one Billy Collins, but what happens when everyone writes poems that humiliate the art they practice?”. Horror of horrors, they declaim him as a "crowd-pleaser".

Fortunately, the controversy over Billy Collins is not what makes him interesting - the controversy merely demonstrates (again) the irrelevance of those who believe they have rescued poetry and are sequestering it in an ivory tower. Rae Armantrout, however, is no Rapunzel, and the "protectors" of poetry are shocked that Billy Collins is the one attracting crowds of suitors.

Billy Collins has earned a PhD in English, and appears in the Norton Anthology of American Literature, yet he writes in the language of every day. He could be next to you at a counter in a diner, and you wouldn't notice that he's a whole lot smarter than the laborer on your other side, yet you would be attracted by his wit and conversation. He's that guy, the one who says smart things without resorting to smart words.

Unlike most of the poets I love, Billy Collins does not embrace the rhymes and rhythms of classical, technical poetry. In fact, in one poem he even mocks me for my love of traditional form:
Sonnet - Billy Collins

All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen now,
and after this one just a dozen
to launch a little ship on love's storm-tossed seas,
then only ten more left like rows of beans.
How easily it goes unless you get Elizabethan
and insist the iambic bongos must be played
and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines,
one for every station of the cross.
But hang on here wile we make the turn
into the final six where all will be resolved,
where longing and heartache will find an end,
where Laura will tell Petrarch to put down his pen,
take off those crazy medieval tights,
blow out the lights, and come at last to bed.
Collins won't give me the iambic bongos I crave in poetry, but he manages to achieve a different rhythm that I have to acknowledge. It doesn't scan quite as well as the pages of metronomic "da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH" I cranked out in college, but I can't deny that he does have a rhythm. It comes together like the sound of friendly coversation - I cannot deny there is a music there even if I cannot pin it down on an English major's page.

As for meaning - it's there, and it has the multi-level reward that distinguishes great poetry from good verse. In Forgetfulness, for example, you understand on first blush that it's about what the title promises. And, for those of us over 30 or so, it captures brilliantly that sense of words that won't come to the tongue when summoned, and facts that you know you know but cannot call to mind. On one level, it's a wonderfully clever observation of how it feels to forget.

But there's sooo much more going on here. Take, for instance, the frightening first line. "The name of the author is the first to go" - in a poem by an author. Is he talking about complete oblivion for himself? Until the end of the stanza, we don't quite know that he is simply describing the process of forgetting a book. And, from there, we're off on a catalog of things forgotten. Subtly, the poem builds, from intellectual trivia (nine Muses) through the geography of the world we live in (uncle's address and Asunción) to death and love. There is something deep stirring in Billy Collins' cute little poem, and those who read it with a chuckle might not chuckle upon a second reading. It's there, it's there, even though Collins isn't smacking you upside the head to find it.

I'll close this examination of Billy Collins with another of his poems, and one that seems appropriate on the Sunday before we expel a torturing regime from the White House, when we are thinking about popular poetry versus the poetry/industrial complex that exists in our universities.
Introduction to Poetry
by Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to water-ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

(To hear Billy Collins read "Forgetfulness" and a bunch of other poems, visit this site.)

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Is It Time to Give Up on Jackson County Ethics Legislation?

It's been a little more than a month since the Jackson County Legislature violated the Jackson County Charter and passed ethics legislation that purports to exclude the Legislature from the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission. It's been weeks since the Ethics Commission responded to that "untouchable" approach by resigning, and sometime soon a committee (not the Legislature) will appoint a new committee (if they can find people willing to play along with an illegal sham of an Ethics Commission). It's a New Year. We have a new Chair of the Legislature. Is it time to let bygones be bygones, and move forward?

Not just no, hell no!

This is a battle that is going to drag on, even if the bodies won't hit the floor until 2010. The traditional media have started to pay attention to it. Rumor has it that at least a couple legislators are feeling like they were lied to when they were assured that it was legal, and that the Missouri Ethics Commission had the authority to enforce it. They don't want to take the risk of drawing a strong challenge in their next election, having already tainted themselves with a permissive attitude toward unethical behavior.

Here's the end game on this flap. I intend to focus on the Jackson County Legislature, its ethical shortcomings, and how to challenge each of the "Untouchables" until they reverse themselves on violating the Charter. I've talked to a couple well-connected people who share my disgust for what the Legislature has done, and they have promised to make a few calls to people who might be interested in running for the Legislature on a pro-Ethics platform. The next round of elections for the Jackson County Legislature is promising to be a battle between the Pro-Ethics candidates and the Untouchable Incumbents.

I won't predict that each and every incumbent will lose in the next race. Based on what I've seen and heard, though, I will issue my prediction today that, unless the Jackson County Legislature submits to local ethical oversight, at least 4 and perhaps 5 will, in fact, be driven from office. There are some bright people out there inspired to get involved in politics, and the Jackson County Legislature provides the next golden opportunity to run for office on an anti-incumbent, pro-ethics platform.

Some entrenched incumbents are going to lose their seats, and almost every one of them will face a serious and very expensive challenge, unless they reverse themselves on the Ethics Legislation, and do it soon.

Here are my predictions on this matter. The furor about this will not fade away. Scott Burnett's term as Chair of the Jackson County Legislature will be dogged by questions raised by the refusal to submit to local oversight, and the violation of the Charter. Several new members of the Ethics Commission will resign after questions are raised about whether it is ethical to serve on an Ethics Commission that is being barred from following the Charter that creates it. Other blogs and other media will join in the fun. Sometime over the next few months, someone will file an ethics complaint against one of the legislators, and the Ethics Commission will refuse to hear it, and will forward it to the Missouri Ethics Commission, which will also refuse to hear it. Regardless of the merits of the complaint, citizens will be outraged by the Untouchable legislators. A few of the legislators will develop a conscience and file legislation that will reestablish the oversight called for in the Charter. Rizzo, Burnett, Tarwater and a couple other "old school" will persist in arguing that they are above local oversight, and new candidates will start making their plans known. It will be a bloodbath.

And we WILL get a Jackson County legislature that respects ethics.

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Jackson County Ethical Lies - It's Not Double Jeopardy!

Is it "double jeopardy" to be required to follow the laws of both the County and the State? Of course not. When Henry Rizzo argued that "The Legislature didn’t think it needed to subject itself to 'double jeopardy' by being under both state and county commissions", he was abusing an important constitutional term in an attempt to cover his own unwillingness to be held to ethical standards. Sadly, this appalling and cynical dodge of responsibility is being used by other legislators, as well - one of whom looked me in the eye and tried to claim that Scott Burnett's twice-examined and once-penalized ethics brouhaha was an example of "double jeopardy".

Nonsense.

Anyone who tries to argue that it is double jeopardy to be bound by both the Jackson County ethics code and state campaign laws is either ignorant or lying. Neither is an attractive trait in someone we have trusted to be a legislator.

Simply stated, "double jeopardy" is being tried twice for the same offense, and it is banned by the 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution. It does not apply, though, if you commit an act which is subject to prosecution by two authorities under separate laws. The LAPD officers who pounded Rodney King were convicted in federal court after being acquitted by the state court, because their behavior violated different laws for different levels of government. If you rob a bank, don't expect to get off easy by copping a plea to a speeding ticket in the getaway car.

Rizzo's claim of double jeopardy is rendered even more silly by the fact that the Jackson County Ethics Code and the laws enforced by the Missouri Ethics Commission do not even overlap entirely. The Missouri Ethics Commission is limited to enforcement of STATE "conflict of interest and lobbying laws (RSMo 105.450-498) and campaign finance disclosure laws (RSMo 130)." Even if they wanted to enforce the standards of local Jackson County voters, they would not be authorized to do so.

Rizzo and other legislators who invoke the Double Jeopardy clause are trying to wrap themselves in our Constitution while shielding themselves from local ethics laws. It is a despicable trick, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Missouri Bar Needs to Get Serious

The Missouri Bar Board of Governors simply does not get it. In a crashing economy, during the coldest time of the year, they have abandoned the state for the sunny beaches of Captiva Island, Florida. Here, from the Missouri Bar's website, is the description of the meeting:
Travel to an unspoiled haven – where the sun, sea and gentle surf lure visitors back time after time. South Seas Island Resort, site of the 2009 Missouri Bar Mid-Year Seminar, offers an infinite number of ways to escape from everyday worries, reconnect with friends and loved ones, and enjoy a wide array of recreation options.

Captiva Island is home to the South Seas Island Resort, a 330-acre, world-class meeting resort that has recently benefited from a $140 million revitalization. It offers comfortable, serene and exceptional accommodations with innovative amenities and breathtaking views of the wonders of nature.

Missouri Bar members and their guests attending the 2009 Mid-Year Seminar will enjoy accommodations at Harbourside Waterview at the Pointe, which boasts amazing panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico from open balconies. The view includes yachts maneuvering into the harbor and sailboats unfurling their colorful sails with the wind – while dolphins and manatees play in the wakes. These units are a five-minute walk to the white sand beach and steps away from the resort’s nine-hole golf course along the Gulf shoreline.

South Seas Island Resort represents a new concept in relaxing island hideaways, and is the ideal setting for an unforgettable South Florida resort vacation – all while far from the bitter winds and blowing snow of a Missouri winter.

While our Missouri Bar Board of Governors enjoys its time "far from the bitter winds and blowing snow of a Missouri winter", our public defender system remains underfunded, law students are being saddled with too much debt to take public service jobs, judges are underpaid, and our Legal Aid offices are forced to turn away deserving clients.

I haven't seen the agenda for their meeting, and the Board of Governors has not posted any minutes for its meetings since May, so I cannot tell what they are "working on" in their "unspoiled haven". I hope they at least have the good judgment to wait until their suntans fade before they ask anyone for money, though.

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Dan Tarwater Responds, but Appears Not to Know What is in the Jackson County Charter

Dan Tarwater is my in-district County Legislator. I wrote to him and the rest of the Legislators expressing my dismay at their refusal to support local ethics review, and asking them each three specific questions. I also promised to publish their answers, unless they requested that I not do so. Here's what I got from Dan Tarwater:
1. Do you support empowering the Jackson County Ethics Commission to have authority to "receive complaints and conduct investigations" regarding Jackson County legislators?
Yes I do and the legislature does authorize and allow the Ethics Commission to have authority to receive complaints and investigate but then it is to be passed on to the Missouri Ethics omission. The reason for that is that the Jackson County Ethics Commission is appointed by us and it could have a conflict of interest since we also fund them. There are already provisions in place to avoid this conflict and that is the Missouri Ethics Commission.

2. If not, why not?

3. Do you believe that the Jackson County Charter supports your
interpretation, or do you believe that it needs to be changed to
allow for the exemption of elected officials from local oversight?

I do believe that the County Charter does support this position. I feel that we as elected Officials should be help to a higher standard than anyone else. If an elected official does something that is wrong they should be suffer the consequences. Any act that is deemed to be a violation should be investigated by an authority that does not have ties to body. We would not want someone to look at a ruling and say they did not find them guilty because they had a conflict of interest.

So there you go. Let's take a look, though, at the truth of what he said.

"The reason for that is that the Jackson County Ethics Commission is appointed by us".
That, folks, is a pure, unadulterated LIE. The County Legislature does not appoint the Jackson County Ethics Commission! While supporting legislation to rob Jackson Countians of ethical oversight, Tarwater doesn't even have a passing familiarity with how the current system works!!

Here, for those who care about the truth, is what the Charter, not Dan Tarwater, has to say about how the Commission is appointed, and it's linked to the real Charter, in case you want to read the entire Charter by yourself:
There shall be an ethics commission selection board, which shallappoint all of the appointees to the ethics commission. This board shall consist of the executive director of the Mid-America Regional Council, the dean of the Henry W. Bloc School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City. Within thirty days of the effective date of this section, the selection board shall appoint five residents of the county to the ethics commission. The commission members shall select their own chairman. Thereafter, within thirty days of the occurrence of a vacancy on the ethics commission, the selection board shall fill the vacancy.
That's a lot of technical language, but it raises a vital question.

Does Dan Tarwater not know what he's talking about, or is he lying to his constituents?
It's one or the other, and neither answer is acceptable for someone making decisions about how Jackson County voters can hold their legislators accountable for unethical behavior.

Tarwater's second answer also includes a major blunder about what is in the Charter. He claims that the Charter supports his position on robbing Jackson Countians of the right to oversee the Legislature's ethics. Once again, let's go to the primary sources.

The Charter: "The commission may receive complaints and conduct investigations of violations of the conflicts of interests, financial interest disclosure, and lobbying registration and disclosure provisions of the charter, the code and ordinances, and the statutory and common law of the state of Missouri as it applies to county officers . . ."

The Ordinance Dan Tarwater and the rest of the Jackson County Legislature enacted: "the Jackson County Ethics Commission shall be without jurisdiction to hear complaints [[filed with the Jackson County Ethics Commission]] concerning the compliance with any provision of this chapter of any actions or conduct of any County elected officials . . ."

So, the Charter specifically authorizes the Commission to look into ethics violations by county officers (including elected officials), while the ordinance specifically robs them of that jurisdiction, and Tarwater seems to think the two are consistent. Once again, we are left wondering, "Does Dan Tarwater not know what he's talking about, or is he lying to his constituents?"

It's an interesting question, but does it really matter?

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Jackson County Ethical Shell Game

Somebody at the Jackson County legislature must have read Catch-22, and taken it to heart.

Here. buried on page 48 of noble-sounding ethics legislation, is the key to the whole thing:
Given that the County Legislature and the County Executive are the elected officials ultimately responsible for approving the budget for, promulgating rules to govern, and entering into contracts for the Jackson County Ethics Commission, it is necessary to avoid even the appearance of influence over Commission actions and decisions. Therefore, [[any]] the Jackson County Ethics Commission shall be without jurisdiction to hear complaints [[filed with the Jackson County Ethics Commission]] concerning the compliance with any provision of this chapter of any actions or conduct of any County elected officials, and any such complaint shall be forwarded to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

The kicker is that the Missouri Ethics Commission will not enforce the Jackson County Ethics Code! Not their job! Sorry! Might as well forward it to the Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners!

As for the nonsense about overseeing the Ethics Commission, I suppose the County Legislators believes that State Reps don't have to answer to the State Courts or the Highway Patrol, and Senators are exempt from the FBI. How stupid do they think we are?

Never before in the history of Jackson County fraud has the legislature ever so brazenly sought to mislead the public.

Will we let them get away with it?

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Time for YOU to Start Thinking About Running for Jackson County Legislature?

Do you have a hankering to run for political office, but don't want to give up your career? Do you see the local politicians on TV and think "Somebody better ought to get involved"? Do you want to break up the cozy circle of local politicos who elevate self-interest over ethics?

Maybe you should run for the Jackson County legislature. And maybe you should start putting your campaign together now.

The Jackson County legislature is vulnerable. Every single one of them, with the exception of Fred Arbanas (who was absent), is ON THE RECORD exempting themselves from oversight by the Jackson County Ethics Commission, in violation of the Jackson County Charter.

If they don't reverse themselves on that point immediately, it should be a relatively easy matter to run against a Jackson County politician who has gone on the record supporting less ethical oversight for him or herself. Better yet, you will have your choice of two candidates to take on, since you can run either "in district" or "at large". To figure out which candidates you could run against, just find yourself on the district maps appearing under each legislator's name. You will be in two legislators' districts - one of the "at large" legislators and one of district legislators. Check out both, because they are not the same.

The only qualifications you'll need to run, as defined by the County Charter, are: "Each member of the Legislature shall be a qualified voter in Jackson County for at least three years preceding his/her election and a resident in his/her district for at least one year preceding his/her nomination." The filing deadline is not until later in the year, but now is the time to start talking to people who know the county and the districts. The elections will be in 2010, so you have more than a year to get your name out there if you get started soon.

If you've been wanting to get into politics, how often are you going to face your choice of two candidates who have publicly come out against ethics? This is a golden opportunity.

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Beef and Pickles

Sunday nights are the best for cooking in the Gone Mild household. Weekdays call out creativity in terms of meeting the twin challenges of tasty and nutritious, but time is a limiting factor. Sometimes, the extra challenge inspires, but nothing inspires quite like having an entire Sunday afternoon to shop, cook and serve.

Yesterday, I tackled a German challenge. Rouladen are a traditional German food consisting of beef rolled around onions, mustard, bacon and pickles, and then simmered in gravy for hours. I first had them years ago as prepared by my sister-in-law, and somehow they came up in an IM chat with Karl Timmerman (author of the Weekly Ramblings - a must read for solo and small firm lawyers) on Friday evening.

Yesterday, I bought a bunch of round steak, cut it into 4X6 inch pieces, and pounded it to tenderize and flatten it. (Yes, I know I just offered up a straight line, so have your Junior High fun . . .) Then spread it with mustard (I used dijon, but yellow is fine), chopped onion, chopped raw bacon, pepper, and dill pickle cut into chunks. Then roll it up and tie it with kitchen twine.

Brown the rolls a couple at a time in oil, removing them when browned. After the browning is done, mix in a quarter cup of flour, a little garlic, and a couple tables spoons of tomato paste. After that mix starts to brown, add two cups of water and stir like crazy until the chunks of flour break up. Toss in whatever chopped onion or bacon you have left, put the beef rolls back in the pot, cover, and simmer for a couple hours.

I served them with boiled new red potatoes tossed in butter and parsley, and with cauliflower. I love cooking cauliflower with all kinds of spices and flavors - they absorb flavor and show off color. In this instance, I used onion, Scimeca's Famous Chicken Spiedini Marinade, smoked paprika, a little cayenne, turmeric and chicken broth.

The rouladen had tremendous flavor. The pickles, when simmered for hours, blend with the bacon and mustard and onion to create a fantastic sweet/savory gravy with just a hint of sour. The meat, however, remained a little tough. I should have called ahead and asked the butcher to slice a few round steaks extra thin, or I should have . . . well, tenderized it more.

There are dozens of variations of rouladen - some don't even use pickles. If he reads my version, I'm confident Karl will, in fine Germanic fashion, point out where I have strayed from his orthodoxy in several specifics. The fun thing about cooking last night, though, was that I put together a meal based on a long-ago memory and a whole bunch of on-line recipes. I didn't have anyone to demonstrate the techniques or offer definitive opinions on how much mustard to use. I just read up on an unusual recipe, used my own judgment, and tried it.

I'm sure my version has room for improvement. It didn't come close to matching the rouladen of my memory. But it was a really good meal, and out of the ordinary. It provided a good background for a little beer, a little wine, and a lot of conversation with friends.

Sundays are my favorite day for cooking.

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Sunday, January 11, 2009

Sunday Poetry: Sonnet 73, by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 73

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

- by William Shakespeare
_______________________________

Last week, I wrote about Jim Harrison's poem "Older Love", which presents a man smoking into the fireplace to avoid disturbing his asthmatic wife, and the heat he faces from the embers calling to mind the passion that has "wandered from love back into the natural world". In my analysis of that poem, I did not mention the most famous pairing of embers, ashes and passion in the English language, but it was not an oversight.

What is the role of allusion in poetry?

Before we get to that, though, let's enjoy the poem itself. I fell in love with this poem on a frosty Sunday morning in 1981 or so in Schenectady, New York. My fiance, my roommate and I walked to a church downtown, eschewing the artificially "hip" campus services and avoiding the magisterial mega-Mass at the largest church in town. Instead, we walked to a tiny church in the older section of town, where a young priest we knew through the nuclear freeze movement said Mass.

On the way there, we saw a phenomenon I have seen only a few other times. As the sun rose in our urban environment, the rays worked their way slowly down the trees, blocked from complete exposure by walls, homes and buildings. And, as the sun hit the tops of the trees, it melted the frost and broke the final bond holding the uppermost leaves to the trees - releasing a shower of yellow leaves, but only from the parts shone upon. It was a riotous display of color, as, on that very morning, at that very time, the trees of Schenectady dropped their leaves branch by branch, as the sun reached them. Yellow leaves, or none, or few, hung upon the uppermost branches on that brisk morning.

When it came time for the sermon, Father I'veSadlyForgottenHisName paused at the pulpit, pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket, and slowly read Sonnet 73. At its close, he stood there for a few moments and allowed the poem to sink in, and that was his homily for the day. Our nation had entered the Reagan years, the Nuclear Clock was ticking, and winter was on its way to Schenectady. It was a somber moment, but we were reminded to avoid despair, and love more strongly, "To love that well which thou must leave ere long."

In this poem, Shakespeare addresses his awareness of approaching death. The images shrink from a season ("that time of year") to a day ("twilight of such day") to a moment (the expiration of the fire). The images collapse in upon themselves, leading one to an almost claustrophobic sense that is only partially relieved by the directive to enjoy what will not last. The point is not to allow your love to dwindle in the collapse of time, but to allow that perception to "make thy love more strong". Ultimately, the poem is grimly hopeful and s celebration of life in the face of oncoming winter.

And now back to the allusion issue.

You did not need to have Shakespeare's image in mind to appreciate Harrison's poem. When Harrison wrote of a man facing the embers of a fire, it was complete in and of itself. To appreciate the poem, you did not need a footnote intruding into it, reminding you of what Shakespeare had to say about embers and passion.

But, if the image did call to mind Shakespeare's sonnet, you probably appreciated the poem a little more deeply. The poem gains a tiny bit more depth when you compare Shakespeare's self-centered narrator to Harrison's self-sacrificing protagonist. The poem becomes part of a conversation of poetry, stretching from the hearths where the original poetry was created as an oral tradition, through Shakespeare, through hundreds or thousands of poets since, to (and past) Jim Harrison's old man pondering "the shadow passion casts".

At its best, allusion is a lagniappe that you do not miss if you do not "get". In the hands of a great poet, an allusion is not the key to understanding a poem, or a tricky detective game used to test the worthiness of the reader, but a subtle offering of even more. It's like the third violin in an orchestra - without it, the work would not be ruined, but with it, it is enhanced.

It's been years since I've watched a fire burn down to embers and expire, though it probably was a frequent occasion in Shakespeare's time, and not uncommon in Harrison's world of secluded cabins. As an image, the dying embers work on multiple levels. As an allusion, they enrich the Harrison poem, without requiring attention.

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Saturday, January 10, 2009

Why Neil Young is so Great

Neil Young is an acquired taste. His unique voice, his chimerical persona and odd occasional success make him someone that most people acknowledge as a seminal figure in rock and roll, but not necessarily someone they enjoy. Like a more interesting and challenging Eric Clapton, people know he's a major figure, but they don't necessarily know why.

That Voice

First off, let's talk about Neil's voice. It's strangely wavering, kind of screechy, and expressive. It's not pretty in the slightest - he's no meadowlark. It resembles nothing so much as the high notes on a harmonica that make you kind of wince just a little.

But, if you get over the initial cringe, it's the heart of why you will love Neil Young. It's kind of like a teenager's strange facial piercing - repulsive at first glance, but then, if you surrender your internal repulsion and get to know the person, it becomes a part of who they are and a badge of their uniqueness. And, just like a teenager's piercing, there's an element of "FU if you don't like it!" attitude conveyed in Neil Young's voice. Take him on his own terms, or don't - but you have to accept him as he is if you want to appreciate Neil Young.

Neil Young's voice democratizes his music. It's not like listening to some songbird put down a crystalline version of perfection to admire and never touch. Neil Young songs invite you in to sing a verse or two. They're not museum pieces, they're sing alongs with soul. I defy anyone to drink three good beers, crank "Down by the River" and not join in. Breathes there a man with soul so dead?

The Songs

It's impossible to make blanket statements about Neil Young's music without opening yourself up to contradiction. He's been performing for 40+ years, ranging from folk-inspired to inspiring punk. He's written about history, drugs, divorce, love, war, and environmentalism. There's no pigeonhole big enough.

But, for me, the thing about great Neil Young songs is that they create a mood. They don't teach you anything, they don't argue a point of view. They just bring you somewhere and you feel something powerful.

For me, the seminal Neil Young song is "Helpless" (though I could argue for "Cowgirl in the Sand", "Cortez the Killer", "Tonight's the Night", "Cinnamon Girl", "Harvest Moon", "Words (Between the Lines of Age)", "Comes a Time", "Southern Man" or any one of dozens of others. I'm not a big fan of his two biggest hits - "After the Goldrush" strikes me as awkward and pretentious, and "Heart of Gold" has no depth.

But back to "Helpless" - in it, he has evocative lyrics that expand the plaintive sound of his voice.
There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.

Blue, blue windows behind the stars,
Yellow moon on the rise,
Big birds flying across the sky,
Throwing shadows on our eyes.
I suppose you either get that or you don't but he sings it slowly and powerfully and then you're feeling as scared and adrift as the artist. It's a mood, created by words, music and a voice, and he doesn't resolve it or tie it up in an understandable knot. Neil Young, at his best, doesn't lend himself to paraphrase. It just is what it is, and that's enough.

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Thursday, January 08, 2009

Gone Mild Prescience

From April of 2007, "Has Kit Bond Lost his Mojo?":
Bond may wind up not even trying. He'll be 71, and he's not going to be having much fun as a non-influential minority member of the Senate for the next 3 years. When the lobbyists dial down their level of attention, Kit Bond is likely to figure out that he can have more fun elsewhere, without the occasional scrutiny of the press. It might even be worth paying for his own Alaskan junkets.

Gonemild says that Kit Bond is finished in 2010.


In rereading the rest of the post, I was a heck of a lot funnier before I tried to stop being mean . . .

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Good Jobs Here in KC

Need a flexible, well-paying job? Do you know anyone who might want to pick up some extra money over the next couple years? Do you want to get paid to do important community work that will have a major impact on the people of Kansas City?

The 2010 Census needs around a thousand people here in Kansas City, and the hiring process has begun. Go to this site to learn more, or call toll-free at 866-861-2010.

I attended the kick-off event for the Census yesterday, and it sounds like they are dead serious about counting everyone in the area, including the urban core. Helping them do that will help Kansas City in everything from Congressional representation to planning for FEMA relief.

It's important work, and I believe it will pay pretty well. True, the vast majority of jobs are short-term and will end in 2010, but, if things go right, the Obama recovery from the Bush recession will be underway by that time.

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Jackson County Ethics Fiasco - Making Corruption Easier

Why would the Jackson County Legislature violate the Jackson County Charter, and exempt itself from oversight by the Jackson County Ethics Commission?

That's a hard question to answer, but one point is crystal clear. The Jackson County Ethics Fiasco orchestrated by Mike Sanders and the Legislature is certainly not designed to improve County government or to make themselves more accountable to voters.

Now, I'm not claiming that the Mike Sanders and the Jackson County Legislature are engaged in rampant corruption. Of course not. I am saying, however, that Mike Sanders and the Jackson County Legislature have just made it easy for themselves to get away with rampant corruption.

Why??

Honestly, who among us thinks that a legislative body that has in recent years engaged in actual fisticuffs, and which includes a man convicted of a federal crime, ought to be shielding itself from local ethical oversight?

One of my prized possessions is a copy of the County Charter given to me by Harold Fridkin, one of its authors, and a man I greatly admire. Perhaps I'm just a sentimental sap, but I take that document seriously, and it pains me to see Mike Sanders and the Jackson County Legislature use it as toilet paper, ripping from it the pages that empower the Jackson County Ethics Commission to "receive complaints and conduct investigations" concerning our Legislature. It pains me to read that Mike Sanders, rather than standing up for local ethics enforcement, proposes to solve the problem by amending the charter to gut the ethics commission.

I have the deepest respect for several of the Jackson County legislators, but I am at a complete loss to explain why they would make corruption easier in our county, and refuse to be held to the same ethical standards as other county employees. The state ethics commission will not enforce county ordinances, so they can violate our new ethics code with impunity. Why would they give themselves that option?

Even if they complete their terms with honor, their misdeeds surrounding the Ethics Code will be the root of future scandals. Even if they are not crooks, they will be the ones that enable future crooks.

It ought to bother us that they cannot explain why they choose to exempt themselves from the oversight of the Jackson County Ethics Commission, which is the only body authorized to enforce the ethics code. It ought to bother them, too.

It ought to make them sit for a few minutes and think about whom they are serving with their actions. Future crooks, themselves, or the citizens of Jackson County? And whom were they hoping to serve when they first got involved in public service?

The citizens who drafted the County Charter expected our legislators to submit to the oversight of the Jackson County Ethics Commission. Why, now, is that too much to expect?

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Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Kansas City Clever

Kraske Whiffs Again - What He Should Be Asking

Steve Kraske claims the upper right corner of today's front page of the Star, and manages to look good while whiffing almost entirely. It's kind of like watching an unschooled rookie with a sweet swing face the famed knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. Kraske swings mightily, but can't quite make his wooden analysis impact the baffling trajectory of local politics.

The headline in the dead tree version of the story is "Has mayor run out of political capital?", and the lede is an anecdote claiming that Funkhouser failed to gladhand at a democratic fundraiser. In short, Kraske asks the wrong question and answers it with conventional wisdom from the chattering class. That, my friends, is not "analysis" worthy of publication.

First off, the question is not whether Funk has run out of "political capital". The guy won by fewer than 900 votes and walked into a council chamber poisoned by hardball politicians seeking to become mayor. The guy never really had political capital - he walked in with a target on his back, and nobody on earth was going to trade that target for a 7 member dependable majority. And, to give his critics their due, he certainly has not behaved in a fashion well-designed to accumulate it, either.

The correct question is "Can Funkhouser work with this Council to accomplish good things for our city?". Because, really, that's what people wanted when they elected him, and that's how he will be judged. Maybe a few of the insiders and professional game-players such as Kraske care about style points or how well he shakes hands at a cocktail party, but the rest of us care far more about accomplishments. By focusing on shaking hands and fuzzy concepts of "political capital", Kraske focuses on the parlor game aspects of city government rather than on the street level effectiveness of city government.

Now, before the anti-Funk brigade reflexively misinterprets what I have written so far, I'm only saying that the question ought to be "Can Funkhouser work with this Council to accomplish good things for our city?" rather than "Has mayor run out of political capital?". I hope we can all agree that my question is the better question - who cares if he never shakes another hand and the verdict at Kraske's chattering class cocktail parties unanimously states he has zero "political capital", if he is able to work with our council to accomplish good things for our city?

Having thus refocused the issue from image to substance, I'll go ahead and answer my own question.

Yes, Funkhouser can work effectively with this Council to accomplish good things for our city. He can do that by continuing to work creatively and subtly through other council people, the majority of whom will, when push comes to shove, get on board for the right reasons on the big issues for the good of the city. Jan Marcason and Beth Gottstein, for example, are not going to vote for a lousy Cauthen budget no matter what they think of Funkhouser or his wife. Most of the council is composed of grown-ups, and they can separate their disagreements on the anti-volunteer ordinance from good policy in facing the substantive issues they need to address.

All that said (and apparently beyond Kraske's imagination), Funkhouser has an opportunity right now to jumpstart his working relationship with the City Council and kick off 2009 in the most productive way possible for our city's future. In one fell swoop, he could eliminate his biggest problem in image and the city's biggest problem in reality.

In my opinion, Mark should approach those city councilmembers who really do have the good of the city at heart with a proposal to dismiss his Volunteer Ordinance lawsuit in exchange for their support in getting rid of Wayne Cauthen. Most agree that Cauthen is simply the wrong man for the foreseeable future, and I believe they would welcome such an opportunity to get back on track in solving our city's very real problems.

I feel like I owe some explanation, since I loudly called upon Mark to file his lawsuit, and I continue to think that the anti-Volunteer Ordinance is an unconstitutional bastard born in a backroom from spite and dishonesty. Despite my dislike of the Ordinance, though, that single issue need not continue to distract attention and dominate the public discourse.

Right now, Mark is working just fine with his geographically flexible Mayor's office, just as most of the councilmembers work effectively while spending little time in the four walls of their offices. While it feels wrong to let such an ugly little ordinance remain on the books, dismissing the suit does not make it constitutional. Someday, in a less critical time when we can afford to focus on "B" level priorities, the ordinance can be challenged in a more favorable environment. In terms of impact on the city, the Volunteer Ordinance is tiny in comparison to the damage wrought by the wrong City Manager.

Dismissal of the suit would also unplug the electricity surrounding rumors of Koster investigations and other nonsense. In short, Funkhouser would be rising above the Council's petty mistake, diminishing a danger, and accomplishing a larger goal. It would also provide the good Councilmembers with a way to redeem themselves from their current tarnished, bickering image, and make a clean break from the past.

Would Funkhouser ever make such a deal? I have no idea.

But it's a lot better question than Kraske's breathless insider chatter about "political capital".

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