Council Dude John Sharp set this in motion last week when he thought nobody would notice a rather bold move to undercut public opposition to City Hall taking over an important aspect of local healthcare.
The pushback starts this morning . . . Here's a TKC EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW TO THE UPCOMING FIGHT along with the latest press release and some of what KC news watchers will see tonight at 5 in the PM.
4 PM. Monday August 31, 2009And here's some of the chatter that's going round among the MAST folks that I've corrected just a bit:
At MAST headquarters, 6750 Eastwood Trfwy, Kansas City, MO.
Citizens to Save MAST are VERY CONCERNED about the new city ordinance submitted by former ousted MAST director and now city council member John Sharp.
The Ordinance would shove MAST into the city structure without due diligence and planning.
Ordinance will be on Wednesday's Public Safety Committee docket.
THIS IDEA TO MOVE MAST IS ALL POLITICAL. We do not want ambulance service to be a pawn.
"A resolution (It's actually an ordinance) is coming out of committee on Wednesday that would make MAST a city dept. NOW. This would clarify what MAST is so that confusion of who negotiates with who, and who's money is who's money. (TKC: ???) Who has legal authority etc etc. Would end. This should be the final step to becoming true city employees. This needs our biggest and loudest support to date. So two days this week for just a few hours your union needs you to be at City Hall. Wednesday 9-02-09 at 10:00 and Thursday 09-03-09 at 13:30."For the most part, the overwhelming majority of MAST employees have been too scared to speak up . . . But the fact that often goes unreported is simple:
MOST RESIDENTS OF KANSAS CITY DON'T WANT CITY HALL RUNNING HEALTHCARE!!!
Putting Mayor Funky and Co-Mayor Squitiro in charge of ambulance service is a disaster waiting to happen. The entire City Council should expect some serious backlash from voters who aren't Local 42 affiliated if they move ahead and ram this one through . . . Already a petition to stop the MAST hostile takeover is nearly complete . . .
And just to prove even more Kansas City hypocrisy correct . . .
THIS ORDINANCE IS SUPPOSED TO TAKE LOCAL 42 AND FIREFIGHTERS OUT OF THE MAST DISCUSSION BUT LOOK FOR KCFD TO THUG OUT LOCAL MEETINGS THIS WEEK THEREBY PROVING THAT THIS MAST DEAL IS UNION BOSS LOUIE WRIGHT'S BIGGEST SCHEME TO DATE!!!
Seriously . . . City Hall taking over ambulance service is probably the best reason to move out of KC Proper that Mayor Funky and crew have ever provided. Union Bosses dictating their terms to local politicos is a close second. By the end of this week we'll see if the standard of healthcare and life in general is degraded by shady politics and union backroom deals.
We don't want John Sharp and Cathy Jolly running MAST. John Sharp was fired for mismanagement of MAST. Forget Funk and Gloria. The city council and the city manager are more dangerous. The other small towns north of the river do not want KC city hall running MAST.
ReplyDeleteThen the small towns need to step up to the plate, as do the MAST officials who truly do not want it, either! But, they saw what happened to Dough Hooten, the Executive Director who resigned after being asked by the Mayor to do so. If this isn't political, why would the mayor ask the person, who brought MAST into the quality of service it is now, to resign? Hmm.. could it be that certain 'leaders' learned of a meeting of employees with Mr. Hooten and made the ever important phone call to the Mayor, saying ,"Get rid of him!" ? The meeting with the mayor occurred 23 hours after this meeting with the employees. I do not believe it is coincidence. Therefore, the remaining Mast managers are terrified for their jobs! I myself will undoubtedly be forced out by trumped up allegations in the future. I have 17 years with MAST and my discipline record is clean. Suddenly, things will start happening. I know how this works...
ReplyDeleteI don't know why they think this is a good move.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing John Sharp is interested in is political contributions to his re-election campaign.
ReplyDeleteIf the city takes over MAST, it will result in more layoffs of MAST employees and worse ambulance serves and more health problems and increased death rates of all of the patients that MAST serves.
ReplyDeleteSo why the hell are we paying $200,000 for a consultant? Wasn't the whole idea of hiring yet another consultant to make sure "this was done right?"
ReplyDeleteDid the consultant say, "Hey, your check is good. My advice: grease this baby up and ram it in good. Just speed things along and fill in the potholes later. I'm out of here."
“This merger will likely lead to the loss of the current excellent Physician Oversight and Review with the consequent decline in the quality of advanced life support EMS care and adverse impacts on the lives, health and safety of residents and visitors of the Kansas City Metropolitan area…”
ReplyDelete“…this merger will likely lead to the loss of the current excellent 'MAST' administration and its historical EMS administration knowledge with the inevitable consequential management problems and lost links to the State Advisory Council on Emergency Medical Services, the Missouri Ambulance Association, the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Alliance, and to the Missouri Ambulance District Association.”
“By Board resolution adopted on March 18, 2009, the Board of the Southern Platte County Ambulance District wishes to go on record as adamantly, unconditionally, and unequivocally opposed to the proposed unplanned, ill-conceived, fiscally unsound and clearly unwise merger of the Kansas City Fire department and 'MAST' ambulance service operations and the Board further reserves the right to review its contractual relationship relating to 'MAST' and Kansas City as a result of said proposed merger of ambulance operations.”
The board approved the resolution with a vote of 6-0. Afterward, Kincaid presented Hooten with resolutions from Weatherby Lake, Parkville, Farley and the district.
Here is a point to ponder...How many fires go out around the city in vacant buildings just prior to any city council vote involving IAFF Local 42? This winter we had more fires in Kansas City in a long time. Most fires were involving vacant buildings. On Friday we had one of the biggest fires in Kansas City in the past year, so is it coincidental that this fire happened the weeked before a big vote involving local 42's? Just a thought...
ReplyDeleteIt will be a sad, sad day when John Sharp and Louie Wright win this tug of war and destroy MAST. Sharp has been wanting to do this ever since he ran MAST into the ground and they were able to lift themselves up by their ownbootstraps to the fine organization they are today. For Louie Wright, it is all about power and money for his position and union. He will chew up the MAST employees and spit them out like garbage -- putting his union asses in their place and destroying this fine organization. Louie is glad to help out (= $$$$) Sharp's campaign (and a few other council members) to get his dirty paws on MAST.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, every one in the city management, mayor's office and other council members pretend like this isn't "political" , just "good" business practice. Sick, sick, sick. Those guys will do anything to get a "vote" from Louie and his thugs.
Time to move out of state.
well 12:26, at least you don't have far to move. live on the KS side and you can still watch this train wreck up close. and hope you never need their services when on the MO side.
ReplyDeleteThe few at Mast that are fighting the merger are fighting against the employees ever getting a pension. I for one am really pissed at Lesa and her never ending bullshit. I think MAST should buy a pedestal and placed it in the commons area at Mast. This would provide a great sounding board to provide the attention that appears to be lacking in her life. I personally think the women is a full bubble off center, and anyone who spends any time with her would recognize this in one or more of her personalities.
ReplyDeleteHave MAST employees been laid off??
ReplyDeleteHey Kansas, why don't you worry about that side of the State line.It would appear you have more than a few issues over their.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 100pm, wow you're an idoit. I am not Lesa, but I wish I had her balls to stand up to the union like she does. Don't even get me started on the pension bull shit. YOU, yes I know who YOU are "dh", have been babbeling about your damn pension for years which still has yet to happen. You know what, if you did your own damn research instead of listening to your idiot union leaders you would know that there have no talks with city department or kansas city human resources. News flash there are no pension talks. We get 9% from MAST for our 401K, that's better then 90% of all companys out there, and you know what that 401K will be there even if the pension is not, look at all those poor union people with General Motors that worked hard for years and now they have no money in their pension for retirement. You are an uninformed lazy medic who can't do your own research, and only goes off of what everyone else tells you. YOU are the one that needs to get a life. I hope you get everything you deserve when all this goes through, god knows its all about you and your buddys anyway. LEAVE MAST ALONE
ReplyDeleteMast needs help from Kansas too. You never know when you'll be on the other side of State Line and in need of assistance.
ReplyDeleteWow with this much opposition why is this happening?
ReplyDelete3:58 ... This is happening because the Union President, Louie "Don Luigi" Wright deemed it so! Any questions?
ReplyDeleteLouie Wright's Local 42 saw a vacuum in city leadership. I am including the civic leaders also. There is a testosterone free zone Downtown and these ambushers are pushing their self serving agenda. I and the rest of the frequent voters will remember EVERY single council member who votes yes to this Sharp dodge on election day. They will not be returned to any elected office. Local 42's influence is not large enough to cover this mess.
ReplyDeleteThis has turned into the most amazing mess I have ever seen. And all to change something that was working well. It's interesting it took just one--one!--community meeting full of citizens who think the city couldn't run MAST correctly to get the city council to try an end run around the petition/vote process.
ReplyDeleteSCARY AND sad.
ReplyDeleteMan it would take forever to wax a brunette like the model in the graphic that Tony selected.
ReplyDeleteIt is too easy to sit at your Dilbert-esque desk job all day typing immature and insulting things about a person like Lesa Gonzalez, who is out there saving lives, dealing with sick and dying people for 12 hours shifts daily, while you sit at your cubicle, shoving twinkies in your face filing paperwork and making payment arrangements on past due accounts. Most people have the courage of newborn pussycats, too afraid to swat a common house flea while this woman is taking on a power political machine in the Local 42, some city councilmembers and Mark Funkhouser. Lesa is standing up for the MAST employees who are too afraid, uninformed or intimated to ask questions or challenge the union or city leaders that they elect into office, as most people are sheep who blindly follow self-interested, greedy, unscrupulous shephards to the slaughterhouse en mass. Her courage and compassion is commendable.
ReplyDeleteThank you Yancy. Very kind of you. I actually do not feel that the elusive pension that has been promised to us is worth putting the entire EMS system into the city for. Sacrificing public safety, a world class company, and causing such uncertainty in peoples lives is my actual goal. I started this out of concern for my fellow employees but came to realize it is truly the citizens of Kansas City that I am fighting for. The person who wrote the ugly letter is a true sheep. WE all know who it is. He is a paramedic (and not a very good one) who takes LOTS of paid union time to speak like this about me at work. A very union brother thing to do. I have printed off many letters he has written about me. He is not worth wasting our time on. I will point him out to you at City Hall Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteSacrificing public safety, a world class company, and causing such uncertainty in peoples lives....this did not come out right.
ReplyDeleteThat is what is happening and I am trying to STOP it!
Incredibly important issue for Kansas City and those surrounding areas depending on MAST.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this isn't going to end up like a Little Chicago, who's thug teamsters have far too much influence. Same true here. Firemen's union has gotten too big for its britches and local government is rolling over.
I think this issue will kill off the Funk's future far faster than Gloria's feet. People start dying here, and people will be LOOKING for that, well it won't be pretty for the mayor and the council puppets pushing this to build an an IAFF kingdom bigger than it should be.
Saying don't fix what ain't broke... makes sense. Do this, Mr mayor at your own risk! You are showing us all you're just another politician and that's not why you got elected. You're starting to act like you're trying to get even with the citizens for giving you a hard time.
How vindictive!