TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! MAYOR FUNKY CAUGHT SNIFFING AROUND SUNNYSIDE DOG PARK WHEN HE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON KANSAS CITY'S BIGGER PROBLEMS!!!

There is a basic failure of leadership in Kansas City and at its root is Mayor Mark Funkhouser who has not only demonstrated misplaced priorities but bad judgment and no political skill.

And now . . . It's a tiny tragedy that AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS have learned:

WITH ALL OF THE PROBLEMS KANSAS CITY IS FACING MAYOR FUNKY IS TAKING TIME TO WORK IN FAVOR OF A SUNNYSIDE DOG PARK THAT NEARBY RESIDENTS DON'T WANT!!!

This is the work of a Mayor undeserving of the office, a Mayor who puts puppy priorities above those of his human constituents . . . Funkhouser is a Mayor so desperate for approval that he's being influenced by about a dozen dog park ladies and forgetting about far more important responsibilities.

CHECK OUT AN AMAZING, EXCLUSIVE LETTER FROM A NEIGHBORHOOD LEADER URGING MAYOR FUNKY TO RECONSIDER HIS DOG PARK MEDDLING!!!

The entire letter of the former President of the Waldo Homes Association is worth reading and it was sent WIDE yesterday in response to the tyranny of Sunnyside Dog Park Advocates and to all of the City Council and just about everybody in local politics.

It reveals the Mayor is wasting time on Dog Park issues rather than working on making KC "A City That Works" or whatever.

The letter notes the rude, nasty and inappropriate behavior of Dog Park Advocates.

And the letter takes apart the case for a Sunnyside Dog Park.

I've highlighted my favorite passages and because it shows the misplaced priorities of one of our top elected officials, I think it's the most important thing happening in town right now courtesy of more than a few AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS!!!

Check it:

"Dear Mayor Funkhouser,

I've learned through the neighborhood grapevine that you have visited at least one Waldo neighborhood leader in an attempt to sway that person to agreeing to an off-leash dog park in Sunnyside Park.

Dog parks are a needed and wanted amenity throughout the city. However, Sunnyside Park is not an appropriate place for one.

Your friend, Deb Hipp and the W.O.O.F. group have been attempting for over 2 years to have a dog park put in at Sunnyside. They've drawn up a very pretty, very professional plan. The downside is that it would fence off much of the open space in that park and is too close to several homes and businesses. It needs to be put elsewhere.

You put a Dog Park Task Force in place. I attended all of their public forms in the different areas of the city. Although initially skeptical, I learned that many people really do want off-leash dog parks. I also realized quickly that the Task Force members were skewed towards making sure that Sunnyside Park was recommended as the site for a dog park in the South Parks area. When I asked the question directly, I was told it was not. However, in a private conversation, the Task Force Chair told me that they were working hard to make sure Sunnyside got a dog park. It was crystal clear to me that the agenda for the Dog Park Task Force was Sunnyside Park. The exception to that, in my opinion, is Paul Randall from D.I.G. I do believe that he was genuinely concerned with the task of recommending a variety of dog parks throughout the city so that the Penn Valley dog park is not the only one and would not suffer such overuse if others existed.

When Deb Hipp first started her campaign for a dog park at Sunnyside, she did attempt to court the neighborhood associations in the Waldo area. I attended her first meeting as well as subsequent ones. In the first meeting, she suggested that Swope Park would be a good place for another dog park in Kansas City and she mentioned other parks in general. At the time, I was the President of the Waldo Homes Association (WHA) and I spoke up, stating that I would adamantly oppose a fenced off-leash dog park in South Oak Park (within WHA boundaries) as our little park was just too small. I reiterated that WHA has a relationship with the Parks and Recreation Department in that we keep our park clean, we worked in the past with PIAC and the Parks Department to put in a nice playground, we have established and maintain a registered Butterfly Garden and we annually clear trails of brush and trash.

Later, during discussions, I learned and saw on a map that "my" park, South Oak Park, is about 5-6 acres bigger than I knew. The neighborhood had assumed the park boundary was the creek/drainage area just inside the tree line on the west side of the park. I was more than surprised to learn that there is a large area on the other side of that natural boundary.

I took this information to a WHA meeting and talked with the group about it. I explained that my initial negative reaction about a dog park in South Oak Park was still how I felt about the park as we know it, but that the extra several acres across the drainage makes perfect sense for an off-leash dog park and could solve the issue of where to put a dog park in the Waldo area. Nobody in attendance disagreed and several were very pleased at the idea.

I attended a few of the Dog Park Task Force meetings. After learning about the "extra space" at South Oak Park, I asked if I could talk with them about South Oak Park. They agreed to give me a few minutes. I explained my discovery and that it would make a perfect place for a dog park given the natural boundary, the combination of open and wooded area, a natural area at the top of the hill to make a parking area and the fact that although in the neighborhood, the exposure to residents and their property is minimal due to the layout. I explained that I thought it was a really good alternative to Sunnyside Park for an off-leash dog park. I was rudely dismissed by a member of the Task force. He told me, "We've already looked there and don't want it." He did not say it didn't meet criteria. He said they "don't want it." At that point, I decided I would step back and wait to read the Task Force recommendations when completed before I spent any more energy on this topic.

The Task Force finally made their recommendations, and now the staff at KCMO Parks Department having reviewed those recommendations, has drafted the "Off Leash Facility Design and Program Guidelines." I read the draft on line the date of the Parks Board meeting and decided it was time to be back in the loop. The Parks Department draft incorporated many of the recommendations of the Dog Park Task Force, differentiated between off-leash dog parks and off-leash areas in order to accommodate the urban living of the downtown area, and provided a list of Dog Park Rules. They did an outstanding job and produced a concise, informative and well-written document. In that document, South Oak Park is one of the recommended sites for an off-leash dog park. Sunnyside is not.

I was astonished at the comments and behavior of the W.O.O.F. leaders and proponents as well as some of the Task Force members during the public hearing at the August 25, 2009 meeting of the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners. The rudeness and inappropriate personal comments to individual Commissioners as well as the outright vehemency concerning Sunnyside Park not being one recommended was appalling. This was further proof to me that the goal of the Dog Park Task Force was Sunnyside Park and not the big picture task of making recommendations for dog parks accessible across the city for everyone. Please explain to them that 1) their job as a Task Force was to make recommendations, 2) they did a good job and the Parks Department adopted many of their recommendations, and 3) they do not get to make the final decisions.

In closing, as one of your constituents who actively endorsed you at the time of your election, I would really like to see you tend to more pressing mayoral duties and leave the city's parks to the Parks Department and the Board of Commissioners. They are good stewards, supportive of neighborhood efforts, and put in a lot of extra effort to accomplish all that is asked of them. Or, if it is so very important to you that you have a dog park in Sunnyside Park, you should visit the many neighbors in that area that live across the street or within a block of Sunnyside park. Several have signs in their yards that say "No Dog Park in Sunnyside Park." Obviously W.O.O.F. and its supporters already have your ear. You should listen to the other side without W.O.O.F haranguing opinions as fact while others try to speak.

Sincerely,

Tammy Gay
Kansas City, MO"

Let's review . . .

Politics as usual with Mayor Funky's Jean Jacket Wearing Friend having insider influence on the stupid subject of Dog Parks.

Mayor Funky won't let other people (The Parks Board) Do their job.

A former supporter decries the Mayor straying from more pressing priorities.

I hate to use a cliché but this town has gone to the dogs and SELFISH SUNNYSIDE DOG PARK ADVOCATES AND MAYOR FUNKY ARE HELPING TO CREATE EVEN MORE DISTRUST IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT!!!