SOME WHITE GUY (STEVE ROSE) FROM THE GOLDEN GHETTO KNOWS WHAT'S BEST FOR KANSAS CITY PROPER COUNCIL DISTRICTS!!!
First of all, it's important to note that I've talked with Steve Rose and I'm absolutely certain that he's one of the smartest media dudes in all of Kansas City and he has an uncanny ability to assess and predict the local political scene.
However . . . Today's he's all wrong . . .
Steve Rose: Kansas City Council needs to keep its citywide members
Let's not dwell on the fact that Steve Rose doesn't have any standing on this issue from his comfortable life in Johnson County. Instead, just taking him at his word, the arguments of Mr. Rose mostly hinge on politicos elected "at-large" offering a city-wide perspective. That's not an altogether bad idea but in reality . . . These mini-Mayors end up doing very little to justify their existence.
Credit to Mr. Rose for acknowledging at least a bit of the concerns on minority voting rights. To put it less delicately that this life-long newspaper man . . . At-Large districts are nothing but a legacy of institutional Kansas City racism devised to keep minorities out of office . . . Sorry, that's just a fact and anyone arguing otherwise is being willfully ignorant of this town's long history of de facto and de jure segregation.
But here is what's probably the most important contradiction to the arguments of Mr. Rose . . .
WHY SHOULDN'T KANSAS CITY BE ABLE TO GOVERN ITSELF JUST LIKE OVERLAND PARK AND OTHER JOHNSON COUNTY MUNICIPALITIES?!?!
There are no "at-large" representatives in the biggest cities in JoCo . . . They don't need a crew of mini-mayors taking up space to offer a "broader perspective" on their towns.
Plain and simple . . . Kansas City At-Large Districts serve to do nothing but keep people of color out of office and protect the interests of the civic elite while ERODING NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATION OF EVERY DEMOGRAPHIC . . . The At-Large seats are yet another manifestation of the machine politics era of Kansas City that so many local lament but overlook when it comes to the OVER-REPRESENTATION of white people on the City Council.
Steve might be smart but he's also wrong a lot too.
ReplyDeleteNot only is Steve wrong a lot, but he's really not very smart and not even a jouranlist.
ReplyDeleteHis career is based on the fact that his dad owned and built a newspaper that Steve then ended up inheriting and ruining.
Only the folks at the clueless Star would imagine that he in any way represents opinion in Johnson County.
Wait - wasn't Beth an at large council person?
ReplyDeleteThe at-large seats only make developers and other wealthy interests more powerful because candidates for those seats need a lot of money to advertise city wide. Get rid of the at-large seats.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the at-large seat just a tool to make sure blacks and whites are over-represented on the council and latinos are under-represented?
ReplyDeleteTony's right if you want to mingle and live among people of color move to East KC.
ReplyDeleteAs long as folks keep electing and reelecting these clowns why should anything change? The dumb asses of KC are begging for it.
ReplyDeleteMelba Curls won at large for two terms. Look at what a stellar job she's done, not only for her own third district, but also for the city at large.
ReplyDeleteIt's a horrible idea to divide the city into 12 districts, weakening each one,dividing PIAC and other pies into 12 pieces. Alliances will be very difficult to build and larger projects will not get done.
If blacks want more candidates elected, put up decent candidates.
Steve may be from the golden ghetto, but he's smart enough to know that as KC goes, so goes Overland Park, unlike most of the faux nouveaux riches who have moved there in the past fifty years. He spot-on on the at large issue as well as on his divide and eliminate solution to the KCPS issue.
ReplyDeleteYES!!
ReplyDeleteKC needs more city council blacks to control this city with Mayo Sly.
look how well they've done in Detroit!
Steve smokes pole
ReplyDeleteWe need the State to taken over KCMO government. Councilmen are worthless and just rubber stamp what Sly wants.
ReplyDeleteHere we go again. The same folks who scream about judging someone based on skin color wants to change the rules so we can elect more people based on skin color. Hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteSteve is a good example of how the apple don't always fall close to the tree. Stan was witty and had a personality that folks loved. I know I did. Steve's personality is drier than a cotton ball. He ruined the family business and will more than likely surf the Star to it's grave unless it's sold and new owners drop Steve in first wave of cleaning house.
ReplyDeleteThe question, of course, was why were the at-large seats created in the first place? The answer to that question will show the way to go. They can't be rationally justified.
ReplyDelete