TKC NOTE: An important meeting of the minds in Kansas City as transit activist Clay Chastain goes into attack mode against the most prolific streetcar advocate currently on Council. Check it:
Johnson's brilliant streetcar plan takes from the poor - gives to the rich, "and leaves us naught but promised joy."
* Councilman Russ (Mensa) Johnson's incredibly stupid streetcar plan will largely be financed on the backs of the poor, and give them a transit system, "that is not about moving people!"
* Johnson's gargantuan one-cent sales tax he is proposing to finance his streetcar system ( to be imposed on a disproportionate number of poorer citizens living south of the river), is the medical research tax scheme all over again...take from the poor and give to the rich.
* Johnson's pseudo transit system (he himself said, "it is not about moving people"...but rather creating downtown economic development)
will not likely even create much economic development since developers are not going to build around rail lines that have low ridership!
* Unlike the light rail initiative that has several different interconnected citywide rail lines in its design along with a
inter-modal hub at Union Station, and a new network of low-emission buses and an expanded bike-way network that will:
1. Save people living south of the river time, money, and hassle on trips to and from the airport and to the burgeoning job market around the airport and in the northland;
2. Provide northlanders light rail train service to access jobs and major destinations south of the river;
3. Serve Downtown, Union Station, the Plaza, Brookside and Waldo, the Truman Sports Complex, the 15,000 job Cerner redevelopment project,
the Kansas City Zoo, a new Citadel redevelopment project on the eastside, and south Kansas City.......
Johnson's one-dimensional streetcar system will limit citizens to puttering around the central city on a maze of streetcars moving in traffic!
The only brillant thing Johnson has done thus far (brilliant to the oppressive government he is a part of) is to cleverly orchestrate the repeal of 75,000 votes for a light rail initiative in 2007, and to, thus far, lead the city council and Mayor James in obstructing a vote on a 2011 light rail initiative.
Community Activist, Clay Chastain
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Transit is not at the top of my list of Kansas City priorities, BUT I always defend the processes by which the people can effectuate change when the people's government will not listen. Because I may one day need these rights myself, I will stand in defense of another that needs that help now. The undemocratic methods demonstrated by this council regarding this issue is outrageous. Those who say Mr. Chastain does not live in Kansas City, disregard the fact that ALL of the people that signed his petition do in fact live in Kansas City.
ReplyDeleteAwesome plan, clay.
ReplyDeleteLet's build 10 times as much rail, replace the bus fleet, run routes all over the lowest density and most transit averse part of the city and do it all for the like 1/ten thousandth the cost of the cheapest actual transit cost ever heard of....
And we'll s get imaginary millionaires to pay for it.
Seems doable.
But the streetcar is a "futurist fantasy"
6:01 misses the point. Clay's plan goes before the whole city for a vote, the people get to decide. If it is as bad as you say, (and it very well may be that bad), the people will choose. The council's plan goes before a handful of people at a time and is fraught with hints of impropriety.
ReplyDeleteIf you think the councils plan is fraught with impropriety, at least it's a plan.
ReplyDeleteVoting on a total fantasy is not what the petition process is designed to do.
It's like circulating a petition demanding that we vote on whether or not we should annex Johnson county kansas, them being pissed when the city tells you honestly, "we can't so that"
if there was a vote to form a new city north of the river i'd vote yes. we were promised sewer systems decades ago, still don't have it. but southerners get shiny street cars! no wonder we are CAVEmen
ReplyDeleteClay can at least say his initiative passed a city-wide vote. The nonstarter line garnered about 300 votes in an election that makes the Crimean referendum look like democracy in action.
ReplyDeleteAnd all of Clay's criticisms of the streetcar proposal are valid, but he left out a significant one: The streetcar duplicates bus transit that already exists.
Clay is a rather sick human being.
ReplyDeleteHe tells us what we should have in Kansas City, but doesn't want to live in Kansas City.
I know the guy pretty well on a one on one basis. He needs either the meds a doctor has prescribed or needs to see a doctor that will prescribe what he needs.
Attacking the messenger is not the same as addressing the facts, 6:36 (BNIM boy).
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's time to throw the entire council, Sly and the City Manager on the woodpile? We can bring back the Funk, light him on fire and start the current bunch of unethical stupid and hapless elected (and appointed in the case of the CM) on fire.
ReplyDeleteThe solution? Get rid of them all.
What will happen? The voters will stay home, the ordinances will pass, the council will get re-elected.
Hence, as always, the people will get what they deserve :(
6:15 i didn't know the initiative process discriminated on issues. itseems rather neutral. sooooooooo if you wanna change the that pesky initiative process.... (roll out the irony please) START AN INITIATIVE.
ReplyDeleteClay Chastain arguing with Russ Johnson.
ReplyDeleteA battle of wits between two unarmed men.
Or is it "twits"?
Yea Clay, Go get that Mensa Man.
ReplyDeleteYea Clay, You made my day
The council is afrad to put Clay"s to a vote because it will pass again.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Crispin Rea vote against selling Westport High? That is terrible and an immediate disqualifier.
ReplyDelete