Today, for a change, there's a really great Star article on Kansas City's inability to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Here's the most important part of this story . . . "One catalyst for the disability community’s frustration was the removal of the ADA coordinator, Pat Gallagher, from that position in late March. Gallagher had handled those duties in the city manager’s office for eight months and also worked for years on disability issues for Kay Barnes when she was mayor. She was well liked, respected and passionate about ADA compliance, Krajewski said.
Schulte explained that Gallagher had too many duties on her plate and he wanted her to focus on other tasks. Gallagher declined to comment on the change in her job duties.
Gallagher was replaced on an interim basis by a budget analyst, Julie Steenson, who concedes she has no ADA expertise."
AS ALWAYS, BEHIND THE SCENES WE HAVE TO QUESTION GLORIA SQUITIRO'S INVOLVEMENT WITH THIS BAD DECISION!!!
What I take away from this passage is that Mayor Funky's Administration isn't able to work with anybody who isn't one of their acolytes and their inability to cooperate with local experts who aren't dedicated to their political future above all has marked the ongoing hot mess of the Co-Mayor reign.
Furthermore . . . A local expert tells me that Mayor Funky's characterization of the physically challenged as an "advocacy group" competing for budget money is incorrect and dangerous.
"It's not accurate--money isn't an issue. It doesn't matter what it costs--accessibility is to be provided, no matter what. Imagine if we didn't enforce the civil rights act of 1964, and called Black people an 'advocacy group'"
It's not surprising to me that yet another one of Kansas City's diverse communities loses out under the Funky Administration that still fails to comprehend how local government works.
She was so good--I called her instead of those jerks at the Action Center. She got stuff done and was nice. Other people at cityhall say they can't do anything but she really made a change at our bus stop.
ReplyDeleteToo many duties on her plate? Does anyone at City Hall have too much work?
ReplyDeleteAlthough this whole issue makes little difference to me, I was appalled when I saw Channel 5's clip of Funky telling this group of people they had to advocate for a federal law to be enforced.
ReplyDeleteThen to find out they fired someone respected and doing a good job, well, it just affirms how totally out of it this mayor is.
Then to find out that it might very well be the "first lady" volunteer who is responsible for the firing, it just makes the level of incompetence displayed to be off the charts.
Pat Gallagher was kicked out of that job because squit hates her. squit was afraid for sometime that Gallagher would file an EEOC case against her and funk'd. Gallagher did not file suit when the mentally unstable squit asked Gallagher during a job interview how OLD was she. Stupid stupid stupid!. Now squit has barred Gallagher from the 29th floor.
ReplyDeleteGood people in city hall are continually subjected to rough treatment from low class squit. squit is allowed to run rough shod over people and no one can stop her. Even judge candidates will sit on their hands although they knew that interviewing with her for a Judgeship was WAY out of line.
Ball's in your court Beaufort... but you are _____.
You'll never be able to compare me to Tony, but I've got my own tipsters out there, and at least one of them thinks that this is strictly Gloria's doing, and that it is further retaliation for the law suits previously filed.
ReplyDeleteThe city better hope that Gallagher doesn't hire an attorney, file a suit, and then take a bunch of depositions, the publication of which will provide another source of embarrassment.
There are some funny things going on when, as one previous poster claimed, people were instructed not to acknowledge Gallagher or let her near the mayor's office, let alone the asking of Gallagher's age during the initial interview.
Disabled people aren't welcome at City hall. Try getting a place to park or getting your chair in a door.
ReplyDelete"You'll never be able to compare me to Tony ..."
ReplyDeleteWow - you must have really low self-esteem. Poor thing.
Reading all these posts really gets me to wondering about Schulte's involvement. Of course, he would never stand up to Gloria, but it seems to me it took a long time for him to figure out Gallagher "had too many duties on her plate".
ReplyDeleteMost people don't know that he initially told Gallagher she would be moving to his office, but then mysteriously changed his mind.
It also is strange that she never received any additional pay for this large amount of work, so much work that they had to pass it off to some temp, or intern, or whatever.
Ha, ha, Mr. Anonymous at 9:29.
ReplyDeleteI was just trying to point out that lots of people have tipsters, but can't be compared to Tony.
No, they definitely can't be compared to Tony. But you write that as if it's a bad thing.
ReplyDeletePeople need to recognize that what's good for disabled people is good for all of us.
ReplyDeleteAnd we could all become disabled very quickly--all it takes is a car wreck, or a stroke, or a fall....
Anon 9:50, lots of people at city hall (notice I said lots, not all) are overworked and have too much on their plates. Schulte has been in the job barely 5 months and people expect miracles from him. A few "mind changes" are certainly permissible and acceptable in that short of time. Give the guy a chance; he does have 12 bosses, at least six of whom are after him and want him gone.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, if Gloria is behind this, then that's horrible. But... the city obviously does have at least one disabled person working for them... HER! And if interviewing potential judges isn't work, then I don't know what is.
You make a very good point about Schulte's newness to the job and his untenable position.
ReplyDeleteHowever,it appears that this was not a "mind change" as much as it was bowing to an edict from Gloria.
Schulte has nothing to gain from having a weak, powerless ADA coordinator, and, actually, much to gain from having a respected, efficient one, even if her power was limited.
So it makes it all the more obvious that Gloria is behind this.
One thing is clearly coming out of this: They might be small, but one single interest group will have completely shifted any remaining support the mayor once had away from him.
I have followed this blog and find it amazing that Gloria is singled out for your anger. She is assisting her husband in changing the status quo. People inside the power structure will get upset when things are shaken up. Her role requires her to step outside the traditional role of first lady. We will be better for her actions in the long run. Funk's second term will gel the changes to make us an effective city leading this nation. Great things come from great minds.
ReplyDeleteThank god my polling place is accessible--I can't wait to vote against the mayors.
ReplyDeleteSchulte's probably an ok person, but he shouldn't lie, and he had a good ADA person--now he's got nothing.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that Anonymous at 12:02 is Gloria or a close personal friend or family member.
ReplyDeleteNo one defended the status quo, or said one thing against shaking things up.
The Mayor's wife has already cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars, made multiple inappropriate comments, and made a fool of herself doing so.
Shaking things up is one thing, but making racist and sexist comments is quite another, as is asking an employee his/her age.
There is not a doubt in my mind that Gloria Squitiro has the best of intentions, and understands her husband very well. It is just that she is out of control and does not understand legal or societal boundaries.
1:00 - I don't think Gloria does not understand boundaries - I think she thinks that boundaries do not apply to her - it's a delusional and dangerous thought process.
ReplyDeleteThat may very well be correct, 1:25. I personally cannot imagine a reasonable, intelligent person doing what she has done.
ReplyDeleteAnony 1:01, how do you figure that was written by a Mayoral crony? I'd think it'd been a Mayoral ENEMY.
ReplyDeleteI expect half the anti_funk comments are written by either candidates running against him, or their handlers. (That is, the ones Tee doesn't write himself.)
While I have ya on the horn, that 1:25 was exceptionally astute!
Once again, I wish ya's would create GMAIL accounts so you can use a consistent handle, even if you don't have your own blogsite. I'd really like to see your personalities show. That takes a consistent name.
But you obviously know that most of these comments have to remain anonymous for the reason you just posted. I think it is a bit of a stretch saying half, but you know many of them are people who cannot post under their true name or even an identifiable pseudonym.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I understand that, gulli, for I'm sure those at shitty hall closely analyze these comments to identify the whistle blowers.
ReplyDeleteOthers could take on a personality handle though. I love being able to identify pen names that I've learned to read and respect. I like to be their cheerleaders, when possible.
but honestly, I think Tee's blog is far too focused on KC city government. Most of this community doesn't live under it.
I see NOTHING from JOCO or LEES. And that's where people live.
Maybe TONY NEEDS TO FIND A SUBURBAN PARTNER. Notice how KC Confidential is a multi-blogger partnership.
I think TKC needs to do that as well to stay competitive! Fine if he wants to be the KCMO citydesk guy, but we need a Steve Rose kinda guy to handle the Kansas Side in JOCO. And another to handle KCK.
Can Tony be mature enough to GROW BEYOND the local KCMO jurisdiction- which like the KCSD is dying? Expand or die!
I find your comments about Tony fascinating. I love his blog, but I have this personal way of looking at much of life through a prism of baseball statistics. For bloggers, comedians, and many entertainers, I look at my so-called batting average, seeing how often they get hits.
ReplyDeleteTony strikes out a lot with me, as I find the cheesecake, race-baiting, and general negativity (fill in the blank keeps losing) totally off-putting.
But he hits a lot of home-runs, so we need to look at his slugging percentage as well.
He's kind of the Dave Kingman of local bloggers, leading the league in both strike-outs and home-runs.
I don't really mind the emphasis on city government. It's currently like picking low-hanging fruit, so maybe he does need to expand and clearly he needs to start taking himself more seriously.
I thought he did not receive sufficient credit for the ticket-scalping story, but he certainly leaves himself open to criticism when he doesn't follow traditional journalistic standards, although I thought those screaming "ethics" over and over were the same kind of people who refuse to give any name or handle, you know, those whose ox was being gored.
Well still, if the councilman didn't sell the tickets but handed them off to pretty much anybody, well a great story went from page 1 to page 26.
ReplyDeleteHe opted to do the page one story by half assing it. No matter how you cut it, its a page 26 story! He didn't get it. he missed it.
A phone call would have made it right. I think his credibility suffered incredibly because he misled us by not doing his homework.
Sharp didn't lose. Tony did. And ya know, we still don't know who put them up on craiglist.
classic yelling wolf! It'll kill TKC if he does another one or two of those.
Radio man thinks a lot about Tony and that's scary.
ReplyDeleteRadioman, I hope he chooses the latter option. Too much hate & nastiness, not enough of anything worth anything.
ReplyDeleteRadioman, I still think you are wrong. Tony broke a big story (witness the comments and you should have heard the talk at the Operation Breakthrough benefit). Barring a smoking gun type connection between Sharp and the seller, one Tony could never have gotten, this was bound to fade away in any case. I doubt if any mainstream media is even working on the chain of custody for the tickets so it is clear nothing was going to turn up. Sure, it would be nice to know who was selling them, but we'll never know. Too bad there wasn't a sting set up. That would have been rich.
ReplyDeletePat Gallagher is an incredible, caring, intelligent woman. Taking away her ADA responsibilities was wrong and Gloria's paws are all over it. I hope Pat brings the Department of Justice down on the the pair of them.
ReplyDeleteIt was a sad day when Pat's position changed. She really had her heart in ADA. So, what about the highest paid HR Employees in all of KCMO, why are they not handling?
ReplyDeleteTony could have gotten it by calling Sharp. It was only a big story if Sharp himself put the tickets up for sale.
ReplyDeleteOnce he gave them away, he lost responsibility for the scalping. How could he know they would be misused either by a staffer or a constituent?
If a staffer, well in anything but 'can't be fired government', that's a firing offense if employment is 'at will'. To my knowledge, we still haven't heard from Sharp who he gave them to.
And that's the story. Still page 26, unless maybe if it was a well placed city staffer who got them and sold them.
Its just not a big story if the councilman gave them away. The only reason it got to Channel 9 was because Tee misrepresented the story because he wasn't diligent to finding out the facts.
Like the Cornish link. Lets face it, Tony's 'conversation starting', is more like serving food without bothering to cook it.
Weak explanation by him or his cheerleader(s). And indefensible.
Radio man. Nobody gives a shit about you. Please stop your spam.
ReplyDeleteThat Ada lady is old--her FaceBook page shows she was born in 1921.
ReplyDeleteRadioman, I think you are John Sharp. Jeez, will you leave it alone? You are obsessive about this blog... just read it an enjoy... quit trying to overanalyze and quit making excuses for John Not-So-Sharp.
ReplyDeleteWell, being 89 years old is probably justification for Gloria breaking the law when she asked her how old she was, although she was probably only 85 or 86 then.
ReplyDeleteGloria did not have the authority to conduct the interview. She ah broken the law numerous times. The problem is the law does not apply to white females. Check it out. They commit statutory rape all over this Country and for the most part get away with it. There is not a white guy in this City or State and they are the ones with the authority willing to stop this woman. This dates back hundreds of years, the protection of white woman. The Law does not apply when it comes to certain people. Big fat stupid and ugly it does not matter.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Gloria interviewing people? What does she know? What's her role? What's her expertice? Does she know ANYTHING? She's not elected! And why does she ask the age of people? That;s not right or legal!
ReplyDeleteAre we sure TOny isn't actually Gloria's child given up for adoption a long time ago? The two have so much in common it's scary, right down to their looks.
ReplyDeleteTony looks nothing like that BITCH so STFU.
ReplyDelete