Never before in Kansas City history has the City Council been so weak and out of touch with neighborhoods and the vast majority of their constituents.
To wit . . .
DURING A TUMULTUOUS WEEK IN KANSAS CITY THE COUNCIL WAS OUT OF SIGHT AND DISCONNECTED FROM THE PUBLIC DISCOURSE!!!
The Council didn't really register a single significant sound-byte when it comes to mainstream media.
Furthermore . . .
COUNCIL DUDES SCOTT WAGNER AND JERMAINE REED MIGHT WANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT UPDATING THEIR SKIMPY SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE DOESN'T COUNT AS CONTACT WITH RESIDENTS OR VOTERS!!!
But at least they're trying . . .
THE REST OF THE CITY COUNCIL SIMPLY DISAPPEARED DURING THIS EPIC WEEK IN KANSAS CITY HISTORY!!!
A Kansas City Insider put it this way . . .
"In the past 40 years there hasn't been a City Council that has been so aloof and out of touch as this current crop. The Mayor has just beaten them down to the point where they're afraid to make a peep. The downside to this approach is that the Council Districts are losing their representation in the process."
Think about this . . .
During a major snow storm that shut down the city the Council wasn't out there pushing to get neighborhoods taken care of or even help coordinate neighborhood leaders to respond to the crisis . . . They simply stayed quiet while the Mayor earned even more media attention.
Sadly, the mostly silent Council doesn't serve a real purpose for voters and residents . . .
Representation for neighborhoods seems to be another price that Kansas City is paying for Mayor Sly's "win at all costs" style of leadership.
On the other hand the Council is now one of the most unpopular legislative bodies Kansas City has seen in quite some time. So during their break from the public spotlight I can only hope they took some time to think about better ways to serve the electorate or at least went looking for THE STILL MISSING $15K . . .
DEVELOPING . . .
The council knows not to get in Sly's way or he will make sure they won't be reelected. He is KC's most popular mayor in years. Deal with it TKC.
ReplyDeleteSly is popular like herpes is popular except he is a blackterial infection. Time for the white cells to rise up and send sly back to ambulance chasing for the darkies.
ReplyDeleteSo what was my council person supposed to tell me via Twitter or Facebook? That it snowed a lot and I should stay home?
ReplyDeleteThey should drive the streets of their districts and when they find areas that have not been plowed, they should make certain they are plowed by making Troy Shulte's life a living hell. If they get stuck or bang up their car -- so be it. Mark it down to putting down incentives for a more effective and efficient snow removal system next time.
ReplyDeletePrivate phone numbers, cell and home, of city officials will start appearing on this blog so that the people can express their feelings to these shits if I am still not pleased with the cities' snow removal performance at 4:00 PM today.
These numbers can then be circulated and used by members of the community to apply public accountability to city officials -- all day and all night long -- until they clear the residential streets of snow.
Clear the streets city officials.
Those guys in Public Works are worthless. They're hooking up friends and family and when they're done with that, they're taking breaks on perfectly plowed main arteries or sitting at QuikTrip.
ReplyDeleteTony, I want to pass kudos to Council Dude Sharp, who is no longer my council dude after the redistricting. Unfortunately, we acquired Pastor Mike Brooks. We all know that he hasn't done anything since he asked the city mgr for that $15k.
Anyhow, I tweeted back and forth with KC's mayor yesterday. I will give him credit for his social media presence, but while he's happily retweeting all the praise that he's getting from a few residents, I told him that not all city residents were pleased with the snow removal response.
His response is something that should never be uttered by a public official..."well, you can never please everyone." Those words are sure-fire "don't reelect me" words. First off, when we're paying taxes, you best go out of your way to ensure we're "pleased".
He wanted to know how we could help, and I shared with him that the poor response goes back to Funky's administration, so it obviously wasn't him...it's a broken system.
Makes no sense for the city to plow an east/west residential street but not hit the north/south cul de sacs that are connected to it. Those folks have only one way in/out and when it isn't plowed...you have a ton of people snowed in. Not a good move at all.
Finally, our neighborhood had to shovel/snowblow our street just to get out. A shame for all the taxes we're paying.
Sly has had a good week by taking all in approach, but he really is a control freak. But this council and especially the two members mentioned in this blog are really "LAME"! Wagner wouldn't have done anything that looks like physical work anyway.
ReplyDeleteRight. Let's pull the plows off the major roads and streets that people actually drive on and get them on YOUR cul-de-sac in case you run out of beer and smokes.
ReplyDeleteThe major roads are clear asshat. I live on a grid-street, not a cul-de-sac. I have to travel on that street to get to a major street in order to get to work and back home.
ReplyDeleteWork. A concept that you would not understand because you are either a city supervisor or married to one.
Asshat at 8:16 showed how out of touch they are in that they think of residential areas as featuring cul-de-sacs.
ReplyDelete(pops busch beer and lights smoke)
ReplyDeleteWe plow our shit out here in Lee's Summit, even the cul de sacs
(takes long drag off of marlboro red, stares wistfully off into the distance)
Sly has turned the Council into his kitchen cabinet ,very sad for them and the voters.
ReplyDeleteWrong, 8:38, it was the guy at 8:08 whining about "a ton of people" snowed in at the end of cul-de-sacs.
ReplyDeleteI just can't get past this whiney notion that immediately after every blizzard, all streets including cul-de-sacs should be immediately cleared of snow curb to curb and down to the pavement, or else the city's entire snow removal plan is a "fail."
Show me the city where that happens. And what you would have to budget every year to make that happen.
The Council should have weighed in on the snow plowing a lot of voters are not happy. They are just too scared of Sly to do their jobs.
ReplyDeleteWhats the incentive for the city to plow the streets when they make over $200 a pop when they tow your car.
ReplyDeleteFrosty.....
ReplyDeleteSnow removal was bad and it looks like we have a one man City Government ,all bad for Kansas City.
ReplyDeleteafter every blizzard,
ReplyDeleteNo Dipshit @ 9:01 AM!
They never clear the residential streets. That is there policy, they lie when they say it is not.
I will give the city a pass on curb to curb because so many lazy people will not shovel their driveways so the park on the street. but even ONE LANE to asphalt would be an improvement. They do not even try to do that.
Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Buffalo and other cities that get much more snow still clear the residential streets. So quit throwing that "no other city does it remark out there" because it is part of your big assed lie.
Get me the Mayor's private cell phone number and I will put it to good use.
ReplyDelete9:01- Then why does every candidate for office make the promise that they will fix this?
ReplyDeleteYou have a NIGGER Mayor, who smiles all the time and does very little. That's all it takes to be loved in this shithole, named Kansas City.
ReplyDelete"They never clear the residential streets. That is there policy, they lie when they say it is not."
ReplyDeleteSorry, but it is NOT the policy to "clear" residential streets immediately after every snow storm. It is the policy to "clear" the designated snow routes as quickly as possible, which they have done, AND to make passes on residential side streets to make them at least passable, which they are.
Realize also that after they have cleared the snow routes, they have to go back over them with sand and salt to prevent re-freezing.
Of course, that's not nearly as important as getting the street in front of your house completely clear, because, after all, you are the center of the universe.
Candidate for Mayor Sly James on snow removal. Note especially his comments regarding "improved efficiency". And did he really hold himself to the commitment that his street would be plowed last so that he would know when the plowing was done?
ReplyDeletehttp://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=pCVa0orxL0c&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DpCVa0orxL0c
In addition to the mayoral and Council elections, I seem to recall a lot of promises by Mayor James and members of the Council in the campaign to renew the e-tax that doing so would ensure adequate resources for snow removal.
ReplyDeleteThis storm alone is costing the city $2 million. How much more should they have spent?
ReplyDeleteAnd where would that money have come from without the e-tax?
Right, 9:37. Your an expert on the snow removal systems in Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Buffalo.
ReplyDeleteFYI, I used to live in Minneapolis. And they do it the same way KC does -- concentrate on snow routes first, then make passes on residential streets. And no, they don't "clear" residential streets down to the pavement.
And people up there are patient and happy about it. They don't expect every street to be perfect within hours after a big storm.
That's because they are used to it and know what to do, instead of some KC crybaby who gets one 10-inch snowfall every five years and thinks the world has ended.
Next spring, expect the new round of crybaby complaints:
ReplyDelete1. "There's a pothole on my street!"
2. "They blocked off my street to fix the pothole? Waah, waah, waah!"
The point regarding the e-tax is that others have posts that there are inadequate resources (i.e. money) for snow removal. Well, the Mayor and other elected officials campaigned in favor of the e-tax. One of their points was that passage would ensure adequate resources for snow removal. And the Mayor and Council control the budget. So this whole line of there not being enough money to do snow removal right is a bunch of shit.
ReplyDeleteThe City should have spent whatever it took to get the job done right. That means timely, quality services. If not, then they need to hold some folks accountable, starting with themselves.
"So this whole line of there not being enough money to do snow removal right is a bunch of shit."
ReplyDeleteI never said there wasn't enough money to do snow removal "right". I said there wouldn't be any money to do snow removal at all without the e-tax.
But please, let me guess what "right" snow removal is:
"My street still has snow on it! Waah, waah, waah! They aren't spending money on ME, ME ME!!!"
Wow, McGurk (10:17). Maybe if your boss wouldn't make so many promises to get himself elected or to pass a tax referendum the citizens of Kansas City wouldn't hold him to his word when it's time to govern and deliver the services.
ReplyDeleteIn case you haven't noticed, provision of most City services is complaint-driven, requiring the citizens to initiate action and a response from the City. So now yo ave a population that has been trained to all the 311 Action Center if they see Codes violations, illegal dumping, and yes, potholes. But that's what you knew (or should have known) when you signed up for this gig. Remember, you ASKED to be given this opportunity. So man up and quit your fucking whining.
And if your post truly expresses how you feel about Kansas Citians, maybe you should return to your beloved Minneapolis. You aren't doing yourself or the citizens o Kansas City any good here.
THE STILL MISSING $15K
ReplyDeleteTHE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
THE STILL MISSING $15K
They are starting to work on Waldo, but they are doing a shitty job plowing.
ReplyDeleteThey have waited so long the roads are covered in hard packed ice, so just running a plow blade across the top is smoothing out the rough spots and not clearing the streets. In some cases, they are making it worse.
Idiots!
Why, 10:58? Because I've interrupted your crybaby party?
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you grow a pair and stop bitching at the city because your life isn't perfect?
As far as services being "complaint-driven" I got a great idea. Let's install sensors in all the streets so they can detect every pothole, and let's install cameras everywhere to detect illegal dumping.
I'm sure you'd be willing to pony up for that. Of course, while we repeal the e-tax and make sure no Johnson Countian pays a dime for any city service they use (including snow removal) while they work here.
ReplyDeleteKC sucks.
KC will continue to suck.
KC will continue to be robbed by the likes of Sly and his handlers until KC becomes DETROIT.
"During a major snow storm that shut down the city the Council wasn't out there pushing to get neighborhoods taken care of or even help coordinate neighborhood leaders to respond to the crisis . . ."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I've read anything dumber, not even from Glazer.
So tell us, Tony. Exactly who are these "neighborhood leaders" and exactly what could they have done to "respond to this crisis" if only their City Council person had been on Facebook or Twitter to tell them what to do?
You people are impossible. I've lived in KCMO my whole life and this is the first time my residential street has ever been plowed. Much better and pretty impressive considering this was the bight snowfall in many years. Quit whining and shovel your sidewalk!!
ReplyDeleteOops; "biggest" snowfall
ReplyDelete12:28 PM - "bight" the big one.
ReplyDelete"I've lived in KCMO my whole life..." is all the proof one needs to asses that you haven't a clue about anything.
Stay bleating like a good sheep.
Look at the group of twits in brightly-colored shirts.
ReplyDeleteSpecial Olympics Bowling?
1:00 "asses". All the proof one needs to know you are an ass. Keep drinking the water in JoCo and let us know how that Brownbsck school funding works out.
ReplyDeleteMcGurk, your ad hominem attacks of me on here are truly pathetic. The biggest whiney crybaby on here is YOU.
ReplyDeleteYour boss is the one who set the expectation. If you don't like it, complain to him.
Don't like Kansas Citians? Don't like your job? Don't like being held accountable? Why would you want to stay?
We finally got the snow plows come through at noon on Saturday. The whole place was iced up so not much use. At least they can claim they made a pass through. This is at 129th and Holmes Sharp's territory.Most people stayed away from work for 2 days as they could not get to either Holmes or Wornall which were perfect. So much for just doing the arterial streets.
ReplyDeleteYou fucking idiots in NIGGER City, Missouri. Whine and cry and keep electing NIGGERS to head up the city, police and whatever else they can steal and now, whine about the snow. Well, you can do NOTHING about either of these situations. You can have "The City of NIGGERS - no, not fountains"..
ReplyDeleteHey Nigger Guy- Thought you would like the snow and the poor job of plowing. Keeps your favorite folks off the streets. Plus, with most citizens at home, a greater likelihood one will get shot while breaking into someone's home.
ReplyDeleteIf you only knew how screwed up public works is, Tony.
ReplyDeleteThe mayor isn't really in charge. He and McGurk are just treating this like a press event.
The Mayor has no ideas what's going on out there on the snow covered streets. And he's actually assigned a few volunteers to monitor this blog so that his his negatives don't jump up too much.
You should ask for $15k to do that job yourself.
After watching how poorly some of the City's snow plow drivers perform, it makes one wonder what type of training and qualifications these people have. Do they operate equipment as part of their regular job? Or are they trash truck drivers and call takers who go to a class on "How to Plow Snow" and then handed a set of keys?
ReplyDelete"And he's actually assigned a few volunteers to monitor this blog so that his his negatives don't jump up too much."
ReplyDeleteBWAAAAHAHAHA! Yeah, City Hall is scared to death of Tony. All except Councilwoman Tracy Ward, of course.
What a bunch of whiny pricks and bitches! You are too lazy to shovel your own driveway and too cheap to pay the neighbor kid to do it for you. Get a fucking life! I got around on the side roads just fine. The main streets look great after so much snow. The plow drivers don't carry magic wands with them. Go fuck yourself the next time it snows and buy a snow blower you whiny fuck holes!!
ReplyDelete7:00 + 1
ReplyDeleteWas just told by a sanitation employee that the KCMO Sanitation Department has suspended trash pickup indefinitely because the residential streets are not safe for the crews to travel. If the expected storm hits KC this week, the suspension of service will extend until the regularly scheduled pick-up schedule in first week of March.
ReplyDeleteIn order to avoid negative publicity for as long as possible, the offices of the City Manager and the Mayor ordered the Sanitation Department to not issue a public announcement on this decision and to leave the announcement on the city's Web site that trucks would be working Saturday and Sunday.
The City's failure to conduct a snow removal campaign in residential neighborhoods now means that citizens will have to store 2-3 weeks of trash before the next pick-up.
Media inquiries about trash and recycling should be directed to Sean Demory, public information officer for the Public Works Department, at 816-935-7487.
10:33 I'm calling BS. Snow melts. No one will be storin 2-3 weeks of trash. The trucks will be back in a few days as soon as they can run the routes. The City's solid waste division is well-run and, well, solid. Things will be fine.
ReplyDeleteAre you just posting this fiction on every comment page to stir up crap?
10:33, that's odd, because somebody came by and picked up all the trash on my block before 8 a.m. On a Sunday. One day later than scheduled (President's Day holiday).
ReplyDeleteSo much for "suspended indefinitely" and not picking up trash for up to three weeks.