TKC BREAKING NEWS!!! KANSAS CITY UBER SHOWDOWN TODAY!!! MAYOR SLY INUNDATED BY RIDE-SHARE ADVOCATES AND LOSING THE TWITTER BATTLE!!!
For the past few hours advocates for Uber and other ride-share services have been relentlessly calling out Kansas City Mayor Sly James before a controversial City Hall vote.
To wit . . .
MAYOR SLY IS TAKING A MAJOR INTERNETS HIT FOR HIS HARDLINE STANCE AGAINST UBER!!!
The proponents of Uber are taking their game to the next level by calling out Mayor Sly's regulatory crackdown . . .
FURTHERMORE . . . THERE'S TALK ABOUT MAYOR SLY NOT BEING SO EAGER TO MEET WITH UBER REPS FACE TO FACE FOR THE PAST 6 MONTHS!!!
Again, in a city that prizes our high-speed Internets advancement and biz friendly vibe . . . This showdown threatens to ruin that so-called progress.
Here are a few noteworthy examples of Mayor Sly and how he stays losing against tech advocates who are basically calling out City Hall hypocrisy . . .
Another hardcore tweet . . .
"@MayorSlyJames of course if I had a full-time driver I wouldn't care if Kansas City wanted Uber either."
Twitter perspective:
"What baffles me about this whole @Uber_KC thing is that Uber is working fine in 300 other cities so why is @MayorSlyJames fighting it? #uber"
Here's the word about today's protest . .
Save uberX in Kansas City
Last year, we launched uberX in Kansas City for one simple reason: to give you an easier, more affordable way to move around town.
But tomorrow (today), the City Council is planning to vote on an anti-technology ordinance that will eliminate hundreds of jobs and end our ability to operate here.
Tell the City Council to VOTE NO on this anti-technology approach and instead pass common-sense regulations that will allow ridesharing to grow and thrive here in Kansas City.
Uber is active in more than 300 cities around the world, and we need your help to tell the City Council that Kansas City shouldn't be left behind. Across the nation, cities are implementing modern ridesharing regulations that recognize the strong safety standards our technology enables.
What does common-sense regulation for ridesharing look like? Check out our blog to see the details on how KC lines up with cities that are getting it right - and creating thousands of jobs along the way.
Support uberX by emailing today! We can't do this without you.
-Team Uber KC
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More on today's UBER showdown . . .
"Thank you for taking the time to email your elected officials about Uber -- your voice makes all the difference.
"The City Council is meeting TODAY at 3PM at City Hall. Can you join us to show the Mayor and City Council that this is a critical issue facing KC?
"We will meet at 2PM, at the KC Hot Dog Emporium (324 E 11th St). We will grab some food, a “Save uberX” t-shirt, and then walk to City Hall together.
"The more people that come, more of an impact we will make. So grab your friends and loved ones and meet us there. It’s our last chance to save uberX in Kansas City -- I hope you can make it!"
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In the long run, Uber will win. That is the way of the world.
ReplyDeleteActually if you look beyond the little bubble known as "CK"MO you'll notice Uber is in deep shit with just about every city in the U.S. and the rest of world.
ReplyDeleteCan you confirm that the Mayor refuses to meet with Uber? Can someone should ask when the last time they actually got a meeting with him? If not that's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteHey Austin - don't look for KC in the rearview for a while. Our Mayor and City Council are trying to hard to go the other way. #KCMOKILLSENTREPRENEURS
ReplyDeleteKick Ubers greedy asses the fuck out of town and let someone local start up a service.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
So much for this being the innovation sexy killer app store mayor. What a joke. Sly in the corner somewhere gettinh off with Ashley's hand.
ReplyDeleteBill George knows that Uber will cause his shitty taxi service to take a hit. Well to bad Mr. George, I say hats off to anyone who can fuck you back like you have fucked people in Kansas city for years.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Mayor won't meet with Uber. I asked 4 times for a meeting about a very important issue with our neighborhood and could never get an appointment.
ReplyDeleteWho do I contact at Uber about their drivers being drunk or stoned when they show up?
ReplyDeleteHow thoroughly does Uber screen their drivers to weed out peds, sex offenders, and criminals?
ReplyDeleteThey don't. Their screening process is a joke.
ReplyDelete8:40 who do you contact when one of Bill George's people do the same?
ReplyDeleteDid the mayor really just tweet he wont be influenced by anyone by what they do or do not contribute? W-t-f.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable. Thats like the mayor saying on live TV that the crime rate in KCMO is directly tied to socioeconomic reasons mainly from broken homes instead of blaming guns for personal behavior
Why is KCMO anti-uber when it is something the people want so badly? So lets just be clear about this. In KCMO toy train votes you have to get a freaking notary in order to cast your vote for higher taxes against serious opposition and its forced through no matter what...and at all costs. Uber comes and the people want it and they get crapped on by the city. This is why KCMO is way way behind other cities.
So our choices would be:
ReplyDeleteStoned uber driver
or
Somali driver who blasts islamic music while he takes you from P&L back to your home.
Uber and their psycho leader Travis Nutcake aren't going to us what to do, how to do it, and when to do it here in Kansas City.
ReplyDeleteGet used to it.
KC Hot Dog Emporium
ReplyDeleteWow they are going to meet at one of those amazing new secret businesses that's opened downtown because of the toy train!!!
My relatives in Brooklyn use Uber almost exclusively when they need car transport. There have been no problems with drunk or stoned drivers and they get better and quicker service. They far prefer Uber over medallion cabs.
ReplyDeleteCome on Mayor Sly!!! Give in to Uber!!! It's technology!!!!!!!! Us young people want that and an internet connection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAll this campaign money and shitty Yellow Cab aside, who the hell do they think they are? It must be drivers doing all this talk about demanding no regulations on them. As a consumer, I demand they are in compliance with whatever standards all transportation providers adhere to. I don't think the general public fully understands this issue because who would fight to not be protected? If they win I am going to open a neighborhood clinic in my home and hang out my shingle.
ReplyDeleteUber already does all the background checks and insurance that the City wants. In fact, it's a safer experience than a cab because you have info on the driver before he shows up.
ReplyDeleteThis is not about safety, it's about the City taking a cut out of someone else's pocket. It's also about power and monopoly. It's also about hypocrisy.
Isn't interesting that Sly et al are so obsessed with being hip and cool and attractive to millennials but then do everything they can to chase off the preferred ride service of the very people they are trying to attract?
9;19 P.S.
ReplyDeleteI will take appointments on this cool AP I'm working on so everything is fine, no regulatory interference needed.
If Uber gets what it wants, no regulations, no costs, no rules, etc, every single damn business owner in KC should get the same!
ReplyDelete9:19 background checks.
ReplyDeleteI watched an Uber driver testify who was fired and black listed by every cab company in the city due to an arrest and conviction for assault on a woman. Regulated Industries made everyone aware of the conviction. Why didn't Uber catch this or did they and didn't care? If the committee would have allowed testimony on the last day I was going to call him out because he was there in his Uber T-Shirt after testifying twice for Uber. Funny, he never added that they are way better than a cab because they would hire him.
Uber is run by self-aggrandising fratboy jerks who appear to value earning money over paltry concerns like women's rights, customer safety, or privacy. Plenty of companies are run by jerks, but what makes Uber different is that being a jerk is the company's business plan.
ReplyDeleteDoes Tony really think that Sly "84 percent" James really gives a shit about what people are saying on Twitter about him and Uber?
ReplyDeleteHell even Peter Thiel said that Uber is the "most ethically challenged company in Silicon Valley".
ReplyDelete9:32, Womens rights? WTF are you talking about its a cab service that gives rides to women or men.
ReplyDelete9:32 probably does not have many friends.
Uber is an evil and arrogant company.
ReplyDeleteThe leader of Uber is a man named Travis Kalanick, a 37-year-old sociopath from the superficial landscape of Los Angeles. He went to UCLA and joined the Theta Xi fraternity. A few years before he entered the university, Theta Xi drew widespread scorn when its internal fraternity songbooks were leaked, revealing the scope of the brotherhood’s racism and hatred of women. These drunken monsters would routinely sing lines like “maggots crawl out of her decomposed womb” and “the dirty fags who contracted AIDS and died.” Antagonizing women and Latinos, one song had lyrics about a "hot . . . Mexican whore" who had a voracious sexual appetite even in the grave "while maggots crawl out of her decomposed womb." Another song joked that a rival fraternity's members are "dirty . . . fags" who "contracted AIDS and died."
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of company you want to support?
Don't you read Twitter, Tony?
ReplyDeleteTheir 'drivers' are creeps who don't know HOW to drive.
Their cars smell like ashtrays and toilets.
They don't carry insurance.
They have NO interest in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (no accommodations for wheelchairs or guide dogs)
Let 'em go.Good riddance to bad garbage.
Here is an idea don't use them call yellow cab but first ask if its non smoking. Then ask if they drag around a ramp for your wheel chair. Now make sure you tip them before they drive you and your guide dog off the nearest cliff
DeleteYah! But if Google and Social Media says they are cool why question anything or anybody!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe'll have what passes for a serious discussion of public policy in endless 140-character shouts, the cowardly politicos will fold, Uber will operate, a passenger will suffer some injury or damage, that passenger will sue the city for not regulating the service more, and the taxpayers will have to pony up a couple million dollars.
ReplyDeleteJust typical narcissism without any thought of responsibility.
Any chance for some adult supervision?
BREAKING!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteUBER----RUBE----KCMO
rube
ro͞ob/ noun North American informal
noun: rube; plural noun: rubes
a country bumpkin.
KCMO, one of the most livable, tech-savvy, magnet cities for young adults....according to the city!!....will show their true colors today when the council reverts to their RUBE nature and shuts down UBER.
I see Bill George has been busy commenting on UBER this morning. Their cars are clean. They never rip you off saying the cc machine is broken and etc. You know who your driver is ahead of time. They are monitored and you rate the experience (driver) after each ride. They have excellent customer service.
ReplyDeleteCab company would have competition and have to raise standards meaning drivers would have to bathe and keep the ride clean. I support UBER for all of the right reasons. I have never talked to anyone that has had a terrible experience, no they are not 100% but YC is about 0%.
KCMO needs to get their heads out into the sunlight and stop bullying a private enterprise and posters above need to get their facts straight. UBER is a great service.
Kick their fucking asses out of town!
ReplyDeleteWe'll start our own local service that plays by the rules.
Dear 4/9/15 10:18:
ReplyDeleteWe know you are really Clay Chastain so your ass should be kicked out of town because you are too stupid to breathe our air.
Go back to Virginia you asswipe.
Time for TCK Seista!
ReplyDeleteTravis's first venture, called Scour, an early experiment in Napster-type file sharing—translation: file stealing—imploded in the face of a $250 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against him.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day.
Johnny Dare, BBQ and "the Lake."
ReplyDeleteThe world is changing fast, just not here in the Old Cowtown.
Boomers, truly the biblical plague of locusts of generations will desperately hold on to their powerful positions for just a while longer until dementia, heart disease and cancer finally escorts them from the world they worked overtime in trying to destroy.
ReplyDeleteThat's right 10:57! Google and Social Media is all that matters. There is no need to think or question authority now!!! You just Google it and consult with peers on Facebook!
ReplyDeleteThats right kids besides, when Uber goes IPO you know Travis is going to split his earnings equally amongst all the millions of Uber faithful! Because he's such a humble and nice guy!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's sharing man!
ReplyDeleteTech venture capitalists would sink billions into dog shit if they could figure out a way to go IPO with it.
ReplyDeleteUbers working fine every where! Everyone loves it!! Just look at your social media tweets!!!!
ReplyDeleteKansas City is the only city in the world being mean to Uber!!!!!
Come on! Kansas City is Americas Renaissance City and Tech Capital of the world! We need Uber!!! Without it we'll be nothing!!!
ReplyDeleteIf the government can't control it they don't want it. First your skivvys get checked at the airport, next you and your baby can either pay 40 bucks for a cab ride to the grocery store or freaking walk.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing there is to marvel at is how marvelous a job Silicon Valley 2.0 has done brainwashing and dumbing down the Millinials-Gen Tech.
ReplyDeleteMillennials sorry. Actually should be updated to Lemmingennials.
ReplyDeleteProbably doesn't matter. The kids will get stuck bailing out all these tech companies at some time in the future anyway when they can least afford it. Their version of the 2008-09 implosion.
ReplyDeleteDoes Uber have daily siesta service? Tony might get into that.
ReplyDeleteKalnick views the contractors who generate his sacred capital as expendable pawns.
ReplyDeleteUber Seattle is always offering discounts for people who go to bars, who love happy hour, who like to get wasted, who dig getting totally fucked up, and who also like to drink.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a perfect model for Downtown KC!!!
Agreed. Most people want to feel free, especially when they are not, and alcohol is a good way to pretend.
ReplyDeleteI've only had fantastic experiences with Uber. I can't speak about Yellow Cab because they have NEVER showed up when I have called or scheduled a taxi ride.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that the city would want to get rid of Uber.
Oh yeah what a shame, what a loss that we wouldn't be able to live on our knees so that the Uber Men may be great. Just terrible!
ReplyDeleteWell I'm going to start an Airline god damn it! And I will not do business with your city with rules, fees, insurance, licensing, worthless safety regulations, and other expenses that will negatively impact me and my investors personal cash flow!
ReplyDeleteThere is a large group of cabbies in the 3600 block of Independence Ave. They used to take up all the parking spaces in the next door businesses parking lot.
ReplyDeleteI see them in the summer time drinking beer and then getting in their cabs to work.
It is not as if Bill George's employees are on the path to sainthood.
KC's regulations restrict competition and prevent challengers from ever getting a start.
Google cab driver rapes passenger and see for yourself how Yellow Cab and other traditional companies have a problem with their drivers.
And while many drivers have felonies that doesn't immediately mean they are still active criminals. Sometimes that is the best job they can find.
The Uber position is simply give us everything we want or we will leave and tell your citizens its your fault.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things Sly has said in four years that actually has substance and truth to it.
10:57's mommy wan meeeeeaaaaan to him! Wahhhhhhhhhh.
ReplyDeleteUber has safety issues.
ReplyDeleteRelax people. I like my yellow cab that takes for ever to show up and if they show up, I know I will enjoy the smell of curry and armpits mixed with the inevitable pine tree hanging from the mirror. How much is the fare? $11. Here is a $20. Sorry says the cab driver I only have $3 for change. Is that ok? No it's not ok but do I have a choice?
ReplyDeleteWait, did you just stare at my girlfriend's ass when she got out of the cab?
One more thing: Who is going to buy those old beat-up police cruisers? Not me or you but here comes Yellow Cab... they will turn those babies into the nice luxurious rides that we're accustomed to.
Racist mother fucker!!!!
DeleteI see Uber around here. They pull and stop in the middle of the street in the way of traffic. Sit there for ten minutes doing nothing then people come out. Driver doesn't get out and open the doors. Then mutters "where you going"
ReplyDeleteTKC afternoon siesta begins now!
ReplyDeleteStatus quo and bitching about everything is what 90% of us want. Screw capitalism, new ideas, competition sucks, what about my wheel chair in the uber mobile? SHUT UP and go do something productive. Example: work harder, bitch less, make money and pay taxes so I don't have to pay for you.
ReplyDeleteWasn't that this morning from eight am till noon?
ReplyDeleteYes we had lunch at twelve and now it's one so siesta continues for the rest of the afternoon!
ReplyDelete12:56: I see Uber around here? Around here is where fucktard? Are you watching them from your front porch waiting for your welfare check?
ReplyDeleteShit, I just made $8K today. Siesta it is.
ReplyDeleteGive Uber a break they are obligated to pay back all that Russian Mob venture capital.
ReplyDeleteI'll take a dirty ass tray and some trash in the floorboard over a shyster driver any day.
ReplyDeleteI thought that you wanted the Millennials to move to Kansas City. I thought that you wanted to be a grown up city. An old white man's unethical monopoly is more important? Of course it is, what was I thinking.
ReplyDeleteNo uber here in city hall. Mayor is playing them
ReplyDeleteMillennials want to be in Brooklyn. The new hipster Utopia of America. CKMO is just a temporary stop on the way to the promised land. Where an urban lumberjack can flourish amongst the concrete canyons, fruited streets, and greyish waves of sidewalk at peace.
ReplyDeleteThe Nail Tech Lady
ReplyDelete@CindyCirco: “It’s been a pretty clear message (from Uber) that it’s either our way or no way. That’s unfortunate, because we want them."
Aw yah right who's we?
Boomers making decisions that keep the dollars flowing to other walking-heartattack Tommy Bahama wearing Boomers for just a few years longer.
ReplyDeleteTake heart, America, they'll by be dying slow deaths soon in nursing homes while amazonian Kenyan nurses aides steal their jewelry and loose change.
When they're finally gone maybe we can still salvage something out of the world they shit on for decades.
LOL.....not a chance in hell that Austin and Killa City would be mentioned in the same paragraph unless it was in reference to "opposites".
ReplyDeleteNote to UBER....do like most other smart Killa City residents are doing....putting Killa City in their rear view mirror.
Drive far, drive fast. Tulsa, Omaha, hell Salina Kansas sounds good......
Oh, poor baby, 3:57. Your parents can't stand you and you're afraid they won't die in time for their money to do you any good?
ReplyDeleteIf you only knew how lucky you were to be born before Roe v. Wade.