TKC TOLD YOU SO!!! KANSAS CITY ARTSY 'OPEN SPACES' WAS AN EPIC FAIL COSTING TAXPAYERS MORE THAN $1-MILLION!!!



As usual, the denizens of our blog community have been proven correct in their artsy criticsm and complaints of 12th & Oak cash waste. Here's follow-up on a story WE broke last year . . .

TKC CONFIRMED: OPEN SPACES WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST WASTES OF TAXPAYER CASH DURING MAYOR SLY'S TENURE!!!

Our blog community reported this FIRST back in October and offered a look at some of the players involved in the hot mess.



Then we provided a glimpse at some of the sparse crowds that didn't live up to the hype for the event:



The climax was October 2018 weekend concert FAIL that didn't earn much attendance at all:



And now, AFTER THE TKC BLOG COMMUNITY REPORTED IT FIRST, here's just a but of confirmation form a lesser news source editorial:

The city contributed nearly $1 million to last fall’s ambitious Open Spaces 2018 visual and performing arts exhibition. About $875,000 of the festivals’ $3 million-plus budget came from the city’s coffers.

The tally included $500,000 from the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund. The city is also on the hook for a $375,000 loan to KC Creates, the nonprofit entity that produced Open Spaces.

A city spokesman said the loan was a short-term solution to help KC Creates cover cash-flow issues.

One last look at the kick-off and all the high-class locals enjoying the artsy freebie introduced by Mayor Sly:



Locals complain about the pricey 18th & Vine or the P&L District and those gripes are justified . . . But let's not overlook this lavish festival of waste and hype from the Sly James Administration and the city "Office Of Cultural & Creative Services" department that needs to be SHUT DOWN to ensure this waste doesn't happen again.

You decide . . . 

Comments

  1. YEP. An absolute waste but par for the course. Part of Sly's giveaways to so many of friends, cronies and cash to let their kids pretend to be artists in the making.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess this is that momentum they keep talking about?

      Delete
    2. Hey now! What's a million bucks between friends. We had a good time, we talked about art and we had so many social media mentions. I think the even paid for itself if we're measuring the positive publicity and great activities for the community.

      Delete
  2. A drop in the bucket but an important one. This is a lot of money just so the mayor can have a party.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This type of apparent city mismanagement of taxpayer funds is becoming more and more frequent; time for an audit BEFORE the next election!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Council vote for this waste was unanimous. Expect more of the same from both jolie and quinton.

    ReplyDelete
  5. At least mayor james is being creative about how we'r moving closer to bankruptcy every day.

    better than giving it away at the local welfare office.

    Supporting artists both rich and starving is money well spent.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Detroit is our future4/15/19, 5:28 PM

    Money.

    Well.

    Spent.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Paying for culture is never a fail. Are the fountains supposed to make money too?

    Sorry you didn't get off on it or Tom Jones or whoever you geezers listen to didn't come to town for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paying for infrastructure and safer streets would be nice. Avoiding further incompetence would be an extra special bonus, but that's out of reach for Mayor Bullhorn and the clowns.

      By the way, run along and get the old fatass another Scotch, slave.

      Delete
  8. The Office for Cultural and Creative services was established to mainly cater to the 25 million anally tourists. Problem is the office forgot to tell the tourists and the tourists did not partake of this failed endeavor.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @5:49, that's because they weren't Hera, they went to a place where something interesting and enjoyable was happening (and took their wallets with them).

    ReplyDelete
  10. ^^^^ TYPO - "they weren't Here" (they weren't Hera, either).

    ReplyDelete
  11. Taxpayer ATM Machine4/15/19, 6:01 PM

    Please take your cash

    ReplyDelete
  12. They waste our money and then tell us they need to raise our taxes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. sLIE’s legacy of wasted money, just think how many streets could’ve been repaired, I’m just glad that idiot gopher boi hasn’t been showing his stupidity on this blog lately, hell, even the clowncil can’t wait for his ass to be gone. My council person talks bad about him all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The fault with Open Spaces lays at the feet of the Office of Culture and Creative Services and Megan Crigger. Crigger had three years to plan and stage the arts festival and the event bombed by all accounts. If anyone bothered to read the arts convergence plan that was written up before the OCCS was formed, one of the 10 objectives was to create a festival that showcased local artists and the local KC scene. Open Spaces did neither. Also the art wasn't supposed to be sold to pay debt, but now it is. The concerts at Swope Park were a bust. The turn out was abysmal. And the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund was robbed. Worse yet, Crigger said publicly that the NTDF fund was down because Hotel Motel taxes were down. But just a few months later, the Visit KC folks said the revenues were up and humming along. It was Crigger trying to cover for more mismanagement of her office and swiping the money from NTDF to cover the enormous losses of Open Spaces. Crigger is one of the highest paid CIty employees and yet manages just two people. The fruits of three years of her labor was Open Spaces and it was an unmitigated disaster. If there were any adults at City Hall, Crigger would be gone and the entire existence of OCCS would be reevaluated.

    ReplyDelete
  15. .....meanwhile the city is $700-million short on contributions to the pension funds. But, don't worry, there'll be a task force working on that and the whole problem will be solved just like the TF on crime succeeded.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Crigger, Cheepto, McIntyre, the list goes on and on.
    In fact, it starts with Schulte.
    The JazzFest is a total fiasco and runs a half million into the red.
    The "arts" fiasco costs the taxpayers a million bucks.
    The Public Works Department can't plow snow or maintain streets.
    The city generally spends money indiscriminately and completely irresponsibly.
    Yet all this talent is paid multi-six-figure salaries and just keeps rolling along without any oversight or accountability by Sly or the council members.
    And given the lineup of the next round of clowns at 12th and Oak this "tradition" of incompetence and irresponsibility will continue.
    It never changes.

    ReplyDelete
  17. What has Sly done that didn't end up costing the taxpayers a lot of unnecessary money?

    ReplyDelete
  18. First, our creative community has no talent or skill and most definitely no ability to be profitable. Second, they had this in the ghetto. People with money to spend are unwilling to go to the ghetto.

    ReplyDelete
  19. How much did the con-artist Dan Cameron get paid? He got fired in New Orleans, so Crigger, from Austin hires him for Open Spaces! Time to rid KC of these charlatans...and good riddance, Slie!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'll bet that if there were ever an investigation into this travesty of a boondoggle that Cheryl Kimmi (Fringe Festival) and her family who are all on the board of the Fringe Festival and each takes a big cut off of that is behind the Open Sore call Open Spaces too.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Living “ni€€er rich” is a real concept. Letting basic necessities go while spending lavishly on frivolity is a trademark of blacks. Letting a black politician like Slie James or Frank White have access to millions of taxpayer dollars is like letting a teenager go to the mall with a limitless credit card. A complete, independent audit of the city and county should be conducted.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This council is dominated by east side thugs like Reed and Lucas. Bringing ghetto to public policy in KC has become the norm.
    You want more police and less crime? You get MLK street signage and a 40 person Jazz commission.
    You want snow removal and road maintenance? You get the 18th and Vine District and we pay for Reed to travel all over the country to meet with other urban council members to discuss this failed investment.

    ReplyDelete
  23. 12:41 that is 100% correct sir

    ReplyDelete
  24. ... it's all about priorities and doing what they want instead of doing what they should.

    Roads, bridges, water mains, sewers, etc. are falling apart. They take public money (that they are entrusted with) that should be spent on that and waste it on frivolous entertainment.

    It is a result of undisaplined thought and behavior.

    It's just like folks that have a new Cadillac sitting in front of a house that is falling down.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

TKC COMMENT POLICY:

Be percipient, be nice. Don't be a spammer. BE WELL!!!

- The Management