Former Mayor Sly James: Adversary Of Kansas City Latino Community

Won't waste too much time on this because TKC is NOT a Latino activist and just wanted to revisit this photo for #TBT because it makes me giggle.

Still . . .

We need to quickly call out a cowtown election trend so that our electorate will be better informed about how the future looks:

AT EVERY TURN FORMER MAYOR SLY JAMES HAS OPPOSED KANSAS CITY'S LATINO LEADERSHIP!!!

Not just opinion . . . We have proof . . . 

Back when Manny Abarca was working to win a place on the County Legislature . . . The former Mayor was busy helping his opponent. 

And just a few weeks ago . . . Mayor Sly James stepped up to try and prevent Crispin Rea from garnering a place on the council despite an absence in Latino leadership of more than 30 years. 

After he was elected Mayor Sly always gave your 2nd favorite blogger the business when we ran into each other but that's fair play and a reminder that our little bloggy conversation with a community of malcontents is just as important as so much pay-for-play political chatter. Whilst we may sniffle about it, Mayor Sly seemed to feel a bit more comfortable getting "salty" with a blogger rather than the MSM -- Whom he preferred to win over with a smile. 

Anyhoo . . .

Mayor Sly claimed his hiring made up for the could shoulder to Westside & Northeast Latino enclaves on more important issues of allocation and representation on Boards & Commissions. 

Not really.

Mayor Sly hired Genaro Ruiz but the "policy director" gig didn't last very long. Now that Genaro has passed, we don't feel too bad about the sharing this tidbit . . . Mayor Sly has always been a notorious tyrant to many of his employees and Genaro confirmed as much. 

To his credit . . . Mayor Sly also hired Chris Hernandez . . . That was a better fit and more important move BUT it's not like the former Mayor did him that much of a favor given the lousy way that job turned out for the newsman. 

All of this is merely to offer insight to voters about the future as the world changes color . . . 

For better and worse we now live in a multicultural society not just a world of Black & white. Former Mayor Sly always had trouble grasping this fact of life and his continual opposition against local Latinos proved as much. 

Moving forward . . . 

It'll be interesting to see how other leaders in the African-American community deal with a world of increasing complexity as Asian, Latino and refugee populations gain a foothold in local politics and shift the conversation beyond the civil rights-era rhetorical duopoly.  

TKC Translation . . . 

THE FUTURE HOLDS SO MANY DIVERSE WAYS FOR AMERICANS TO SLAP FIGHT ABOUT POLITICS!!!

Developing . . .