Critics Question Conflicts Of Kansas City Mayor Q's 2nd Term

Kansas City voters have virtually no information about elected officials and that's part of the reason that the last election garnered less than 13% turnout.

For instance, today we consider a not-so-fun fact that your average voter probably doesn't know. 

We'll even quote a mainstream NPR source so that our middle-class readers can have a bit of reassurance about our post . . . 

5th District Council Lady Ryana Parks-Shaw is a healthcare executive and serves as a member of the Kansas City Zoo Board of Directors and Starlight Theatre Board of Directors. Her husband is Kansas City Public Works Director Michael Shaw.

She was unopposed to in her recent reelection efforts and our hopes that a social media used car salesman would garner election glory were quickly dashed. 

Accordingly . . . 

Whilst local media celebrated her ascendancy as the first Black female appointed as Mayor Pro Tem. Nobody mentioned her close connection to Public Works. 

Imagine our bloggy frustration given that we reported this back in 2021. 

However . . .

Now that she's a rising star of Mayor Q's administration and she did quite well with recent committee assignments, more questions have emerged. 

Here's the main concern . . .

"Is Council member Parks Shaw going to recuse herself from all of the conflicts involving Public Works and her husband's job??? Why is Mayor Q promoting someone who CLEARLY should be more cognizant of ethical questions about such a close working relationship with city staff??? Shouldn't somebody report this obvious neglect of oversight???"

These are all excellent questions.

However . . . Here's what we've learned in our quest for better local journalism . . .

Nobody cares. 

In fact . . . Questions about the working relationship betwixt the Mayor Pro Tem, council votes AND the Public Works director are LEGIT and probably deserve some clarification from 12th & Oak. . . The only problem . . . Nobody seems to be listening.

Consider . . . Mayor Q didn't even have to debate to win reelection. He didn't even make any additional public appearances beyond his normal schedule.

A rough TKC estimate . . .  It seems like Mayor Q spent about 500 bucks on his campaign and the rest of the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS HE RAISED DURING LOCAL ELECTION SEASON was dumped in his campaign coffers for an early departure from city hall that our blog community also predicted. 

Here's what trusted insiders say is the result . . . 

Mayor Q has every aspect of city hall locked down.

The City Manager's office runs the Parks Director. Mayor has lifted up Council lady Parks-Shaw beyond her colleagues and any concern looking to "conduct business" at city hall would be smart to bypass most of the council and seek out the Mayor's office directly.

Meanwhile . . .

Our council has been cutoff at the knees . . . Right now there's nobody who can lead a coalition of 9 votes to override the mayor and, following this Mayor Pro Tem appointment, they have lost their leverage against the city manager. 

It'll be interesting to see what legislative atrocities the mayor pushes through . . . Right now he holds the votes to pass any kind of ridiculous idea under the sun . . . From a police local control vote . . . Up to and including slavery reparations. 

It should be entertaining. 

Meanwhile . . . We conclude this post with an insider warning shared with TKC about the direction of this cowtown . . .

"Kansas City is quickly moving in the direction of STL and we only have ourselves to blame. The Mayor is now accountable to NO ONE and do you know why??? Because far less than 13% of registered voters were motivated to do anything about it . . . 

"When people ask 'Why crime is so bad???" or 'Why are the roads always a mess???' or 'Why are neighborhoods always filled with trash???' . . . Ask them if they voted!!! 

"Sure, Mayor Q is going to run Kansas City into the ground before he leaves but that's not the worst part. What's really disappointing is that nobody bothered to try and stop him. Almost nobody voted."

Developing . . .