Critics Contemplate Council Lady's Run For Kansas City Mayor

The contest for mayor seems to be heating up as the weather gets colder.

To wit . . .

THANKS TO INSIDERS FOR SENDING THIS PERSPECTIVE ON THE FRONT RUNNER EARLY IN THE NEXT MAYORAL CONTEST & HER COUNCIL RECORD SO FAR!!!

Check-it . . .  

Ryana Parks Shaw as Kansas City's Next Mayor

Kansas City needs real ideas, not recycled slogans and community meetings. Yet here comes Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw, the self-anointed "trailblazer," asking for money for her 2027 mayoral bid. She's banking on identity politics over competence to propel her to the 29th floor in 2027 . . .

In a city drowning in water bill scandals, violent crime, crumbling infrastructure, and now a $100 million budget black hole which this blog FIRST reported on in March of this year.

Parks-Shaw's campaign is already exposing her as a lightweight leader who prioritizes optics over outcomes. She’s been on the City Council since 2019—six full years of budget votes, oversight hearings, and policy debates—and yet did absolutely nothing to prevent the $100 million shortfall that slammed the city in 2025. That same year, the administration was forced into a hiring freeze across departments, leaving critical vacancies unfilled in police, public works, and health services. While Parks-Shaw was busy collecting awards and posing for "first Black woman" headlines, the city’s financial ship was taking on water—and she wasn’t even on deck.

Where was her fiscal vigilance? Where were the warnings about overspending on pet projects, bloated contracts, or unsustainable revenue projections? She sat through every budget workshop, voted on every appropriation, and chaired committees with oversight power. But instead of sounding the alarm, she rubber-stamped the very decisions that led to the crisis. Now she wants to be mayor? This is what six years of inaction looks like.

Insiders speculate if elected, she'll appoint the first African American woman as city manager. Everyone remembers the fight earlier this year and don't think that the Eastside isn't gunning for the current Hispanic City Manager.

A recent campaign fundraiser has insiders speculating that Parks-Shaw's has her City Manager in mind.

Why are insiders speculating? They know one of her key campaign hosts real well: Celeste Chaney , the former KC Water Deputy Director whose tenure left a lot to be desired.

Chaney’s bio reads like a cautionary tale when she worked off and on over the last decade for KC Water where she finally became Deputy Director over finance and billing the department spiraled. While she was there a littany of business issues wrecked havoc on customers.

May 2024 Cyberattack Meltdown: A ransomware hack paralyzed KC Water’s payment systems for two weeks. Residents stood in pouring rain at 63rd Street to pay bills in cash. The 311 system collapsed. Tucker’s response? A 30-day grace period on late fees—after the damage was done. Where were the cybersecurity protocols? The backup systems? The contingency plans? Nowhere.

Billing Nightmares: Families hit with $12,000+ "catch-up" bills after years of botched meter reads. One Waldo household’s bill jumped from $110 to over $12,400. Tucker’s team admitted electronic meters were failing citywide, but fixes only came after public outrage. No audits. No warnings. Just chaos.

A $3,800 Water Bill. A Kansas City woman was shocked to see her water bill was nearly $3,800. She even found out it went against KC Water's own billing practices.

Tucker bailed for a job with the state of Kansas, leaving KC Water’s mess for someone else to clean up. Now she’s hosting fundraisers for Parks-Shaw. Is she doing this with an eye to occupy the other side of the 29th floor?

 

Parks-Shaw’s Track Record: All Talk, No Teeth

Parks-Shaw loves touting her "firsts"—first Black woman as Mayor Pro Tem, first this, first that. But what has she done?

$100 Million Shortfall & Hiring Freeze: Six years on council. Zero foresight. She watched the budget balloon, said nothing, and now wants to lead the recovery?

Violence Prevention? Homicides remain stubbornly high. Her "initiatives" are press releases, not results.

Affordable Housing? Rents skyrocket while her council votes greenlight luxury developments.

Health Equity? KC’s Black maternal mortality rate is still among the worst in the nation.

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Developing . . .