Sent our way by THE MOST AWESOME TKC READERS and apropos for #TBT, we share a glimpse at a longtime denizen of the discourse and one more foible from Kansas City's tech team . . .
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City Hall Incompetence Continues to Shine: Kansas City’s Pride Page Features Chris Hernandez!!!
Everyone knows Kansas City government fumbles basic transparency and accountability like it’s an Olympic sport, often at a skill level rivaling Michael Phelps swimming in the Olympics.
This screw up is definitely a gold medal winner. Newly minted millionaire Chris Hernandez, the reportedly cranky long-time City employee who blew the whistle on top brass when they wanted to lie to the public, got retaliated against, and won big in court IS STILL ON THE CITY'S WEB PAGE.
Chris Hernandez wasn’t some random staffer. He was the Director of Communications for the City of Kansas City, Missouri when late 2021 and early 2022, then-City Manager Brian Platt allegedly floated the idea that it would be fine to just…lie to the media. Hernandez pushed back. Hard. He told Platt it was a terrible, unethical idea which is pretty rich coming from a former “if it bleeds, it leads” TV news reporter.
Words were said, feelings were hurt, and Hernandez sued and got $1.4 million.
This wasn’t a “he-said/she-said” spat. It was a jury of Kansas Citians looking at the evidence and saying: Yeah, our city government tried to punish someone for insisting on honesty.
So Why Does This Still Feel Embarrassing?
Because on the Ciy’s LGBTQ+ Inclusive City web page, Hernandez is featured prominently in the photo of a few other LGBTQ+ folks. All are wearing Kansas City Pride shirts with complimenting accessories including Hernandez on the left!!!
( https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/pride )
- The same administration that was out here bragging about being an “LGBTQ+ Inclusive City” (flying flags, painting crosswalks, perfect DEI scores) was simultaneously retaliating against a gay communications director who refused to lie to the public.
- After getting hammered with that monster settlement, you’d think City Hall would have done a full audit: scrub old bios, update staff pages, make sure no lingering references of Hernandez make them look foolish. Instead, we’re left with the impression that basic website maintenance is somehow beyond their grasp.
- Taxpayers footed a $1.4 million bill for a lawsuit that never should have happened. That money could have gone to potholes, housing, or literally any of the Pride initiatives the city loves to tweet about.
This is classic Kansas City government: performative progressivism paired with actual operational incompetence. They’ll spend six figures on Pride flags and murals but can’t manage to keep their own house clean after a very public, very expensive legal smackdown. And the gay guy who had the lawyer that did the smacking is still on the City’s pride page, smiling wide. He got a million bucks. We’d be smilin’ too.
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