And, in so writing, I join a great American tradition of harassing new arrivals.
What is this, some form of fraternity hazing of Freshman Americans before they’re allowed to join the ranks of “real” Americans?
Personally, I’m willing to “press 1 to proceed in English“, and I don’t wake up in the middle of the night fearful that soon I’ll have to press 2.
This will slow down the bottling line, I suppose, but I think the idea of combining taxidermy and brewing has rich potential. Trout could hold craft beer from Colorado. Brooklyn Beer could come in pigeons. Just think of the marketing opportunity that pony kegs would provide – though I suppose it could be traumatic for a little girl who was excited that Daddy’s party is going to have ponies.
A lot of politicians and politicos are feigning surprise that our city needs to redistrict before the next election, and they’re crying that the rush and hurry are simply too much for them to handle.
Malarkey.
Anyone arguing in favor of delaying redistricting is arguing in favor of disenfranchising 23,000 Kansas Citians, simply because they disturb the status quo. Grow up, do your job, and quit lying to us.
Mike Sanders has led a charmed political life since he stepped into the Jackson County Executive’s office. The Star, for whatever reason, prefers to focus its attention almost solely on the City government. Whenever scant attention has been drawn to the County, it’s usually because of some flamboyant nonsense undertaken by the legislature, such as the attempted labor sell-out by Henry Rizzo, or the Jackson County Ethics Blackout, when legislators brazenly attempted to exempt themselves from the Ethics Code they imposed on everyone else.
In other words, it’s not hard to stay out of the local circus spotlight when you have Mayor Funkhouser, the City Council, and the Jackson County legislature performing daily tricks on the trapeze.
Not that Sanders has been complaining about the lack of attention. Most of Sanders’ accomplishments have been achieved by avoiding the glare of sustained attention. The COMBAT tax appeared on a ballot carefully selected to draw a low turn-out, in an off-year election, a year before it was due to expire. Similarly, the changes to the Jackson County charter were accomplished before the prior charter called for a public review, and were pushed through on a low-turnout primary ballot.
Sanders has been pretty much having his way, but remaining quiet about it.
It’s easier to keep successes silent than failures, though, and Sanders may be reaching the tipping point where he could be dragged into the spotlight.
Most alarmingly, Sanders wound up on the wrong side of the Rizzo/Williams battle for the county legislature. Back when it appeared that the CCP Executive Committee might actually stand for County Progress and endorse Crystal Williams, he circulated an Orwellian email falsely portraying Rizzo as a supporter of ethics, despite Rizzo’s attempt to exempt the legislature from compliance. Later, when Rizzo tried to salvage his primary campaign against Williams by including Sanders’ picture on a mailing, it was too little, too late.
Other missteps are adding to the concern. He is pushing a “regional rapid rail” scheme, despite the unlikelihood that local voters would willingly saddle themselves with tens of millions of dollars for construction costs to create a system that will cost millions more, every year, to operate. It’s a nice dream, but the money’s not ever going to be there.
Speaking of money, only a compliant, spendthrift Kansas City Council saved Sanders from major embarrassment during the latest budget battles. Once again, the Council donated taxpayer money to the County to pay for the stadiums, despite the fact that the City is not obligated to do so. Had our City Council chosen to fund our city instead of giving money away, Sanders would have had a tough time explaining why he hadn’t ironed out an agreement before the issue came up again.
(See Update Below.) Most recently, the blame for the Kerr/LeVota debacle appears to be sticking to his teflon. The buck for the Jackson County clerk’s office stops at Sanders’ desk, and whether it was corruption or outrageous incompetence, it was a backroom blunder. Now that Phil Levota has generously and effectively smoothed over the problem, only the uncomfortable questions remain about whether it was corruption or incompetence in Sanders’ clerk’s office.
Mike Sanders has crafted a reputation as a quietly effective executive who makes things happen in the back rooms of Jackson County. Frankly, while I prefer transparency, I have a grudging respect for someone who can get things done without drama.
The past several months have been costly to Sanders’ reputation. Can he regain his magic touch, or have we seen the first cracks in a crumbling foundation?
UPDATE: As one of the commenters pointed out, I was wrong to lay the blame for the corruption or incompetence in the clerk’s office on Mike Sanders’ plate. The clerk is actually the clerk of the legislature; the incompetence or corruption is not Sanders’ fault. Thank you for the correction!
The KC Star features an apparently amusing little article about a”boo-boo” which resulted in a candidate for Democratic Committeeman being left off the ballot. The article portrays a little paperwork mistake, and confusion ensues between two candidates, Martin Kerr and Phil LeVota.
My BS detector is screaming.
Round 1: Phil LeVota got whipped in a campaign for a municipal judge, and Martin Kerr did the whipping on behalf of his friend, Jim Tobin.
Round 2: Phil LeVota and Martin Kerr get into an argument at a Jackson County Democratic meeting, leading brother Steve LeVota to get into a shoving match with the elderly Mr. Kerr.
Round 3: A “mistake” in the Courthouse, where both Kerr and LeVota have lots of backroom connections, somehow results in Martin Kerr’s name, out of all the names on the ballots, to somehow be removed. Now, the election will be decided in the back rooms of Democratic meetings, and the voters who should have the right to choose their Committeeman don’t get to vote on it.
Coincidence?
I don’t think so. Methinks there’s some stinking corruption in our County Courthouse, and, if my fellow Democrats have a shred of integrity, they’ll find out who it was behind it, and fix the problem.
The KCFreePress should have my primary election coverage up in a few minutes. In a nutshell, I did a pretty darned good job of predictions, and Scott Burnett is finally in a position to be on the side of good. Will he take the opportunity, or will he stay with the “usual suspects”?
It’s the day to get out and finally vote in the Democratic Primary. For the County, the obvious choices are Crystal Williams, Theresa Garza Ruiz, and Terry Riley. Now, get out and vote for them – two of those three are in very tough races, and we need them all to win so that the corrupt good old boy network that currently runs the Jackson County legislature no longer has control.
The County doesn’t get much attention from the Star, but it tosses a lot of tax dollars to friends, relatives and insiders. We need to stop that, and gain control of our government. This is an important step in that direction.
Yesterday evening, I took a few hours and assisted two great candidates for County Legislature. It occurs to me that phone banking is an activity foreign to the overwhelming majority of citizens – or, perhaps more accurately, being on the calling end of one is. What’s it like?
Honestly, it’s a pleasant way to spend time, once you engage the gregarious side of your personality. You are given a rough script to work from, and a list of names, with address, age and gender. It’s tricky, sometimes, to guess at pronunciation of names. Generally, the older the person, the more likely they are to be home.
Probably the most surprising aspect of phone-banking is how non-political it seems. You’re not on the phone to argue with anyone; we were simply calling to identify people leaning our way so that we can focus our GOTV (Get Out the Vote) effort. (It’s just as well I wasn’t looking for an argument – not a single person I spoke with in 2 1/2 hours of calling said they would be voting for the opponents – not one!)
Most people listen politely to a few talking points and say whether they are leaning one way or the other, or are undecided. For the undecided folks, I discussed some of the candidates’ strengths, but you need to be careful about that, so as to avoid taxing their patience and to convey the genuine enthusiasm you feel for your candidates. People don’t want to hear you read canned talking points.
Despite the limited purpose of the calling, you’ll find yourself drawn into some great conversations. I had the true pleasure of chatting for a while with one of former Congressman Alan Wheat’s volunteers, and I had a fun time listening to a passionate advocate for dog parks – in Mission Hills.
There’s still time to get involved and help Crystal Williams and Theresa Garza Ruiz in their battle against Jackson County cronyism. There are still shifts available for phone-banking, and they could really use some help from people willing to get outside in the heat and go door-to-door. Call 816-365-6174 if you have a few hours to spare between now and Tuesday.
Years ago, we attempted to make pickles. I remember lots of boiling water, lots of strong smells, and a bunch of jars of mushy, yucky pickles. Not worth the effort when you can get your polish dills fairly cheap at the grocery store.
Ever the optimist, though, I read Scott’s posting on Momofuku’s Vinegar Pickles at Show-Me Eats, and I was struck by the fact he made two jars in about 15 minutes. Why not give it a try?
Yumm! They are the perfect accompaniment to dress up a sandwich, or even just sneak a few cool slices out of the refrigerator. Give them a try – quick, easy, inexpensive and yummy. I can’t wait to make them another batch with the fresh cucumbers I picked up this morning from the charming ladies at Troostwood Market!
Over at KCFreePress, I limited myself to one-paragraph takes on local issues. I also made my predictions on the local races. Am I right about Crystal Williams kicking Henry “Backroom” Rizzo out of the Courthouse? What about Terry Riley showing Arbanas that “at-large” means everyone gets to vote, not just Lee’s Summit? And what will happen in the hot mess of Royster versus Rizzo?