Goodbye Dime Store

This has certainly been a week of sad goodbyes for me. It's getting to the point where I jump every time the phone rings or my email chimes. As you can tell from my last post, major parts of my life are disappearing. I guess that's the price of growing old. The owners of Brookside's Dime Store are calling it quits at the end of the month. All Brooksiders have our own unique memories of the place. I won't bore you with mine. George Gilchrist owns the building, and I'm sure he will try everything within his power to find a compatible merchant for the space. It's a sad day for all of us.

A Tribute To Stubby

I haven't felt much like blogging the last few days. I have been struggling with what has to be the most difficult decision in any pet owner's life. Yesterday afternoon we put our dog to sleep. His arthritis had gotten to the point where he could barely walk. He spent his days sleeping and when he was awake you could tell he was in pain. It was time. It was probably past time but I think I was too selfish and heartbroken to see it. Stubby was my wife's dog. She had him since he was an 8 week old puppy. He was rescued from a disreputable breeder who had bobbed his tail too short so he was deemed "unsellable." That may have been true but he certainly wasn't unlovable. Stubby became part of my life in 1999 when Nicole and I became engaged. I was unaware that she and Stubby were a package deal. My relationship with him was rocky at first, but I grew to love him. Stubby was our "little man." We had more nicknames for him than I can count. He had that kind of personality. He loved to run. He loved playing in the snow. He loved tug-o-war and keep away. Most of all he loved snuggling with Nicole. That was a pastime she was always happy to oblige. He will always be with us in the wonderful memories we have of him. We loved him with all our hearts. God bless you, Stubby.

Let's Talk Transit!

When you want to be a public servant, you have to do a lot of research about a lot of topics. Well... Okay. Maybe you don't have to, but I think you should. My latest bit of light reading is titled "Proposed Interim Guidance and Instructions : Small Starts Provision of the Section 5309 New Starts Program". John Grisham it ain't. But to me it's pretty interesting. The Federal Transit Administration is seeking comments on its Small Starts program. Basically it provides grants from $75 Million to $250 Million for transit lines that meet certain criteria. Basically it can't be a glorified bus route. (I didn't say The MAX. Oops I guess I just did) It has to be either fixed guideway for at least 50% of the project length or be a corridor-based bus project with elements like dedicated transit stations and 10 minute headways (that's fancy transit talk for a bus arriving every 10 minutes). With millions of dollars in federal money being handed out every year, I think it would be wise to have a full-time grant writer employed by the City. While the actual act of writing a grant proposal is not super difficult, the amount of programs and material to be sifted through for any given grant period is immense. I think a specialist in finding these programs and bringing some federal dollars back to Kansas City would be a good thing. Don't you?

It's the sewers, stupid!

Apologies to James Carville. When Bill Clinton was an unknown governor from Arkansas the internal mantra for his presidential campaign was "It's the economy, stupid!" I think in this next mayoral and council election it will be "It's the sewers, stupid!" Months ago I was told "you can't win talking about sewers." Maybe. Maybe not. It certainly seems like everybody is talking about them. My friends over at BlogKC reported on a mayoral candidate with a primary platform of providing the city with wireless internet. The result? The comments immediately went to "What about his plan for fixing the sewers?" The scary part is we may not need a plan. The EPA could provide one for us at any moment. I talked about what happened to Louisville when they were in the exact same situation. These are the Feds folks. They play by a different set of rules. Ask downtown condo developer Matt Abbott what can happen when you run afoul of the EPA. The EPA's criminal investigators found out about some illegal asbestos removal going on and began closing in. Donovan Mouton from the mayor's office brought together all sides for a sit down. Mouton left the meeting feeling like everything was going to "move forward." It sure did. The next day the EPA served warrants. The Water Department feels like it has an understanding with the EPA. Director Frank Pogge in an As I See It editorial said "Recently we received approval from the state department for our work plans. The EPA gave similar approval." Approval of plans is nice. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. The question I want answered is "Do we have a signed contract with the EPA saying they won't sue us?" If the EPA is so satisfied with our progress, why were they knocking on doors in Brookside last summer and telling my neighbors they might consider a lawsuit?

Why No One Walks

I live in Brookside which is one of the more walkable areas of Kansas City. It's a pretty short hike up to 63rd Street where I can get just about everything I need for day to day living. Walkability is a big issue with me. It is my opinion that walkable neighborhoods increase property values and reduce crime. As I stated in an "As I See It" piece a while back, "why else would people pay $300,000 for a house with no air conditioning, bad plumbing and faulty wiring?" It's the neighborhood. And what makes a neighborhood is people. People outside in their yards, on the sidewalks. Activity on the street. How do you become an advocate for walkability? Keep walking! Take a little extra time out of your life to walk down to the newsstand for that Sunday paper instead of hopping in the car. Be an example for your neighbors. They will see you walking and they will be more likely to do the same. Eventually enough people will naturally become walkability advocates that instead of being the lone "wacko" at the community meeting you will be part of the majority. Then and only then can real change happen. Finally, some light reading given to me by a friend at kcskyscrapers.com. It's an essay by Bill Bryson called "Why No One Walks". Here's an excerpt. An acquaintance of ours was complaining the other day about the difficulty of finding a place to park outside the local gymnasium. She goes there several times a week to walk on a treadmill. The gymnasium is, at most, a six-minute walk from her front door. I asked her why she didn't walk to the gym and do six minutes less on the treadmill. She looked at me as if I were tragically simple-minded and said, "But I have a program for the treadmill. It records my distance and speed and calorie-burn rate, and I can adjust for degree of difficulty." It had not occurred to me how thoughtlessly deficient nature is in this regard.

I know you are but what am I?

The blogger comment wars have erupted over at kc buzz blog. The Democratic primary battle between Mike Sanders and Charles Wheeler is bringing out no small number of people expressing their opinions on every post The Star does about the county exec race. This is good practice for me. While I've been fortunate enough to receive some very favorable mentions on blogs, I know as the race heats up there will be some harsh things said about me and everybody else in the 4th district race. Anonymity brings out the worst in everyone. I wonder what goes through the candidates' minds when they read some of the harsh things being said over there?

Angle-in Parking? BRILLIANT!

It looks like The Urban Society may have finally gotten through to City Hall with their innovative idea to increase parking in the Crossroads. A multi-level parking garage? Underground lots? Nope! How about good old-fashioned angle-in parking? You know. Like you used to see on Main Street USA when pedestrians still had a fighting chance and the automobile was still an afterthought when it came to running errands. By allowing angle-in parking along Baltimore from 20th to the south freeway loop the amount of on-street parking can be doubled from 100 to 200 spaces. One of The Urban Society's founding members, Kevin Klinkenberg even suggested that his group would be willing to do a portion of the work. I'm assuming that would be the planning, since Kevin and a couple of the other members are architects. That would be a significant savings from the City's estimated $22,000 the project will cost. This is all well and good, until you realize how long the Urban Society has been lobbying the City. I think it was about 2 years ago when I first saw Dave Scott give a presentation on this idea. Two years! For a hundred parking spaces! Fortunately The Urban Society is not a group that accepts the "this is the way we've always done it" mentality at City Hall. I like these guys. I look forward to hearing more out of them.

What's $80 Million In Debt Amongst Friends?

The Kansas City Star reports that a committee of financial experts is recommending that the City borrow an additional $80 million to deal with our infrastructure backlog. I find this interesting on many levels. First of all, the charter of this committee is "To work with the Citys Finance Department AND City Manager TO recommend TO the City Council the issuance scheduling OF the $3 million IN bond capacity the voters OF Kansas City approved ON April 6, 2004." Funny I don't remember a $3 million bond election? I'm hoping that's just a typo on the City website. I do remember a $250 million bond election. $3 million, $80 million, $250 million... Hey who keeps track? It's not like we're talking about a lot of money. Well, not a lot of money to some people. Another interesting thing about this committee. No conflict of interest statement is required from any of the members. Well that makes sense. How could there possibly be a conflict of interest if financial experts are recommending debt issuance? I'm sure there's no chance any of them would have the most remote connection to anyone in the financial industry. I mean come on! Financial experts? Connected to the finance industry? What are the chances?! Why bother with pesky formalities like disclosing any possible conflict of interest? Anyway, I'm not willing to concede that all these committee members are financial experts in the first place. I've said it over and over. Perception is 90% of reality. All I ask is some transparency in government. If someone is appointed to a board or commission their relevant qualifications should be published for all to see. As a taxpayer I want to know not only who the people are making the decisions for my city, but what qualifies them to do so? Don't you?

Czech please!

Sorry I haven't had any witty sarcastic political commentary the last couple of days. After watching my beloved US Soccer team's dismal performance against the Czech Republic yesterday I just haven't been in a writing mood. Speaking of soccer, I still support the idea of a soccer complex in Johnson County. Let's face it. The suburbs created the "soccer mom." It's the best place for it. I think a complex and mid-sized stadium for the Wizards is a great idea. And the best part? Jackson County residents won't have to pay for it.

GOOOOOOOAAAALLL!!!!!!

I love World Cup soccer. Once you get past the idea that sporting events are only interesting if there's a lot of scoring the games are really exciting. The Ivory Coast - Argentina game this weekend was great. The US kicks off against the Czech Republic this morning. Even though ESPN is carrying the match, I'm hoping that Telemundo will broadcast it too. I know enough "soccer spanish" to follow what's going on but mostly I love hearing Andres Cantor shout GOOOOOAAALLL!!!

Everybody Must Get (hail) Stoned

The signs were there. I just wasn't paying attention. I spent Saturday afternoon working on my deck. I remember at one point listening to a pretty darn good cover of Dylan's Rainy Day Women 12 & 35 on Cyprus Avenue. I actually started thinking about hail. "Everybody Must Get Stoned." I always think about hail when I hear that song. Somebody was trying to warn me. I thought back to when I was a much younger man on my way to work in my shiny new Dodge Dakota that I had bought when I got my first real job. The weather man was on the radio warning people that there was baseball sized hail in the area. I thought myself fortunate that I was in the clear. Then the first monster chunk of ice hit... We got hit pretty good Saturday night too. Both vehicles. As did everybody else I know. Misery loves company I guess. At a fundraiser last night I jokingly promised that I would make hail illegal within the city limits. Oh how I wish that were possible! One of the guests put things in perspective for everyone. It wasn't exactly Hurricane Katrina. Take a deep breath everyone. Dig out your insurance policies. Ask yourself what the heck were you thinking when you signed up for that ridiculously high deductible, and make the call. It's just a car. Think of it this way. You're helping put children of body shop owners across the metro through college.

KC Council takes on drag racing

The council passed an ordinance yesterday that is supposed to limit drag racing by making it illegal to be a spectator. I personally never got into drag racing. I could never get the hang of running in heels... Bah dup bump. Happy Friday everyone.

What a concept...

The other day I had the occasion to be sitting across the table from some City finance people. One of them announced she had found $300,000 for a project. I replied that I get nervous when I hear a finance person say they found money because that means someone or something else lost it. "That's not how it works" she responded as she looked at me condescendingly over lowered glasses. I chose not to get into a debate. Pick your battles, I say. What I wanted to say, and will say once elected, is that is exactly how it works. Money doesn't just appear, even though that's what a lot of council people seem to believe. If you find $300,000 for something, you had to take it from somewhere else. Simple math. I didn't need three long years of grad school to know that. I don't really blame the budget and finance people. They serve at the pleasure of the mayor and council. They have to respond to requests, however misguided they might be, to fund whatever the "whim of the week" happens to be coming out of the 24th floor. But our elected officials need to understand the finite budget amounts we deal with every year. The question that should be asked is "I need $300,000 for this project and I need to know where those funds will be appropriated from." Just like you and I run our household finances. What a concept...

Why I can't take money from unions

I have nothing against unions. I was raised union. My dad was a member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 2 for my entire life. I even earned a college scholarship from the national for an essay I wrote about growing up in a union household. What I do have a problem with is the appearance of impropriety. The kc buzz blog reported yesterday that local firefighters and carpenters unions have persuaded six county legislators to approve 6% raises for the employees of the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office. It is speculated that the moves going on at the county have to do with attempting to gain favor with the unions for upcoming elections. Union Political Action Committees (PACs) pour a lot of money into campaign accounts. A candidate who gets the backing of the unions gets a lot of money. To me this seems like a conflict of interest. Elected officials are expected to vote on union contracts having accepted significant amounts of money from those very unions. I'm sure any politician could rationalize and say they receive money from all kinds of sources and it in no way affects their objectivity. Maybe so, but why take the chance?

I'm working on it

Sorry I haven't had anything new for my regular readers. I have a topic in mind but I'm trying to figure out how to boil it down to one small blog post. As I head out for my lunchtime run I'm hoping that my writer's block will be cured. I'm open to suggestions for topics. Any burning issues you'd like an opinion on? How about my propensity to end sentences in a preposition?

Happy Anniversary Nicole!

Taking a little break today to celebrate my 5th wedding anniversary. Hey, it's my blog and I'll do what I want. You're not the boss of me! Nicole puts up with a lot. Having a husband running for office is not easy. She's my scheduler, advisor, confidant, handler, photographer, publicist, therapist and just about anything else you can imagine. I love you very much honey. Thanks for everything. Happy anniversary!