Conflicts of Interest

The other night I had an interesting discussion about conflicts of interest with one of my campaign contributors. He's a fun guy to debate with because he has this way of poking holes in your logic without being a jerk about it. I like having those kinds of friends. It keeps me sharp and focused. The topic came up about the City Council's outrageous campaign finance ordinance recently passed. In a rare reversal I begrudgingly commended Councilwoman Nace on recusing herself from the vote because it directly affected her campaign. Of course any campaign finance measure would be a conflict, but in this case I'm guessing Ms. Nace found the conflict to be the ridiculous increases of the limits, not the limits themselves. I am still frustrated though that she couldn't get at least one other councilperson to stand with her, but that's another topic. My friend mentioned that he had contributed to my campaign because he hopes I will vote favorably on issues important to him. Namely pedestrian and bicycle causes. He wanted to know why, under my same logic, that I wouldn't consider any ped & bike issue a conflict of interest because I had knowingly accepted money from a ped & bike enthusiast. Good point. He stopped me in my tracks for a moment. I hemmed and hawwed. I started down the path that my average contribution amounts are $25 and that hardly qualifies as being influential. We both agreed that was a stupid argument. Money is money and $25 is actually a pretty good sized amount for this humble little campaign. Finally I found my footing and wriggled out of his trap. It's not a conflict of interest if you've been on record as having long been a supporter of such a cause. For example, I wrote an As I See It piece in the Kansas City Star back in 2005 that clearly shows I'm an advocate for pedestrian rights. It's well known I oppose BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) in favor of more general laws that outlaw the behavior, not the breed. I support protecting the domestic partner registry from those who wish to write discrimination into our laws. Accepting contributions from like-minded individuals is not a conflict of interest in my mind. In fact, I find it wholly consistent. Of course if all the sudden, a couple of years from now you find me voting against pedestrian issues, and you see I've accepted significant dollars from a developer looking to shave costs, then we have a problem. If that did happen the bloggers in this town would tear me to shreds and I would deserve it. What I've learned is that there are no absolutes when it comes to financial contributions. But I still think it sends a clear message to the voters when you accept money from certain individuals or organizations. I intend to have a list of contributors of which I can be proud. My hope is I will have a voting record of which my constituents will be proud. I don't think doing both will be a conflict.

When did Lee's Summit become such a horrible place?

A few years ago a co-worker was lamenting to me about his outrageous property taxes. He had just built a new house in Lee's Summit. Apparently many, many people were doing the same. The result? A population explosion that quickly pushed existing schools past capacity. New schools had to be built to meet the demand. New schools meant higher taxes. Such is the price of progress. Now I find out that a developer looking to build a City Walk project in Lee's Summit is not just seeking TIF, but Super TIF. He wants Lee's Summit to pick up a third of the $300 million tab. I'm failing to make the connection that a community that is growing so fast it can't keep up with education capacity is a risk to develop in. I would think any developer would love a chance to build in a city with an exploding population. At least that's what I learned in school. Maybe we skipped the chapter that explains why that's so risky? The Kansas City Business Journal says "Plans call for the project near U.S. Highway 50 and Missouri Highway 291 to build 230,000 square feet of retail space in its first phase. A second phase would add almost 650,000 square feet. No tenants have been announced." Ahh good ol' Phase II! Beware Phase II folks. I've warned you about this before. That's the phase with all the cool stuff that makes TIF Commissions ooh and ahh. Unfortunately Phase II rarely gets built. At least Lee's Summit's Planning Department has some common sense. They looked at the plan and recommended it be denied by the city's TIF Commission. Maybe the department head was in my same Commercial Real Estate Development class and missed the same chapter? We really should see about getting a tuition refund. Of course Lee's Summit's TIF Commission, like our own, has never met a subsidy they didn't like and ignored the Planning Department's recommendation and sent the plan to their council with a recommendation of Do Pass. I imagine that's because citizen appointees know much more about commercial real estate development and city planning than say... City Planners? Where does it end? TIF is a fantastic tool. But it was meant to spur economic development, not maintain it. The idea is one TIF project is enough to make a once undesirable area into a far less risky proposition for future developers. It wasn't meant to be a "He got some TIF so I want some too! It's not fair! It's not fair! I want TIF!" type proposition. If 50 Hwy & 291 is a bad place to develop, than maybe we should all just pack it in.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone for the outpouring of sympathy. Many of you chose to share your own stories and anxiety about the end of life decision that most of us must go through if we choose to share our lives with a pet. I started this blog as a way to journal my experiences related to a campaign. What I didn't realize was how intertwined my personal life and my political life would become. There really is no separating the two for me. Major events like the passing of a dear friend are things that have a profound effect on my life. Consequently that becomes a part of who you are and something that needs to be shared if you expect people to trust you. If anything comes from me sharing my grief, I hope it is a renewed appreciation for the people who are there to pick up the pieces for the rest of us. I dealt with one passing of a beloved friend. The veternarian who was with me has to perform that act several times a week. For every animal she restores to health, she has to end the suffering of another. Think about the people who work in animal shelters. Because of all the irresponsible people who refuse to spay or neuter, or who allow backyard breeding to occur, we end up with thousands of animals every year who must be killed because there simply are not enough homes for them. I cannot imagine the strength it must take to work in a shelter and see innocent animals put to death every day because of carelessness. I will return to my usual self on this blog. I'm not going to turn this into a soapbox for animal rights. In fact I have a couple of topics I'd like to return to involving TIF and campaign finance ethics. Once again, thanks to everyone who shared their remembrances of Cody. Regards, Mark Forsythe

A Tribute To Cody

The house is quiet today. Too quiet. Yesterday morning our 15 year old Border Collie Cody had a bad seizure. After spending the day at the veternarian's I brought him home to await the test results. He wasn't doing well. There were flashes of his personality, but for the most part he was disoriented and restless. By 8PM another seizure happened. Then at 11PM a third. I rushed him to the emergency clinic. There really wasn't much hope to wait another day for test results. Every possible prognosis was grim. I wasn't going to leave him drugged up in a cage with people he didn't know so I could wait for some miracle test result. I had to be there for him like he has been there for me all these years. I had to let him go. Cody was my dog. My constant companion through my early adulthood. He ran with me. We played frisbee. He slept at the foot of my bed. He would poke his head through the shower curtain and squint from the water spray just to be close to me. He loved to ride around in the back of my pickup. He was incredibly smart. No cat was ever allowed in the yard while he was on duty. Having Cody in my life was wonderful. He loved me unconditionally. He loved me even when I didn't deserve it. He was always happy to see me. Who wouldn't want a companion like that? But dogs don't reside on this earth for very long, and the price you pay for such an amazing friend is to make the end of life decision for them. For those of you who have never experienced that moment, I can assure you it is a heavy, heavy burden. I've done it twice now within 6 months. Some days it sucks to be a grownup. Today is definitely one of those days. If you're someone who has never bonded with an animal this post makes no sense to you. I know some people consider dogs to be no different than an inanimate object. A possession. If you're one of those people, I actually envy you today. The pain of loss is not something I would wish on anyone. I will never forget Cody. I loved him. He was my best friend.

Blue Springs is full up?

Last week the Business Journal reported that a Blue Springs/Independence company, AAS Cleaning Systems is moving to an existing building over by the Truman Sports Complex. The company currently employs 29 people and is promising the EDC they will hire an addtional 13 people and invest $395K into their new location. Of course they are getting a 50% abatement on property taxes on the improvements for 10 years and some nifty state income tax credits. The article goes on to say that AAS "came to the EDC because suitable space wasn't available" where it now operates. I could be wrong, but I have a hard time believing in all of Blue Springs and all of Independence there isn't one commercial space that can handle a company with 40-50 employees. If I got on the phone with elected officials in either of those cities they would back that up? I guess Blue Springs should send Kansas City a Thank You card for picking up their extras? Independence is all full? Of course I'm glad that a business remains in the metro, but at what cost? Until somebody steps up and takes leadership, metro cities will continue to beat each other over the head in competition for businesses. In the process we will continue to remove millions of dollars from the tax rolls. Stealing a business from our neighbor under the guise of "retainment" is not right. It's not ethical. It's not moral. It doesn't even make good business sense. We need to talk to each other. I wonder if a councilman from Kansas City has ever sat down and had a cup of coffee with a counterpart from Overland Park? Hopefully we don't need non-compete treaties with our neighbors. Maybe an exchange of business cards, a handshake and a promise to "give me a call when something like this comes up and we'll make sure we're on the same page." That's how good business works, and the absence of that type of networking is why government fails. Rest assured I intend to seek out my counterparts if elected. I'll even pay for the coffee. My treat.

Steak and Shake (and tax breaks)

You're never anonymous in Kansas City. Especially when you're running for office. A couple of weeks ago, Nicole and I went for a rare indulgence at Steak & Shake way out on Shawnee Mission Parkway. We usually eat very healthy but we were celebrating a good performance at a candidate forum that morning and some cheese fries seemed in order. We sat going through her notes, recapping every one of my answers, as well as my opponents'. Every comment made, every reaction. Every single thing I did or said was critiqued. We spoke openly and freely as married couples will. We talked about my opponents' strengths and weaknesses. We laughed, we joked. We figured who would know us all the way out there? As my luck would have it, the couple at the very next table did. He happened to be a TIF Commissioner. Of course! Why not? Fortunately I hadn't talked too much about TIF. Much to the chagrin of our dining companions, he and I launched into a discussion about tax incentives. My experience. His experience. Our food grew cold as we covered a lot of ground. I quizzed him on the Holiday Inn at the Plaza TIF which had just been approved. He quizzed me back. We agreed to disagree. One thing I took away from that chance meeting was that he seemed like a nice guy. Genuinely interested in doing some good for Kansas City. Maybe it was serendipitous, our little encounter. I still don't think TIF is being used correctly. But at least I have met one of the players. On a Saturday afternoon. Over a burger. Both enduring the eye rolling of our wives over what huge geeks we are when it comes to our love of Kansas City. Maybe there's hope after all.

Kansas City Landlord Licensing

I received an email over the weekend from a concerned citizen. He wanted to let me know about some things going on with rental properties that perhaps the public is not even aware. "Now, there are people living in these residences and these air ducts have visual mold in them, these ducts have fecal matter from mice and rats in them and they have pounds of debris (including dead rodents) in them. The air that these tenants are breathing is poison and these landlords know that our city inspectors are not going to look anywhere where they have to bend down. This is the biggest crime of all, to knowingly neglect and reject the health of the citizens of this city. " I have to admit I was not aware of this. But then again I'm not in the heating and cooling business. Getting emails like this frustrates me, but it also makes me feel good that somebody out there trusts that I will do something about it. He's right. I don't agree with Councilman Weaver's Landlord Licensing program. I think it's another layer of expensive bureaucracy that we don't need. What we do need is to enforce the laws and codes that we already have. We can do this with minimal investment, and by working smarter. In my latest position paper I propose the following: We dedicate one full-time employee in the Neighborhood Preservation department that will be responsible for tracking down suspected rental properties and maintaining a database of said properties along with their registered agents. Information to populate a landlord database can be obtained in many ways. We should develop a partnership with any organizations that can provide information on rental property. Insurance companies should be required to have valid local landlord contact information before issuing a renter's insurance policy. If possible, the addresses where renter's insurance has been issued should be shared with the rental property administrator. Charitable organizations such as the United Way and the Don Bosco center that offer rent assistance should also be approached to share information. We need to dedicate two police officers to a set number of days tracking down offenders who have outstanding warrants from housing court. The amount of time spent on property offenses will be determined by case load and availability of personnel. These officers will be responsible for tracking down leads and arresting offenders. Perhaps this program could be used to allow officers looking for a promotion the opportunity to prove their detective skills. A webpage will be established that has a fully searchable index allowing anyone to search for information on a rental property by address, or registered agent name. This webpage will also have a "most wanted" list of outstanding housing court warrants, as well as an anonymous form for people to submit tips on unregistered rental properties as well as the whereabouts of registered agents with outstanding warrants. The purpose of this site will help the rental property administrator to keep an updated list of landlords and properties as well as help the police in their search for offenders. Finally a graduating series of penalties needs to be established and enforced by the housing court. Repeat offenders need to have their punishment be progressively worsened until such a point that they are no longer allowed to rent property within Kansas City.

Greed is good?

I just finished watching the November 15, 2006 Planning, Zoning & Economic Development Committee meeting on Channel 2. I wanted to see how the East Village deal with JE Dunn was shaping up. As Bob Langenkamp from City Planning explained the details, I was reminded of the City's negotiating technique of starting with absolutely everything we have to offer, and then offering even more. I would love to play Texas Hold'em with the City. They never bluff and they go "all in" every hand! Mr. Langenkamp gave us a glimpse of how the City has been looking out for the public interest in negotiating with JE Dunn. "Over the past few months, we've opened our books. We've shown them (JE Dunn) every penny that we have to spend." The City (that's all of us) wants JE Dunn to make employment number guarantees in order to secure our State TIF financing. We also want JE Dunn to pay for any environmental remediation. Dave Fenley of Blackwell-Sanders represented JE Dunn at the meeting. I think the following quotes from him sum things up nicely. I only wish the Planning Committee would have responded like I have. "(We) do not want to be in the business of guaranteeing (our) hiring." You are in the business of guaranteeing employment when you're asking for a handout from the taxpayers. If you don't want to be in that business, pay your own way. "We were told yesterday that we were greedy" The past is the past. That was yesterday. Let's talk about today. You're greedy. "We're taking a huge risk and we've taken a huge risk on the east side of downtown for over 50 years" It's laughable saying a construction company is taking a "risk" by having its headquarters a stone's throw from City Hall. Where's your risk? Location? Not enough foot traffic? I didn't realize construction companies were so dependent on people walking by and saying "Hey I saw your window display and got to thinking I could really use a new building." "Your negotiators went over the edge yesterday when your negotiators said we were greedy." I wouldn't exactly call them "negotiators". You're too kind. "Our position on these two issues is not subject to any movement whatsoever." Sure it is! You can "move" on out of town. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I think the City should spend $75 on a newspaper ad. Wanted. Progressive company that would like to anchor downtown urban village. Views of City Hall and Jackson County Courthouse included. Free 600 space covered parking garage. Access to state of the art arena and entertainment district. Seconds away from major highways. Tons of good will from the public. Greedy applicants need not apply.

Downtown still has a ways to go

Last night the Urban Society and the A.I.A. hosted a mayoral forum at the Central Library. It was a great turnout. I was glad to see there's interest in our future leadership. I took the MAX. I usually do when I'm going downtown. While most people traveling the Main corridor at 5PM were battling other drivers, I barely bothered to look up from my paper. It was the trip home that really caught my attention. After the forum I wandered over to John's Top Deck to rehash what we'd just seen and watch KU lose at home to Oral Roberts University (Ouch!). When the game ended it was time to make my way back to a bus stop. The cold wind was blowing something wicked so I chose the 13th & Wyandotte stop because it afforded the best cover from the wind. I waited about 10 minutes. Thank goodness the bus was on time because it was cold! What I noticed during that wait was what a wasteland downtown still is. I saw no other person out on the sidewalks and barely a handful of cars passed during my wait. There is absolutely nothing going on downtown after 5PM. I found it ironic that I had just attended a forum where the candidates were asked about downtown development, pedestrian issues and street activity. One or two candidates even talked about reducing our dependency on cars. One said "We all need to get out of our cars and walk more." Another said we need to stop building so many parking garages. Then they all went right across the street to a publicly subsidized parking garage, got in their cars and drove home.

Sometimes the price is not right

Politics is a nasty business. There's no denying it. Maybe I'm being incredibly naive but I just can't allow myself to get involved in games and deals that I don't think are above board. Today I put out a press release in the form of an open letter to the Citizens Association. I will not be seeking their endorsement. Frankly there are more reasons than just the "pay for play" method of having to "reimburse" the organization for their publicity. Reasons I won't go into on this blog. I realize many will consider this political suicide. The Citizens Association has a lot of money and power and whichever candidate they endorse will get a lot of backing. You know what? So be it. I didn't start this campaign to be another disappointment to the voters.

Wanted: Streetcar for KC starter line. Must be cheap.

There are probably just as many opinions about light rail as there are people who voted for it. That's a good thing. People are excited and engaged. Rather than sit back and wait and hope, the voters have, in my opinion, said that they want a light rail component in our future transit system. Now the problem. The plan is unworkable. Even the voters know it. The 3/8 cent sales tax is not enough to fund an entire line from KCI to the Zoo. That's not even mentioning the electric buses and the idiotic gondola idea. Ask Portland about building a gondola system. $15 million turned into $50 million real quick. Maybe if Worlds of Fun still has their old gondolas in storage somewhere... Most people I talk to voted for light rail, not the actual "plan" put forth on the ballot. I don't know anyone outside of the person who put it on the ballot that believes it is a good plan. What I don't understand is the thinking that everything is an all-or-nothing proposition. Why can't we move forward in stages? Break the whole plan up into affordable segments. Let's say each segment is $100 million. If that means building a station and a piece of track to nowhere, so be it. You spend the money you have, not the money you want. How about putting all these stages on a ballot? Let the voters decide where to start. Maybe the first "stage" of a plan would be land acquisition. There's going to be some cost involved with acquiring a right-of-way. Property owners will have to be compensated. Not very sexy I know. But sometimes good government is more than appeasing the vocal minority.

Follow the money

The toughest question asked at the Tower-Waldo Neighborhood Forum Saturday had to have been about campaign finance. Someone wanted to know where the money was coming from for our campaigns. If we have been raising money in Johnson County, other parts of the city, and if so didn't we feel that projected an image of impropriety or an undue influence? Pretty much the gist of the question was "why would you take money from people that don't have a direct stake in your candidacy?" I could feel the squirming as the question was being asked. All four candidates, myself included admitted that we had raised money from outside the 4th District. Some a little more than others. One candidate admitted straight out that he had been working Johnson County and raised "a lot" of money there, but no that would have no influence on him. Hmmm. Okay... I came clean and admitted that I had taken money from a major out-of-state influence and that person would indeed have some affect on me. Mother-in-laws are like that. I'd say two of us had no problems answering that question comfortably and the other two had to do some fancy talking. Then the next day the Sunday paper hits my lawn with a story about campaign contributions to Councilman Fairfield from lawyers directly involved with the old plea agreement system in Municipal Court. I wonder if the person that asked the forum question knew anything about that article coming out? I didn't see Bob Woodward there but it was a pretty big crowd. In my opinion, appearance is a huge part of maintaining public trust. I can't make a judgement on Councilman Fairfield. I don't know whether the timing of those donations was a coincidence or not. But in politics, appearance is crucial. Whether your money comes from traffic ticket lawyers and you're voting on ticket plea agreements, or you're running for an in-district seat but bringing in thousands of dollars from outside the district. I keep thinking back to Hal Holbrook in All The President's Men. "Follow the money..."

First Forum Foray

This morning was the first candidate forum for the 4th district race. Tower and Waldo neighborhoods got together and hosted the event at the Waldo Library. The format was modeled after the League of Women Voters rules which give candidates a two minute opening statement and then prepared questions are asked by the moderator and each person gets one minute to answer. This plays very well for the voters because one minute keeps us from rambling on. Plus you can cover a lot of issues in a short amount of time. I had a blast. I was nervous at first, but fell into a groove. I've always been comfortable in front of large groups. Probably a youngest child trait that I still carry. The questions were tough, but fair. We covered everything from taxes to trees. In my opinion there's no better way to campaign than to be side-by-side with your opponents. No literature, no endorsements, no t-shirt wearing fan clubs. Just the voters and the issues. If only all politics could be like that. A big thanks to the organizers of the event, and all the kind people who signed my petition this morning and asked for yardsigns. If the numbers are any indication, I think I did pretty well!

Dog Show!

Last night over a hundred people showed up at the Waldo Library in support of creating an off-leash dog park. The meeting was organized by local dog enthusiast Deb Hipp. I think everyone was surprised at the turnout. It was standing room only. Marci Jones of the Parks Department and Councilman Glover fielded questions as did Dena McLean who represented an organization that successfully put in a dog park in Blue Springs. Potential sites were discussed like Sunnyside Park, Holmes Park, Tower and South Oak Parks. What stood out the most to me was the cost. Upwards of $300K for a 5 acre off-leash park. Where do the costs come from? Fencing, water lines, shelter houses, benches, tables, etc. I was skeptical when Ms. Jones quoted a price of $35/ft for the fence. "That doesn't sound right to me" I turned around and said to the two women standing behind me. "It isn't" one replied. "I'm in construction and that price is way high." "Someone's jacking up the costs." Then the discussion turned to ways of funding the park. Of course PIAC funds immediately were discussed because that's how the Penn Valley dog park was funded. I once again turned to my new friends, "Has anybody thought of going out and finding some corporate backing?" "Don't you think IAMS or Purina might like to have their logos splashed all over a park that caters to dog owners?" A few minutes later somebody in the crowd suggested the same thing. The idea received a lukewarm response from the Parks Manager. She felt the Parks Commissioners wouldn't go for such a thing. I chuckled to myself remembering how that same group fought the policy change on City trucks that my CRC Committee put forth. The sad thing to me is there was enough expertise, desire and labor in that room to put a dog park together for next to nothing. The two women standing with me knew construction. Water lines? No problem. Fencing? They knew a couple of people. With some creativity and a little bit of flexibility from the City, dogs and their owners could be frolicking together by this time next year. But instead? We go through "the process" and "the proper channels" and we fight our way through the City's bidding and purchasing process using "preferred vendors" and heaven forbid there be a corporate logo anywhere. When did government become a hindrance and not a helper?

Nerd news from the campaign trail

Nerd Alert! The following post will only make sense to other bloggers. Women who may become pregnant, people with heart conditions or high blood pressure should not read this post. Prolonged exposure to this post may cause dizziness or the desire to own a pocket protector. This post is not recommended by four out of five dentists whose patients chew gum. I have been having off and on trouble with SFTP and FTP publishing through Blogger. I've been resisting the switch to Beta but this morning I lost both FTP channels so as a last ditch effort before loading WordPress I switched. Nothing to lose right? Anyhoo, now my FTP publishing seems to be working again but those of you with non-Beta Blogger accounts will not be able to leave comments unless you use the "Other" or "Anonymous" options. It's a Blogger thing. Out of my control. That is all. As you were.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

I'm very independent. It's almost painful for me to ask for help. I'm told I get that from my father. Many were the times growing up when my mom would observe me attempting to do something by myself that would have been much easier accomplished with a little help. "You are so your father's son" she would say with a shake of her head. To be on the ballot you have to get at least 300 but no more than 750 registered voter signatures. The easy way to do it is to hijack a couple of friends and stand outside grocery stores and polling places. My local polling place alone would have netted me at least a couple hundred. I have staunchly refused to do this because I don't want to be "that guy." You know the one I'm talking about. The one you see coming and turn the other way? The one that has you fumbling in your grocery cart as you leave the store rather than make eye contact? Never being one to do things the easy way I set out to get every signature myself. One at a time, going door to door. Since one of my campaign themes is "hard work" I figured what better way to show how hard I'm willing to work for my constituents? With the filing for office opening next week, I'm at about 240 and holding. Fortunately as I've grown older I've found that sometimes you can change your mind without compromising your integrity. When people ask you for a petition so they can get signatures, what are you supposed to say? "No thanks. I don't want your help?" That doesn't exactly jibe with my desire to be accessible and willing to listen and work with my neighbors. Plus I think it's just plain rude. I have finally broken down and accepted offers of assistance. A couple of good friends in Hyde Park are gathering a few signatures, a couple of more friends from Union Hill are picking up some, and today the good folks at the Brookside Barbershop asked for a couple of petition forms to keep by the cash register. They offered, without being asked. It's not so bad to admit you need help. Not bad at all. I could get used to this...

Who is left to bring the funk?

Kansas City Auditor Mark Funkhouser has submitted his resignation. I won't speculate what his motivation is. I can't blame him if he's just walking away from all the hassle. Mayor Barnes and Councilman Eddy have been vocal critics of Mark. I guess they don't like the results of Mark's audits. I've always been amused by this. Heaven forbid that an auditor would have anything negative to say! Funkhouser has suggested that the council appoint senior audit manager Gary White as his successor. I guess that's the equivalent to the kiss of death as far as Barnes and Eddy are concerned. They have indicated they are "leaning toward a national search for a replacement." Here are my gripes about this. 1. I wish Mark was not leaving. He has been the standard of professionalism at City Hall through years of idiocy and corruption. No one can impune his integrity. 2. It is terrible policy to immediately look outside for a replacement. Especially to verbalize that intent in public. It sends a message loud and clear to city employees. "You have no hope for advancement." "You are not qualified to rise any higher in your career." That is not how I was taught to run a highly motivated organization of professionals. Memo to aspiring city employees. Give up hope. 3. A "national search" will undoubtedly involve hiring consultants, spending lots of money that we don't have, and bringing in two or three candidates to fill out the slate around the person already earmarked for the job. 4. City Auditor is one of the positions that the City Council hires. The current council is considering a speedy replacement search, instead of allowing the incoming council to make that decision. In my opinion they're all too busy running for mayor to pay attention to a serious decision like this. I'll miss Mark Funkhouser and his deadpan way of delivering financial information. I'll miss his infinite patience in trying to explain basic finance concepts to a council that doesn't know an Internal Rate of Return from a tax return. Mostly I'll miss the unquestionable impartiality he brought to the job and his refusal to be politicized. Whoever takes his place will have a hard act to follow.

"Clay-zee" Train

So it's light rail you want? Me too but I have to admit I am somewhat perplexed at the results. How is it that what I consider to be the most poorly conceived transit plan yet has passed? No organized opposition? Changing voter demographics? A protest vote against City Hall? Unfortunately, as with most ballot initiatives, now the reality sets in. $35 million per mile? Not in this decade. Not even the last decade. Try $50 - $60 million per mile. Federal funds? Not very likely. A dedicated rail spur to the Zoo? Gondolas?! If you read this blog regularly you know I'm a transit advocate. On some level I'm pleased that the voters have spoken and said they support some type of fixed-guideway transit plan. The optimist in me says we can do something with this. I'm an Electrical Engineer. Engineering is all about solving problems within the constraints you are given. Design a GPS receiver but it has to run for at least 6 hours on two AA batteries and fit in a shirt pocket. Those are constraints. Sometimes the constraints prove too much and you have to drop back and re-evaluate. I think that may be the case with this plan. I'm not saying that something won't get built, it just might not fit in our figurative shirt pocket. Comments? Thoughts? I'd really like to hear from my readers on this. You've given me a big project to work on if I'm elected!

The only wasted vote is the one that is never cast.

Regardless of what side of the aisle you think you sit on, where you think life begins, if you smoke or don't smoke... Get to the polls. The only wasted vote is the one that is never cast. Update: The turnout seems very heavy today. I voted at my precinct on the St. Theresa's campus at 57th & Main. At 10AM there was about a 15 minute wait. Not too bad. I used the electronic voting booth with no problems other than I didn't realize you have to keep hitting "Print Next" to print out every page of your ballot. I left the precinct only to encounter one of my opponent's volunteers(?) gathering signatures for his nominating petition. Nothing like in my face campaigning. Ouch!

I hope she didn't buy the "Death Star" option...

I knew the evil empire would be in this race. Last night I got the verification. Going door to door, I ran into someone who refused to sign my petition because he works for Northstar Marketing and informed me that they had been hired by one of my big money competitors. And let me tell you, if you can afford to hire Northstar you're definitely big money. For those of you who aren't familiar with Northstar, they are the firm of choice for just about every ballot proposition the City has put forth since Kay Barnes first won the Mayor's office with them in 1999. They're also the firm who takes guerilla tactics and negative campaigning to a new level. Remember this little flyer? That's just a small sample of what these guys consider "campaign management." Ironic that the very person who lamented the behavior of her hired guns in 2003 has endorsed my opponent and donated to the campaign. What conclusion would you draw from that? In my world Northstar and their kind of campaigning is about as worrisome as a cloudy day. I'll even give them a little help. Since Photoshopping people's headshots is a favorite pastime, I went ahead and did my own hatchet job. I think it's just as high quality as the job they did on Jim Glover four years ago. Let's call it a campaign donation from Citizens For Mark Forsythe. For whatever Northstar minion that gets the assignment of attacking me, just right-click on the photo and select "Save Image As..." I'm not afraid of these guys. In fact, I say bring it on.

Or we could just start drilling for oil...

I suscribe to several e-newsletters having to do with alternative energy and transit. In the last couple of years I have seen the amount of news coming from the alternative energy industry increase ten-fold. What used to be a monthly email with a couple of little blurbs about a government grant here, or an increase in efficiency there has turned into a lengthy list of major advances. This is bittersweet for me. I'm pleased that we're making huge advances in alternative energy. I'm not so pleased that none of these major breakthroughs are occurring in Kansas City. Here is just a partial list of this month's news bits from the November issue of Fuel Cell Technology Update: FTA Awards $49 Million in Grants for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Development. The Federal Transit Authority announced $49 million in federal grants for projects to explore new ways to successfully commercialize hydrogen fuel cell buses. Three nonprofit organizations from around the country were competitively selected: the Center for Transportation and the Environment in Atlanta, the Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium in Boston and Westart/CALSTART of Pasadena, California. http://www.fta.dot.gov/news/news_events_5830.html Hmmm. That's $49 Million not coming to Kansas City. DOE Announces $100 Million for R&D Projects. DOE is providing $100 million for 25 hydrogen research and development projects. The cost of the projects will total approximately $127 million, with the additional $27 million covered by the applicants. The new projects will focus on fuel cell membranes; water transport within the stack; advanced cathode catalysts and supports; cell hardware; innovative fuel cell concepts; the effects of impurities on fuel cell performance and durability; and fuel cell demonstration projects to build international and intergovernmental partnerships. States with organizations that have received awards include Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. http://www.energy.gov/news/4401.htm Thirteen states! Missouri nowhere to be found. Yes folks, we're being outdone by Alabama... Rolls-Royce Launches US Subsidiary. Rolls-Royce has launched a subsidiary, Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc., in the United States and announced a partnership with Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP). Effective immediately, Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc. will operate its business on the campus of the Stark State College of Technology in Canton, Ohio, in the Fuel Cell Prototyping Center constructed earlier this year. http://www.rolls-royce.com/media/showPR.jsp?PR_ID=40393 Okay Tiger and Jayhawk fans. MU and KU are being outdone by a place called Stark State? I certainly can't promise to make Kansas City the alternative energy mecca of the world, but I can certainly bring industry attention here. How? Glad you asked! Check this out: CONFERENCES GenerationFC 2006. GenerationFC 2006: Shaping the Southern Fuel Cell Economy will be held December 4-6, 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia. For conference details, please visit http://www.sfcc.tv/genfc.html. 2nd Fuel Cells Durability & Performance. The 2nd Fuel Cells Durability & Performance conference will be held December 6-8, 2006, at the Wyndham Resort & Conference Center in Miami Beach, Florida. For conference details, please visit http://www.knowledgefoundation.com/. FC Expo 2007. The 3rd International Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Expo will take place February 7-9, 2007, at Tokyo Big Sight in Tokyo, Japan. For details, please visit http://www.fcexpo.jp/english/. H207 Exhibition and Conference. The H207 exhibition and conference will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland, on May 23-24, 2007. For information, please go to http://www.h207.com/. Not every convention we attract to Kansas City needs to be a huge affair. Sometimes a small convention can be an opportunity to market our town to potential industries. Trust me. I know my way around a technical conference. I speak fluent Nerd. I can connect with these people. Give me a captive audience and a chance to sell Kansas City and I will close the deal. Just one more thing I think your councilman should do for you. Make sense?

The return of the suspicious red truck

Yesterday I received a disturbing email from a neighbor. You would think with the amount of emails I receive every day that more than one would be disturbing! Anyway, this neighbor wanted to confirm with me that a suspicious red truck that had been seen in Brookside last Spring was the same truck he had encountered on Sunday. I thought we had seen the last of this guy but I dug out my old email and sure enough the license plate number matched. Last Spring this individual had approached some children asking for directions. The police had stopped him several times but unfortunately he has no record and there's nothing illegal about driving around and asking for directions, even when you don't need them. On Sunday he was sitting outside my neighbor's house for about 30 minutes. My neighbor finally became suspicious enough that he went outside and asked the guy what was up. When he got to the window he saw an open beer in the guy's lap and noticed he was clearly intoxicated. The man sped away. I sent an email out to my neighborhood list letting everyone know to be on the lookout for this guy. It was soon picked up and broadcast to other neighborhoods. I began receiving inquiries from people I've never met asking for more details and what they could do to prevent this guy from harming anyone. This morning I had a voicemail from Bev Chapman at Channel 9 News. This afternoon I received a call from Maria Antonia. They're going to run a story. Hopefully this guy will see the news and decide to stop doing whatever it is he's doing. Hopefully we can stop him before he hurts someone. All this from one little email. Maybe one person can make a difference.

Desperately Seeking (a home for) Stella

A fringe benefit of grass-roots campaigning is you get to meet a lot of dogs. They seem to sense how much I like them and will often charge through slightly opened doors to greet me. I usually come home with many different types of dog hair on me. Too bad they can't vote! This is Stella the Pit Bull. I met her a few Saturdays ago at the Hyde Park Homes Tour. She's currently under foster care and looking for a permanent home. It's hard enough to find homes for adult dogs, but these days it's almost impossible to find a home for a pit bull. As you can see from the picture, Stella is very aggressive. Aggressive for affection that is. This dog makes my 15 year-old Border Collie look like a vicious killer. She spent more time falling over looking to have her tummy scratched than anything else. I don't blame people for being hesitant to adopt a Pit Bull in Kansas City. With all the bans being passed, I'm sure there is a fear that Kansas City will soon follow. Stella is just one of hundreds, if not thousands of animals orphaned because of poorly conceived breed-specific laws (BSL). Does it really take a genius to see that when you outlaw a breed that the irresponsible owners will simply turn them out on the streets? Isn't neglected animals running loose what we're trying to prevent? I'll leave the BSL lobbying to my friends over at KC Dog Blog. It's a must read for all you dog lovers out there. And from what I've seen as I go door to door, there's a lot of you!

Just hop on the bus, Gus.

I ride the bus to City Hall. First and foremost because it's convenient. It picks me up a block from my house and drops me off at 12th & Oak. Practically door to door service! I arrive at my committee meetings completely relaxed, having spent my commute reading the newspaper or chatting with a fellow commuter instead of dodging traffic and hunting for that elusive "rock star" parking spot. Sadly, most people still consider it a novelty. The first few meetings I attended I was consistently asked if I needed my parking ticket validated. I would always respond good naturedly that I didn't need parking validation but I would take a transfer pass if anybody had one. Most people just can't comprehend that a "suit and tie" would ride the bus. The MAX is not Bus Rapid Transit as some would have you believe, but it is a very good express bus if you need to travel the Main St. corridor. I have found that I've become dependent on it to get downtown. If I need to be anywhere near the MAX route I hesitate before grabbing my car keys. Once you experience the luxury of being "chauffered" to your destination it's hard to go back to the plebian world of driving your own vehicle. I know that transit isn't for everyone. The mid-day 30 minute headways of the MAX are a little too long for some people. I also know that some people need their vehicles during the day. But if every downtown worker used the bus just once a week... I'll make another campaign promise on top of my "I promise not to make any ridiculous promises". I may not ride the MAX every time I go to City Hall, but I'll ride it whenever I can. You want to talk to your councilman? Catch me on the bus. You'll have a captive audience.