Taxing Circumstances

The late breaking campaign issue this year is the concept of eliminating Kansas City's 1% Earnings Tax in favor of a land tax. In a study funded by the Show-Me Institute, University of Missouri economics professor Joe Haslag contends that the land tax is a fixed-quantity item. The land is always there, someone will always own it and therefore a stable tax revenue would exist instead of the highly volatile earnings tax which fluctuates with employment numbers and salaries. Opposition to this idea comes from those who say that a land tax will have a disparate impact on low or fixed income land owners. The argument is also made that commuters who live outside of Kansas City but work within city limits get a free pass. This may sound like another one of my crazy ideas, but bear with me. Why not do both? This is just a rough sketch and I'm seeing a few loopholes as I write this, but it's the first draft. I know it needs some work. First, continue to collect the 1% Earnings Tax like we always have. That keeps a steady stream of revenue coming into City coffers on which we hopefully draw interest while we hold it. Second, initiate a land tax similar to what the Show-Me Institute is recommending. Now, here's where my idea gets really crazy. At tax time, Kansas City residents will file their city returns and receive a refund of most if not all of their 1% witholdings. Non-residents would still pay as they always have. As for the land tax, a formula would need to be created that takes into account a person's income, length of ownership and other factors to determine the rate at which they are taxed on their land. That way, low and fixed-income residents would not be taxed out of their homes. I have not read the Show-Me Institute's study. Maybe they already made these suggestions and I'm just reinventing the wheel. If so, I apologize and will make note of that on this blog. BUT, if they haven't thought of this idea I hope to get it into the public debate. I'm writing a position paper on this and I'm sure I'll get all kinds of emails telling me what a horrible idea it is, but that's the price you pay. If they're talking bad about my ideas at least they're talking about them!

I've been schooled

I received a scathing email this morning chastising me for my answer about education at the Romanelli West forum. The writer felt that my answer shirked my responsibility as a leader and abdicated all issues regarding education to the school board. He said I should be ashamed of myself. He accused me of not having the "political stomach" for taking on the education issue. He said I had lost his vote. You know what? I'm glad I received that email. Valid criticism just opens the door to self-improvement. He's right about everything but the "political stomach" remark. I'm glad this person took the time to write a very long and thoughtful letter. Education is an important topic to him and his family. He felt I had let him down. I'm glad he pointed out some glaring missteps I made. I admit it was my worst answer of the day. I won't make excuses, but I will say my remarks came out of anger and frustration. I'm mad at the KCSD. I'm mad at "community leaders" who seem to want nothing more than to have arguments about race and socio-economic differences. I'm mad at the KCSD teacher who lectured me at a candidate screening that "neighborhood schools" are a pipe dream because in the neighborhood he teaches "the kids will never be able to walk to school." (begin sarcasm) Well thank you Mr. Optimism! Yeah, that's the kind of guy I want teaching our next generation. "It's hopeless kids. You live in a bad place and there's nothing you can do about it." (end sarcasm) My critic sent me some links. One of which is standup.org which is funded by the Bill and Melinda gates Foundation as well as Warren Buffet. Maybe there's some useful information there. Maybe I can find out some things I can do as a councilman above and beyond using the office as a bully pulpit. After all, education is never a waste of time. I should know. I just learned something.

Some nights better than others

It's been pretty cold out there on the campaign trail. Not half as cold as it will be tonight though! Last night I flipped a sign. That's campaign slang for convincing a homeowner to take down an opponent's yard sign and put up one of yours. Since I've determined that a great many people put up signs simply because you were the first to ask I have started targeting houses flying the opposition's colors. It's proving to be an effective strategy. I enjoy meeting people. That's what makes door to door so much fun. You always come home with a story. One house in particular made my night. Dad answered the door and was very polite and enthused to meet a candidate. His little boy was at his side. Elliott. I'd say Elliott was about three years old. Anyway, dad shook my hand and began to look over my literature as we chatted. I glanced down at Elliott who was earnestly looking up at me, hand outstretched expecting a handshake just like dad. I shook his hand and introduced myself. Manners aren't as easily found in society these days. Let alone in a small child. I took my leave of father and son. I turned as I walked away and shouted "Bye Elliott!" "Bye!" he smiled and enthusiastically waved in return. It was a good night.

Romanelli West Forum

Yesterday was the Romanelli West Neighborhood forum in the auditorium of Southwest High School. The mayoral candidates were first and went way over time which we were all anticipating anyway. By the time we humble council candidates took the stage over half the crowd and most of the media people had left out of boredom or exhaustion. I didn't feel like it was one of my best performances. I was a little off my game but only my wife seemed to notice. The in-district candidates fielded questions on conflicts of interests, TIF, and education. That's all there was time for because we all had to be out of the building by 6PM. The at-large candidates got the smoking ban and economic development as it relates to small business. It was interesting for me to see how some candidates have gotten better at public speaking, and others have grown worse. The audience was given scorecards to rate each candidate on a scale of 1 to 5 on different attributes. I stupidly did not get one to fill out so I didn't get a chance to give myself all 5's! Some people seemed confused by the cards so I'm not sure how valid the data will be when it comes out. I will, of course change my opinion if I have the highest scores once they are posted! Update: The first review is in and well... Kinda good, kinda bad. A commenter over at KC Buzz Blog had this to say about my performance yesterday: Mark Forsythe - Very bright. Very knowledgeable. Tends to ramble and couldn't get everything he wanted to say out in the time limit. Obviously loves to be in front of a crowd. Guilty as charged. I do love to be in front of a crowd. Youngest child syndrome. "Tends to ramble?" Ouch! And that's saying something considering we were only given a couple of minutes to respond to a question. Oh well. It could have been worse I guess. I was rambling.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign...

I just received a very much needed visit from a voter. I've been a little down the last couple of days because I felt like I was losing the yard sign competition. As I sat here working on a walklist, my doorbell rang. "We want to join the club" he said as I opened my door. "A yard sign. We want a yard sign." I was more than happy to oblige. He informed me that they looked out their window the other day and saw one of my opponent's signs in their yard! They ripped it down immediately. They determined right then and there that I was their candidate. "You're not the first person to tell me that" I said. "Did this person even ask you for permission to put a sign in your yard?" Permission was asked for but not granted he said. They didn't say "yes" but they didn't say "no." They just didn't say. I was beginning to think I was going crazy. In the morning I would see a string of opponents signs down a busy street. By the afternoon a great number of them would be gone. I knew my volunteers and supporters weren't stealing them. That's rule number one when you join our campaign. I thought maybe I was seeing things. But it turns out there's a lot of (ahem) aggressive sign placing going on, and a lot of annoyed voters filling recycle bins with my opponent's campaign signs. So now I am re-energized. There is a growing group of voters out there who are hopefully looking for a less presumptive candidate. I intend to let them know I want to be that guy.

Git yer nose outta my TIF!

I started this as a reply to an anonymous commenter. As I kept typing I realized it was fast becoming a post all its own, so here goes... Anonymous said... Mark,What do you think about the argument that the city shouldn't care about the performance of TIFs that aren't backed by city bonds because the developer is taking the risk, not the city? Anonymous, First of all, risk is not the only factor to consider. The developer is controlling taxes that but for the TIF agreement would be going into the City's general fund. I think any project that affects our tax revenues deserves constant scrutiny. Especially when those TIF funds are used to build a parking garage. I think in all the talk about "blight" and "corporate welfare" people have lost sight of the original intent of funds created by TIF. TIF was a way for the developer to insure that infrastructure around their project received the proper attention based on the funds that project generated. To borrow from my good friend Al Gore, it was supposed to be a "lock box" that kept politicians from diverting those funds elsewhere. The developer was assured that he or she would have nice sidewalks, curbs, streetlights etc. It seemed like a fair idea. Why shouldn't I as the developer be able to demand good infrastructure around my project? Especially if I'm building in a blighted area. What happened along the way is someone figured out how to call parking garages public infrastructure. Open them up at night, let the public park for free and voila! A multi-million dollar parking structure is now in the same category as a street light. A multi-million dollar parking structure that instantly upgrades a developer's building from Class C to Class A office space allowing he or she to demand much higher rents. So to answer your original question anonymous, I don't think much about the argument that the developer is taking the risk and not the City. We're all taking a risk every time tax incentives are used. And every time a developer comes to us with hat in hand asking for help, they should be expected to open their books and give us full access to their numbers. Once we the citizens give them, or give them control of tax dollars we become partners. As such we the taxpayers should demand full access to their (our) financials. I expect no less when I purchase shares in a publicly traded company. I get a prospectus every year that tells me what that company is doing with my investment. We are after all, partners.

Today I make it official

The signatures have been gathered. The petitions have been notarized. Tax clearance letters are in hand. It's time. This afternoon I turn in my signatures to the Election Board to secure my place on the ballot. I fell just short of my goal of obtaining all 300 verified signatures by myself, going door to door. By my count I got 320 signatures but only 294 are verified. I would average about one signature for every ten voters I talked to. Sometimes I would forget to ask. Sometimes body language told me they were less than thrilled to have anyone at their front door. One night in particular I think it was about 10 degrees so I wasn't asking anyone to linger in their doorway very long! The last week I've known I have my signatures so I stopped asking which lets me cover a lot more ground. I was pretty stringent in disqualifying signatures. If a person signed with their married name but were still registered with their unmarried name, I threw it out. Wrong address but still in the 4th District? Threw it out. Maybe the Election Board will be more generous than I was and my 294 will become 300. Fortunately some motivated Hyde Parkers went out and picked up about 50 more signatures from their neighbors so we're in the clear. Thank you Hyde Park neighborhood for pushing me over the top! I'm proud of the fact that not one signature was collected by standing in front of a polling place or a grocery store. It was sort of a silly little constraint I put on myself, but I think it paid off. I used every signature as a chance to talk to the voter. Hopefully make an impression. It took much longer, but I have a recollection of almost every signature on these sheets. Where I was, what the person might have said, etc. That's the kind of voter contact money just can't buy. So off I'll go this afternoon to 1828 Walnut. There won't be any cameras there. I'm not running for mayor, and I haven't been indicted. The news just isn't interested in city council races. Funny thing is? If I'm elected I get just as many votes as the mayor. One.

Deferred maintenance? Come on! How bad could it possibly get?

I have to disagree with the Star's Yael Abouhalkah this morning. He asserts in his column that it was a good thing when the Chamber of Commerce met with the Mayor and City Manager and reworded their report suggesting spending priorities on infrastructure. The Chamber had originally concluded that we should increase to 50% of sales tax collected and dedicate it to deferred maintenance instead of new projects. Heck I'd take 50% to go to any maintenance, but alas I digress. The Mayor and City Manager pitched a fit and the Chamber agreed to meet with them. A compromise was found and the Chamber reworded their recommendation to "up to 50%." My high school grammar teacher was right. Never underestimate the power of a well-placed prepositional phrase! Mr. Abouhalkah contends in his column that this whole compromise is a good thing. I respectfully disagree. I think public discourse over important topics like the financial policies for our city is very important. Behind the scenes agreements over language doesn't strike me as good government. It certainly doesn't strike me as open government. What's wrong with a little public debate now and then? So the Chamber of Commerce has an opinion. So what? It's not like the Chamber sets policy. (Go ahead and click through. I'll wait. I'll even put some imaginary hold music in your head. How about Neil Diamond? We're comin' to America....) And we're back. I have nothing against the Chamber of Commerce, but shouldn't they be an independent entity? I wouldn't expect them to have the power to write City policy any more than I would expect city government to write the Chamber's position papers. Buy hey, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. Or I could meet behind closed doors with influential people and rewrite this entire post. Hmmmm....

Who Killed The Electric Car?

If you haven't seen this documentary, and you care about the environment, I highly recommend you go rent it. It was actually my wife's suggestion for a movie night at home. Really? A techno-dork movie for me? What a sweet gesture! She actually wanted to see it too. What a great, yet disturbing flick. A few years back California had mandated a small percentage of vehicles on the road had to be zero-emission. GM responded with the EV1. A cool little electric car that plugged in and charged in your garage, could outrun a 300Z and was universally loved by everyone that was fortunate enough to lease one. For whatever reason GM didn't want to be in the electric car business and effectively lobbied the California legislature to lift the zero-emission requirements. The EV1s were taken from their grief-stricken drivers and summarily crushed and shredded; never to see the road again. I felt like my wife did when we watched that Penguins documentary. "What? The penguins die?!" "They're killing the EV1s! Oh the humanity! Monsters! Monsters I tell you!" They should put a warning on the cover of that documentary saying some scenes are considered too graphic for engineers, scientists or car enthusiasts. Watching cool little cars get dropped into a shredder is not the way I prefer to spend movie night. I find sad irony in the fact that GM has finally decided that since every other car manufacturer on the planet is pursuing not only hybrid technology, but plug-in hybrids and even hydrogen fuel cells that they will have to keep up. It's an idea whose time has come. I disagree with the president about E85 ethanol. But then again I don't have Archer Daniels Midland in my ear. Plug-in hybrids, plug-in electric and eventually hydrogen fuel cells are the way to go IMHO. Even technology laggard Kansas City has jumped on the bandwagon premiering a plug-in hybrid bus. I want to bring anything to do with these emerging industries to Kansas City. We have the engineering schools, we have the affordable cost of living, and gosh darn it people like us!

I think my supporters are trying to kill me...

I'm forty years old. My doctor tells me it's time to start paying more attention to things like random chest pains or numbness in my extremities. I start to hear stories about guys my age who were runners like me and dropped dead one day during a routine jog. Nothing drives home the point that you're getting older like having to watch out for heart attacks! Yesterday's drive home from a screening was brutal. There is a stretch of Rockhill Road that my opponents have obviously been working very hard. To my left, one opponent's yard signs. To my right, my other opponent's yard signs. Sign after sign after sign! (Note to self: Go knock doors on Rockhill Road) As I drew closer to home I knew there would be the comfort of Forsythe for City Council signs greeting me. The most obvious one located in front of my house. I looked forward to being in "friendly territory." I parked in front of my house, gathered my things and started up the walk. About halfway to the door I froze. Something was missing. I wheeled around and sure enough, no yard sign! I stood there for a few seconds letting the reality sink in. "I've been punk'd!" I thought to myself. I know yard sign mischief abounds, but my own house? My blood pressure began to rise. I'd just been through the gauntlet of my opponents' signs only to come home and find mine missing?! I headed inside to get a replacement sign. That's when I found the note. Mark- I stole your yard sign! I need it, and I assume you have more... Call me if you need it back. Bob My blood pressure returned to normal. In fact, I had a good laugh reading that note. Uh oh. Was that a chest pain?

Pesky Bloggers

I received an email this morning. I get a lot of emails but this one stood out. It reads as follows: Subject: Muckraking Do you think it is ethical to use your volunteers to do muckraking on other Canidates[Sic] Such as Tony's KC? I guess I am supposed to fly into an indignant rage and profess my innocence. After all, the guilty murmur; the innocent shout to the rafters. The fact is, I have no control over what any blogger writes. It would be easier for me to control the weather. I've made no secret out of the fact that I seem to be the favorite of local bloggers. But volunteers? Hardly! I wish I could control the local blogosphere. Part of my campaign strategy very early on was to seek out popular bloggers and try and position myself as a candidate who understands the power of new media. After following the genesis of blogging in the political arena (see: Howard Dean) and watching politicos and causes get abused and outright tortured (see: saveourowners.com) I decided I wanted to mitigate the impending doom. I started a blog. It was horrible at first. My writing was about as entertaining as assembly instructions for a stereo cabinet. It slowly loosened up. Then I started broadcasting my blog via an RSS feed and held my breath. I knew TKC would discover it eventually like he does every new blog that pops on the scene. I got off easy. When he asked me to do a video interview I was very apprehensive. It could have been an ambush. It was a huge gamble on my part. One that my closest friends begged me not to take. I thought it came out well. No other local politicos have risked any contact with TKC, let alone granted an interview. Scoring brownie points with a popular blogger? Guilty as charged! Gaining cred with one blogger in the community is sort of like the initiation ritual. You become part of a very tight-knit group that defends its own. Once TKC deemed me "a harmless white guy" some other blogs took notice and the rest as they say, is history. So to answer my emailer's question, no I don't think it's ethical to use local blogs to attack my opponents. But I have a problem with the premise of your question. You would presume that I have some sort of Svengali-like control over bloggers who were on the Kansas City political scene long before I started, and will still be here long after I'm gone. I can't use other blogs for anything. I can't control the Anonymous comment wars that erupt in every election. I can't control if a blogger gets offended by something he or she observes and decides to post about it, and I certainly make no apologies for being the favorite candidate of some pretty popular blogs. All I can do is to keep on talking about the issues. Keep on going door to door. And keep on blogging.

Downtown Showdown

Today's screening with the Downtown Council PAC went about as well as I could expect. As I related earlier, their charter is all about Downtown. Bringing businesses to downtown, keeping businesses from leaving downtown, fixing all the broken curbs and horrible sidewalks in downtown. Sensing a pattern here? I understand their concerns completely. I myself love downtown and believe it is the centerpiece for not just Kansas City, but the entire metropolitan area. I think our downtown needs to be successful, but I also think we can do better in the area of tax incentives. There were some very powerful people in that room. Some I have met, others I've only read about. If I actually had any ambition to get that group's backing, and significant campaign contributions I would have been pretty nervous. As it was I just looked at it as a chance to introduce myself to them and let them know that I'm not the TIF hating monster they may have heard about. They're not bad people. They, like any group have their cause and want to forward it. The niceties ended after about two minutes and we got down to business. I got a prominent real estate developer fired up when I suggested that we shouldn't consider ourselves in cutthroat competition with Johnson County. We should work with Johnson County, not against them. Next it was a development attorney's turn to grill me about hypothetical deals. Was I suggesting that we not compete with Overland Park? Was I suggesting this, that or the other thing? Finally another major downtown player got into the act and questioned me about the $100 million it would take to completely bring downtown's curbs, sidewalks and signage up to snuff. It was a brutal thirty minutes. But you know what? I haven't had that much fun since grad school. A good old-fashioned knock down drag out debate over financial issues with some exceedingly smart and powerful individuals. I may not have distinguished myself as the pro-TIF, pro-economic incentives, pro-downtown at any cost candidate; but I sure had a lot of fun!

A friend in need

Last week I was out delivering yard signs to a few high visibility locations. I stopped at a retired couple's home in my neighborhood to plant a sign, when I encountered Norma struggling with a shovel trying to clear the ice from her sidewalk. She wasn't making much progress. I asked her what the heck she thought she was doing out there on the slippery ice. She informed me that her husband had fallen (on the ice) and possibly cracked a rib. She was taking him to the doctor later that day. "Give me the shovel Norma" I said with exasperation. It took me all of about 10 minutes to clear the walk. Norma marveled at how quickly I got under the ice and sent it flying. I explained to her I have a little bit more weight than her to put behind the shovel! I don't know what bothered me more. The fact that any able-bodied neighbor had not already helped them out, or that Norma was risking life and limb to clear a stupid walkway after the same activity had already injured her husband. My first home in Armour Hills taught me the importance of helping out your elderly neighbors. Across the street from me was Helen, a retired octogenarian who didn't own a car. In fact, she had never learned to drive! She was totally dependent on transit to run her errands. One time witnessing her struggling down an icy sidewalk convinced me that her walkways would always be cleared before mine. It took a few extra minutes out of my day. Not a big deal for me, but a huge deal to her. A lot of schools in the area require their students to perform a set number of community service hours. I think about Norma and the many others like her could benefit from a healthy young teenager dropping by every now and then for some heavy lifting, or just to say hello. The kids would get their service hour requirements filled, and our seniors would get much needed support. I know most people are prideful and wouldn't dream of signing up for such a program, but it wouldn't be difficult for neighbors to identify a friend in need and make suggested additions to a list. I think this is the kind of thing your elected leaders could facilitate. No cost to the taxpayers. Just a spreadsheet and a few hours a month in coordination. A volunteer could easily be found to do that. I'm sure there are programs in place already that attempt to accomplish the same thing, but as long as there are people like Norma without that kind of assistance, we need to keep trying to do better.

You can always go downtown

Not too many candidates are talking about reigning in economic development incentives. I should be happy about that, but I'm not. Every candidate wants their own issue that rings with the voters. Unfortunately, if you start talking about scaling back TIF and tax abatements you're threatening to cut off the money fix to a lot of organizations. Organizations and individuals that donate a lot of money to campaigns. The kind of money that gets you elected, or re-elected. I'm not happy because we all should be talking about responsible economic development policies. Not just paying it lip service with a bullet point on a campaign flyer. Not taking money from these organizations is surprisingly liberating. I can speak my mind. I can write things in this blog or in my position papers that won't infuriate my contributors. My economic development postions certainly aren't infuriating the voters I meet. Tomorrow I meet with the Political Action Committee arm of the Downtown Council. From the leading questions on their questionnaire I know in advance I won't be a very popular guy in that room. Like most groups I meet with though, I understand where they're coming from. They have their issues that are a priority for them. Nothing wrong with that. The Downtown Council's name says it all. Their thing is downtown. Build downtown, live downtown, funnel every dime to downtown. I agree that downtown is our centerpiece. I REALLY agree that the success of the Power and Light Districtis crucial for all of us. (If it isn't successful we're all paying for it) I don't agree that Downtown continues to need incentives for companies to want to move there. So tomorrow I head downtown to say what's on my mind and probably agree to disagree. I understand respect their position. I hope they understand mine.

Can't win 'em all

It's been a tough couple of days on the campaign trail. The week started out well enough with an adequate performance at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association candidate forum. I didn't have them dancing in the aisles but they weren't running for the Exits either so I'll take that as a positive. Wednesday was the rough day. It started with a pre-screening in front of a group that advocates affordable housing and health care for the economically disadvantaged. They wanted me to tell them I would provide more funding for a program that helps people make home repairs who are otherwise unable to afford it. They wanted me to tell them I would provide more funds for more police. More funds for indigent health care. Mo money, mo money, mo money! The problem is, I'm the finance guy. I know the answer that would have made them happy was "Yes, of course!" But I can't give that answer. The budget is different every year. I tried to explain the process; how the City Manager prepares the budget, the mayor reviews it and makes recommendations, etc, etc... I think they were stuck on "no I can't make those kinds of promises." Sometimes I feel like I'm in a bizarre episode of Jeopardy! I know my responses are correct, but Alex Trebeck keeps telling me I'm wrong. Alex: Mark Forsythe, you have control of the board. Me: I'll take "Social Issues" for $500 Alex. Alex: The answer is... This affirmative statement is given to a group of people who ask a candidate to guarantee them more funds for a specific program. Me: What is... I can't guarantee future budgetary decisions until I see what revenues are available? Alex: Ooooh. I'm sorry. The response we were looking for there was "What is Yes." Once again, that response... "What. Is. Yes." This whole honesty thing is tough when you're a politician. I won't pander. I won't lie. I freely share my opinions when asked. I'm not surprised though. This was totally expected. I knew going in that refusing to go with "politics as usual" was going to be a liability sometime. Doesn't mean I don't get discouraged sometimes. Oh well. Poor me. Boo hoo! Enough self pity. If my dad was still alive he'd tell me something to the effect of "quit feeling sorry for yourself and get back out there!" He would be right, as usual.

Credit where credit is due

Part of the fun/frustration of going to lots of public forums is you begin to hear candidates "borrowing" other candidates' ideas and expressions. Most of it isn't intentional. It's just the nature of the business. You're in front of a big group, you're nervous, you want to make a good impression. You can't remember where you heard it, but you agree with it so you talk about it. In the end it's all lost in the noise of election chatter. Yardsigns, websites, push pieces. Most voters won't remember who said what. They'll just remember how you said it and whether they liked you or not. Yesterday I published a position paper on Conventions and Tourism. I want to give credit to 4th at-large candidate Doug Gamble for the inspiration. At the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association candidate forum the other night he brought up the subject of elected officials partnering with the Convention and Tourism Bureau to attract more conventions to Kansas City. It made me think about my own opinions on that subject and reminded me I had started a position paper that contained a "Grow Your Own" convention idea. In the end, I need to say that if not for Doug Gamble's speaking about his ideas on the subject, my draft paper would have probably remained just that. A draft. I'm not endorsing Mr. Gamble. I'm not publicly endorsing anyone in other races. I'm just saying I like his idea about attracting conventions. Credit where credit is due. That's just how I roll.

This just in: Kansas City TIF is a mess

Today I attended a press conference presented by ReclaimDemocracy.org. The topic was the release of a TIF study that the group had commissioned UMKC Economist Michael P. Kelsay, Ph.D. to perform. I figure since I am the candidate talking about fiscal responsibility and reform of economic development incentives, this was the place I needed to be. Dr. Kelsay did not fail to disappoint. At least not for me. His presentation was full of dry economic analysis and lots of big wonky words like "rescission" that finance geeks like me love. I don't know if the rest of the room found it as interesting as I did. Economics is not everyone's cup of tea. There wasn't anything groundbreaking or surprising in the executive overview. TIF is being misused. No surprise there. There is no comprehensive TIF policy. Uh huh. There is no transparency of the process. Nope! We are damaging our economic health by including Economic Activity Taxes (EATs) as part of the incentives rebated back to the developer. Preach on brother! The Q&A was a bit more lively and interesting. There were several questions about how detailed the study was. Did it analyze any particular TIF plans? Most of the answers were "not that detailed" and "no." Somewhat disappointing but then again this study wasn't directed at people like me who actually study economic development incentives. I finally decided to ask the obvious question. ReclaimDemocracy wants to remake itself from a Walmart foe to a TIF watchdog. They obviously have connections with the UMKC Economics Department. There is a need, and a definite interest in detailed review and analysis of individual TIF plans. Would the good professor commit to tasking UMKC Economics students to perform these analysis as an academic study? Each semester a student, or group of students could perform a detailed analysis of an actual TIF project and publish their findings on the internet. "I could possibly see that happening" was his reply. I could see the gears turning in his head. Another question was asked. Another answer given. Dr. Kelsay looked back in my direction and this time with much more enthusiasm exclaimed "You know, we require our students to do projects, but they're usually just artificial cases. What you're proposing is a great idea! Students working on real projects. That's what we'll do!" I love the mind of an academic. He was processing and formulating the entire time. I look forward to UMKC assuming a more active role in our economic development policies. Considering we don't even have economic development policies, what harm could it do? And to the Economics students whom I've just doomed to a semester of painful TIF analysis? Uhhh... Sorry?

Was that so hard?

Yesterday's post was dubbed my "angry old man post" by one of my faithful readers. She was teasing me about the topic of noisy trash trucks waking up the neighbors. I have to admit it did sound kind of cranky. OMG I am becoming my father! I had grown frustrated with Deffenbaugh. Not the driver mind you, but their management. Something told me the driver of the route in question wasn't knowingly breaking the law, he just wasn't getting the message. I refused to believe some hard working guy driving a trash truck at 6:30AM was deliberately thumbing his nose at the neighborhood. I was right. This morning I was waiting at the entrance to the alleyway at 6AM. It was a little earlier than I'm used to being out but it was a nice chance to park my Trailblazer with my big campaign signs on it at the busy intersection of 63rd and Wornall. Gotta get my name out there! The Deffenbaugh truck arrived at 6:40AM. I hailed the driver and politely asked him if he had been contacted by his management about the 7AM ordinance in Kansas City. As I suspected it was the first he had heard of it. He was very sincere and apologetic. I asked him if he would like for me to talk to his management in case they were going to cause any trouble for him. He said it was his route and he would take care of it. Ownership of the problem and personal responsibility. How about that? This whole affair was an academic exercise for me. I wanted to find out, front to back how our problem solving system works in Kansas City. My answer? It doesn't. The neighborhood contacted the property management who contacted the waste disposal company. Nothing. The neighborhood contacted the City. Nothing. We definitely have some opportunities for improvement in delivering these "basic city services" that candidates love to blather about. This problem was solved by bypassing all the bureaucracy and going straight to the source. Why is that so hard? That's something I intend find out. Oh, and by the way. This was a unique experiment. An information gathering project on my part. Don't think for one second that as your councilman I'm going to be chasing garbage trucks at 6AM for all my constituents!

Talking Trash

My neighborhood backs up to a commercial area. As such, the residents whose backyards adjoin the commercial alleyway put up with a little more hassle than the rest of us. Noise and the not so pleasant smell of cooking dumpsters in the July heat are among the many extras that come with such a location. For the most part they accept it. A reasonable person understands why they're getting a good purchase price on a house when it's situated behind a row of businesses. Lately I've been trying to get the message to Deffenbaugh that KCMO ordinance prohibits them from picking up commercial waste before 7AM. According to my frustrated neighbors, 6:30AM seems to be the more preferred time for the giant truck to rumble down the alleyway and then proceed to lift and dump several dumpsters. I've contacted the owner of the shops three times. He has met with Deffenbaugh and they have given him assurances that they will obey the law and not come before 7AM. Unfortunately Deffenbaugh's driver has other ideas. He continues to come whenever he wants. 6:30AM this morning I'm told. I know in the grander scheme of things thirty minutes may not seem like a world crisis. But then again, I get cranky if I'm awakened even five minutes before my alarm goes off. Sleep is a precious commodity in our fast-paced society. The law is the law and our ordinance says 7AM. Period. I don't fault the property owner. I know him to be a concscientious man. (Disclaimer: He is a campaign contributor) He has met with and called Deffenbaugh multiple times. I'd say that's a pretty reasonable effort. I don't fault the 3-1-1 Action Center. (Disclaimer: I sit on the 3-1-1 Oversight Committee) They only take down the information and pass it along to the appropriate City department. I think the problem is enforcement. There is an ordinance and a suggested fine for violating it, but nobody seems to know who enforces it. The police? Yeah right. That'll happen. Codes Enforcement? They work an 8-5 shift. Environmental Management? Last time I checked they have no enforcement powers. For this particular issue it's going to take me getting up a little extra early tomorrow, picking up a large coffee from the Roasterie Cafe (Disclaimer: Not a contributor but they are displaying a yardsign at their home) and parking my car at the entrance to the alley. I'll make sure the message gets delivered. But for next time, it's obvious there's a hole in the system. One more thing for me to work on if I'm elected.

Who do you like for mayor?

Everybody's talking about the mayoral race. I guess that makes sense. There's a lot of people to talk about. I get asked a lot whom I'm voting for in the mayoral election. Whom I would prefer to work with if I'm elected. I don't think it's fair, or wise for that matter, to answer the question. I don't mind making some observations though. A view from down here in the grass roots so to speak. First yardsigns I've seen appear in the 4th District: 1. Henry Klein 2. Alvin Brooks 3. Mark Funkhouser Most asked about mayoral candidate when I'm door knocking: 1. Mark Funkhouser 2. Henry Klein 3. Kathryn Shields Mayoral candidates that live less than 5 minutes from my house (from closest to farthest): 1. Mark Funkhouser 2. Albert Reiderer 3. Henry Klein 4. Stan Glazer 5. Kathryn Shields What does all this mean? Absolutely nothing. Just like all the polls you'll hear about over the next few weeks. All of these candidates except Councilman Brooks live in the 4th District so it makes sense that their neighbors would be the most interested in them. Now if the same things are being heard and observed elsewhere in the city, then you might have a story...

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

The election won't wait for a break in the weather. I only have so many days between now and February 27th to meet as many voters as possible. Volunteers were ready to meet Saturday morning to deliver yardsigns. We hoped we could beat the predicted ice storm, but that was not to be. The volunteer coordinator called me and we agreed no campaign is worth endangering anyone's health. At least not anyone else's health. The signs could wait. But meeting voters couldn't! Out in the sleet I went. It actually wasn't that bad. When it's pure sleet, it just bounces off your head. More of an annoyance than anything else. It worked out really well because almost everybody on my walklist was home. Got a bunch of signatures, more yardsigns and plenty of good-natured ribbing about being out in the elements. Sunday was a different story. The sleet was mixed with rain. After about an hour my hair was matted to my head and my coat was soaked through. When someone would ask why I was out on such a horrible day, I would reply that we expect our City workers to be out if there's a broken water main, so why should I be any different? It was another good day. More yardsigns, more votes. Now that I think about it, I hope the weather stays bad. At least when it's time to door knock!

Four Freedoms Candidate Screening

Last night I had my first candidate screening. At least the first one I chose to attend. The Four Freedoms Democratic Club is one of Kansas City's LGBT political groups. The "Four Freedoms" come from FDR's address to the joint session of Congress back in 1941. Interestingly enough, the freedoms he spoke about; freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear, were actually his case for building up our war machine to take on Germany. I didn't get the chance to ask why this group identifies with that speech. It's not really important, I just like to know that kind of stuff... I thought the screening went well. The realist in me says the votes were not there for an endorsement of a political newcomer like me, but who knows? I particularly enjoyed an interaction I had with one of the board members over my refusal to guarantee I would appoint at least one LGBT person to a committee or some other highly public position. I maintained in one of my written answers that I would absolutely not use sexual orientation as a basis for an appointment. I will pick the best person, and if they happen to be gay, so be it. I also pointed out that by the sheer number of LGBT friends and supporters I have that the odds are very high that I will appoint an LGBT person because I know them and I know their qualifications. They would just happen to be gay. While they respected my stance, my answer wasn't good enough for some in the group. This person argued with me that their group considers highly visible positions within Kansas City government to be their last frontier for acceptance and the chance to show that they are just as much a caring part of the community as the rest of us. And is this not the longest paragraph ever? How do you break these things up? ANYWAY... This woman took me to task and pressed me to make a guarantee. I totally understood where she was coming from. It is, after all, their cause. I tried to evade the question but she would have none of it. She had me cornered and wasn't going to let me weasel out. Man I love a standoff with a highly motivated and informed person. Especially one that will call BS on me and make me really explain and justify myself. In the end I wouldn't give her that guarantee. Everyone in that room had a copy of my written answers that said I wouldn't make a guarantee. I wasn't going to double back on myself just to pander to a group. I told her I was 95% confident I would help their organization achieve its goal based on who I am as a person, and who I know as qualified individuals who might be willing to serve, and happen to be gay. Quotas based on any sort of demographic are not for me. I understood her position. I hope she understood mine. It was a fun night, and it was a good group. Now the suit is back on the hanger and it's back out to door knock. And knock, and knock, and knock...

Oh. Did we mention the practice facility?

Yesterday I attended a luncheon with Mayor Barnes as the keynote speaker. Agree or disagree with her policies but you can't argue that she's an accomplished speaker. I was dismayed at a couple of comments she made though. The first was a not so thinly veiled shot at a mayoral candidate saying he was dead wrong in saying the City had offered incentives to the Pittsburgh Penguins. She maintains that it is AEG's responsibility to make the deal and they are the landlord and so on and so forth. While "technically" that's accurate, we do have a vested interest in the lease agreement. We as bond debtors are responsible for any shortfalls in revenue and we also get a part of the profits. I'd say that kind of makes AEG and the City partners. The next comment really threw up my radar. The Mayor mentioned "down the road" it "might be a possibility" that we (this time 'we' means the taxpayers and not AEG) might need to build a practice facility for a hockey or basketball team. WHAT? I have to learn not to be absentmindedly chewing on my ice when I'm listening to City officials talk about economic incentives. Ice down the windpipe really burns! Eric Barton of the Pitch was there and caught the same little mention I did. He scoops all the local media and goes a lot further in his research and actually found out that we (the City and AEG this time) actually toured the Penguins management around looking at potential locations for practice facilities. I love hockey. And I'd love to have a hockey team in KC. But at what price? We're letting a private company negotiate deals and expecting the taxpayers to pick up the tab. This kind of stuff makes my head hurt.

This town's going daffy!

Yesterday, as I stooped to retrieve yet another sweet gum seed pod, or "spikey balls" as they're known around here, I spotted this. My daffodils are coming up!!! It's January! Either we're going to have an amazingly short Winter or a very ugly, flowerless Spring. Any horticulturists out there with some tips? Are these things hearty enough to withstand the upcoming ice and snow? Should I cover them with something? I'm going to have to check out Al Gore's documentary. I knew the climate is getting warmer, but daffodils in January?

"You put your trash bags on the ground?!"

I still run my neighborhood's email list. I send out reminders about trash day being delayed, bulky item pickup and anything of importance to our area. As new residents move in from out of town they contact me to get on the list and they often take that chance to ask questions about city services, utilities, that type of thing. One question I get from newcomers to Kansas City is about our garbage collection system. They will ask about where to get a trash cart, or why the previous resident took theirs with them, or what kind of cans are acceptable for curbside placement on trash day. I've become a little sheepish when I tell them about our system. "You put the trash bags on the ground?" Uh, yeah we do. "Won't the animals get into them and scatter garbage all over the place?" Well, umm... Yeah that happens. "What if the bag breaks open before the sanitation worker gets it in the truck?" Uhhh, they pick it up as best they can but yes there does end up more trash blowing around. Yes I realize that's disgusting, and stupid, and wrong. Oh, by the way. Welcome to our beautiful city! I think the time for a better curbside garbage collection system has come. Granted, that time came about fifty years ago, but we're a little slow on the uptake sometimes. We're still dumping sewage into creeks for goodness sake. Sometimes it feels like we're waiting around to make sure this whole "take care of the environment" thing isn't just a fad. Nine Kansas City neighborhoods will be part of a pilot program that will use trash carts starting in March. Nine neighborhoods, 6000 homes. The feeling is the program will help improve sanitation, particularly in neighborhoods where litter from ripped plastic trash bags blows around in the streets. This topic has not been without its controversy. Change is difficult, and change with a big price tag is really difficult. People should be concerned about any program that may eventually cost $5 million to $6 million for city-wide implementation. I support the program. I've seen the system work in other cities. Yes I know it's expensive and yes I know even some of my supporters (at least until this post) oppose it. I think it's the right thing to do. Expensive? Yes. Don't we have more pressing things to spend our money on? Yes, but that's almost always the case. There's always a major problem looming on the horizon. That's just part of life. If we wait around forsaking all else in favor of concentrating on the cause du jour, nothing else will ever be accomplished. It's not solving our deferred infrastructure maintenance problems, or our sewer problems, or our dying street trees or even our lack of viable public transit. But it is solving a problem. And that's a start.

Power and Blight District

I've been worrying a lot lately. Not about the election. What will be will be. I've been worrying about the financial situation I will inherit if I'm fortunate enough to be elected. Finance wonks like myself are always thinking about the numbers. I'm excited about the Power and Light District. Even with Minnesota barbecue. I hope the district will do well. It will certainly help us attract conventions. What I'm not excited about is the deal we signed to make it happen. BlogKC reported recently that Power & Light District revenues are projected to only cover 104% of the City's bond debt. A former City Councilman was quoted as saying "the council relies on forecasts and other imperfect information to make financing decisions.” Admitting you rely on “imperfect information” and then allowing a deal to go through with a 4% margin for error? Yikes! It seems the City was talked into assuming way more debt load for this project than we should have because of the old "blight" scenario. Finance is about interpreting imperfect information, knowing your constants and reducing your risk to an acceptable level. Your constant in this case is the payments to the bank. Financial institutions are kind of funny about expecting to be paid. There is no crystal ball when it comes to projecting revenues from a retail/commercial project so that’s your risk (and a huge one it is). The imperfect information? Every promise, supposition, estimate or wish that the Power and Light District will be a smashing success. From my calculator this deal requires 100% occupancy plus the projected Economic Activity Taxes (EATs) for the duration of the bond life meeting projections. If just one business goes under. One business model fails to meet projections. One crazy happenstance and the taxpayers are going to be left picking up the tab. 4% is not a margin I'm comfortable with. It's certainly not a margin I would have allowed. Not if I was signing the checks!

Cordish swings for the fences, and hits St. Louis?

I warned you about this way back in December of '05. Today it's official. Cordish has announced the anchor tenant barbecue joint. The place that's supposed to make us all forget about Lil' Jake's Eat It and Beat It. The crown jewel of the downtown entertainment district representing all that is awesome about Kansas City barbecue is... Minneapolis-based Famous Dave's. Home of the St. Louis Style Rib. Now I like Famous Dave's. I used to eat there all the time when I lived in Minneapolis, but come on!

I was where you were ten years ago...

Saturday night I had a well-attended party thrown for me in Hyde Park. House parties are almost as fun as going door to door. The guests were engaged, knowledgeable and aside from gaining a vote or two I made some new friends. One of the guests was the mayor of a municipality on the other side of the state line. He didn't arrive in time to hear my comments and Q&A session, but we did have a very nice conversation. Of course the number one topic was development incentives. I learned a great deal from him about the pressures involved with retaining and attracting businesses. It was nice to make a contact with someone I hope to collaborate with in the future. Something he said to me struck me so much I'm still mulling it over today. "You're where I was ten years ago." He hasn't exactly sold his soul but he looked at me through the eyes of a man who has been through a decade of serving his city. A decade of deal-making. A decade of outside pressures leading him to make decisions he wasn't exactly comfortable with. Sometimes the ends justify the means? His advice to me was to learn how to work from the inside. "Being the lone dissenting vote does no one any good." Now where have I heard that before? I'm not ready to give up my idealism. I hope I'm never ready. But Saturday night I learned that sometimes in order to serve people for the greater good, you have to learn to bend. Just a little...

The Symphony has had enough

Back in 1993 somebody in Jefferson City actually came up w