The morning after

The voters have spoken. Loudly. They basically said "NOT YOU!" There's losing and then there's the old fashioned whipping I took last night. I'm strangely calm today. I'll spend the afternoon taking in my yard signs. Contemplating what to do with my life. I've been a "candidate" for so long I don't even remember what it feels like to be anything else. I'm sorry for my volunteers. Especially yesterday. I know it's tough working for a losing candidate. The looks of disappointment on their faces is something that will be tough memory to carry around. It's one thing to deal with your own disappointment, it's quite another to feel like you've let someone down. Will I keep blogging? Probably. I don't know. It's a little too soon to make any decisions. Thanks to all 1969 of you who voted for me. Thanks to all of you who volunteered for my campaign. Thank you for the contributions both monetary and good old hard work. And finally thanks for reading this blog, and allowing us to believe, if only for a little while, that you can rage against the machine and win. It's been a wild ride. Thanks for coming along.

And now we're down to the counting

It's 6PM. The remaining voters showing up are surly. They have no interest in taking anyone's literature. They see the "gauntlet" and the look on their faces says "Don't talk to me I know what I'm doing." There are no more votes to be found. I picked up three just for being out there, but this last hour is for the hardcore voter. It's getting dark, it's windy, it's cold and they want to be left alone. Now we wait. I'm going for that long hot shower I've been looking forward to. It's time to tend to the wicked sunburn on my face from standing in the sun all day. A quick bite to eat and then it's off to Sharp's for the watch party (or watch wake). Thanks everybody for reading and voting. It's been a wild ride. I hope it's not over. We'll all know in a couple of hours!

What's your definition of "heavy?"

Looks like the votes may come late in the 6th Ward. According to one of my volunteers, the numbers are ahead of last August's primary. Brookside is heavy on young professionals. That seems to be my demographic. Here's hoping they've been following the election at work and will vote on their way home! Closing in on three hours to go. No matter what the outcome at 7PM I'm headed for a much needed hot shower!

Score one for the Sierra Club

Voters are still scarce. On my way out of the precinct to check in elsewhere I encountered a voter on his way in. I introduced myself and he said "I'm already voting for you. I saw your endorsement from the Sierra Club." All that work on their questionnaire paid off!

The lunch rush that wasn't

It's been a slow trickle at my precinct. Some campaign workers have given up. Becky Nace dropped by briefly. A couple more neighbors showed up so that's a good thing. Either everybody is waiting until after work or people are staying home in droves! One thing's for sure. It shouldn't take the election board too long to count the ballots tonight. We may have the winners declared before 9PM. I'm estimating the next couple of hours will be pretty quiet.

10AM and all is quiet

Turnout is abysmal. I've been at my home precinct all morning and I don't think we've cracked 100 voters yet. Mark Funkhouser showed up to vote. No media. Jim Glover has been outside the poll for about an hour now. I think we've seen about five voters during that time. Jim's assistant asked me if I thought I might squeak in for second place. I told her I was kind of hoping to squeak in for first. I think the turnout will be late because of the cold. I haven't seen most of my friends and supporters show up yet. Maybe the lunch hour will bring a few familiar faces. More later. Get out here and vote!

The day begins

I woke up bright and early this morning without an alarm. I figured it was about time for the polls to open and I'd get an early start. I looked at my clock. It was 3:20AM. Very low turnout at my home precinct this morning. Nowhere near the amount of voters I would expect to see. Hopefully it's the cold. The people that are showing up to vote already know how they are going to vote. They keep their eyes downward trying to avoid the gauntlet of campaign volunteers pushing literature. I've seen a few of my neighbors, and I had two voters whom I don't recall meeting leave the poll and tell me they had voted for me. I hope that's a good sign. More later.

Tell me what's on your mind?

Good question. People want to know what it's like to be a candidate the day before an election. I'd have to say there's lots of things on my mind. I'm panicked and calm all at the same time. Panicked in that I worry I haven't done enough. I didn't find enough votes. I didn't communicate my message well enough. I should have done this, not done that. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. I'm calm in that I know it's out of my hands. I don't think there are enough undecideds out there to change tomorrow's outcome. I actually managed to pick up about six votes this afternoon on my run. I was stopping at houses that had yard signs and appeared to have someone at home. I'm pretty sure I flipped one voter from an opponent so that's really a net gain of two. But I'm done. I think today's run and those six votes were more for my piece of mind than anything else. I probably won't sleep much tonight. This is how I used to feel in high school before a big track meet. Nervous. Excited. Anxious. Optimistic. Worried. So that's what is going through my mind. And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way!

The Final Countdown

Thanks to everyone last night who took part in Kansas City's first online Town Hall Meeting. It was a lot of fun. I learned that I am a fast typist but not fast enough to respond to multiple questions all at the same time! There were some behind the scenes hiccups. My Firefox installation decided it was time to update about thirty minutes before the chat. Of course the update failed because I'm running (reluctantly) Windows Vista. That left me with no Firefox and no bookmarks! My Putty shell which I use to run scripts on my webserver decided it didn't like the Roasterie's open WiFi so it refused to work also. That left me with no way to initialize the chat software! Fortunately I had driven to the Roasterie so it only takes about two minutes to get there from my house. I drove home, did everything I had to do to make the chat work from my good old (and I do mean old) PC. Drove back to the Roasterie, fired up Internet Explorer (Yuk!) and flipped the switch. People started logging in almost immediately. Pheww! Today I tie up the loose ends. Maybe knock a few doors that have some "interesting" combinations of yard signs. Make a couple of phone calls. Swing by church and light a candle (it's a Catholic thing) and then maybe have a nice dinner and relax. Tomorrow we find out.

Live From The Roasterie Cafe!

Welcome to Kansas City's first Virtual Town Hall Meeting! Click on the Connect icon below to open the new Chat Window. Login by typing your nickname in the popup window that will appear in front of the chat window and press the OK button. The chat window lets all users logged in chat with each other. A list of users is shown next to the chat that will display the chat name of any logged in user. My nickname will be markf. I will be answering as many questions as I can. I'm a very fast typist but depending on how many people join the chat I may not be able to address everyone! We'll chat for one hour. Preferably about election topics but in the spirit of the internet and the blogging community we will let the topics flow! Above all, let's have fun!

There's just not enough time...

"You can't knock on every door in the district." That was a snarky comment I received to a post a couple of days ago. True, but I can knock on all the ones that vote! My legs are sore. I'm run down. I started my door-knocking odyssey when it was still so hot out that I was sweating through shirts and ruining ties. Then fall came. Pleasant afternoons when I could cover far more houses before tiring. Then it was winter. I found myself out in rain, sleet, snow, freezing rain and combinations of all. I remember one rainy Saturday in Coleman Highlands where my hair was literally frozen to my head. I know I'm out of time. Even today I was still meeting people who had never heard of me. On the bright side I was meeting people who had heard of me and are going to vote for me on Tuesday. We know where the votes are. We're optimistic about our chances. Soon it will be down to the counting.

There oughta be a law

The death of 51-year-old John Anderson in a trench collapse at a Northland job site struck close to home with me. I don't know anything about Mr. Anderson but given his age, I imagine he was somebody's husband. Somebody's father. Somebody's something. Now he's gone. Why? A shortcut. The absence of some inexpensive safety devices. I guess I'm more worked up about this than most because of my own background. My father was a sheetmetal worker. Local 2. I wear his 50-year pin on my lapel just to remind myself where I came from. My dad told me plenty of jobsite horror stories over the years. Many stories that ended with me almost becoming an orphan. The one that still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up is the time his company was doing some commercial work on the top of a building. In order to get to the project, they had to squeeze by the building's main electrical feed. Of course the building supervisor assured them the power was off. "Then why can I hear it humming?" my dad asked. "That's not the power, that's something else" the building supervisor replied in a condescending manner. The attitude back then was what would a dumb old tin bender know about electricity? An argument ensued with my dad refusing to go in or allow anyone from his crew to go in. Finally, dad retrieved a logging chain from his truck and tossed it over the electrical wires. I'm told the arcing and lightning bolts was quite a display. Dad won that argument, saved his and his crew's lives, but got in trouble for "damaging" the electrical feed. Maybe I'm overreacting, but if OSHA can't be everywhere (and realistically they can't) and we can't trust some companies to look out for their workers' welfare, maybe the City should step in. Maybe before a contractor can be licensed in Kansas City they should have to prove they own the necessary safety equipment for trench work. Maybe we make the fine so obscene that no company in its right mind would attempt to skirt it. Maybe a "one strike and you're out" clause that says if we catch you playing Russian roulette with your workers' lives, you're out. No more work in Kansas City for you. I despise big government. I really despise adding law upon law in a knee-jerk reaction. But I'm not talking about "noxious weeds" or "peeling paint." I'm talking about someone's life. Isn't that worth a law?

Live Sunday Night: 4th District Virtual Town Hall

Some candidates have embraced the internet. Others? Not so much. This blog has so far proven to be a tremendous boost to my campaign and I hope it continues to do so after Tuesday. Many of you have implored me to do some YouTube type broadcasts, but frankly I felt like that had already been done. I like to lead, not follow. Innovate, not imitate. In that spirit, today I put out a Press Release announcing a 4th District Virtual Town Hall. When? Sunday, February 25th at 8PM Where? Your computer. I'll be "broadcasting" from The Roasterie Cafe in Brookside. How? Free WiFi and my brand new laptop! I'll be using phpFreeChat software. Why? Why not? The internet has been a huge part of my strategy. If elected I intend to implement some new and innovative internet tools to improve communication between the citizens and their government. This is just a small sample. At a few minutes before 8PM on Sunday night, I'll be posting a blog entry with a link to the Chat Room. You'll be asked to enter a "Nickname" and then you're in. We'll be discussing whatever is on the voters' minds as we head towards this most important primary. See you (virtually) Sunday night!

The final daze

Every afternoon I have to dig through all the political mailings to get to my bills and other important things (like coupons for carpet cleaning). It appears the preferred piece this election is the 8.5 x 11 booklet. Yesterday I received one from Becky Nace, an attack piece on Albert Reiderer, an attack on Mark Funkhouser, a piece from Jim Glover and then in the council races two of my opponents, and three at-large candidates. That's a lot of money if you multiply that times all the registered voters! I'm glad they're all coming at once and they're all the same size. Hopefully everybody's message will get lost in the noise and go right to the recycle bin. Then there's the phone calls. I quit door to door around 8PM every night. People are a little wary to answer their doors after dark anyway. After 8PM it gets downright creepy! Anyway, as I sat winding down in my living room my phone was ringing every five minutes! Usually "Unknown Name" or "Private Name" on the caller ID. '866' or '888' area codes. It's really irritating when you're trying to relax to have the phone ringing with "vote for me" messages coming one after the other. Is it going to get worse? I feel sorry for Melanie our mail carrier. I bet her satchel is extra heavy this week. Will the phone circuits blow? I'll probably turn my ringer off for the next few days. My mailings are done. I've said what I have to say. There won't be any automated phone calls from my campaign. In these last few days I'll just keep knocking on doors, flipping some yard signs (two last night!) and hoping for the best on Tuesday.

Let's become an LED City

I'm a shameless techno-dork. No getting around it. I love gadgets. If it's new, uses less energy, produces less pollution or just does something better, I want it! The environmental field is the place to look for new technology. Alternative fuels, green building materials, high efficiency anything... I'm on board. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have been around almost as long as solid-state electronics. There's more than likely one glowing from your computer monitor or blinking on your cell phone. Just like faster microprocessors, LED technology is improving in leaps and bounds. Enough improvement that LEDs have made the jump from consumer electronics to industrial lighting. The US Department of Energy puts out a newsletter (and an RSS feed!) called the EERE Network News. EERE is of course Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. It's a great way for us nerds to keep up on the latest (and coolest) gadgets. Today I learned that Raleigh, North Carolina has an initiative to become an "LED City." "Raleigh, North Carolina, aims to become an "LED City" through a wide deployment over the next 18 months of lights that use light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Raleigh first installed LED lighting in one floor of its municipal building's parking garage in December 2006, and has already quantified a 40 percent energy savings and a great improvement in lighting on that floor." I'm tired of reading how other cities are implementing new technologies. Newer, better, safer, and more efficient. I'm ready to start seeing "Kansas City" in these headlines.

Kansas City and Street Performers. Take II

After the recent dust up over the panhandling ordinance, a friend of mine forwarded an email he received from a City Councilman's legislative assistant. My friend had suggested that there are many successful ordinances out there that restrict aggressive panhandling and leave the street performers alone. The legislative assistant had responded asking him to "send these ordinances" and they would "take a look at them." "Do they not have Google at City Hall?" was his question to me. I've seen quotes in the newspaper and heard sound bites regarding Kansas City's ordinance. "We have to worry about constitutionality." "We have to word this very carefully to make sure it accomplishes what we want." I guess I'm part of that lazy MTV/Internet/Gen X bunch that's always looking for the easy way. As I've asked so many times on this blog, why reinvent the wheel? Surely there has to be at least one US city (Chicago) that has already dealt with this and come up with an ordinance (Indianapolis) that has withstood challenges based on 1st Amendment rights? Some quick Google searches and "model panhandling ordinance" brought me to the Center for the Community Interest website. There I found, of all things, a model panhandling ordinance! Now I don't know a lot about the CCI and I'm wary of anything I read on the internet, but if I can find something like this in a few seconds, it begs the question. Maybe they don't have Google at City Hall? That's something I intend to remedy if elected!

Pubs and Politics

The other night I was recognized by someone who had received my postcard in the mail. Nice to know I look like my picture! He called me over to his table. Always willing to meet potential voters, I quickly joined them. I learned that I was talking to four gay men. Two couples. There was no initial interest from them in basic city services or City debt restructuring. They wanted to know my social politics. One in particular wanted to know if I was "for real" or just another politician pandering to the gay vote. His first question was whether I was gay or straight. I laughed and thanked him for not knowing the difference. His friend chastised him and said "Look at his wedding ring. His wife is standing right over there!" My inquisitor retorted with "Look how he's dressed! No straight man puts an outfit like that together without help." We all laughed. I thanked him for what I considered to be a compliment of my sartorial tastes, then things got serious. "Democrat or Republican?" was his next question. "Flaming Independent" I replied. I gave my reasons for my outright loathing of partisan hackery. I then heard one of the best arguments yet for staying with the party line. I wasn't swayed, but I understood and respected his point. As a gay man he has to be protective of his rights. Log Cabin Republicans aside, for the most part the extreme right influences the Republican party on social issues. The same extreme right that thinks homosexuality is a "choice." He will never take a chance on voting for a "moderate" Republican. You just never know when even the most maverick of representatives is going to succumb to pressure and vote that party line. It can't be argued the Republican party line is anti-LGBT. His reasoning is that his best odds are to vote Democrat. There's a much smaller chance that a Democrat will break ranks and vote against an LGBT issue. He wants the accountability of peer pressure to keep his Democratic representatives voting for him. He eventually ended up pledging his vote to me. Not because I pandered, but because I was honest. I think mostly because he could see the gears turning in my head as I digested what I thought was an outstanding point. I returned to the bar to face the smirk of my bartender/philosopher friend, Beth. "I just love to watch you get turned around in a good debate" she chided me. I'm still put off by the outright partisanship our two party system provides. But at least for some people, I can see their reasons for putting up with it.

Alternative uses for your recycle bin

The best way to get over a self-pity party is to get back out and do what I love most. Door to door. It wasn't long before I happened across this scene that made me laugh out loud. Sorry about the photo quality. Cell phone pic. The kids had used a recycle bin to form snow barriers. Pretty creative! Future engineers I'm guessing. What you can't really see in the photo is the pile of pre-made snowballs inside the blue recycle bin. Notice that there is no recycle bin or pile of snowballs by the other snow barricade. Mom explained to me that her kids had built the forts for a snowball fight and were waiting for their friends to get home. The side with the recycle bin is of course for the home team. Something tells me the unsuspecting friends won't be alerted to the cache of snowballs. Home field advantage!

Disappointment

This morning I trudged to the sidewalk and picked up my Sunday edition of the Kansas City Star. I carried it back inside as if it were a note to my parents from my kindergarten teacher and I wasn't sure if it was praise or scorn. Today the Star Editorial Board published its recommendations for City Council. I quickly thumbed to the back of the Local section. I scanned across the smiling faces of the Star's choices. My picture was not there. I won't hide my disappointment. That kind of publicity can be a huge boost to a grass roots campaign. I put a lot of work into my questionnaire. I tried to promote myself as the best choice in the interview. It wasn't enough. I don't begrudge the Star's selection. It's not the first time I haven't been someone's top choice. It won't be the last. Such is life. In the end, I guess it's a demographics thing. The Pitch doesn't endorse, but they did publish a very nice piece on my campaign. That's the next best thing to a straight out endorsement. So for my race, I guess it's the Pitch readers against the Star readers. Young media versus old media. Grass roots, shoot from the hip activists versus establishment politics. We're nine days away from the primary. We'll find out soon enough!

So we lease them for a dollar...

Last night was the CCO forum for the 4th In-District candidates. It was sponsored by Visitation Parish and Second Presbyterian Church. As you draw closer to the election date, there are fewer and fewer undecided voters in the audience. Even the voters that say they're undecided are usually leaning towards a candidate. All the questions revolved around education, affordable housing and health care. Admittedly being the finance/technical/process candidate I knew I was at a disadvantage. Still, I had one answer that I felt was my home run. In business, you always want to direct a topic towards your strength. I bided my time and waited for my pitch. The question finally came. What would you do about all the empty school buildings in the 4th District? The general feeling from the group seemed to be the buildings should be kept in reserve in case the KCMSD ever gets its act together and public school enrollment starts to climb. The answer seemed elementary (grin) to me. I broke the issue down into wants and needs. The KCMSD wants to keep these buildings in reserve, but they need to maintain them because as I pointed out, a vacant building without utilities deteriorates rapidly. Next I brought up the fact that the City and even the County frequently need office space. In fact, we had recently moved the 3-1-1 Action Center into temporary space. We settled on some pretty pricey digs in the Oak Tower downtown. The City needs to find quality, affordable facilities. My proposal was simply this. The KCMSD will lease its buildings to government tenants for $1/year. Most commercial leases are what's known as "triple net" which means the tenant pays all the taxes (Net), insurance (Net) and maintenance expenses (Net) on the property. That usually includes structural repairs like roofs and windows also. I figure this could be a win-win. The City gets cheap office space. The KCMSD gets their vacant buildings maintained by a reputable tenant, and the buildings remain intact and operational in case they are ever needed to be put back in service. There were a few people that thought it was a pretty good idea. I think I may have even earned a few of the truly undecided votes. As for the rest? Hopefully I gave them something to think about!

Pitch Posterboy

Any press is good press. Especially when you're the grass roots candidate. This week's Pitch is no exception. David Martin had been working on this story for quite some time. He talked to me about it weeks ago. Funny thing is, as the election draws closer he couldn't find anyone else willing to speak their mind about the Citizens Association. I guess I can't blame them. It's a very powerful group. At first I didn't want to be a part of it. I was willing to offer my experiences, maybe even a quote or two, but I didn't want the thing to come off as a fluff piece. Unfortunately, with nobody willing to take the opposing viewpoint, I made the decision to go ahead and trust David's judgement and let him run with it. I thought it came out well. It kind of paints a bleak picture of my chances, but so what? I've always loved the role of the underdog. It motivates me. If you're on top, where do you have left to go? Give it a read. I know I'm biased, but I think it's a pretty darn good article!

Fight the Power!

Yesterday's Planning Zoning and Economic Development Committee Meeting at City Hall was grass roots democracy at its finest. What was supposed to be a sure thing, run it through, all in favor say "aye" ordinance became quite the spectacle. I knew the council was considering an ordinance to clamp down on panhandling. I have no problem with that. From the emails and comments I receive I think the majority of us would like to see fewer street corners adorned with the ubiquitous cardboard sign holders. Things got interesting for me when I received an email bright and early Tuesday. A concerned mother was asking for help because the council was about to pass an ordinance out of committee that would outlaw her son's sidewalk trumpet playing. So I did what any reasonable person would do. I educated myself. I read the ordinance. She was right! It specifically outlawed street performance. A special sentence dedicated to that very fact. So I blogged about it. Other bloggers picked up on it. They blogged about it. Emails began flying. Soon an entire group took a day off of work to go down to City Hall and testify. I was most struck by some council people's assertions that the ordinance was "just a rough draft" and they were "just trying to get the ball rolling." That argument rings hollow with me. Rough draft ordinances don't come with unanimous support from the board of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. No reputable organization votes to endorse a rough draft! In the end, the lowly citizens won a small victory and the ordinance was tabled for two weeks to be "reworked." The last citizen to testify was a representative of the Westport neighborhood association. I gathered from his comments that his neighborhood isn't really worried about street performers, just the noise they are capable of producing. The neighborhood is frustrated because the police tell them noise is a Health Department issue and won't ticket an offender. I understand, and I agree with the neighborhood. So wouldn't the logical solution be to re-write an ordinance giving police the power to enforce excessive noise violations? I think we could find some dollars to buy a few Radio Shack db meters. Let the police enforce, and let the performers perform.

Happy Valentine's Day!

In the midst of campaigning, it's easy to get distracted and lose sight of what's really important. At the end of the day, win or lose, my life will still be complete. Nicole will love me whether I'm a City Councilman or a failed politician. Campaigns are hard on the spouses. They have to endure criticism and unkind words about someone they love. They have to see opponent's yard signs and think "Don't these people realize my husband/wife is the greatest?!" If the tables were turned I can see where I would be going crazy right about now. Your spouse is your biggest fan, so their highs are higher and their lows much lower. So today for Valentine's Day, I get to use my Blog to tell Nicole how much I love her and how much I appreciate how she keeps things as normal as possible around the house so at the end of the day we both get to escape from the wild world of politics I have chosen. Happy Valentine's Day Honey! And to all you political spouses? Hang in there. It's almost over.

FireFox Font Fiasco Finally Fixed?

Thanks to Laz over at heycameraman.net for pointing out my blog has not been displaying properly in FireFox browsers. Since I use FireFox myself I was quite aware of the problem but since somebody else complained I finally took some time out to do some HTML coding. I won't bore you non-techno nerd types with the specifics. I'll just say that FireFox interprets "div" statements a little bit differently than Internet Explorer. I think I have it figured out. Let me know if you're still having viewing problems. Especially you Opera users. I know you're out there!

KC says "NO" to street performers

I received an email this morning from an upset mother. She fears the City Council is trying to take away her son's ability to play his trumpet as a sidewalk performer. He earns his spending money by playing his trumpet for tips in the City Market and on the Plaza. Taking a look at proposed ordinance 070180 I see why she's upset. At first glance it looks harmless enough. It prevents loud amplifiers that I agree are a bit much for street performance. What she's upset about is the Council's definition of "panhandling." (c) Panhandling. (1) As used in this section, panhandling means any solicitation made in person upon any public street, sidewalk, alley, park or other public place, in which a person requests an immediate donation of money or other gratuity from another person, and includes but is not limited to seeking donations: (i) By vocal appeal or for music, singing, or other street performance; and, (ii) Where the person being solicited receives an item of little or no monetary value in exchange for a donation, under circumstances where a reasonable person would understand that the transaction is in substance a donation. So the Council wants to take away street performers in Westport, The Plaza and Zona Rosa among other areas. I personally enjoy most of the street performers. They bring vibrancy to street life in any metropolitan city. New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Portland, Seattle... Pretty much every major city I've traveled to has street performers, especially a "gold man!" Of course they also have pedestrian activity but that's another matter. I would love to see that kind of street activity in KC. Most cities have similar ordinances restricting panhandling but street performers use a loophole of having no signage that openly begs for money. An open instrument case is the universal appeal for donations. In the case of Kansas City's ordinance it appears that the Council is trying to close that loophole by using the legalese of "a reasonable person would understand." They're trying to do too much with one ordinance in my opinion. With a little extra work they could have separated panhandlers from street performers. A couple of extra sentences. A well placed Whereas here, a carefully worded is to be enacted there and I think we could have a much better ordinance. Since I'm running for office I avoid testifying at things like this because it seems like every candidate is down there grandstanding for the cameras. That's not my style. I will however ask you my faithful readers to weigh in on this. Contact your elected officials. They're all right here on the City Council webpage. Agree with me, disagree with me, but whichever side you take let your voice be heard! Uhh... I mean of course let your voice be heard as long as it isn't amplified by anything more powerful than a 9V battery!

My first podcast

Laz over at My World As I Shot It caught up with me Saturday morning for a Podcast interview at The Roasterie Cafe. I had just finished a meetup with some of the volunteers. He waited patiently while we chatted about ideas for the upcoming week, talked about techniques for getting yard signs into frozen ground, and finally everybody (except me) reached an agreement that I was never to wear my favorite sweater in public again. It's a pretty good interview. Apparently I have another annoying affectation in addition to my hand gesturing. I tend to say "uhhh" and "ummm" a lot! If you can get past that I think the interview came out well. Hats off to Laz for an amazing editing job. If you haven't checked out heycameraman.net as of late, give it a look see. Mr. Abalos is really hitting his stride as a blogger with some great posts about the recent Chem Central explosion among others.

Don't hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself

Last night was the Volker candidate forum for both the 4th in-district and at-large candidates. I thought the format of one minute answers played to my strengths. Say what you have to say, and then shuddup about it! After the forum I sat with one of my campaign advisers Cece, while she critiqued my performance. Fortunately for me I'm used to taking criticism, especially from women. I've had a lifetime of it. There was of course my mother. The nuns at my grade school. Then there were my three older sisters. My wife Nicole marvels at how even to this day my sisters will pull no punches in telling me "You're too fat" "You're too skinny" "Is that all you're going to eat?" "What on earth possessed you to wear that?" The majority of my original campaign inner circle was female and they took great joy in teasing me about "having all these women telling you what to do." Cece had plenty to critique. Like any good evaluation, she started with the positive. "Mark, your answers were awesome!" Awesome?! Cool! Uh oh... I sense a "BUT" coming... "But what's the deal with your hands?" Cece went on to point out that I tend to talk with my hands too much. She says it distracts from what I'm saying. Fair enough. In my defense, Cece never knew my father. When I relayed Cece's critique to my wife Nicole, she laughed and said "Okay Melvin. Directing traffic while trying to make a point weren't you?" Melvin, if you haven't guessed is my late father. I'm told I have inherited many of his mannerisms. In a final poetic moment, a woman who had attended the forum approached me. She placed her hands on my shoulders, looked at me earnestly and said "Mark, awesome job tonight. You, are a rock star. Every answer you gave was dead on. But what's the deal with your hands?"

All we are saying is give Troost a chance...

People know I'm one of those recycle nut jobs that can't bring himself to throw away a plastic bottle or aluminum can. Many is the time I have anxiously prowled a room clutching an empty can and looking for a recycle bin. I don't even remember how I got this way. It's just in my DNA, like instinctively putting on my seatbelt or flinching when I see a Catholic nun with a yardstick in her hand. (12 years of parochial school, I'm still recovering) I frequently talk about recycling at forums. When I do I always try and mention the recycling center at 47th and Troost. Also frequent are the private comments I receive afterwards about not using the center "because I'm afraid to go down on Troost." It's tough to convince people otherwise. Especially the seniors who have seen Troost when it really was a dangerous place to be. Change comes slowly, but it can be nudged along if our leadership is willing to lead by example. The following is a shameless plug for the Troost Avenue I know. Troost is a great place to run. Especially between 47th and 63rd. Most of the shopkeepers are very conscientious about keeping the sidewalks clean. I have never felt unsafe jogging down Troost. Most times I get curious looks or even some good-natured ribbing from people on the sidewalk. "How far ya goin?!" or "It's too hot/cold to be runnin' man!" Troost has its problems. I'm not such an eternal optimist that I can't remove my rose-colored sport goggles and see some things that need to change, but the first change that needs to happen is for people like me to keep going to Troost. My good blogger buddy Dan over at Gone Mild was questioned by a commenter about "where are any cool places on Troost?" Here's my favorites. 10,000 Tulips on Troost - Everybody's getting in on planting some flowers. Soil Service Garden Center - 7130 Troost. Who hasn't been there? Everyone I know that is serious about all things landscaping will tell you Soil Service is the only place to go. Hollywood Video - 63rd & Troost. I usually go to SRO Video but Hollywood Video scored major points with me when they were the only shop in town that had "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Who Killed The Electric Car" in stock on a snowy Friday night. Advance Auto Parts - 57th & Troost. Maybe not "a cool place" but the people that work there are extremely helpful. I always feel like I'm walking in to a shop full of old friends. Durwin Rice Decoupage - 5516 Troost. Nationally known artist Durwin Rice makes gluing colorful paper on things more than just a grade school art project. Be prepared for an enthusiastic canine greeting when you come in! They're small dogs. They just want some love. Mike's Tavern - 5424 Troost. Major UMKC and Rockhurst hangout. Rough wood floors, pool table and live music. They even let old guys like me in once in a while. The Coffee Break - 5400 Troost. Big lounge area and free WiFi. What more could a laptop toting nerd like me desire? Go Chicken Go - 5101 Troost. If you have to ask, then you won't get it anyway. Ideal Garment & Scientific Panty - 4518 Troost. One of a kind clothing by Susan Weigand in an old converted firehouse. Don't let the dogs scare you, they also just want some love! These are just some of the places. Come on down to Troost folks. You might just enjoy yourself.

Reverse 911

Yesterday's explosion at the chemical plant reminded me about a technology I read about a few years ago. We were looking at ways in our neighborhood to use phone trees or even an auto-dialer system to alert neighbors about meetings, trash pickup delays, etc. During my research I stumbled on the concept of Reverse 911. Simply put, it's a system that lets the authorities call you in the event of an emergency. A home’s phone will ring just as it would for any other call except there would be a recorded message giving information on the emergency and steps you should take. That message could be to evacuate, be on the lookout for a missing child, or even to lock your windows and doors to guard against a dangerous fugitive. A second "all clear" call would come when the emergency was over. As I watched yesterday's events unfold in real time on kcrag.com, I remembered back to reading about the Reverse 911 system and how useful it might have been. People were posting their concerns on the board. Should they evacuate? Stay home? Run screaming through the streets that the end of time had arrived? (OK I threw that last one in for effect) Rather than rely on media, and emails, and manual phone calls, the following scenario could have taken place. The situation commander at the scene calls the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and an emergency plan is set in motion. So far, that's exactly how things happened yesterday. If we had a Reverse 911 system, the EOC could also have prepared a quick recorded message, drew a radius over a map on a computer screen and automated phone calls would have begun racing out to every phone number in that radius. It's not a perfect system. Cell phones for one are not tied to a geographic location. Of course that could be solved by voluntary subscriptions through the City's website. I for one wouldn't mind my cell phone ringing if I needed to evacuate or be on the lookout for a lost child. Then of course there's the issue of cost. (Isn't there always?). Systems can cost upwards of $90,000. Maintenance would probably be $15-20K/yr too. Not cheap, but not a bank breaker either. Every couple of years a municipality manages to grab a federal homeland security grant for one of these systems so there's always that option. Maybe a good first project for that full-time grant-writer I've been advocating for? I'm not saying I absolutely want to deploy a Reverse 911 system for Kansas City, but if it's feasible, and it saves lives, wouldn't it at least be worth investigating?

BRT for Troost?

The Kansas City Business Journal reports that the budget proposal from the White House contains $6.3 million for a bus rapid transit (BRT) line in Kansas City. The money would pay for a nine-mile bus rapid transit line along Troost Avenue into downtown. The line would include 25 new stations and 15 new low-floor buses. First, let me say I'm thrilled that any federal dollars would be allocated to Kansas City. Unfortunately with all the President's other proposed spending cuts, I have a feeling KC's $6.3 million is not long for the world. Too bad because I think Troost would be a wonderful route for BRT. The problem is, they're proposing what sounds like another MAX line. Repeat after me. The MAX is not BRT! It's an express route. BRT is characterized by dedicated lanes, traffic signal control, level boarding and most importantly off-vehicle ticketing. It's meant to be a hybrid of bus and light rail. So while I realize we're discussing a bus line that will probably never get funding, let's call it what it is. There's no shame in a nice express line. My hope is with the Democrats in control of Congress, they can manage to rearrange some of the president's more ill-conceived environmental notions. Regular readers will remember my post about Who Killed The Electric Car and how I think it's foolhardy for us to pursue E85 ethanol. Corn or even switch grass to distill alcohol is not the future of alternative fuels. Archer Daniels Midland will just have to fend for themselves. Hopefully some money can be taken out of the Ethanol boondoggle and moved to more important things, like health care. Then maybe, just maybe we can get a new Express Bus line down Troost. Write Congressman Cleaver and Senators McCaskill and Bond. Let them know what you think. And then keep your fingers crossed! Update: In the interest of full disclosure, Heidi disagrees with me in the Comments and says the MAX is BRT. I'm always willing to admit when I'm wrong, but in this case I have to stick by my guns. But for the sake of getting federal dollars? Okay it's BRT! Yeah that's the ticket! Update II: Commenter Bridgette informs me that the arrival clocks are indeed functional. They've just been having some problems. When I'm wrong I say I'm wrong. Thank you KCATA for clearing that up! Interesting thing about blogs. The people who disagree with me leave comments. The people who agree send private emails. Why is that?

I'll see your hybrid and raise you one bus

Councilman Jim Glover pledged today that if he's elected mayor he will give up the mayor's traditional Lincoln Town Car in favor of a gas-electric hybrid. I applaud Mr. Glover. I've never understood the current mayor's need for a chauffeur-bodyguard driven limo. I like the idea of our mayor driving a hybrid. Of course I like anything that uses less petroleum. I can't wait to get rid of my big Chevy Trailblazer in favor of something smaller and more fuel efficient. In my defense, we live in an old house and you can't haul sheetrock in a car! I'll go one better than Jim Glover in an environmentally friendly campaign pledge. I promise to ride the MAX to City Hall whenever possible. It picks me up about a half block from my house and drops me off at City Hall. The only time I don't ride it is when time is of the essence and I can't afford to deal with the thirty minute headways. I like riding the MAX to City Hall. I arrive relaxed, and well-read because I can enjoy the newspaper or journal along the way. Let somebody else dodge traffic and deal with all the headaches of rush hour. Plus, as a councilman I can hold office hours on my big giant bus! Want to speak to your councilman? He'll be on the northbound MAX!

Dear Kansas City Star. Please endorse me!

I spent most of Sunday working on my questionnaire for the Kansas City Star editorial board. Fifteen questions and each one warranted a full essay in my opinion. I managed to keep most of them down to one page. I labored over each question like it was a final exam and my entire grade depended on it. I was pleased that none of the questions required research, as they were all topics about which I have either blogged or written a position paper. I freely admit that I want the Star's endorsement very badly. More than any other, having your hometown newspaper's endorsement is a huge get for a small in-district race. You can't buy that kind of publicity. In a four-way race of unknowns, nothing creates more name recognition than a nod from your newspaper. I think I have a decent chance. Historically the Star has shown a willingness to break from the pack and endorse the candidate whom they felt was the most qualified. "Most qualified" doesn't necessarily mean "most money" either. It was refreshing to see the Star wasn't interested in what endorsements I already have, whom I know or how much money I have raised. I have actually received some questionnaires that have asked what my campaign budget is or how much money I have on hand! Those questionnaires currently reside in my recycle bin. I'll be posting my answers tomorrow under my Issues section so you can judge for yourself how you think I did. They will go up there right along with my answers to the Four Freedoms Democratic Club (who obviously was not impressed) and the Sierra Club (whom I have not heard from yet). Because of conflicts of interest and in some cases outright corruption, I haven't sought many endorsements in this race. Of the endorsements I have gone for my batting average has been abysmal. I tell myself it's because most endorsing organizations tend to fall in line with one another. I hope that's the case anyway! Is this a shameless plug to get the Star's endorsement? Absolutely! And I'm willing to resort to bribery too. I promise to personally deliver yard signs to each member of the editorial board if they choose me. How's that for pandering?!

At-Large or In-District?

It's surprising the number of people I encounter who ask me what the difference between At-Large and In-District is. I usually answer "about fifty thousand dollars." I guess I can see the confusion. City Council races only come around every four years. By the time anyone starts paying attention the election has already come and gone. Here's a little primer for those of you scoring at home. Kansas City is divided into six council districts. The districts are divided equally by population so the lines are redrawn every ten years with the US Census. Districts 1 & 2 are primarily an east-west split of the northland. Districts 3 & 5 are roughly a north-south split of the east side bisected by 47th Street. The 6th is the southland. My district, the Fightin' Fourth is roughly bounded by Truman Road, State Line, 89th St and Troost Avenue. Each council district is represented by one In-District and one At-Large councilperson. The In-District councilperson must reside in the district and is only voted on by the residents of that district. The At-Large councilperson also must reside in the district but is voted on by the entire city. On February 27th, you residents of the Fightin' Fourth will have eight votes to cast: Mayor 4th In-District Councilperson (you need to check "Mark Forsythe" for that one) 1st District At-Large Councilperson 2nd District At-Large Councilperson 3rd District At-Large Councilperson 4th District At-Large Councilperson 5th District At-Large Councilperson 6th District At-Large Councilperson The idea is that you the voter get to cast your ballot for not only the mayor, but a simple majority amount (7) on the council. Clear as mud? I hope this helps. Tomorrow I'll explain how John Adams and Thomas Jefferson's fundamental disagreement over states' rights versus federalism actually created the environment for the Supreme Court to claim the power of interpreting the law. NOT!