TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! MAYOR FUNKY CAUGHT LYING TO NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP, IGNORANT OF KANSAS CITY RED LIGHT CAMERA DETAILS!!!

The most important rule in politics, crime, dating and life is simple . . . People who don't know the score should keep their mouth shut.

This is a life lesson Mayor Funky never learned.

And now I'm going to correct him.

Earlier, The Mayor's blog "Funk's Front Poarch" reported that the Funkhouser recently said at a neighborhood meeting: "The money being collected from the (Red Light Camera) fines is not great enough to cover the cost of enforcing the fines and installing the lights."

That statement seemed to me like wild speculation.

Now here are some facts:

Folks AWESOME enough to talk to TKC at the Kansas City Police Department report the following:

The KCPD is currently receiving approx. 400 citations a day (20 cameras) which is $40,000 ($100 per plus $13 court costs) a day in fines . . . Assuming that everyone pays (More on that later).

The KCPD has asked the city to fund 2 full time officer's to review the citations ($150,000) due to the amount of time traffic officer's are having to spend at a desk reviewing the violations.

After getting this awesome info, I gave Public Works Public Information Officer Dennis Gagnon a call. My conversation with him was EXTREMELY informative given the fact that he is one of the most knowledgeable people at City Hall good enough to talk with TKC.

Here are some facts Gagnon told TKC:

Gagnon says that for March the City had a "pay through" rate of 75% for Red Light Camera Tickets.

Noted by MSM earlier, KC is seeing driver behavior modify because of Red Light Cameras at local intersections like 39th Street and Southwest Trafficway have undergone a drastic drop in red light camera violations.

Here is the most important detail regarding the Red Light Cameras: Over the life of the contract (5 years) even if revenue from tickets does not exceed the cost of installation and maintenance . . . Kansas City is not on the hook for anything more than the initial cost per installation: $4,500.

Also . . . The vendor is taking care of maintenance of Red Light Cameras over the course of the contract.

The most important info that Gagnon provided was word that KANSAS CITY WON'T COME TO A CONCLUSION ON A COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF RED LIGHT CAMERAS FOR APPROXIMATELY ANOTHER 18 MONTHS!!!

While City Hall denizens can quote the initial study conducted on Southwest Trafficway during 8 of the busiest hours of the day . . . There's really a gamble going on between the vendor and Kansas City based on this town's ability to change its behavior behind the wheel. The potential of Kansas City making some cash from this only comes if this town is too stubborn to stop at Red Lights.

So . . . What's the deal here?

Mayor Funky didn't have hard numbers to qote when speaking about Red Light Cameras, he's simply making stuff up as he goes along.

This is one of the many lies that Mayor Funkhouser has told to South Kansas City . . . An area still waiting for those sidewalks Mayor Funky promised during the campaign.

The former City Hall Auditor is ignorant regarding the details of Kansas City's Red Light Camera Deal.

MAYOR FUNKY IS LITERALLY JUST MAKING STUFF UP AS HE GOES ALONG!!!

So I can see how it's hard for Funkhouser to be "Smart with the Money" when he doesn't really seem to grasp what's going on Downtown.

And, in this situation Funkhouser was exposed for floating faulty and, as of yet, unproven assertions . . . I can only guess what other kind of nonsense he's pushing.