Yesterday, there was a big dust up at City Hall that has heretofore been unreported.
ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON KANSAS CITY WATER DEPARTMENT HEAD BERNARDO GARCIA WAS SUSPENDED WITH PAY!!!
The most AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS tell us that the Garcia suspension was over a personnel issue.
It's common knowledge/perception that Director of the Water Services Department Garcia just doesn't get along well with people. I have a bit of first hand knowledge of this fact given that there was an effort to reach out to Garcia from the local Latino community that just didn't take.
Now his suspension pending a further investigation is one of the biggest developments at the upper echelon of local government still in flux after the departure of Former City Manager Wayne Cauthen.
A rather brilliant TKC Reader notes: "This latest happening is just proof of the caliber of people Wayne hired. Without Wayne to cover for them, they are imploding."
With more layoffs pending, I expect that some people will call this a house cleaning . . . And because this is related to personnel don't expect to get too many details from mainstream media. Nevertheless, the VERY BEST TKC TIPSTERS have told us about this shake up at City Hall before local politicos had a chance to spin. Natch.
Good Job T. He deserved it. If you only knew the whole story.
ReplyDeleteNow they need to get rid of phillip yelder and gerald smith. And I wonder if the Human Resources director's nephew will once again get a summer internship with the city. funny how that works, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteDisappointing post, Tony. Surely there is a racial element you could exploit here.
ReplyDeleteOk. I'm done with this blog. Seriously, some city/county administrator is suspended with pay merits that pic? Good luck, Tony. Hope you and Darla have great times together.
ReplyDelete.... the extermination of Wayne Cauthen would be more accurate.
ReplyDeleteWow. Suspended with pay. That's so harsh. That's a paid vacation. Horrible.
ReplyDeleteThe racial element will be exploited by Terry Riley, never fear. And the only thing this has to do with Wayne is that Bernardo was hired by him. Bernardo did not have the experience to do the job, nor the temperament, but Wayne was looking for a toady and he found one in Bernardo.
ReplyDeleteKarma is a bitch. Bernardo treated staff poorly and others just as bad. He was doing favors for Riley right and left, so just wait for Terry to start to scream "conspiracy", just like Chicken Little. And the folks on the council who supported Wayne will be screaming in the chorus behind Riley. They'll holler racism when the word is incompetence. They'll scream payback when the City Manager is only doing his job.
The graphic is well placed. There will be big heads rolling and more to come... and someone's Jackson County race might just be derailed in the process.
It's time for Kansas City to move past Cauthen and Kay Barnes.
ReplyDeleteGood job Troy.
Now let's send Terry to the County where he belongs.
ReplyDeleteNow let's send Terry to the County Jail, where he belongs.
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit harsh. Terry is a lot more competent than his colleagues Melba Curls and Sharon Brooks. Terry knows what he's doing and that's why so many people feel threatened by him.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time to get that dip out of Water Services. The guy has yet to make a lick of sense when he talks about capital projects, rates, customer services, you name it. Let's hope that Troy puts someone in there who knows what he or she is doing.
ReplyDeleteWhat you're really saying, 12:48 and so many others is that shitty hall (and hi profile county governments like jxco) are real zoos.
ReplyDeleteAnd made worse by the politics and the tabloid news people around them. The news media has a taste for blood, anybody's blood. YOUR blood because both television and bloggers are very competitive and you are their victims.
It IS interesting that in city hall in this decade, you can't be an asshole without people pointing that out in public places like this blog, where your colleagues don't have to go on the record to smear you.
Not that VOTERS read these blogs, but all the government employees do and the media does. And big local business. They can destroy you professionally and socially on any given message reply or awesome tip to a reckless blogger who will publish what you is alleged, verbatim, without even questioning their motives! All for ratings, for starting some talk, or for another couple hundred blog hits.
Basically everyone who works in your fishbowl reads this... meaning city hall is just one big small town where everybody knows everybody else's business and every bit of gossip being whispered on phone lines. Blogs have turned the whole city into one big telephone party-line.
Who would want to do the work you loved, and knew so well, in that kind of environment?. Where when you rise through the ranks, take your technical or government education, rise finally to serious management in government service. And then everything changes.
It's not what you KNOW, it's HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME!
You don't just manage the work, you have to play the politics and the factions, and watch your back for when those around you will try to embarrass you with anonymous blog posts just because they CAN!!
So many personal and political agendas in city/county government. So many influences.
You can be assassinated by jealous underlings, by those who want your job, by those who want to embarrass the people you work for-- with no regard for your diligence at all!
What a cesspool is government service. Surprising ANYONE qualified would stake their reputations in city/county work! Or to run for Congress.
Not just for the elected people, but even for the civil servants plying their professions from basic traffic engineer or water supervisor, or project manager!
And this is a horrible time to be in government when the bad kharma happening at the national level flows downward so that even in cities, we live in a climate of personal and professional destruction.
The only way this can stop is when we readers, watchers grow tired of the Thunderdome aspects of what we see in the media... so that the media will notice that career destruction doesn't result in more viewership.
And when those who tip the media falsely with their personal agendas can get fired AT WILL. In my view, if you arent whistle blowing illegalities, you should be fired for whistleblowing for your own personal agendas. Fired for CAUSE. Unprofessional conduct.
No benefits.
Fine, I'll sign it, Radiomankc
We all know you can't drink the water Mexicans produce.
ReplyDeleteTroy is trying to gut Garcia because he is about to blow the whistle on the back room, illegal deals the big engineering firms have been doing to get multi million dollar contracts without competitive bids. The internal auditor is starting to get to the bottom of it and Garcia was pointing the way. So he had to be stopped. The law department has looked the other way while these rip offs took place, so they have tried to trap Garcia for months. Troy doesn't know he is being played as a patsy.
ReplyDeleteAnon 3:22, Terry isn't competent unless the contest is a bullying contest. He is forever playing the race card. The only reason people might feel threatened by Terry is because he most likely has threatened them at some time. He is a thug. Now he is a thug with one less flunky in power.
ReplyDeleteto anon 7:56, you are either absolutely full of crap or your are Terry Riley or Steve Glorioso. The problems with the Water Department INCLUDE Riley and Garcia. The Internal Auditor will no doubt get to the bottom of things, and at the bottom of the crap pile will be found Riley and Glorioso and other Waynettes. Shulte is far too intelligent to be played for any patsy. Watch for Riley and Co. to start up a smear campaign to save Garcia's reputation and their own hides.
ReplyDeleteGee, Terry, in your 7:56 post, you spelled everything right, even the big words. Your seat must be warming up with Bernardo's big exit. Probably feeling a little heat right now. Maybe a run for Jackson County, where the spotlight might turn on you, isn't such a great idea...
ReplyDeleteKay Barnes must be laughing her ass off. She still has us fighting over her decisions from a decade back.
ReplyDeleteyou can't get back what you've erased.
ReplyDeletei dont want that crooked riley in the county look at what all he stole from the city on contracts. the county is just as broke as the city
ReplyDeleteRadioman I know what a cesspool government service is I work at KCPD and it's the biggest back-stabbing service in Kansas City. If you can call it a service.
ReplyDeleteTake out the trash Troy!
ReplyDeleteWatch that Terry won't take out Troy in the next election.
ReplyDeleteSince Terry is elected and Troy is hired, that would be a little tough, anon 7:49. I'd rather sit and watch Terry get arrested before the next election.
ReplyDeleteWhat behind the scenes deals with big A & E firms? I worked at CH for nearly 20 years before I got RIFfed last week, and we were very careful about bidding correctly. CH has gotten to be a crappy place to work, but not because the regular staff is crooked.
ReplyDeleteCan Bruce Campbell be next?
ReplyDeletePoor 10:57am. If you were honest and careful with the bidding -- that's why you were RIF'd! The RIF is how your crooked bosses are getting rid of the people that won't go along with their plots to line their own pockets . . .
ReplyDelete