Here's the problem with having a weak-ass Mayor in a "weak Mayor" form of government:
It opens the door to all kinds of political opportunism.
The latest move in the absence of any real leadership from Mayor Funkhouser should scare the hell out of everyone in Kansas City.
MIKE SANDERS WANTS TO LOCK DOWN AN AGREEMENT FOR KANSAS CITY TO COUGH UP AN ANNUAL $2 MIL FOR THE NEXT 21 YEARS!!!
Thanks so much Mayor Funkhouser . . . Thanks to your incompetent leadership and complete lack of foresight you opened the door to a gentlemen's agreement now being locked town for TWO DECADES!!!
We've seen this debate before and underfunded anti-tax advocates always lose. My only hope is that Sanders is showing more skill than Funk here and his request for 21 years will get scaled back to maybe 3. He's right, it's unproductive to have this debate every year . . . But that kind of long term financial commitment to a losing team is unconscionable, unnecessary and probably dangerous to KC finances.
Still, this isn't the first time Mayor Funky's shenanigans have backfired in Kansas City's face . . . But now this cowtown risks a major, expensive battle because of nothing more than Funkhouser's big mouth and misguided, last ditch effort to win populist points without a plan. In the final analysis, it has been demonstrated yet again that Mayor Funky is without credibility or political capital and his actions pose a real financial danger for Kansas City.
Link:
Yet another example of how Funkhouser has cost us money.
ReplyDeleteMike Sanders is in a tough spot, but no way should we make any long term financial commitment to atheletics. Sanders is going to have to come up with another long term solution.
ReplyDeleteLet the jocksniffers pay.
ReplyDeleteMike Smith is telling friends in Lee's Summit that it cost him a 25K contribution to a Sander's controlled committee to get Sander's help.
ReplyDeletethis is more outrageous than AIG bonuses. recall the city council.
ReplyDeletegrow up.
ReplyDeleteKeep Gloria off the blogs!
ReplyDeletelet lee's summit pay the $2 million. since mike smith lives in lee's summit i don't think he would have a problem getting his city to support the teams.
ReplyDeleteCall it like it is, Sanders simply schooled Funk. Sad.
ReplyDeleteYou people are RETARDS.... The city council is giving up the money not Funkhouser. Why do you TWITS continue to twist the facts against Funkhouser.... Tony you're still a pathetic piece of mexican trash.
ReplyDeleteMark Siettman ladies and gentlemen.
ReplyDeleteWatch who you call retard, asshole.
ReplyDeleteThe only retard is Funkhouser. You see, a smart person might have been able to negotiate out of the deal slowly. But not Funkhouser. He makes a unilateral pronouncement about jocks vs. families in the hopes of scoring some political points by claiming a higher ground that only exists in his head.
Get this straight through your fucking head: I pay far more taxes than most of you retards and I want some of my money to go to the stadiums. Deal with it.
Nobody has a clue what in the hell they are talking about here. The City's contribution was PART OF THE BALLOT LANGUAGE when the stadium tax passed. Game, set and match to the County if they wanted to sue. So, HERE'S THE NEWS FLASH and the dirty little secret to all of the political posturing: KANSAS CITY CAN'T BACK OUT!!! If the County were to sue the city for the money, the City would lose!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, backing out of a financial commitment after the stadiums have already been built would be both wrong and financial suicide. It would violate the leases and would leave THE TAXPAYERS ON THE LINE FOR THE COST OVERRUNS, NOT THE TEAMS as the lease now provides. BTW, that bill right now is $75,000,000 that we would then have to pay as County taxpayers as the stadiums are a county asset (This issue was one of the majopr reasons there was an election, the cost overruns were bankrupting the taxpayers).
Last point, the County gives the City about $6,000,000 per year in DISCRETIONARY money to pay for cops and road improvements. The sheer stupidity of the Funkhouser idea is that if Sanders took Funk's lead and simply said "I agree, let's all just keep our money inside our own governments as we all have budget shortfalls," then the City would be a net $4,000,000 LOSER in the deal!
Thus, if you are a Kansas City resident like me, be happy that Funk didn't get his way or we would scrambling for another $4,000,000 in this years budget and the County would be 4 to the good. Plus, we the taxpayers would be getting a big fat bill for $75,000,000 by the end of this year.
The Funk financial plan: "save" $2,000,000 to lose $79,000,000. Yep, seems "smart with the money" to me.
Anonmous 3/28/2009 08:49:00 AM is full of it. Ballot language says the tax will be collected in ALL of Jackson County. Those funds are sent directly to the County and then out to the Stadium Fund.
ReplyDeleteGetting KC to PAY EXTRA was the old way, BEFORE the tax was approved by the voters. Taking money out of the general fund would be paying TWICE.
There are too many emotional arguments being presented and it is too easy for ignorant people to make them. It is easy to understand how stupid politicians get elected by so many ignorant voters.