TKC BREAKING NEWS!!! REPORT FROM COMMUNITY COUNCIL REDISTRICTING MEETING: KANSAS CITY'S SIXTH DISTRICT REJECTS DRASTIC CHANGE!!!
This morning the City Council Redistricting Advisory Board met at the Hillcrest Community Center in Kansas City's 6th Council District.
Council Members John Sharp, Jan Marcason and Melba Curls were also in attendance joined by an array of neighborhood leaders and around 70 community members through the course of the meeting.
Overall, the tone seemed to reject Council Redistricting and seemed skeptical of the process.
Maintaining the integrity of the Hickman Mills School District within the confines of the 6th Council District was certainly the chief concern among residents at this meeting.
Fun Fact from a rather well informed member of the crowd: The Center School District Is Currently Divided Among Three Council Districts.
Still . . .
ONE AFTER THE NEXT, MEMBERS OF THE SIXTH DISTRICT PLEADED WITH THE ADVISORY PANEL TO CONSIDER NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTIONS AND KEEP HICKMAN MILLS SCHOOLS COMPLETELY WITHIN THEIR BOUNDARIES!!!
Here are just a couple of money quotes from the gathering that met with applause:
From a member of the crowd on the subject of the beleaguered Sixth:
"The 6th District has taken a beating, do not change our lines."
On the subject of inequity from a community member:
"All of the money, all of the progress has gone North."
And economic disparity was a surprising subject for members of the Sixth District to confront. This concern might have arisen from overtures from both the 5th and 4th District that could take some territory away.
Now for the map proposals. I'm not going to cover Scenario 11 from Bonnaye Mims because it's just not going to happen and even she apologized for her effort that seemed to completely decimate the 3rd.
So far, Steve Glorioso's Scenario 13 seems to be the most interesting approach to redistricting.
GLORIOSO'S MAP COMPLETELY TURNS THE NORTHLAND UPSIDE DOWN BUT PRESERVES THE INTEGRITY OF MOST DISTRICTS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER!!!
Something to consider . . . Of all the members on the Advisory Panel, Glorioso has more connections on the City Council -- And THE CITY COUNCIL WILL ULTIMATELY BE THE DECIDING FACTOR ON THE FINAL MAP!!!
We've already covered Former Council Dude John Fairfield's Northland Centered Map. For the most part it Discounts the 3rd District and completely divides the Latino Vote.
The Stacey Daniels-Young and Alexander Ellison Scenario 15 is just as interesting as any attempt to redistrict because it pushes the 3rd District South in a very clear attempt to "Follow the migration of African-Americans to the South" stated by a member of the Advisory panel. The 6th District Crowd was decidedly hostile to the measure which ultimately divided the Hickman Mills School Boundaries. This was exceptionally interesting because a great many African-Americans in the 6th District seemed to oppose the effort to preserve the Black vote in the 3rd District.
Cris Medina's take on a map that offered very little to change local district lines was interesting as well. Media noted that, like the 6th District, his priority was to preserve neighborhood organizations and other institutions that served the Latino Community in much the same way the 6th seems to value their community groups. Behind the scenes, a map from The Latino Community is anticipated but for the moment, Medina offered the most conservative approach to Council Redistricting that focused on keeping the same district's almost completely intact.
In all of this it's important to remember that at the end of the day these meetings and the Advisory Group as a whole offer nothing more than suggestions to The City Council. The neighborhood bickering was nice to revisit but is essentially meaningless.
While talk of race, class and dividing lines was interesting -- It's also apparent that the public doesn't have a complete understanding of the legal imperatives that protect Council Districts with a large minority population from being diluted. Put simply, so many folks at the grassroots community level would like to think that issues related to race, class and politics aren't a part of the decision making process in Kansas City. In fact, the very point of redrawing Council District lines is an attempt to equitably distribute voting power across racial and class lines amid a struggle from every constituency to gain an advantage.
Developing . . .
Do it in Crayon.
ReplyDeleteHave some of these folks ever considered the fact that if, for instance, the Hickman Mills District were in more than one council district, they'd have MORE representation on the council?
ReplyDeleteThis notion of dividing up people by race, class, socioeconomic status, and every other difference you can find or invent is upside down from any notion of representative government and a complete loser.
Am I supposed to conclude that President Obama can't represent my best interests and those of the entire country because he's black and rich and I'm neither.
Let's get over the whining and get some serious people involved who have enough self-confidence that they don't have to always try to drag down everyone else to try to make themselves feel good about themselves.
How can we expect Glorioso to do this with any shred of honesty?
ReplyDeleteHow can we expect Glorioso to do this with any shred of honesty?
ReplyDeleteI also attended that meeting and believe me, most of the people who spoke were just the usual suspects. Perhaps it would have helped if people were required to give their addresses. Of the sixth district speakers, only 3 were from east of 71 highway. Of those, 1 was from the west side. You cannot say what the sixth district wants when you don't have good representation speaking. Many of those who spoke were the same ones who spoke in favor of using PIAC funds to put a wrought iron fence around Ruskin HS. They're the same ones, John Sharp always goes to when he wants everyone to believe the community is behind an issue. (Read: when he wants to get his way.)
ReplyDeleteI don't think the general public even knows these meetings are happening. I wouldn't have known about this one if I wasn't informed this week about it. How do we reach more voters and constituents of these districts? Was anything stated on news outlets about this meeting or the upcoming ones? Talk about a city council that works for the people....
ReplyDeleteLooking at the list of people who pleaded for keeping the Hickman Mills School District intact was like looking at the list of contributors on Councilman John Sharp's campaign finance disclosure statement.
ReplyDeleteAll of that "don't change anything" talk was a smokescreen for protecting Sharp's core area of support for one last term on the City Council.
And ironically he is doing so at the cost of fair representation for African-Americans.
Just the point of view of one Hickman Mills S.D. grad who attended the meeting today.
@2:54 PM
ReplyDeleteI think you meant that all but three of the speakers were from east of U.S. Highway 71. That's where Councilman Sharp's supporters are concentrated. His campaign treasurer was very vocal, as well as his appointee to an important advisory committee.
The sixth district is very disparate in terms of income and housing stock. Ruskin Heights is about 1/3 vacant, no basements, single car garages, valuation under $50k. Blue Hills has a golf course, luxurious homes worth several hundred thousand dollars, and is next door to Leawood. What district has such disparity? There should at least be another meeting in southwest KC because no one spoke for them today.
4:12 is correct. There was only one person from the west side of the district and only two others that were west of the highway. Sharp had his supporters there trying to protect his job. If he loses part of the district from the east side, he's liable to lose those misguided constituents that he can call on to make his plans sound like they have community support thus garnering him false praise.
ReplyDeleteBonnaye Mims' ineptness was evident. She admitted she didn't know what she was doing. That's exactly why Sharp appointed her. He wanted her to draw the map that he wanted - typical Sharp ploy.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Sharp sent out an email via his aide with talking points designed to keep the sixth in tact. Chief talking point was the importance of not dividing the school district. Perhaps Tony should ask, under the sunshine law, for a copy of that email.
ReplyDeleteGlorioso hates the Northland and will do anything he can to screw it over. Why Jan and Beth put him on the committee (although neither will take responsibility for it now) and why they consider him an advisor shows how the fourth district is getting screwed over by their council members.
ReplyDeleteThe point of all this attempted gerrymandering hijacking is to carve the districts up in distinct ways to disenfranchise folks who won't vote for whoever is in power that's doing the hijacking so that the finally carved turkey (district) holds a majority for those in power in the next election.
ReplyDeleteThe part I don't get is why anyone gives a shit how the districts are cut and pasted.
Because...
It doesn't matter how the lines are re-drawn because anyone that gets elected in any of the districts will immediately be co-opted by the forces of evil in the city such as Nutter, the unions, the developers, Cordish, the well connected lawyers and the behind-the-scenes politico's like that selfish and super-greedy narcissistic blowhard and fabled Irish-Italian prick, Steve Glorioso.
The only people that the re-districting really matters to are the losers and fakers who are trying to get elected or re-elected to the council. Once they get in, the money train will make a quick stop and they will be co-opted by those previously mentioned forces of evil and the citizens will be back to square one banging holes in the walls of their homes with their heads screaming WTF over and over.
In closing...
It doesn't matter how they draw up the districts, nor does it matter who gets elected because they always manage to fuck things up anyway.
The problem isn't in the political parties nor is it in the assorted players of the games, but it's in the fact that we continue to buy what they keep selling, which happens to be lies, distortions and subterfuge.
Basically, we're fucked, no matter who gets in.
I would like to tell the pols in this town that as long as they're fucking us in the ass, could we at least get a reach around?
Medina's map seems to make the most sense. The at-large council folks had better not go with Glorioso's self-promoting if the want any Northland votes. Not-So-Sharp doesn't care because he is in-district and has his underlings all convinced he'll save them... Just like he saved MAST.
ReplyDeleteSharp actually SCREWED BOTH MAST AND THE CITY.
ReplyDeleteSo, how many MILLIONS of dollars of UNFUNDED MAST pension liabilities does the City now have that it didn't have before?
Great work, Louie Wright. And REALLY GREAT WORK, all Council IDIOTS who voted for the purely political takeover of a vital service that WORKED BETTER before it was used as a political pawn.
Put it in a BOOK!
ReplyDeleteOk. See those two districts at the top that are part of the same but separated? That's illegal.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Glorioso grow UP in the northland?
ReplyDeletePart of the Hickman Mills School District is in the City of Grandview!!!! WTF.
ReplyDeleteI guess someone thinks it evens out because part of the Grandview School District is in KC. Basically, it all goes back to annexation.
ReplyDeleteGood point. This redistricting is going to be bullshit.
ReplyDeleteWhy is anyone surprised that Bonnaye Mims made such an fool out of herself. She's the president of one of the two top failing school districts in our area. Hickman Mills and Kansas City are neck in neck for the worst school district in the state. John Sharp has helped us HOW??? Aren't we proud of our public officials.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw another board member buddying up with Sharp. What's with these guys? Darryll Curls should have learned a lesson when he ran in the last election. If you can't run your district and support all of your people, don't think we'll support you in anything higher. This includes you too Ms. Mims. Why would anyone support anyone leading such a pitiful institution. John Sharp is hoping that the district will split the cost of an indoor swimming pool with the city using our bond money in the future, just like he did the black fence. The black fence has done wonders for our test scores and don't forget. The YMCA's pool wound up being closed because residents were using it for a community bathtub. At least that was the impression we all got. We gave the district money for our kids, not fences and not swimming pools.
They don't understand that splitting the districts will give the HM district advantages over what they have now. But why should that be surprising. The district has kept the same school leadership that has done nothing but continue to bring the district down. You should hear of their newest disasters this new year. Stay tuned.
Maybe Bonnaye Mims should go home and hide under her pillow. The school district is in shambles and she and her group of John Sharp followers are responsible. AND WHO VOTED THESE PEOPLE IN ANYWAY. WAKE UP. They all need to go.
7:26, you're right on. Sharp wants to use ALL of the sixth districts new PIAC funds (over $4 million) to put in his swimming park. He doesn't care about process, he just wants ground broken before the election. There are so many other infrastructure needs, but he wants the "John Sharp Aquatics Center" as a memorial to himself. Would someone, anyone, please run against this creep?
ReplyDelete9:37 "Ok. See those two districts at the top that are part of the same but separated? That's illegal."
ReplyDeleteThey are separated because of population. Each district should get 1/6th of the total population based on geographics, not race.
geographics
ReplyDeleteYou lose.
Dividing people by race is what the Democrats do. They can't think in terms of individuals.
ReplyDeleteBreak KCMO into a bunch of little cities like they have in JoCo.
ReplyDelete