KCMO Manager 'Lying To Media' Lawsuit Pre-Trial Starts Today

Kansas City City Manager Brian Platt is the main character in an employment lawsuit that is just about to get underway.

Credit to AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS for reminding us about the starting date and we figured the pre-trial conference scheduled for today was as good of a place to start as any . . . 

From what we understand . .  Here's the main question that's most important to voters in this town . . .

SHOULD KANSAS CITY EXPECT THE TRUTH FROM CITY OFFICIALS?!?!

Sorry but any GenXer is too jaded to answer this one without risk of guffaw-ing to death.

Still . . .

The political context of this story is worth considering because the complaint was the first local legal documentation of dissatisfaction with the city manager.  From there other former employees stepped forward and there were a couple of demonstrations against the embattled bureaucrat.

Let's not forget there was a "no confidence" vote against Brian Platt just last year and there have been several times locals have been convinced the City Manager was about to get the ax. Through it all Brian Platt proved capable in leveraging his local political connections and keeping his 12 bosses on the council happy. 

Moreover . . .

Mayor Q was steadfast in support of the dude and that did a lot to spark the local rumor mill with a great deal of nasty chatter. 

We don't like rude gossip around here . . . But to be fair . . . TKC has never take a cheek to cheek photo with another dude since I was a far too fancy youngster TKC practicing pop & lock dance moves for an imagined debut on Soul Train in the lineup with Rosie Perez. 

But I digress . . .

And so . . . Just to keep the news item fresh in the minds of locals as the legal arguments restart . . . We're merely sharing a quote from the case and links to more info . . . Check-it: 

The seven-page lawsuit filed Nov. 30 in Jackson County court begins its allegations with a meeting that took place in Platt’s office on Jan. 3, 2022, with Platt and several city communications staff.

Hernandez claims the meeting focused on strategies for dealing with the media, saying Platt specifically asked the group, ‘Why can’t we just lie to the media?’”

When Hernandez answered, “That’s not a good idea. We shouldn’t do that,” according to the lawsuit, Platt responded “Why not? In Jersey, we had a mayor who would just make up numbers on the fly from the podium, and no reporters ever called him on it.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

KMBC: Former Kansas City, Missouri, communications director sues city claiming city manager suggested lying to the media and public

Star: Kansas City Hall says lying to the press isn’t against the law in defending lawsuit

Developing . . .