Hartzell's Lawsuit Exposes Kansas City's Conflicted Discourse

An important column offers behind the scenes context that might be overlooked by the plebs.

Here's what stands out from our vantage . . .

Hartzell is pushing 40 but still working part-time gigs and even then (allegedly) can't escape the wrath of Mayor Q's support team. 

At least that's the embarrassing premise of the claim launched by this media dude who, at one time, was a high profile pro-sports leader but then moved to activism and wasn't able to hold onto fans.

Here's the money line . . . 

As a member of housing rights group KC Tenants, Hartzell participated in a protest during a City Council meeting on Aug. 18, 2022, according to the lawsuit. That day, KC Tenants “were protesting an ordinance City Council was voting on regarding relaxing affordable housing requirements for developers and changing the definition of who qualifies for affordable housing,” the lawsuit states. 

The next day, Hartzell was told by a supervisor at KCUR that Said called the news outlet to question his political activities. In the lawsuit, Hartzell alleges Said called KCUR’s then-news director Lisa Rodriguez after the protest and told Rodriguez that Hartzell’s personal and political activities could reflect poorly on the station and damage how people see KCUR. 

“During the call between (Hartzell) and his supervisor, (Hartzell) was pulled off his shift that weekend, specifically because the mayor’s then-chief of staff called and issued a veiled threat to the entire station because (Hartzell) participated in a protest at City Hall,” the lawsuit states. “As a part-time hourly employee at KCUR, (Hartzell) lost pay since he did not work over the weekend.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

In Hartzell's free speech lawsuit against Kansas City, let legal process play out | Opinion

Hartzell Gray, a popular Kansas City podcaster, claims in a lawsuit that KCUR fired him when Quinton Lucas' chief of staff retaliated over a City Hall protest.