KC Buzz Blog

Downtown courthouse closed

   The Jackson County courthouse is closing early because of the plant explosion.

   County spokesman Calvin Williford said employees were being sent home around 4 p.m. today. He said it should have minimal impact on the public since it was near the end of the work day.

   "We are shutting down early based on a prudent approach," he said.

   Williford said he did not know whether county officials made this decision based on the advice and recommendation of any federal, state or local official.

Posted by DeAnn Smith  

Henry Rizzo near explosion

    Jackson County Legislator Henry Rizzo and his son, John Joseph, a state House candidate, were driving on Front Street a few blocks from the site of an apparent chemical plant explosion this afternoon and heard and felt the force of the blast.

   "We pulled the car over because we thought we had dropped an axle. It felt like we had lost a wheel, which I thought was odd because it's a brand-new car," he said. "Then we saw the black plume go up. I thought it was a terrorist attack."

   Rizzo said his wife, Silvia, a county employee, called concerned due to the lights flickering at the downtown courthouse. He said he is anxious about inhaling contaminants and worried about the safety of county employees leaving the courthouse.

"I hope they test the air quickly," he said.

Posted by DeAnn Smith

Short and sweet in JaCo

    Today’s meeting of the Jackson County Legislature was mercifully short, thanks to a light agenda and a welcome announcement by new County Executive Mike Sanders.
   He told legislators he would make it a practice to give concise reports and not take up their time with “flowery” pronouncements about special events and other things not essential to county business. It was, apparently, a reference to former Executive Katheryn Shields’ sometime tendency to wax on.
   Legislator Bob Spence literally applauded Sanders on his brief briefing.

Posted by Matt Campbell

Slow start for JaCo ethics commission

   The Jackson County Ethics Commission met this week but you didn’t see any headlines because the commishes didn’t do much except talk about their next meeting.
   New County Executive Mike Sanders has charged them with crafting a rigorous new code of ethics to keep employees and elected officials on the straight. Not a bad idea for Jackson County. And Sanders wants it done yesterday.
  So did the four members of the ethics commission -- Mike McCormick, Sly James, Carol Grimaldi and Robin Ryan -- seize the moment?
  They spent an hour groping for a direction. What does Sanders and his transition guy Larry Blick want? Should we have a draft before we start holding public hearings? What should we put in the draft? (James said he didn’t want to touch the messy issue of lobbying.)
   Here are some unsolicited musings:

• If you’re not going to address lobbying you might as well just adopt the Boy Scouts oath.
• If you wait for Sanders or Blick to tell you what to do you forfeit your authority.
• If you’re looking for examples, the National Association of Counties has a code of ethics. (www.naco.org)
• If you come up with something the legislature would be embarrassed to argue with, you will have succeeded.

Posted by Matt Campbell

You can't always get what you want

   A state district court judge giveth and taketh away today when it comes to Jackson County, former Legislator Bob Stringfield and a Missouri Sunshine Law lawsuit.

  In a hearing in Warrensburg, Judge Joseph Dandurand dismissed one of the four open-meeting violations that Stringfield has made against his eight former colleagues. (This one involved a discussion and vote in public.) But the judge is allowing to go to trial in October three allegations involved closed-session discussions of an aide to Stringfield. He said the county counselor telling legislators in one of the sessions that the discussion was OK did not absolve them.

   "I don't think that you have the right to rely on bad legal advice when it comes to violations of the Sunshine Law," Dandurand said to the county's attorney who had argued that the county counselor's advice meant legislators could not have intentionally violated the law.

   Look for a story in tomorrow's Star. But Dandurand gets points for candor for providing some advice to Jim Wirken, an attorney for Jackson County. Wirken suggested the county could go to an appellate court seeking direction on whether Stringfield has standing to sue because he participated in the closed sessions he now says are illegal and did not leave them.

   Dandurand: "That's not the stuff," the higher courts want to hear before a case is concluded and furthermore, "I don't want to lose credibility with them."

   But he made clear that he also has doubts about Stringfield's standing to sue.

Posted by DeAnn Smith

JaCo gets a new legislative auditor

   Jackson County legislators have forced Kelly Markham Stegall to resign as their auditor. Her resignation was effective Friday, said legislative chairman Dan Tarwater.

   He was unsure whether Stegall would receive a severance package. Legislators had been unhappy with the dearth of audits from Stegall and how long she took to complete them. In early November after a report in The Kansas City Star, legislators ordered Stegall to perform an audit of bond spending by then county Executive Katheryn Shields and hoped it would be completed before Shields left office last month.

    In mid-December, Stegall gave Shields a draft copy of her report before informing legislators about it. Shields then issued a news release based on the audit findings, drawing legislative ire. But earlier this month, Stegall said the final audit report was still a couple of weeks away, prompting looks of disbelief from legislators.

  Legislator Dennis Waits had championed finding former Clay County administrator Gary Panethiere a permanent job. He had been attending all legislative meetings in January, saying he was volunteering. Well, Panethiere need volunteer no more. He's going to replace Stegall. (And he had to overcome some stiff questions from both ends of the second floor because he supported former Sen. Charles Wheeler in his unsuccessful run for county executive.)

   Tarwater said Panethiere (a former legislative auditor during the Bill Waris administration) is qualified for the job and is a good man. Tarwater said legislators would forgo a search because, "We have the best person right here right now."

   Initially, Tarwater said Panethiere could wrap up the audit of bond spending. But part of the audit would examine no-bid consultant payments made by Shields to Panethiere with bond money. And Shields had designated Panethiere, hired as an aide in the waning weeks of her administration, to answer all of Stegall's questions.

   After conferring with his colleagues, including legislative vice chairman Henry Rizzo, Tarwater said legislators would hire an independent firm to finish the audit. He said it would not go by the way side and would be completed.

Posted by DeAnn Smith   

It was take-shots-at-Katheryn-Shields Day

   Katheryn Shields may be gone, but the former Jackson County executive definitely isn't forgotten at her old stomping grounds.

   During today's budget committee meeting, Jackson County Legislator Henry Rizzo pronounced that Shields had left the county's finances "in shambles," and it would take the county years to recover. It took her successor, Mike Sanders, about a nanosecond to agree.

   Later, Legislator Dan Tarwater took his own tart-tongued shot at Shields.

  Those three berating her certainly isn't anything new. But the unexpected shot came out of the blue from Legislator Fred Arbanas, who seldom criticizes anyone publicly.

   Arbanas was talking about an effort to arm park rangers, which has Sanders' support and apparently sufficient legislative backing. He said the only reason it couldn't get done before was because Shields didn't agree with it.

  "And now we do have a county executive that agrees," he said.

Posted by DeAnn Smith

Parking pass snafu, JaCo style

   The hubub in the hallways at the Jackson County courthouse before today's budget meeting was over parking tags. Specifically, how to get 'em for county legislators and who issues 'em.

   That's because new Legislator James Tindall was stopped by a county employee Monday afternoon when he tried to park in his designated spot outside the Independence courthouse for the first time since taking office. The employee didn't believe Tindall, the legislator's only black member, was who he claimed to be and made him produce his driver's license and county identification badge. The employee then chastised Tindall for not having a county issued "hang tag" for his rearview mirror.

   So staff members are trying to get Tindall one. And finding out who issues 'em and where they come from hasn't been as easy as it sounds.

  Cause turns out hardly any county legislators have 'em either (Legislator Bob Spence has one and former legislator Rhonda Shoemaker did, prompting cracks about how they are issued to just Republicans). And much notice was made that the county employee didn't question new Legislator Greg Grounds, who is white, when he parked in his spot Monday.

   The legislature's [ fixed thanks to MeL -- Ed. ] only Hispanic and woman, Theresa Garza, wasn't questioned either. But that's because the new legislator forgot she had a designated parking spot and parked in a nearby office building parking lot. 

Posted by DeAnn Smith

Remember what was happening 360 or so days ago at JaCo?

   During today's Jackson County Budget Committee meeting, the county's public administrator, Rebecca Lake Wood, was trying to explain to skeptical county legislators why it is impossible for her to cut $7,200 from a $1.47 million budget.

   Legislative chairman Dan Tarwater was trying to work toward a compromise. He told Lake Wood he understood why she was pushing so hard for the money but also said with tough budget times legislators need everyone to make significant cuts.

   "I know a little bit about fighting," Tarwater said to Lake Wood. His comment, whether inadvertent or intentional, drew instantaneous and loud guffaws that reverberated throughout the hallway outside the chambers.

   That would be because on Jan. 30, 2006, Tarwater was at the center of the brawl on the legislative floor.

Posted by DeAnn Smith

Granted, road construction is not as sexy as announcing murder charges

    As Jackson County prosecutor, Mike Sanders seldom met a news conference he didn't call. At times, he would face grumbles from those who thought he was stealing their thunder.

   So no one should be surprised his penchant for media events hasn't changed now that he's county executive. (As this post is typed he's on KMBZ live.)

   On Thursday morning, Sanders along with county Legislators Theresa Garza and James Tindall and Kansas City council members Alvin Brooks, Chuck Eddy and Terry Riley will attend a ground-breaking ceremony for a road project at 85th Street and Troost Avenue, according to a news release nicely headlined on the county's web site. (The joint venture between the county and city meant the demise of the Stroud's restaurant there.)

    This is what the county is calling a "delayed" official ground-breaking ceremony. Work began Jan. 8 but Sanders spokesman Jennifer Berry said when Sanders took office on Jan. 1 that "we just couldn't plan something for before construction started with such short notice."

   And the last time her former boss, Executive Katheryn Shields (who herself isn't known for being camera shy), invited the media to a ground-breaking ceremony? Er.....not in recent memory.

   Berry says Sanders "has a different philosophy to marketing road and bridge projects compared to what has been done in the past." Berry said Sanders will keep the public informed at every stage of road projects.

   "We also have a ground-breaking planned for an upcoming road project in Raytown," Berry says. ".....This is also one of Mike's first official public events and he wants to show his support for cooperative projects."

   Let's see how cooperative the four broadcast stations are in airing footage of road ground-breaking ceremonies (that aren't at the Sprint Arena, Kauffman or Arrowhead stadiums) compared to announcements of murder charges.

Posted by DeAnn Smith