The Source

Collison Chokes on Cordish Column

We never thought we’d say this, but The Pitch has out-reported The Kansas City Star. On the same topic, in the same week, The Pitch’s coverage was more timely, more on point, and more accurate.

The Source has reported now several times on The Cordish Company’s attempts to squash local competition by bullying the city and state into not passing a new festival districts law. We have also documented the thousands of dollars Cordish executives have given to Kay Barnes’s congressional campaign as payback for her support in getting them a favorable contract and for her help in getting favorable legislation in Jefferson City.

Within hours of our last report the Pitch published a hard hitting blog post which not only covered the issue well, it brought to light new information. For instance, The Pitch points out that Cordish’s lawyer, the same lawyer who is now bullying the city, also contributed to Barnes’s campaign to the tune of $4600. The article also produced the first copy of the letter sent to the city. Most importantly, The Pitch counters Cordish’s silly suggestion that campaign cash may be driving the city’s decision by pointing out the hypocrisy of Cordish’s efforts to buy favor with Kay Barnes.

Contrast that with this morning’s Kansas City Star piece by Kevin Collison. The Star, five days late, covers the basics of the story, but adds nothing new. Unbelievably they proffer Cordish’s theory about contributions driving the city’s position without ever mentioning Cordish’s own history of buying their way to favorable results. While Collison gets comments from some of the players, none really adds facts to the story; in fact the most telling comment may be a “no comment” from the Cordish lawyer.

Cordish has been on the front burner of Kansas City news since their inability to open the Power & Light District when promised. The inability of The Star to cover this story properly reflects badly on their overall ability to cover the stories that really matter to Kansas City voters.

Photo I.D.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided yesterday that requiring a voter to show photo identification was not an undue hardship. The Court upheld Indiana's photo I.D law, and in the process opened up the possibility that other states will follow suit.

Missouri has already passed a photo I.D. law, but it was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court. The Source would expect to see legislation next session which will offer a constitutional amendment to correct that decision and bring Missouri in line with yesterday's decision.

Of course, opponents to more fair elections are balking at the SCOTUS decision. In the oddest argument possible, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan said that Missouri would not be affected, saying "I think this ruling doesn't really change anything. 

Yet Carnahan admits that the Supreme Court found that "justices didn't think there was sufficient evidence of burden and sufficient evidence of voters that would be harmed."  That was precisely the argument used by Carnahan and others to fight against Missouri's law, and it is now proven untrue by the highest court in the land.

Carnahan, and all Missouri politicians, should support letting the voters decide the issue. The courts have spoken, now it is our turn. Even if she doesn't support the end result, Carnahan should back a vote on a constitutional amendment as soon as feasible.

Update: Running or Working

The Source continues to look at state-wide Democratic candidates to follow up our story on absenteeism at the capitol. It seems State Representative and Treasurer Candidate Clint Zweifel is the worst offender of all his colleagues.

Zweifel missed almost every roll call vote taken last week. He only voted a few times in order to collect his per diems. A quick count showed Zweifel missing over 95% of the votes taken.

The Source wonders if the folks in Florissant know they have virtually no representation in Jefferson City.

Running or Working?

This is a big year for elections in Missouri.  With almost every state-wide position and every congressional seat on the ballot in August and November, and with several incumbents either not running or running for a different office, there is an unusually high number of candidates from the General Assembly.  For those candidates, balancing their campaigning with their jobs as the people’s representative can be difficult.  Some don’t handle it so well.   

Last week, for instance, several state representatives who are also state-wide or congressional candidates seemed to have trouble making it to the floor to vote.  Last week was a jam-packed week with several critical bills and some interesting debate.  We suspect most voters would rather have had their representative in the capital, instead of out campaigning.   

But Sam Page, Margaret Donnelly, Judy Baker and Jeff Harris don’t seem to think voting is all that important.  All missed significant amounts of roll call votes last week.  Neither Baker nor Harris voted during Monday’s session.  Harris and Donnelly both missed the vast majority of Tuesday’s votes.  On Wednesday all four missed votes, with Donnelly missing most and Page missing more than half.  On Thursday it was Page’s turn to miss the entire day, while both Harris and Baker missed considerable votes.  Overall, Donnelly, Page and Harris all missed more than half the roll call votes taken this week.   

While The Source has not studied House Journals beyond this week’s, we are told this has been the pattern much of the session.  With business close to coming to a close for these legislators, we hope they can find time in their busy campaign lives to actually represent their constituents on a more regular basis.   

Kemper Killers, Part II

The Source wants to congratulate The Kansas City Star on their article about the “white elephant” status of the Kemper Arena. Of course, they are about fifty-six days late, since The Source first posted on this subject on February 29th.

But we do give credit where credit is due, and Deann Smith does a fine job of framing the issue. AEG is making excuse after excuse for not booking Kemper, and the city council is collectively getting tired of the excuses. The council seems to be re-thinking the decision, driven by former Mayor Kay Barnes, to give the Kemper contract to AEG in what should have obviously been a conflict of interest.

Barnes, who has accepted over $17,000 in contributions from AEG executives, was obviously not looking out for the city’s best interests. Kemper is already $15 million in the hole, and the article points out that current operating deficits are adding to that, another half-million this year alone.

The Source hopes this council, without Barnes there to protect her benefactors, will hold AEG’s feet to the fire. They have failed to bring an anchor tenant to the Sprint Center. They have gutted the event calendar at Kemper Arena. They have failed to deliver on promise after promise with no accountability to the taxpayers who pay for their contracts. It is about time that AEG is made to report specifics about their operations at both venues, in detail, so taxpayers can see if they are doing their job.

Cordish Whining

We have reported to you before on the Cordish Company effort to squash attempts in Jefferson City to enact a “festival district” for Westport and other nightspots in Kansas City. The festival district designation would allow patrons to carry liquor out of the bars in the area, within a set zone. The Power and Light District has this zone in place already, and desperately wants to keep their monopoly.

Cordish is claiming the city, in the person of former Mayor Kay Barnes, promised them exclusivity on the open container laws. Barnes, who has recently received $8000 in contributions from Cordish executives, certainly gave them cause to believe they were special by negotiating a soft contract which allowed Cordish to set their own opening date and set parking prices after promising free parking.

Now that Barnes is safely out of city hall, Kansas City officials are backing Westport business owners, not Cordish, and Cordish is mad about it. The city, specifically old Barnes sidekick Greg Williams, testified in Jefferson City for the festival district law. And yesterday, after Cordish threatened to sue the city for breach of contract, City Manager Wayne Cauthen stood up to Cordish saying “show me the contract!”

Cauthen, under extreme pressure from Barnes, had not been known to stand up to developers. The Source applauds his stance, and the stance of the city. It is good to have an administration that protects local businesses instead of the out-of-state developers who line their pockets.

Term Limited True Colors

The Missouri House passed a stricter abortion bill this week.  The bill, HB 1831, requires patients be informed of alternatives, requires a free ultrasound and the baby’s life signs be provided to the mother, and requires doctors to wait 24 hours after those requirements to perform the abortion.  The bill passed with a strong bipartisan vote of 113-33.   

One member who did not vote for the bill is 3rd District Representative Jim Whorton. Whorton is term limited.  That means he no longer has to worry about retribution from the voters of his district and can vote his own personal agenda instead of the will of his constituents.  In this case, Whorton chose his own pro-abortion agenda over the pro-life preferences of the 3rd District.   

Whorton, who usually received “mixed” ratings from Missouri Right to Life, once acknowledged the “anti-abortion leanings of his district’s population.”  The Source is not shocked that he voted against those leanings in his last months on the job.  We just hope voters remember when they pick their next representative.   

Nixon Lacks Backbone

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon was recently named as a super delegate to the Democratic National Convention.  As such he will be one of many super delegates that ultimately decide whether Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee.   

For those of you who have been following the news you know that super delegates nationwide are announcing their support publicly for either Obama or Clinton.  The chairman of the party has asked all super delegates to declare support sooner rather than later so the party can know who their nominee will be, and so they can start lashing out at John McCain instead of each other.   

In Missouri alone, nine super delegates have announced their choice.  Six of those are currently elected officials including three statewide office holders and three sitting congressmen.  Several of those have current elections to run.   But Jay Nixon has yet to even give a clue which candidate he supports.  Nixon, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune Politics Blog, has “adamantly declared his neutrality in the contest, noting that he is concentrating on his campaign for governor.”   

That is, of course, Nixon political-speak for “I don’t want to piss anyone off if I don’t have to, so I will wait until my choice is easy if I can.”  That lack of backbone has been evident in Nixon’s decision making in the past, so the fact it is so blatantly displayed during his campaign should surprise no one.   

The Source calls on Nixon to make his choice.  The voters of Missouri deserve to know who he supports, and why.          

Celebrating Earth Day

The Source encourages all our readers to celebrate Earth Day.

No, we haven’t gone mad. We are not asking that anyone celebrate with the “nattering nabobs of negativity” who have been claiming the sky is falling for years. We are not asking that anyone buy into the wacky theories and far-stretched logic that leads people to protect plants and animals more than they will protect human live. We actually want people to celebrate the Earth.

We should be celebrating the earth’s built-in capacity to recover from disaster, whether natural or man-made. After devastating damage the area around Mt. Saint Helens is recovering quickly, less than a generation having passed.

News stories just this last week tell of the remarkable recovery at Bikini Atoll where nuclear testing decimated the area. Our earth was blessed by its creator with an amazing capacity to withstand the wrath of both humans and nature.

When scientists speak of the earth’s history they tell us of long periods, or ages, of differing types of climates. Those ages are said to have been triggered by monumental changes in weather, atmosphere or by meteorological events. Yet the earth has withstood each of those ages; adapted, recovered, and flourished. Where climatic changes caused permanent damage it was to living species, not to the earth herself.

Today scientists twist those facts into suggesting that the small impact humans can have on earth will somehow devastate her. That is not only unlikely, it is shortsighted. Rather than panicking about our role in some small climatic changes, we could be studying the earth’s recoveries and learning from them.

So, go ahead, celebrate Earth Day. But celebrate the good she brings us, the stability she offers and the promise she gives.

Oops! Wheeler, Sager Disqualified

As The Source reported last month, former Kansas City Mayor, former State Senator and failed candidate for Jackson County Executive, Charles Wheeler had filed to run for State Treasurer.  As a multiple-time candidate for various offices, Wheeler had to know that candidates have to file a personal financial disclosure to run for office.  Wheeler, however, did not file one by the first deadline, which draws a daily fine.  He also failed to file by the second deadline, which today forced his removal from the ballot.

As we told you in our previous article, Wheeler’s sole reason for running for State Treasurer was, “I like politics.”  We guess he just didn’t like politics enough to follow a simple procedure.  Either that or he just plumb forgot.   

The day after we brought you the Wheeler story we told you of the return of campaign fraudster and ethics fine scofflaw, Mike Sager.  Sager filed to run for his old House seat, despite several ethics violations and a felony charge.  Sager must have been afraid to face process servers because he never did drop out of the race in the last forty-eight hours this time around.  It turns out he didn’t have to, because he too was disqualified today for not filing his personal financial disclosure.  We are pretty sure Sager wouldn’t want the state knowing he actually has any finances, because he owes them so much.   

Innovative Legislation

It is that time of year in Jefferson City. Both the House and the Senate have dealt with the budget bills. They will go to conference and will be finally passed shortly. Now the two floors turn to more specific legislation, often designed to change policy or correct a problem.

One such problem, one that goes far beyond the surface, is the theft of copper, particularly copper wiring. Although this has been a growing issue for awhile, it has now caught the attention of legislators. While the actual theft of copper wiring is obviously a crime, catching these thieves is difficult. They often attack abandoned or empty facilities, often doing considerable damage. Where the possible solution lies is in stopping the market for the stolen copper. If legislation can be written make it hard to sell the stolen copper, it should decrease the rate of theft.

Enter legislation sponsored by area Representative Will Kraus and southeast area Senator Rob Mayer. Both are presenting similar legislation, also similar to a bill introduced last year by Kraus. Mayer’s bill has passed the Senate and a House substitute has passed out of the Utilities committee. A House substitute for Kraus’s bill has also passed out of the same committee. An eclectic group testified for the passage of this legislation ranging from police departments, industry, utilities and even the Farm Bureau. No one testified against the bill.

The Source thinks this is exactly the type of innovative legislation our representatives should be looking at. The legislation tries to solve a critical problem without partisan bickering. House and Senate seem to be working together. Hopefully one of the two pieces of legislation will pas passed in the House soon.

Respect versus Politics.

Have we really become so polarized in this country that we can’t even pass a simple resolution honoring a man who “has spoken out for the weak and vulnerable, witnessing to the value of each and every human life” without turning it into a political argument?   

That is exactly what happened this week as The U.S. Senate tried to pass a resolution welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to Washington D.C.  Kansas Senator Sam Brownback introduced the resolution, a hardly unusual act of recognition for a visiting leader.   

But fellow Senator Barbara Boxer objected to the language quoted above, and other language in the resolution, and thus held up the simple resolution for three days.  She thinks the language was politically motivated, and since she didn’t like it, it needed to come out.   

Senator Brownback finally gave in to Senator Boxer, showing his best intentions were only to honor Pope Benedict XVI.  Further debate over the language would have held up the resolution permanently, and Senator Boxer had showed no willingness to listen to reason.   

But now, after the fact, The Source hopes a debate will open up about how Senator Boxer used her own admitted political motivation to almost derail a simple recognition.  Why does Senator Boxer, and why do Democrats in general, continue to make every issue a partisan, racial or socio-economic division?  Just once, can’t Democrats agree that not every issue is polarizing?   

Maybe, just maybe, if they came to that conclusion they could pass some meaningful legislation.      

Storm Clouds over Kansas City

Today’s impeding thunderstorms may be more than just a “weather event.”  From The Source’s perspective, the storm clouds may be a worrisome sign given that Kansas City government is about to take another misstep in managing city finances.   

Kansas City’s money woes are well documented.  The previous Mayor, Kay Barnes, spent the city into mountains of debt, with much of the revenue needed to climb out of the hole dependent on growth that is, so far, not fiscally productive.  The budget has to be slashed.  Bond ratings may suffer.  The city’s ability to recover is hampered by the restrictive nature of the contracts they signed.   

Along comes a fiscally conservative Mayor.  A former auditor who seems to understand that this can’t continue.  At least at first, most believed this maverick mayor would stop the bleeding, cauterize the wounds, and begin the process of healing our finances.  Unfortunately, partly due to his disdain for anything “political,” the new mayor has made mistakes.  He will make another today.   

Today Kansas City’s City Council will vote to give themselves, and the mayor, a pay raise.  This just a month after contentious divisions and dispute over a budget that is estimated to cut hundreds of city jobs.  This just a year after the previous council, and mayor, pushed through a pay raise.  This despite the mayor’s supposed claims of fiscal responsibility.   

The Source urges the council and Mayor Funkhouser to put off their pay raises until they figure a way out of our current financial situation.  Work needs to be done.  To get it done, the mayor and council need credibility.  A vote for a pay raise today will detract from what credibility is left.   

What is Happening at the Kansas City Star?

Yesterday was filing day for statewide, state legislative and congressional candidates.  The Star tried to cover the numbers in a story on B2.  The headline, and the lead, is about Democratic Governor candidate Jay Nixon’s fundraising totals.  But the Star article completely ignored the fundraising numbers from either of the Republican candidates running for Governor.  This omission is particularly odd because Sarah Steelman had reported her numbers to the press earlier in the day, so they were readily available.   

Sadly it isn’t news that The Star is not providing fair and balanced reporting.  They have no problem sending multiple reporters to cover the NCAA tournament or opening day, but they don’t seem to have enough reporters to investigate local political stories, especially those stories which might negatively affect Democrats.   

Like other dailies in large cities, The Star constantly tries to defend itself against claims of a liberal bias.  It gets harder and harder for the general public to believe those defenses when they make such obvious errors in judgment.         

Good for Andria

The Source’s critics claim we never say good things about Democrats.  For today, at least, we can prove them wrong.   

Democratic State Treasurer candidate Andria Simckes came out in support of the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative in the last few days.  She mentioned her support first at a Springfield event (witnessed and blogged by the KY3 Political Notebook.)  She reiterated that support in an e-mail to the KY3 Political Notebook saying, “…I am a supporter of the right to equal opportunity for all Americans."   

For Kansas City residents, Simkes’s support is timely.  Just last week Kansas City was hit with a $2.1 million dollar settlement because Mayor Kay Barnes and the City Council discriminated against a Caucasian female who wanted to be a municipal judge.  The jury got the message, and so it seems has Ms. Simkes, that discrimination against any group can not be tolerated.

First and Foremost?

There was no doubt in my mind that as a member of the black community, I am obligated to this community and will utilize all of my present and future resources to benefit the black community first and foremost. " Michelle Obama

Details, like the quote above, are emerging from Michelle Obama’s senior thesis. It is, from what we have read, a troubled look into the separatist philosophy of a potential future First Lady.

Now, you may ask, is it fair to go after the candidate’s wife? The answer, with the way the First Lady’s profile and role has changed in the last few decades, is yes. In fact, candidate spouses, whether husband or wife, seem to play a greater role in policy, and more often than ever, they seek political office on their own.

Michelle Obama has made several statements on the campaign trail that cause any thinking voter to question her overall philosophy. In that light, her thesis, and the comment above, are more than fair game for discussion.

The Source has to wonder what “future resources” of the First Lady’s office Obama would use to “benefit the black community first and foremost.” We think it is fair to ask Michelle Obama if she still holds the separatist views she espoused in her thesis. We think it is also fair to ask Barak Obama if he agrees with his wife’s theories.

Skaggs Slapping Away

Word came yesterday that ESPN has shelved the boxing reality show “The Contender”. Too bad for State Representative Trent Skaggs, it sounds like he just started swinging.

Skaggs started what became quite the ruckus on the House floor when he accused some representatives of “selling their vote”. That’s a hefty accusation from anyone, but especially egregious from someone whose last two finance reports show contributions only from PACs and corporations, no individuals.

When Majority Floor Leader Steve Tilley delivered a well earned rebuke the next morning, things escalated out of hand. We’ve heard several versions of the story, but they all end in Rep. Skaggs reaching out and twice slapping, yes we said slapping, the face of Rep. Brian Nieves. The Source guesses his passion on the issue wasn’t heated enough to require a real manly punch.

Still, Skaggs was out of line to suggest anyone’s vote was sold. He was more out of line to escalate what was a heated argument to a physical confrontation.

Lager Goes After Earnings Tax

State Senator Brad Lager, former House Budget Chair, is taking on the earnings taxes in both Missouri major cities. Lager is calling for a five year plan to find a way to replace the revenue generated by those taxes.

As Lager correctly points out, those who work in Kansas City, but live elsewhere, essentially face taxation without representation. They may have little choice where to go to work and no choice over elected officials who vote on and spend the tax dollars.

Even those who live in Kansas City are hurt by the tax. Kansas City’s population is dropping, potentially as businesses move further away and taxpayer move with them, all to avoid more taxation. That places even more tax burden on those who stay.

The Source hopes Senator Lager’s efforts pay off. A discussion is needed. A plan needs to be put in place. Now is a good time to start.

The Disappearing Campaign

Has anyone heard from Jay Nixon lately?

It seems to The Source that Nixon has been less visible since Governor Blunt announced he would not seek re-election. Prior to that, the Nixon campaign would react to every piece of news with an attack on Governor Blunt, no matter how unconnected the two were. Since Blunt announced his decision, and since two viable candidates emerged to replace him on the republican ticket, Nixon and his team have gone almost silent. Other than sporadic fundraising contacts, very little has come from the campaign.

Both Sarah Steelman and Kenny Hulshof gained ground on Nixon in a recent poll. But the big news is that Nixon has been extremely silent on both potential opponents. No daily attacks, no email blasts with every piece of news.

Could it be that Jay Nixon’s only selling point was his hatred of Matt Blunt? Was his only campaign script wiped out in one day? With no positive message for Missourians, is Nixon just waiting for a winner to attack?

Voters Speak on Liberal Judge

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent editorial on last week’s Supreme Court judge election in Wisconsin. The Source urges all our readers to click the link and read it.

The Wisconsin “Tragedy”

Scott Charton

Word came earlier in the week that University of Missouri spokesman, Scott Charton was resigning. Charton is starting his own company, Charton Communications & Consulting, which he says will be based in Columbia and in Jefferson City.

Why Jefferson City? The Source has heard that Charton’s new company may be primarily a liberal, politically oriented, consulting firm.

Prior to being hired by Elson Floyd as the Director of University Communications, Charton was a twenty year journalism veteran. Much of that was with the Associated Press, including twelve years in the statehouse bureau in Jefferson City. Charton may think his background in print and broadcast journalism is a good fit for Democrats in Missouri.

Of course, he may already have been dipping his toes in the water. The Source will be watching to see if “Howard Beale” now has more time to post.

We Couldn’t Have Said it Better.

Luckily, we don’t have to. A fellow blogger, Blue Girl, said it for us on her Show Me Progress blog.

“Urban dwellers nation wide who are frustrated by the lack of attention being paid to urban issues have a vested interest in sending another popular, successful, big-city mayor to Congress. We already have one KC Mayor sitting in the Congress doing a fine job. I think we should make it two.”

While we obviously disagree with Blue Girl’s conclusion, we do applaud her honesty in painting Kay Barnes as an urban issues politician. We doubt Kay is very happy about the description seeing she is trying to redraw her image in northwest Missouri as a rural girl.

Blue Girl is right about another thing. Missouri already has one former mayor representing downtown interests in Washington D.C. Northwest Missourians needs someone who truly understands their issues, and looks out for them.

No matter how hard she tries to sell it, that someone won’t be Kay Barnes.

Blogs on Blogs

The Missouri political blog world is abuzz this morning after a blog posting from Missourinet’s Steve Walsh. Walsh tried to define the difference between blogs hosted on traditional media websites and blogs, like The Source, that are independent.

While one of our competitors has a knee-jerk emotional reaction to Walsh’s post (and takes a cheap personal shot at his integrity), The Source thinks Walsh’s column is a good starting point for discussion.

Walsh did miss the point that the traditional media blogs would not even exist if it were not for independent bloggers. For The Star, Post Dispatch and others their blog is just another medium where they tell the same message they have in their print editions. The “news” gets out sooner, their columns and editorials reach a broader audience, but much of it is the same.

But Walsh is right that there are some traditional media blogs that stand out. Chief amongst them is Jason Rosenbaum’s blog at the Columbia Daily Tribune. His stands out because he looks for news, and reports it in a way (video) his paper could not. Independent bloggers could learn from Jason.

Walsh also neglects to mention, in his attempt to label independent blogs as being partisan, that most traditional media blogs have a bias too. No one argues the Star, or its PrimeBuzz blog, leans anywhere but left. No one argues the Post-Dispatch, or Political Fix, isn’t more likely to toast a Republican than a Democrat. Are they 100% biased? No. But their readers should also be warned that those biases exist.

The difference is that independent blogs, like The Source, are not beholden to an editorial board, advertisers or the corporate world of media. The Source can investigate or comment on a story the mainstream media wouldn’t (and hasn’t) touched. Occasionally, The Source and other independent bloggers, if they stick to reliable news, can and do start the mainstream media thinking. Occasionally, independent blogs break the story.

So, we are glad Walsh broached the subject. Perhaps those who attacked him should look in a mirror. Perhaps they are so over-biased themselves, it makes them a bit testy when the subject is brought up.

Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Join to Form Non-Partisan Newspaper

In an unprecedented joint effort, two Missouri newspapers are starting a state-wide competitive newspaper.  The new paper, The Center of Missouri will begin publication in thirty days as the state’s first non-partisan big city newspaper.   

The Center of Missouri will be staffed mainly by current Star and Post-Dispatch employees.  “We are committed to finding and using non-partisan employees,” said a Star spokesman.  So far we have had good success recruiting from the mailroom and the janitorial staff.”  The Post-Dispatch was unable to provide a non-partisan spokesman, but said recruitment efforts were underway.   

When asked whether any editorial staff would move over to the non-partisan paper, both the Star and Post-Dispatch responded with only laughter.