PlazaJen: Passion Knit

....because I wrote my City Councilwoman, Cathy Jolly, this morning...

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Ms. Jolly -

I am a resident of the Sixth District, and I voted for you in the last election - along with Mark Funkhouser. Just as I am sure you receive support and advice from your husband, I expect anyone who is married to benefit from their spouse's perspective and support. I am married to a Hickman Mills schoolteacher, and despite opposing political beliefs, we also work together as a team to make our own world a better place. That said! I did not elect Gloria Squitiro to office. I did not request that she be present in the mayoral offices every day. And yet now, my tax dollars are most likely going to pay for a discrimination settlement caused by her. This is ridiculous. The city just battled through the Frances Semler debacle, and instead of allowing her to step down, Funkhouser insisted she remain & we as a city have lost the respect and support of NATIONAL Hispanic and African-American groups in this country. Perception IS reality in this country, and from the outside looking in, we have regressed as a city in a very short amount of time.

I have grown increasingly concerned by the behavior of our mayor, and his extreme unwillingness to compromise, to abide by the voters' decisions, and to forward his own agenda. I think his wife's influence and constant presence is denigrating the role of the mayor, it is taking focus away from where this city is headed, and is frankly making me long for the days of Emmanuel Cleaver and Kay Barnes. The whole point of electing a non-career politician to the mayor's office was to bring about change that was for the people, not just fund the Mark and Gloria Show. Frankly, the promise to eradicate steel plates in the roads was key to his election, and I haven't seen a decrease whatsoever - my perception is that I now drive over MORE of those things than I did a year ago. I am heartened to see the City Council actually stand up to the mayor, and I can only hope that this continues. The first step is to prevent future racial slurs and transgressions (and lawsuits!!!) and remove Ms. Squitiro from her self-appointed daily presence and role in the mayor's office. The second step is to somehow introduce the concept of compromise to the mayor, and that will be harder, I'm sure. I just don't want to have to keep paying the price tag for an administration that isn't listening to the people, that continues to dig in its heels and insist on creating even greater racial divides in a city that sorely needs unity. Kansas City is on the brink of a revolt against the current administration, and I would hate to see elected officials such as yourself lumped in with the climate and perception Mark Funkhouser has created.

I appreciate the time spent in reading my letter.
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Now, this is a knitting and all-about-me blog. I bitch about bad drivers, sing sonatas about dining and food, put up pictures of my dogs and vent about stupid things. I go on and on about grief, partly as a form of coping, partly to help someone else who might read this and realize they aren't crazy. Or at least alone. I touch on some political hot buttons here and there, and yet I know that when it comes to the fluffernutter tar baby (ooh, is that racial?) of local politics, there's a 100 sides and unless you're reading and combing through material all the frickin' time, looking at you Tony, it's hard to be certain you have the total picture. But I don't really care right now about digging and doing a ton of research at this point. The mayor I elected is driving this city into the ground through sheer stubbornness. Don't get me wrong, I love the notion of untouchable principles, I want an elected official who isn't a career politician, I wish Paul Wellstone was still alive. He embodied that. So I just got pissed this morning and sent a letter. I can't say I believe it'll make a bit of difference? But if it could, if it does, well, then, maybe this whole power-to-the-people thing still stands a fighting chance.

I need to go shake my cane at someone.

Labels: kansas city