Toellner Tells it

The distinct sound of backpeddling

It sounds like KCP&L is doing a little backpeddling. After meeting with Hyde Park neighborhood leaders, KCP&L has (at least publically) said that they don't want to disrupt neighborhoods with a type of substation that people in the neighborhood don't want.  They said that they will continue (start?) to work with the neighborhoods along Troost to come up with a suitable solution to the power needs. Fox 4 has the story

Obviously I embrace this...not just for the neighborhood of Hyde Park, but also for other neighborhoods that could be affected such as Beacon Hill, Troostwood, Ivanhoe Squire Park, etc.  Apparently the decision by the Stowers Institute to not start building immediately (due to another travesty that some legislators in  Missouri are resistant to good science) has bought them some time to come up with a viable (for everyone) solution.  Possible solutions include building a smaller substation (that wouldn't take up an entire block), using better energy sources that could help them not have to build a substation at all, or going to an alternative location.

I honestly think that KCP&L thought they could slide this through...but I applaud the people are demanding better.  And also thanks to Mark Forsythe for writing a good post on this earlier today. 

As a city, we need to be sure that development is in the best interests of everyone (not just carry a MIMBY mentality).  Here's to good thinking, and future development.  And thanks to KCP&L for listening, and for neighborhood and community leaders for stepping up.

Building Urban Density

According to Sierra MagazineThe city of Vancouver Canada is wanting to build urban density throughout their area.  As part of the plan, they are looking at zoning changes that would allow for secondary suites ("inlaws quarters"), triplexes, and narrow streets with houses that abut property lines.

Obviously, this rezoning is meeting with resistance, so the city is presenting residents with their "ecological footprint" analysis, which measures the the resources required to support their given lifestyle -- and expressing it in terms of how many planets would be needed if everyone lived that way. 

"Think about one neighborhood arguing that it should be able to live on eight planet's worth of resources while another one lives on three," said Brent Toderian, Vancouver's planning director.

This is yet another possible solution to solve Kansas City's urban sprawl problem, and to build density that would further encourage our leaders to push for more/better public transportation in this city. What if instead of taxing people based on their home, or land value, we taxed them based on their ecological footprint (since it does mean more resources that these people use)?  Would this encourage people (and neighborhoods) to encourage this on their own?

Here's a link to the Sierra Magazine article -- it's the last story on this page.

As a society, we're stupid

Fear makes us do really stupid stuff.  And for the most part, people fear what they don't understand. Sometimes this is change.  Sometimes this takes the form of people from different cultures.

A couple of weeks ago, a watchdog organization that tracks military spending found documentation of a military proposal to create a hormone bomb that would "turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting."

That sounds really ridiculous, and something that is worth chuckling about at the very notion.  But the proposal was made in 1994!  Not 1950 -- just 13 years ago.  The idea that we could someone turn people into homosexuals -- and that somehow if it worked they would be unable to control their sexual urges to fight is crazy.  And yet, our military asked for a $7.5 million grant to pursue the gay bomb.

Fear and lack of understanding makes us do stupid things...and sadly, we're not a more sophisticated society about these types of things like we claim to be.

Blogging vs. Journalism

There's a good story in the Star today about the blurring of the lines between Journalism and Blogging.  The article is centered around sports journalism/blogging, but it's pretty easy to take the leap between sports (which tends to be the leader in many social issues including racial barriers and medical care).  Blogging has become major source of information for a lot of people -- as newspapers/tv stations have continued to cut back in reporting staff (and also supplying slanted points of view), bloggers have come on the scene to provide additional insights/points of view on the news of the day. The New York Islanders have even opened up one press box for bloggers who will be credentialed to cover games.

Even here in KC politics, the TIF Commission Report wasn't released until the local bloggers requested its release.

The media world is changing.  Media outlets will struggle with it. Local politicians will struggle with it.  And there is a certain amount of "power" that will come from being a political blogger.  It's our responsibility to use this power wisely...and to help do what the traditional media has long sense forgotten its purpose was under the first amendment of the Constitution...to be a watchdog of the government.

The high price of excessive privacy

Dan over at Gone Mild has (as usual) a great post yesterday regarding how in spite of a few misteps early in Funkhouser's administration, Kansas City is in a lot better shape than we have been for a while with Funk at the helm.

It's too early to tell, but I like the openness of the mayor's office right now.  Funksfrontporch has correspondences from all aspects of the office...internal information that has never really been available to Joe-Citizen under previous regimes.

Before you dismiss the importance of this, check out this column by Ted Gup at the Washington Post and his thoughts on the backroom and private politics taking place in Washington DC.

According to Gulp, The Information Security Oversight Office of the US Government (wow, didn't know that even existed) claims that in 1995, 3.6 million documents were stamped as "classified", "secret" or "top secret".  In 2005, that number is now up to over 14 million.

Gulp then laments that "secret" information is usually less accurate than open information because secret information has not been open to debate - -and it's easier for someone to game the system without open debate.

But what Gulp finds more alarming is the general public's increasing tolerance for secrecy.

"Without timely information, citizens are reduced to mere residents, and representative government atrophies into a representational image of democracy as illusory as a hologram."

If anyone thinks that information is free and open, look no further than the KC Star's Buzz Blog -- an insiders view into politics in this town that is only available to the few people who can afford the astronomical cost to pay for it. 

So I applaud what Funkhouser is doing with Funksfrontporch, and what other savvy leaders are doing by opening up more information to their constituents.  State Rep Jolie Justus has opened up similar dialogue with her blog Freshmeat, and Mark Forsythe did an excellent job of it during his campaign for city council.  As a society, we need to be more demanding of information of the inner-workings of our government.  Crucifying those who communicate because we don't agree with every decision will make us all losers in the long run.

Stepping up for the little guys

Late last week, our neighborhood association President got an email. The basic premis of the email is that KCP&L has decided to build an electrical substation taking up almost the entire city block along Troost from 32nd St Terrace to 33rd Street. According to our city council "representative", this process is very far along.

KCP&L says it needs the substation in order to upgrade the electrical in our area.

The problems with this location would be obvious to most, but there are several reasons why this is a horrible location for this venture:

#1, This is right in the middle of a neighborhood – it’s one thing to put an electrical substation in a business area, or in an off-the-beaten path area,  it’s another to put it butting up next to residential.  It will absolutely kill the property values of the people who live in these homes (all of which are on the National Historic Register).

#2 There has been a ton of work along Troost over the past few years…that is working to make Troost the gathering place it once was vs the proverbial black/white dividing line in the city.  This work is evident South of Brush Creek, but also very evident South of 31^st Street, including many renovated homes and buildings across the street from this proposed substation.  We arecloser to restoring Troost as a grand Boulevard it once was - -where it can be a gathering place for people of all races and ethnicity.  An electrical substation would create a “dead” block along Troost – stifling development of this corridor, and creating a further gap of a dividing line between the city’s races.

#3 According to the mayor Funkhouser's Blog, there is someone who is looking at property in this area as a potential location for a Children's Youth Center...in fact, one of the buildings that is of great interest is the building that is owned by the city that is NEXT DOOR to the proposed substation.  This project, which is badly needed, will most certainly relocate once knowledge of the substation becomes more public. 

Let me now say this isn't a case of NIMBY-ism on my part.  This type of thing doesn’t belong in the middle of anyone’s neighborhood – and certainly not along one of our primary historic streets.  There are many other locations nearby that are in abandoned commercial areas, or in areas that have been completely cleared out and are now empty land space (due to the overclearing out of homes along the building of 71 Highway) that would be solid locations for this venture.  Commercial areas wouldn't suffer as much from having a substation butt up against their property (nor would residences have to endure potential health risks) nor would these locations create a dead spot along a major corridor that would kill future growth, and further widen the white/black dividing line that exists in this city.

Since moving to this neighborhood, I've watched HUD violate their own section 8 concentration policies within our neighborhood.  I've watched drug deals and prostitution John calls. I've heard gunfire.  I live in one of the worst school districts in the entire US.  Who will want to reinvest into these neighborhoods if this is how the city/utilities treat the neighborhoods -- and the people who are trying to make the city a better place.

Will the city step up and look out for the little guys in this?  Or will they continue to look out for the businesses and utilities?  Are the new council members/mayor serious about being an organization about the people?  This is my test...

Kansas City likely going to violate Ozone Emissions today

Of course, we blame the lack of wind for not moving the pollutant out of the area.

Why are we dragging our feet on this light rail project?  And why are we worried about "parking" around the new Sprint Center instead of providing better ways to get to it?

Kansas City Isn't Ready to be a real city yet

So the Sprint Center is set to open in October, and in spite of not yet having an anchor tennent, they do have a lot of events planned. Yet, in spite of what should be an exciting time in KC, all anyone can seem to ask is "where are people going to park?"

You have GOT to be kidding me.

Council Woman Melba Curls expressed her concern that parking lots would jack up parking for big events...pricing some people out of attending. It's become obvious to me that some on the city council really don't spend a whole lot of time in this city.

Has Ms. Curls been to any events in Kansas City recently?  Let's see, it's $9 to park at a Royal's game, $20 at a Chief's game, $10 to park to go see a show at the Music Hall, $15 for the right to park in a gravel pot hole near Kemper Arena...let's face it folks, it costs money to park your car to go to events -- ANY EVENTS -- in Kansas City, or any other city.

Instead of adding to people's (unwarrented) concern about parking, why not start mentioning parking garages that are close to the Sprint Center so people know where to park?  Why can't the Star open up it's 3 city blocks of surface parking for evening parking when most of their staff isn't working and events are taking place?  Why not mention, I don't know, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION that people can take to events (assuming the masterminds of the event don't block off buses from their normal routes on event nights).  Why not at least MENTION the Max at some point during the article (that's how I'll be getting to events)?  The availability of public transportation is one of the major pluses to building a downtown arena/stadium/convention center/office building/loft/etc. 

Former Councilman and mayoral hopeful Becky Nace actually had the single best statement of anyone durng the entire mayor's race when she said at one of the forums that what we need is LESS convenient parking downtown to encourage people to take public transportation.  It's a novel idea....it's what almost every major city in the country does.  If Kansas City wants to become a real, urban city, then we should PROMOTE the things that make it that...not dwell on the things that don't make it suburban Johnson County (like that's a bad thing). 

Until we start thinking like a city, we will never become one...

Capitalizing on a Trend

One of my favorite sources for cultural trends is a site called trendwatching.  These month's main trend is about the societal shift in buying locally made goods.

There are a lot of reasons people are migrating back to buying local goods.  Obviously environmental concerns are ahead of the list, as people realize the impact of bringing food in from other areas of the country or world is having on our environment.  The affects of this are everywhere:

The most obvious example is the desire for locally grown food that has spurred the growth in Farmer's Markets.  Anyone who went to any of the local Farmer's Markets 10 years ago and goes now will tell you the difference in crowds over the past decade.

Meanwhile, many companies are responding. One UK Grocer called Tesco has begun to introduce Carbon Footprint labels on all of its goods. Dole Organic allows you to track your bananas online using a 3 digit farm code printed on their labels.  UK based Chippindale Foods has started putting freshness and farm labels on its eggs (if it's important that my Budweiser has a born on date, it's probably much more important that my eggs have one) that allow you to track your eggs at their website wheresyoursfrom.com. 

This trend is also starting to shift to clothing -- as people look to buy clothes that aren't made in Chinese (or pick your country) sweat shops. 

They are also looking for unique items, ones that have good stories, that lead to a certain prestige in having this unique (and local item).  People also like the feeling they get from buying their goods from someone local -- and helping the local company.

You can read the entire report here -- it's well worth the time.

Meanwhile, all of this got me thinking, what could Kansas City (or maybe the State of Missouri?) do to encourage this trend.  What would be the benefits?

What if we waived city sales tax on all locally made goods?  This would certainly encourage people to buy more Boulevard Beer instead of other microbrewed beers.  I know it would mean several more cases of Lunar a year in my household.

What about encouraging buying Parisi or Roasterie Coffee vs Starbucks?  Would the increase in sales (and thus jobs) of these local companies be more than the lost sales tax revenue?

Would such a policy encourage some large corporations to open up manufacturing facilities in Kansas City?   Or could we somehow incent these companies to move here on their own to capitalize on this trend?

I always hesitate to incent things that people are already doing...sometimes it seems unneccessary, and I'm well aware of the unintended consequences of many of these incentives.  But it sure seems like an opportunity to increase growth among our local businesses? 

Or maybe it's wishful thinking on my part to get a discount on my Boulevard Beer :)

Thoughts?

Two officers per car or one?

A police officer was shot earlier this week and has KCMO police officials rethinking whether police officers should continue to travel solo, or if they should go back to having officers travel in pairs vs traveling solo.

The KCMO police force went single fleet earlier this year when a consultant recommended that the force do it.  There are several advantages to going to single fleet officers:

1) It basically doubles police presence by having twice as many cars on the street at any given time without increasing staff

2) It should allow for backup cars/officers to be closer for support in times of need

3) There are fewer police brutality issues that arise with single-fleet officers

4) Studies have shown (in spite of what logic says) that single fleet officers are actually safer than dual fleet officers because dual fleet officers are more likely to "rush into" a situation because they have backup, where single fleet officers are more likely to take a bit of extra time to assess the situation and wait for backup to arrive.

I understand the Chief's decision is difficult.  If I were an officer, I'd want to have a partner.  And our officers' lives should be a top concern.  However, my hope is that the Chief makes his decision after doing thorough research. 

The man who shot at the officer left his vehicle and started shooting a semi-automatic weapon at the officer.  This is NOT the normal run-of-the-mill stop that put this officer's life at risk.  As difficult as it may be, it is never smart to make an important policy decision on something that represents only a very small percentage of traffic stops. While the rash judgment would be to go back to dual-fleet forces, making a decision to protect officers from the rare .1% of cases may not be in the officers' or citizen's best interest.

Let's be smart, and not over-react to a fluke situation.