Sep

11

Shields immortalized in courthouse mural

September 11, 2006 |

I’ve always thought it was tacky to name things after people who are still living, such as Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and the Charles Wheeler Downtown Airport.  It’s even tackier when it’s an elected official still in office. Outgoing Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields‘ presence will remain in the County Courthouse long after she vacates her office.  Shields is one of the many county employees being immortalized in a new mural on the courthouse’s second floor.

Next time you are in the courthouse be sure to stop by the second floor and look up at the woman who brought us twelve years of botched assessments, missing tax bills, missing COMBAT money, federal investigations, massive stadium debt, and generally shoddy management. Oh, and also a fabulous domestic partner registry and recycling bins in the courthouse.

The Kansas City Star

Shields depicted in fresco

Instead of “Where’s Waldo,” starting today visitors and workers at the downtown Jackson County Courthouse can play a game of “Where’s Katheryn.”

Katheryn Shields is exiting as county executive Dec. 31, but her visage will remain behind to observe her successors. That’s because New York artist Chris Doyle is putting up a mural with portraits of county employees, including Shields, plus an appearance by Harry S. Truman.

“Vault,” the digital fresco on the second floor ceiling is costing taxpayers $100,000 and should be completed within a week. Shields will introduce Doyle to county legislators today. Brochures on “Vault” are available in Shields’ office.


Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. logtar on September 11, 2006 1:04 pm

    You know that if you were to get the chance to get a street named after you, you would totally go for it. LOL

  2. ChrisM70 on September 11, 2006 8:54 pm

    It’s ok if you don’t think Shields is competent (a lot of people feel the same way), but are you saying that domestic partner registry and recycling are BAD things?
    Those two things sound like good ideas to me…

    However, Immortalizing current county employees in a mural is NOT a good idea. It reminds me of the capitol dome in Oklahoma. A few years ago they added a dome to the Oklahoma capitol using corporate donations. All of those donors got their names inscribed around the inside of the dome - including Hobby Lobby and… yep - ENRON. It is tacky and it makes the Oklahoma capitol look like it is OWNED by corporate interests. Actually, it probably is…

  3. ChrisM70 on September 11, 2006 8:56 pm

    CORRECTION:

    Sorry. It wasn’t Enron. It was HALLIBURTON. (I was in the same evil ballpark)

    Here’s a picture link:
    flickr.com/photos/elasticsoul/16653858/

  4. ray on September 13, 2006 8:31 am

    Ugh. What a waste of taxpayers’ money.

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