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Anti-rail flow chart

October 29, 2008 |

The anti-rail crowd isn’t just some shady car wash owners and cranky old dinosaur businessmen. It goes right into the heart of the local political establishment, much of which is supposedly pro-rail. If you follow the money, you’ll see the complex web behind the scenes of Kansas City politics.  One of the biggest beneficiaries of the campaign is Pat O’Neill, with $61,000 so far.  He is part of the Citizens Association, a group that acts as gatekeeper to local politics.  Most of the current pro-rail City Council was endorsed by the association, and in turned payed O’Neill for campaign PR services. So most of the folks who voted to put light rail on the ballot have previously given money to the guy hired to defeat rail. And some people have been wondering why most councilmembers have been quiet during much of the recent rail campaign.

Also involved is a guy named Patrick Tuohey, an anti-government activist who ran the 2006 effort to put a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights on the Missouri ballot. That campaign was well-funded by out of state activists who crusade against virtually all government programs. Tuohey is now the spokesman for the anti-rail group and has received at least $14,000 from Jim Nutter’s Citizens for Responsible Spending.

Also, there is the relationship between James B. Nutter, Sr. and Mayor Mark Funkhouser.  Nutter was a big supporter of Funkhouser in the mayoral race, yet the two are now on opposite sides of the light rail debate. Tricky stuff, folks.

Finally, the story wouldn’t be complete without the Heavy Constructors Association.  This historically anti-rail group of construction companies is officially neutral in this year’s election, yet relatives of the group’s past president have contributed to the anti-rail campaign.

Confused yet? It’s just the nature of the incestuous relationships that are behind the scenes of local politics. See the flow chart.


Comments

7 Comments so far

  1. Mark on October 29, 2008 9:09 am

    Your flow chart is a little bit flawed. It doesn’t show the next layer down and it still thinks that Alvin Brooks is a councilman.
    Some of the machinations that have taken place with this election are because extreme pressure in the form of verbal suggestions that some organizations and persons would have their projects slow up or derailed. Wait until this election is over. You will get rumors of some very upset individuals seeking revenge, payback.

  2. William Rockhill Nelson on October 29, 2008 9:25 am

    It doesn’t claim that Brooks is still on the Council. It just shows he gave money to the Citizens Association.

  3. Mark Forsythe on October 29, 2008 9:48 am

    Nice work on the flow chart. I hadn’t thought about why the Citizens Association has been silent on the light rail proposal until now.

  4. Hippstar on October 29, 2008 6:11 pm

    This chart is why I hate politics and can’t bring myself to be moved by any political candidate of any party. Depressing.

    At least I’ll always have alcohol.

  5. John Davis on October 30, 2008 10:38 pm

    Do you blame some of the people involved? Eminent Domain will probably take $150 Million of the well-over-a-billion dollars this project will be estimated at, just one day after the election. This will include some people’s houses and hard-earned businesses, who inevitably will get the screw and in fighting for what’s fair for them will get bogged down for years in the courts. But as long as we can have a pretty train…Too bad they couldn’t just expand the MAX to cover 50 miles for 1/10th of the cost.

  6. William Rockhill Nelson on October 31, 2008 8:37 am

    John, What are you talking about with eminent domain? The light rail project is going to be within existing street right of way. No houses or businesses will be taken to build the rail system. This is a lie being pushed by the foil hat crowd.

  7. John Davis on November 12, 2008 10:57 pm

    Where is it that stations will be built around downtown through the plaza and beyond? Does the city own 10+ acres in which to build a maintenance yard along the projected line? One of the things that caused this initiative to fail is the fact that the council was so adamant about getting it out there without even hammering out any details. No ridership projections, no details about the ‘larger’ items. I have spent enough time in big cities to know that a rail system usually has a maintenance yard at either end of the line, and ALWAYS has one at one end, with a smaller yard at the other for turnarounds and whatnot. Explain to me where this yard should go, and if the city doesn’t own the land, and needs 10+ acres for something, what they do then. I’m all for transit, believe me, but you gotta hand out some more details. Why does Portland have a great system? The local officials are very pro-active with transit, the citizens are highly educated, living in a denser area, and things such as a billion dollar+ initiative are detailed out prior to anyone voting on them. KC? Re-active. Oooh, crime rate doubled again from last year? Buy more steel plates for the roads. Losing population? Raise the property tax levy for the schools. You could melt a boat in the toxic MO River around downtown? Build a pier at the river market to nowhere for a few million.

    Educate your people.
    Be proactive with solutions, not bandaids.
    Explain the issues.
    Infighting leads to outflow.

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