Funk's Front Porch

Mayor's Press Conference

Below is a link to the Mayor's Press Conference last Tuesday.

http://kansascity.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=304 

Government Performance Assessment

Date:                July 5, 2007

To:                   Mark Funkhouser, Mayor

                        Ed Wolf

                        Kendrick Blackwood

                        Mike Eglinski

From:                Joe Miller

Subject: Fund for the City of New York

On June 28 I met with Barbara Cohn of the Fund for the City of New York. We talked about the work her organization has done to develop more effective means of assessing government performance and engaging citizens in that process.

Read the entire memo: Download fcny.pdf

Also, read Mike Eglinski's earlier memo about the Fund for the City of New York's book Listening to the Public: Download listening_to_public.pdf

Truman Road

Notes from Crispin's meeting with David Biersmith, President of the Truman Road Corridor Association:

Download crispin.truman.6.11.07.pdf

Old Northeast

Crispin visited with residents of the Old Northeast area of the city. Here's what he reported to the Mayor:

Download crsipin.northeast.6.11.07.pdf

Various Community Meetings

Crispin reports on meetings he's had with with folks out in the community.

Download crispin.meetings.6.11.07.pdf

Dispatches from Tara

Friday, May 11, 2007

Eggs and Enlightenment – A speaker from Freedom Fire Urban ministries, a white man from Johnson County, Kansas, spoke about mentoring children from the urban core to the mostly black, mostly male audience. They were, for the most part, supportive of him, until he said that the situation for blacks as a whole in the urban core was “hopeless.” Maurice Herron was the first to speak out, saying that he had to disagree strongly with that point. Herron said that if the blacks in the urban core viewed their and their children’s futures as hopeless it would be a disaster for the community. Herron said there was “a new sheriff in town” who was going to give special attention to their long-forgotten needs. Moreen Jenkins from W.O.M.B. Inc. gave a presentation about her radio program, which allows women who call in to vent about everyday issues. Next, Maurice had each person make one positive statement about the black community, which I thought was an excellent idea. At the end of the meeting, they introduced me and talked a little about my father’s unexpected visit the previous week. I told the group that Crispin or I would try to attend the Eggs and Enlightenment meetings every Friday. This was the second meeting I’d attended, and the group seems informed about citizen issues and local government. The members are very passionate and optimistic about making changes and seeing progress in their communities.

Third District Tour with Ron McMillan and Mark Porter – These two men are incredibly informed about and involved with the citizens and communities in the Third District. I learned more about the area in an hour than I had in all my years living in Kansas City. They were eager to show me the area, pointing out corners where drug deals happened, parks where gangs dueled it out at night, the cemetery for the kids who were caught in the crossfire and houses where young girls were held hostage by men who intended to rape them. Other problems in the area included the absence of black businesses, especially the many vacancies in the Linwood Shopping Center, abandoned community centers that, according to Porter and McMillan, the previous Mayor’s administration had promised to fill, abandoned and dilapidated homes and general physical eyesores. For the most part, the area looked like it could be dramatically improved if trash was picked up, property codes were enforced and police were present in the area. Then businesses would feel safe to open, operate and flourish. It was eye-opening for sure, and I was eager to schedule another community tour with them. I also invited them to accompany me the following Friday to march with the 24^th Street Non-Violent Marchers, an organization they also shed some light on.

Meeting with Arthurine Criswell, former Disproportionate Minority Contact coordinator for Kansas City – I learned some interesting facts about disproportionate minority contact: for example, about 70 percent of the kids in juvenile detention centers are black even though they represent only about 30 percent of children. The program works to keep kids out of detention centers, using alternatives such as “alternative to detention centers” and homes. Problems included a lack of beds in these alternative centers, especially for girls. This forces these children into detention centers, which Ms. Criswell said were harmful to children.

- TS

Listening to Regular Folks

For years, the City Auditor's office has been conducting Citizen Satifaction to get a sense of how Kansas Citians feel about what's happening at City Hall. And now the Comm Team in the Mayor's Office is lining up weekly Town Hall meetings that'll begin on June 14 in the Third District. The reason, of course, is to get an even deeper sense of how Kansas Citians feel about what's happening at City Hall.

But an article in the most recent issue of Governing Magazine suggests that these efforts aren't enough. The writers suggested focus groups:

The little city of Aspen, known best for its ski resorts, is a good example. It wanted to deal with some complex issues of growth and development, and began with a series of 15 focus groups to find out what was on people’s minds. The groups, which brought in diverse portions of the town’s population, helped to set an agenda for two large town hall meetings in which about 440 people (out of a population of 6,000) were able to make their opinions known.

This process — starting with focus groups, which then inform broader surveys or large, open town meetings — appears to be gaining favor. It certainly makes sense.

- JM