Funk's Front Porch

Long-Term Solid Waste Strategic Management Plan

A project team selected by the City began work on a Long-Term Solid Waste Strategic Management Plan in September 2007 with a primary goal of identifying a long-term plan of action to effectively manage solid waste. Preliminary steps of this project will evaluate the City’s current and future solid waste needs. Evaluation criteria will observe collection, transportation and disposal of residential waste, as well as recycling contracts.

Further planning will involve creating a timeline in order to establish solid waste management needs for the next five,10, 15 and 20 years for Kansas City, Mo. and the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

Kansas City’s Solid Waste Division has one of the most cost-effective trash and recycling collection programs in the nation, spending $18.35 million annually or about $7 less per household than the national average. However, with local landfills reaching capacity, program costs are expected to increase and some waste disposal services and programs offered by the City could be eliminated. This is not just a Kansas City problem. It is a regional issue that needs to be remedied soon because the Greater Kansas City Area is creating trash faster than space can be found.

To learn more about the plan, the public is invited to meet the project team and share their ideas or concerns regarding this project. For additional information about the focus group effort or to take part in a focus group, please contact Jake Potter at: (816) 472-1930 or jpotter@janemobley.com

Tell Us What You Think at a Focus Group
The City of Kansas City, Mo., will host a series of community focus groups, throughout the month of October to gather input from Kansas City residents about the City’s development of a Long-Term Solid Waste Management Plan. Focus group dates are as follows:

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007
Tony Aguirre Community Center
2050 W. Pennway Terr.

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007
Line Creek Community Center
5940 N.W. Waukomis Drive

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007
Marlborough Community Center
8200 Paseo Blvd.

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007
Boy Scouts of America Scout Center
10210 Holmes Rd.

Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007
Ivanhoe Neighborhood Association
3700 Woodland Ave.

Monday, Nov. 5, 2007
Sterling Acres Baptist Church
11200 E. 47th St.

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007
Old Northeast, Inc.
6612 Independence Ave.

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007
Kansas City North Community Center
3930 N.E. Antioch Road>

For information about participating in a focus group, please contact Jake Potter at: (816) 472-1930 or jpotter@janemobley.com

Hispanic City Employees

At a recent meeting between the Mayor and Hispanic leaders, the issue of Hispanic leadership at City Hall was raised. Specifically, the community leaders wanted to know why there aren't more Hispanics in management positions in the City. I contacted Human Resources and asked for information regarding the City and Hispanic employment. They were very responsive and quick. Here is what they sent and the conclusions I was able to draw:

Download hispanic_employees.pdf

- CR

Sunshine Law

In early May, the Mayor sent a memo to the City Manager asking him to clarify the City's Sunshine Law policy. The Sunshine Law allows the public access to governmental information through open records and open meetings. It stipulates how a government body must respond when a citizen requests information, such as a budget document or the draft of a community master plan. However, when the Mayor's staff inquired about the City's Sunshine Law policy, it was learned that the City really only had a policy for information requests from members of the media, not from all other citizens. So the mayor asked for clarification.

Here is the City Manager's response, which came in last week: Download city_manager_sunshine_law_plan8.17.07.PDF

- JM

Westside Neighborhood

To: Mark Funkhouser

From: Crispin Rea

Subject: Westside Neighborhood

            Wednesday evening I met with residents of the Westside to discuss how the neighborhood could apply for the National Register of Historical Places.

Read the entire memo: Download westside_historic.pdf

311

To: Mark Funkhouser

From: Crispin Rea

Date: June 1, 2007

Subject: 3-1-1 Action Center

I met with Jean Ann Lawson, Department Head of the 3-1-1 Action Center. She gave me a summary of the role and purpose of the Action Center as well as insight into how the office works. The 3-1-1 Action Center serves as a central contact point for city services. The Action Center has been around since the 1970s however the 3-1-1 Call Center is only months old. Until three years ago the Action Center was unconsolidated. The first phase of the consolidation and use of the 3-1-1 call number now encompasses all city departments. Following phases will look at departments more specifically allowing cases to be handled in a more focused and detailed manner.

Read the entire memo: Download crispin.311.6.11.07.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

3-1-1 in NYC

Crispin and I were talking yesterday about some research he's doing into Kansas City's 3-1-1 service. Specifically, he wanted to know what the city does with its data. I told him he might want to check out what New York City does with the data they collect from a similar service.

M.E.

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