Obama's Big Date

So, Mr Obama decided it was time he kept his promise to his wife to take her to a NY play after the election.

What did that little marital promise cost the American taxpayers?

The cost of the plane (granted a smaller Gulfstream V as opposed to the larger 747)

The cost of security.

The cost of prepositioning (advance parties)

The cost to NYC for their support.

The cost of transporting staff and the press.

That becomes an expensive dinner for two and a show.

I'm guesstimating a cost in the neighborhood of $300k-$500K

When most folks are struggling to take their spouse to a neighborhood movie and a pizza this is outrageous.

The Obamas are personally millionaires. I would expect them to reimburse the government for this outrageous waste of taxpayer funds.

How many GIs returning from Iraq, Afghanistan etc could have a night out on the town with their spouses or significant others for all the money this little escapade cost?

Whooops...............Mea Culpa

I made a mistake.

Locks of Love provides hairpieces to children under 18 for a variety of medical conditions other than just cancer....chemo therapy.

Apparently there are other medical conditions that can cause that problem and Locks of Love is dedicated to helping children regain their self esteem.

Answer to Shawnee Trivia IV

We have a winner. Bob Penick got it right when he replied that Councilmember Michelle Distler will be getting her hair cut and donating the locks to Locks of Love.

Great orgaanization, as they create real hair wigs for children who are going through chemo therapy and who lose their hair during treatment.

When I asked Michelle what prompted her to do this she replied that she had read a story in the Dispatch about a little girl who was undergoing chemo and how she had lost her hair. Many children have problems when they undergo this treatment. It's bad enough having cancer, but then being a young child and losing your hair because of the treatment can be very difficult on a child. This particular young lady was apparently handling it very well (the hair loss), but it can be extremely difficult with others.

I asked Michelle what the basics were and she told me that an individual had to have at least 10 inches of hair to cut. That means that a person has to have even longer hair than that. It took her 3 years to grow her hair to the length needed, but now it's ready to be cut.

I applaud her for her caring attitude. As the parent of a child who is a survivor I think her actions are fantastic.

Those interested in the program can get additional info at http://www.locksoflove.org/

By the way.............guys who grow their hair long can also contribute.

Here's a picture of her before the haircut. I'll see what I can do about an "after" shot.

Shawnee Trivia IV

Which Shawnee City Council Rep is getting a major haircut and having the locks donated to Locks of Love?


Folks who think they may know the answer can email me by clicking here Be sure to include the date of the question with your answer. No prizes, but the first person with the correct answer will have their name and answer posted here. Since no prizes are being awarded, anybody can enter.

Will Talia Finally Respond?

Just sent State Rep Talia another email.

It is quoted below:

Good morning Mr Talia,

I am forwarding to you a copy of my email from 2/21/09 along with its attachment.

Don't you think it is about time that you responded? Or, do you feel it is appropriate to ignore questions from voters who reside within your district?

One would think that you might be interested in how your constituents feel about certain issues. One would also think that you might want to try and convince voters who did not vote for you last time, to change their minds when you come up for reelection. Folks do change their minds about their elected officials. Heck, you won office as a democrat in a district that is traditionally republican. Apparently you don't want me to change my mind about you.

Again, so you don't feel blindsided, a copy of this email will be posted at http://www.shawneeray.blogspot.com.

Ray Erlichman
Shawnee, KS

Answer to Shawnee Trivia III

The answer to the last trivia question is:

William Wurtz Jr was the city's first city manager.

The bonus question answer is Dennis Kallsen was the city clerk at the time.

Texting & Driving - Bad News

If you have read this blog for any length of time you know that I have pushed the Shawnee City Council to do something about the use of cell phones while driving.

It would be nice if Shawnee would take the lead on this subject rather than just being a jump on the bandwagon "me too" city.

A recent accident on I-29 appears to have been the result of texting while driving. More info can be read at this web site part of WDAF Fox 4.

Again I call for the city council to restrict the use of cell phones while driving unless a hands free device is used. I call for the city council to ban texting while driving.

At one council meeting one of the reasons given for not doing anything was that with metro cities bordering so close to each other drivers could be confused as to which city they are in. Actually that could be a positive. If they're not sure if they are in Shawnee or Merriam, or Overland Park or Lenexa, but think they are in Shawnee they might just be doing everyone a favor.

Another comment was that injuries have not been that high. I remember Council Member Sawyer's response to that "............they may not be high, unless it's your child."

Recently there was another horrific accident in Boston, Massachusetts, also caused by texting.

How many accidents have there been that texting or talking were the cause but not cited as such?

C'mon Shawnee..............take the initiative..........don't be a "me too" city on this one.

Heads up to the council: I will be bringing this up again at another council session. Not sure which one yet, but it will happen.

Shawnee Trivia III

Who was Shawnee's first city manager?
Bonus question: Who was the city clerk at that time?



Folks who think they may know the answer can email me by clicking here Be sure to include the date of the question with your answer. No prizes, but the first person with the correct answer will have their name and answer posted here. Since no prizes are being awarded, anybody can enter.

Common Sense Overcomes Hot Air

At a recent meeting (5/11/09) of the Shawnee City Council an increase in developer's fees was approved.

Some additional info can be found by clicking here.

During the discussion it was ponted out that the city was basically subsidizing the developers because fees have not been raised in literally decades. The corresponding fees in neighboring cities are and have been much higher for many, many years. This came out at the council committee meeting and in the packet included with the agenda for the council members/and the public.

Now, Kevin Straub has told me he thinks I pick on him. Well, anybody with any common sense who had attended the 5/11/09 meeting would see why. In all of his wisdom he had the chutzpah to say that he deals closely with developers and the higher fees would inhibit them from coming to Shawnee. Councilmember Sawyer asked Straub if that was the case why haven't the developers been flocking to Shawnee all these years when many of the fees were 1/5th to 1/7th of the surrounding cities.

One thing about Straub...............on a cold winter day you want to engage him in conversation, as everytime he opens his mouth you would be warmed up.

He couldn't understand why the increases were so large. Councilmember Distler pointed out that if he had attended the committee meeting, or read the documentation in the council meeting agenda packet he would have had the answers. Mr Straub didn't take kindly to that...........but he did try to blow off with a lame excuse why he couldn't read the back up info. Ms Distler then advised him that even with the high percentage of increases many of those fees were still going to be lower than neighboring cities.

Then up to the podium steps Kevin Tubessing a local developer. He was looking to have the fee increases phased in over a two year period. Councilmember Sawyer made some comments about the fact that Mr Tubessing had received various tax abatemements on his projects. If I remember correctly one of the more recent abatements was front loaded so that a higher percentage came off earlier. The total was within approved limits, but just more of it earlier in time.

Fortunately, the council did vote to approve the fee increases. Ironically, the increased amounts that were approved were for the most part actually higher than what city staff had asked for, yet still lower in some cases than surrounding cities. Good move on the council's part.

Since Kevin works so closely with developers what has he done to bring any of them to Shawnee in the 3 years he has been on the council?

The packet from last week's meeting is on line and the minutes will be.

Answer to Shawnee Trivia II

Engine 71 is the first piece of equipment in Shawnee to use solar panels so as to conserve the use of diesel fuel.

More info is available here

Shawnee Trivia II

What is the uniqueness of Engine 71 in the Shawnee Fire Dept?



Folks who think they may know the answer can email me by clicking here Be sure to include the date of the question with your answer. No prizes, but the first person with the correct answer will have their name and answer posted here. Since no prizes are being awarded, anybody can enter.

High Noon - January 26, 2010

No, there will not be a shootout on Shawnee Mission Parkway. No gunfight at the OK Corral. No guns blazing. No standing at the train station waiting for the bad guy to arrive.

That is the deadline for candidates to file for next year's municipal election.

Now some folks would say that that is almost nine months away. That is really not that long. Especially when one considers that four of the current council members are up for reelection (should they choose to run again). And, in my opinion, three of them need to be voted out if they do run. That is why I'd like to see 3 viable candidates file for those spots.

Ward 1: Ahhh yes..........Dan Pflumm. Fact.........when he ran for mayor he got tromped. The voters in his own ward handed him a resounding no confidence vote for his bid for mayor. Can he be an effective representative for them? Does he truly care about representing folks or is it all ego with this man?

Ward 2: Frank Goode has served the city for over 30 years. It's time for Frank to take a break. For quite some time now a variety of his actions and comments at council meetings have some folks wondering what he is thinking.

Ward 3: All one has to do is to attend a council meeting and they can find out for themselves why this person is the closest thing to being the class clown of this governing body. Most recently his wasting the council, the public and staff's time over the "rubber froggies". His recent second, that's right, second, (and very solid) defeat for De Soto USD 232 school board might just be a wake up call that his days as an elected official are numbered. If he is smart he won't even run for reelection.

Answer to Shawnee Trivia I

The first person with the correct answer is Bob Penick.

The answer: Mayor Keith Hayes 1973-1977

Shawnee Trivia I

Periodically, to have some fun, we will post a trivia question to this blog concerning Shawnee.

Folks who think they may know the answer can email me by clicking here Be sure to include the date of the question with your answer. No prizes, but the first person with the correct answer will have their name and answer posted here. Since no prizes are being awarded, anybody can enter.

First question:

Which mayor started the mayor-council-manager form of government?