At the 11/8/21 City Council meeting i brought up the fact that the Grillers BBQ event for this year was cancelled.
An email inquiry (actually it took two) asked on whose authority was the event cancelled. The city manager admitted it was him. He did say that the 90 participants were each given 25 tickets but that the general public was not permitted. Based on that number the most that would have been there was 2000. A copy of his email was given to the council.
I contacted the City of Lenexa. Since their Chili Cook Off was held in a similar time frame. They had an estimate of 12,000 to 15,000 people in attendance. Subtracting by their estimate 1000 for participants that still leaves 11,000 to 14,000 attending. With all the griping about needing more people visiting and shopping in Shawnee this was a kick in the butt to the city. But I guess that Lenexa either doesn't have a COVID-19 problem like Shawnee (sarcasm intended). IMHO, the city manager overstepped his authority. I don't think he even consulted the council. A copy of Lenexa's email was also given to the council. I requested that a copy of each be made a part of the minutes of the meeting.
This then reminded me of the cancellation of Old Shawnee Days this past spring. Granted, that event is run by the Old Shawnee Days Committee, an outside agency, but the city provides much needed support. Here is where we as a city got it stuck to us on that one. Even the carnival part was cancelled. So, what did the company that runs the carnival do? They wound up putting on their carnival, for five days, in Lenexa, at 95th Street in the old Kohl's parking lot.
Sidebar: I emailed my Ward IV council member, Jill Chalfie and asked for her opinion on the BBQ competition cancellation. Didn't email the other member, the lame, Lame Duck Lindsey Constance. To date Chalfie hasn't responded. We have bumped heads in the past, mainly because I think she is useless, and told her so. Somebody needs to clue her in that it does not bode well for an elected official to ignore constituent inquiries. That can lead to negative numbers at the next election. Wonder if she supports the city manager's action on the griller thing.
