Sandifer Fails to Respond

 Check my posting of 12/21/23 to read the email I sent to Mayor Mickey "The Mouse" Sandifer.

As of today no response has been received.  Actually, that does not surprise me.  Even though "The Mouse" claimed to want to interact with the citizens of Shawnee he forgot to add that that would only be for those who agree with him.  The other reason why he hasn't responded is because he lacks the intestinal fortitude to admit that I was right and he was wrong.  

It won't be long before Shawnee will become aware of how incompetent he really is and those who voted for him will wonder if they were part of the illustrious 330 voters who put him over the top.

Hidden camera recording of Mickey and friends at play:

Email Sent To Mickey "The Mouse" Sandifer

 When I was  in the army and we were presented with a task that was downright dumb we referred to it as a "Mickey Mouse" detail.  Hence the title of this post  Proceed and you will read an email I sent to Mayor Mickey Sandifer:

Mr. Mayor,

I am writing to you concerning your actions at the city council meeting of 12/11/23.  Please be advised that a copy of this email will be published on my blog.  Should you desire to respond just email me and I will post your response, in its entirety (unedited).

Let’s start with the beginning.  You made it a point to advise all present that the meeting would be conducted in a civil manner.  After I spoke regarding the lack of transparency concerning two appointments that you wanted to make your conduct towards the members of the council who apparently were wanting more transparency was anything but civil.  Listening to the audio and reading the minutes (once they are published) will confirm my analysis.  The Shawnee Mission Post, unfortunately gave you a pass on this one.

You kept stating that the appointments were “mayoral appointments”, as if the council had no say in the manner.  It is amazing that with all your years on the council you didn’t learn anything. Yet you used those years as a selling point in your campaign.  Why do I say you didn’t learn anything? The following is from the agenda of the meeting:

Consider the Mayor's selection of two councilmembers to participate in a joint work group with Planning Commissioners to review potential amendments to the Achieve Shawnee Comprehensive Plan.

The City's Comprehensive Plan is revisited and reviewed regularly to ensure the Plan remains relevant over time.  City staff has identified some portions of the plan that may need to be revisited for minor modifications.

Recommendation: Approve the Mayor's selection of two councilmembers to participate in a joint work group with Planning Commissioners to review potential amendments to the Achieve Shawnee Comprehensive Plan.

You will note that the mayor may make the selection, but the council has to approve the action.  Your dictatorial attitude and childish tantrum needs to be held in check.  Again, listening to the audio and/or reviewing the minutes will bear this out.  And again, the Shawnee Mission Post gave you a pass and apparently did not research that what you were attempting to do was not proper.  Or do you expect the council to be a “rubber stamp” council like the one you served on? 

When a member of the council suggested putting the item in front of the Council Committee prior to resubmitting it to the Council you basically went ballistic.  And, you showed that you did not understand your position, as you said that that was not right since you were not a member of the Council Committee.  Again, even after all your years on the council you failed to learn anything about our city government.  The following is an excerpt from Section Eight of Charter Ordinance 45:

The Mayor shall serve as an ex officio member of all Standing Committees but shall not have any voting rights on said Committees.

What that means Mr. Mayor is that you can sit in on the Council Committee meeting.  You can even voice your opinion and attempt to convince others of your position on an issue.  You just can’t vote on items presented to it.  Don’t believe me?  Check with the city attorney.  Maybe you need a refresher course in Shawnee 101.  And again, the Shawnee Mission Post gave you a pass on this one.  Did they ever research Charter Ordinance 45 to show that you were not accurate in your statement? 

You may have won the election, but you did not receive a mandate.  A difference of 330 votes when 14,544 votes were cast translates to the fact that almost half of those voting did not want you in that position and that they will be closely monitoring how you perform.  Just in case you don’t understand what a mandate is……..” When a politician wins an election by a wide margin, that's a mandate to implement their ideas.”

Ray Erlichman

Correspondence With Councilmember Burchfield

 Recently I emailed Councilmember Burchfield concerning the city council meeting of 12/11/23.  A copy of the email is listed below.  In keeping with a desire to maintain transparency her reply email, unedited, is also listed below.  Readers can judge for themselves what they think about each email.  They might also want to listen to the audio of the 12/11/23 meeting.

My email:

Councilmember Burchfield,

 At this past Monday’s council meeting after I made my comments about the lack of transparency regarding the possible appointment of two council members to a joint study group you commented to the effect that even though you were one of the designated individuals you had no problem with delaying action until Jan 8, 2024.

 When it came time to vote on moving the item to January you voted against it, as reported in the Shawnee Mission Post.

 Would you mind clarifying the contradictory action on your part?

 So that there are no misunderstandings regarding transparency, this email will be posted to my blog along with an unedited copy of your response.

 Thank you

 Ray Erlichman

Her reply:

Hello Ray,

Thank you for your email and the opportunity to clarify.

 I don’t believe my actions were contradictory. I spoke that I was open to a discussion on the appointments at the January meeting so that the public had enough time to be informed participants in the conversation. After further comments from city staff, other council members, and the mayor I voted no on the motion because I didn’t believe the Council Committee meeting was the correct place for the discussion, I did not think the Mayor intended to make appointments, and I didn’t believe the city staff were ready to move forward with the workgroup.

 Thank you,

 Laurel

Sandifer's First Night As Mayor - Hail Caesar & Tantrum Throwing

 Last night (12/11/23) was Mickey Sandifer's first night as mayor.  If ya wanna see an example of tantrum throwing and a dictatorial attitude just go to the audio of the meeting by clicking here. Then to save yourself some time go to the 1:54:01 mark.

Here's the background.  There was an item on the agenda about appointing two members of the council to a study group.  The agenda and its accompanying memo did not indicate who they were.  Yours truly contacted staff as to why there were no names listed.  The response was that with the change over the new mayor had not had time to make the selection before the agenda went public.  I found that strange since on a previous item his selection for the Planning Commission was listed.  I considered this to be a lack of transparency and signed up to speak on it.

Well, now comes the meeting and the item comes up.  After the planning director gave his info on the background of the study group, Mickey "Julius Caesar" Sandifer proceeded to go forward with ignoring asking if anyone had signed up to speak.  Yes, I had to shout it out from the audience, "what about those who signed up?" (Was he hoping to push the item and not allow me to speak?) He then asked if anybody had signed up.  I had NO  comments about the two appointees who were mentioned a few minutes earlier.  It was procedure.  Since "Julius Caesar" (hail dictator) had campaigned on transparency it was felt by yours truly that the item should be tabled until January 8th so that the public could be informed who the two appointees were and then comment on them if they thought it was warranted.

Now ya gotta listen to the audio.  Even the two prospective appointees agreed for transparency that the public should be able to comment and were not given that chance.   Listening to the audio you will hear how Sandifer loses it and throws a mini tantrum, especially taking the stand that the mayor appoints.  Yepper, the mayor appoints (actually recommends appointments) but the council has to approve.  It got to the point where "mini me mayor" indicated maybe he wouldn't make appointments.

Cutting to the chase, just listen to the audio.  BTW, the item did get tabled until January 8th, 2024 with all council members voting in favor of that.  

Hmmmm, wonder how the left leaning Shawnee Mission Post will cover Caesar's actions last night.

A word of advice to Caesar............ya better stop trying to be a mini me dictator or you'll lose the support even of your fellow lefties on the council.

Is The Shawnee Mission Post Moving?

 Curious!  Is the Shawnee Mission Post moving their offices?  Rumor on the street is that they are moving into a very beautiful Romanesque styled building.  Here's a picture of the building.  It is very beautiful. Only problem is that it has a slight bent leaning to the left.  It is located at Piazza del Duomo 56126 Pisa Pl, Italy,

Also, what is with their pleas for funding and getting more subscribers?

After each story the reporter who wrote it has a mini bio and a plea for more subscribers.  They want your money.  I remember when a monthly subscription was $5.99 now it's going to be $8.50.  Oh well, thank you Bidenomics.  Hey that's an idea.  Get the king of the lefties to pay (out of how own pocket with no funds from China) for every member of his staff.

What about their advertisers?  They run their ads to look like news stories but they do mark them as "sponsored".  They're not lying, it's just a little deceptive, but isn't that how left leaning media operations function?