Kuhn Responds..........Which Causes Me to Respond Back

Well, Dawn Kuhn responded to my email, which necessitated a response back by me:

Her response:

My maiden name is Dawn White.



I am paid appropriately by both the City of Shawnee and my private employer. I file the correct Federal and State tax forms accordingly.

Dawn Kuhn


Council Member Ward 3


City of Shawnee

My reply to that:
 
Ms. Kuhn,



You are still not answering the questions. Why are you using two different names for payment from the City of Shawnee? Your payroll is White and your expenses are Kuhn.


As for your private employer, which is it? Are they paying you under your maiden name as the city does? Or are they paying you as Kuhn?


Very simple questions.


Ray Erlichman

Is it Kuhn or is it White?

This thing with the last names for Council Member Kuhn (see my previous posts  of 3/22/12 & 3/28/12) was sticking out like a sore thumb.  Decided to go straight to the source and get the info direct from the horse's mouth.  Sent Ms Kuhn the following email this afternoon:

Dear Ms. Kuhn,


Based on information contained at the web site http://www.kansasopengov.org I submitted some KORA requests to the City of Shawnee.


The Kansas Open Gov site does not list “Dawn Kuhn” as a council member for Shawnee but does list a “Dawn White”.


I found this to be perplexing, since you have filed on multiple occasions for the position as “Kuhn”, are registered to vote as such, and won elections under that name. It also appears that you may have signed some of the campaign finance reports as such.


The KORA requests came back and verified that:


a. You appear on payroll for your council member’s salary with the surname of “White”


b. You receive reimbursements for expenses as a council member with the surname ‘Kuhn”


Would you care to explain why the multiple names for various reimbursements by the city to you?


Additionally, I cannot inquire of Bank Midwest as to how you appear on their payroll, but it would be interesting if you would supply that information. You are designated I believe as a Vice-President and Banking Center Manager as “Dawn Kuhn”. Do they pay you as “Kuhn” or do they pay you as “White”?


Thank you,


Ray Erlichman

Where Are the Line Items?

Well, the "Minutes" package for the 5/22/12 committee meeting has been posted, but without the line item budgets, just the summary minutes.

Where are they?  Hmmmmm, there were some items that Councilmember Sawyer questioned and he was told they could be discussed by contacting the city manager later.

Maybe some members of the community have questions.  Why not post them on line?

Do we know how to spell transparency?  I know, it's spelled "contact me later".

Vacancy in Ward II

In a surprise move, David Morris resigned last Thursday night as council member from Ward II.

The process for filling that position has started, and the information is available at
http://www.cityofshawnee.org/Web/ShawneeCMS.nsf/vwNews/F183A8791A7F497686257A0D0059B887?OpenDocument

Budget Meeting - What Happened 5/22/12?

I waited until today to post my comments because I wanted to see when the minutes and the minutes packet would be posted on the city's web site.  Usually it is done within 2 days of a meeting.  As of this morning they have not been posted.

There were some interesting items brought up at the meeting and folks need to read and hear the info.

One thing that I found strange was that at the beginning of the meeting the city manager handed out line item budgets for each department.  (What is in the agenda packet for each department are not line item budgets).  She then told the council members that they would not be discussing them and if anybody had any questions they could contact her individually. 

Well, Council member Sawyer questioned the overtime expenditures for some of the departments.  Not because he felt they were unjustified, just wanted some clarification.  That's normal.  The third time he asked, the repartee between him and the city manager got quite contentious.  She informed him he could contact her later and they would discuss.  He then made some comment about would that be a back room discussion. 

So, where are these line item budgets?  Why aren't they or the minutes package on line?    Why couldn't council members discuss line items in open session?  Why would they have to contact the city manager away from the meeting?  You can (or should be able to hear) the back and forth on this on the audio version of the meeting.

Historical date:  Jeff Vaught actually expressed concern about something that I agree with.  He was concerned about the city continuing to use Lotus Notes as the basis for various databases and other computer functions.  Definitely something that needs to be researched further.

Budget Meeting - Tuesday 5/22/12

7:00PM  Tue 3/22/12 at city hall

From the city's email announcement:

"This budget meeting will be a review of the General Fund including:



revenues, background and options related to critical issues,


Information Technology program; and, department presentations"

Economic Development..............Who Pays?

Pretty buzz words aren't they?  Economic development..................wow............gotta have it...........maybe..........sometimes..............who pays for it?  What is the return?

OK, here is an opinion piece that was in the KC Star today.  Now, it is a little on the lengthy side, but definitely deserves a read.  And yes, it is regarding a situation between KCMO and Overland Park, but certain items satnd out.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/09/3603413/picking-taxpayers-pockets-for.html

Now, when you read that article, pay particular attention to this portion of it:

Teva Neuroscience soon will get what it wants which, according to the city staff report, is “proximity to the Overland Park convention center and the city’s other amenities.”
 
Wait a minute.
 
Didn’t the public help build all those amenities partly to attract companies like Teva, per Eilert’s tactics many years ago? Absolutely. But now taxpayers will have to shell out again to actually get the businesses to come to Overland Park. Disgraceful
 
Taxpayer money to build the attractions that were supposed to attract new businesses, and now taxpayer money to pay those new businesses for coming into the area?????
 
Interesting, huh? 

Each and every future economic development plan for Shawnee needs to be gone over with a fine tooth comb.  Bully tactics against those who raise objections are not to be tolerated.   Some plans are good, some are typical "stick it to the taxpayers".  The bully tactics are like "if you're not in favor of this economic development plan then you are anti-Shawnee". Complete analysis is needed of each plan pur forth.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/09/3603413/picking-taxpayers-pockets-for.html#storylink=cpy

Budget Items for 2013

Some of the budget items for 2013 will be discussed at the council committee meeting Tuesday, 5/8/12 at city hall at 7:00PM

Go here and click on the agenda packet for 5/8/12 to see the items to be discussed that evening:

http://www.cityofshawnee.org/WEB/ShawneeCMS.nsf/vwContent/AgendasMinutes?OpenDocument&navKey=AgendasMinutesGovernment

Repeating Info For Veterans

Memorial Day this year is Monday, the 28th.  There will be various activities in the metro area.
Some of these activities will most likely include the playing of the national anthem and the colors being raised or marching by.

As such, I'd like to repeat a post from last year:


The Defense Authorization Acts of 2008 and 2009 had some interesting changes.


Veterans, and active duty military in civilian clothing now have the option of rendering the military style hand salute instead of the civilian hand over the chest salute. This applies to the raising, lowering or passing of the colors as well as during the playing of the National Anthem.

Those individuals who are wearing cover (hats/caps for the uninformed civilians) may keep the cover on while rendering the hand salute. If they choose to perform the civilian hand over the chest then they should remove their cover, and hold it over their chest.

Budget for 2013

Are you interested in the city's budget and how your tax dollars are spent?

The list of meeting dates for this item are on line at http://www.cityofshawnee.org/WEB/ShawneeCMS.nsf/vwContent/2013BudgetCalendar?OpenDocument

Get involved..................