Jeff Vaught Gives Citizens of Shawnee the Middle Finger

Strong words.  True story. 

The National League of Cities has two conferences a year.  One is in November (rotated among various cities) and one is March (in Washington DC).

This year's November conference is in Charlotte, NC, Nov 15-18, 2017.

Based on information received today, from Shawnee, pursuant to an information request, Jeff Vaught is one of the council members signed up to attend this conference.  What kind of nonsense is this?  This from a man who has stated on numerous occasions that he was elected to be a steward of the city's (taxpayer's) money.  These trips usually average $1500 to $2500 per person going. 

Why is Vaught listed?  He got his fanny spanked in the primary (8/1/17) and as such will not even appear on the November ballot.  As a matter of fact he will no longer be on the council as of January 2018.

Regardless of what ward a citizen lives in (he represents Ward 3), this is an affront to ALL citizens of Shawnee.  It is imperative that the community lets the governing body know how insulting this is to the city (taxpayers). 

Maybe he liked the idea of this, found by clicking here.

The City of Charlotte will host what promises to be an epic closing celebration on Saturday night. Join your fellow delegates in the convention center ballroom for a special performance by the legendary Commodores! Dance the night away with this beloved R&B and funk group that helped define the motown era with hit after hit, including the tune we all know and love, “Brick House.”

Anybody wanna bet that the bird cage liner Shawnee Dispatch doesn't cover this?

Info from the city 12:23 PM 8/31/17:

Here is the list so far. It is subject to change.
Mickey Sandifer
Stephanie Meyer
Jeff Vaught
Jim Neighbor
Vicki Charlesworth

Ward 4 Beware - Lindsey Constance Dem/Liberal Doubletalk

Lindsey Constance, a candidate for Ward 4 city council in Shawnee is typical of the Democrat/Liberal mindset when it comes to doublespeak.

First, let's certify her democratic/liberal credentials:  Public records available at the JoCo Election Office indicate that she is a registered democrat.  Her 7/24/17nancial filing form clearly indicates a donation from the Johnson County Democrats.

So, why beware of this type of candidate.  History, and recent events show that when that say they "want to talk, to have dialogue etc" on a subject it is only good if you agree with them.  If you disagree, well, just look at what can happen.  Traditionally, they are not willing to accept ideas other than their own.  Just look at how the democratic/liberals, for all that they profess, are trying to curtail free speech around the country.

I'm a Ward 4 resident, and I don't want a candidate like this to represent me on the city council.

Brandon Kenig and His Sour Grapes

Oh by gosh by golly.  A candidate loses the primary and then goes on a rant in the Shawnee Dispatch
spewing some of the same items he did in his campaign literature. Why?  The voters did not buy it when he campaigned on it.  Why should they buy it now that he is a defeated candidate. 

I am not going to go through his rant item by item but have covered some of them before, right here.
He touts the increase in safety personnel.  How much of that has been covered by federal grants?  A bunch.  He touts other safety items.  Again, federal grants and also an increase in mill levy.

He touts road repairs.  Whoops...........what about the sales tax increase that has been paying for that?

He says there are only two active TIF districts.  How many have been approved and are in the development stage?

Get to know Brandon.  He has an attitude.  Not sure why.  He was never elected to the council.  He was appointed to finish the term of the mayor after her election.  He mentions that he is the current council president.  True.  Ask him how many ballots the council went through to finally settle on him.

His rant is like a 5 year old spoiled brat who didn't get his way.  Maybe we should nickname him Kindergarten Kenig.  Poor baby........grow up.

There was one thing that was missing from his screed.  He didn't congratulate the folks that beat him in the primary and he did not wish them well.  If, and that is a big if, he had any sense of being a mensch (look it up) he would have done that.

I just had an epiphany.  Something hit me.  His name...........Kenig is a derivation of König (also spelled Koenig) which means "King".  Maybe he thinks he has a royal entitlement to the council seat.  LOL

BTW, over the years I have read many documents, papers, etc. coming out of city hall.  His screed, to me at least, has a flavor attached to it.  The flavor of a possible ghost writer.  Did a senior member of  staff assist in the drafting of the letter?  We will never know.

New Hypocrite Emerges in Ward 3 - Justin Adrian

Looks like the JoCo Democrats are fielding, IMHO,  a Class A-1 hypocrite for the Shawnee City Council.

Why do I say this?  Heck, he said it himself................see the below screen capture from his Facebook page (click on it to view larger):

 

 

He says "Our Armed Forces have given their lives for my freedom.  Thank you."  This coming from the man who proudly proclaimed that he was going to be a Hillary Clinton (the Witch of Benghazi) delegate at the Democratic National Convention.  We all know what kind of disdain HRC has for the military.  Where I come from that's hypocritical. 

 

My question for Mr. Adrian is: Why didn't you join the service?  You could have put in3 or 4 years.  That's another way to say "thank you" to those who have gone before.  Heck, as a college graduate you probably could have gotten an officer's commission.

 

BTW your opponent served...........

Did The Shawnee Dispatch Act in an Unethical Manner?

Did the Shawnee Dispatch cross over from reporting about an election to actively shilling for a particular candidate?  In their issue just released today they have a "Letter to the Editor" from Lindsey Constance, Ward 4 council candidate.  You can read it by clicking here  Decide for yourself.

Is this really a letter to the editor or is it a campaign mailer/statement of position?  You read it and decide for yourself.  I think it is a piece of campaign literature.  Maybe the Dispatch thinks they can be promoting one candidate over another.  Kind of like the Washington Post or the NY Times. 

For the record, I called both the local reporter/editor and the Journal World general manager and did not get a call back.  As a matter of fact, I was in Lawrence today and stopped by the Journal World (Dispatch's parent company) and their general manager was "in a meeting".

One last item.  The Dispatch's headline is very telling.  "Council candidate wants to put politics aside, focus on Shawnee’s economic future"  It just goes to show her naiveté.  What she says may sound good (let's sit around the campfire and sing kumbaya) but that is not the real world.  The real world is political.  And whether she wants to admit it or not, so is her position. The future of any city will have political overtones.  At least in our society.  Not necessarily in a liberal socialist society.    And she's a teacher?  Does she attempt to indoctrinate our youth with her personal liberal philosophy?

Vote Totals From Tuesday 8/1/17

tWell, the unofficial final figures are in at jocoelection.org  After the canvas required by statute the final figures will be posted.  These figures are interesting.

WARD 3:

Dave Myres                          597            45.61%
Justin Adrian                        408            31.17%
Jeff Vaught                           304            23.22%

Wow.............Vaught really lost touch with the voters of Ward 3.  This is the second primary where he got dumped.  The last one was the mayoral primary in 2015.  To have a person that was a Hillary Clinton delegate to the DNC (Justin Adrian) beat you, in this ward, then you really have lost touch with your constituents.  Stick to real estate or used car sales. 

Going forward, Dave Myres will serve the residents of Ward 3 in a manner that they will truly appreciate.  On November 7, 2017 elect Dave Myres as the Ward 3 council member.

Ward 4:

Tony Noble                     695       41.82%
Lindsey Constance         584       35.14%
Brandon Kenig               370       22.26%
Ajay Sood                         13         0.78%     

Maybe Kenig has learned that it's not nice to over embellish your qualifications in an attempt to make it look like you are the most fantastic candidate and council person to ever serve (even after only two years....appointed not elected).

Since the general election is in November, and the winners from that election will take office in January we are still stuck with these two lame duck incumbents for 5 months.  Anything that these two do that IMHO is detrimental for the city will be noted here. 

Going forward Tony Noble is the candidate to vote for on November 7, 2017.  He will represent the folks of Ward 4 in the manner that they want.

There are two more members of the council that need to go bye-bye, but that won't come up until 2019.  Suffice it to say one of them is from Ward 4 who endorsed Brandon Kenig.

Vaught & Kenig Kicked to the Curb

Voters in Shawnee's Wards 3 & 4 chose to kick two incumbents to the curb.  Jeff "The Arrogant One" Vaught came in third in Ward 3 and Brandon "Bobblehead" Kenig also came in third in Ward 4. 

Dave Myres will go up against Justin Adrian in Ward 3 and Tony Noble will go up against Lindsey Constance in Ward 4.  Adrian and Constance who both had support from the Johnson County Democratic Party would not be my choice for city council.  Adrian was a Hillary Clinton delegate to the  DNC and Constance, by her comments shows that she is out of touch with the majority of the voters.

The two lame ducks will be around until January when the winners of the November general election will be sworn in.  But, we can still celebrate the fact that they will not be coming back to the council after January.

So let's celebrate that Vaught and Kenig will be gone.............by "Dancing in the Streets"