Is The Bellmont Promenade Project Being Honest With the City?

It's come up again.  About Hobby Lobby and Dick's Sporting Goods.  Based on my blog post of 2/15/2018 and a previous article in the Shawnee Mission Post I would definitely think the council should ask to see letters of intent.

So folks don't have to look up the item from 2018, it is copied below:
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Bellmont Promenade - WOW or WHOOPS

Did Legacy Development snow the City with their proposal for the Bellmont Promenade project at Maurer and SMP?

A recent article in the Shawnee Mission Post https://shawneemissionpost.com/2018/02/12/hobby-lobby-dicks-sporting-goods-proposed-anchors-bellmont-promenande-shawnee-69711 indicates that two of the proposed anchors are Hobby Lobby and Dick's Sporting Goods.

Huh?  We had a Hobby Lobby in Shawnee at Pflumm and SMP about a mile or so from the Bellmont Promenade project.  It was closed, because Hobby Lobby consolidated some of their stores into a new location near Ikea on Johnson Drive.  Is Hobby Lobby really going to come back to Shawnee?  I'd question that.  Would Dick's Sporting Goods really put a store in Shawnee with one in the Merriam Town Center across the road from the Ikea location.

Look at the list of the other proposed tenants.  Where is the WOW that the developer said we would get?  Where are the truly unique destination businesses that would draw shoppers from outside of Shawnee?

Was the city given a snow job?  I remember all of the HS students that spoke in favor of the project.  They said they wanted to have jobs closer to home (understandable) as opposed to working at  the Legends at Village West.  But seriously, what kind of jobs would HS students be qualified for?  Would they be jobs in upscale WOW type of destination retailers.

IMHO, this project is not a WOW.  It is a WHOOPS. 

Hot Dog - The Signs Are Gone

See my post below.  Did somebody finally get the message?  LOL

The deceptive signs are now gone.  Wheeeeeeee.  Whose chimes got rung on that one?

Now all we need is for the developer to come thru with quality food and retail that they were beating their chests about in 2017.  Ain't a gonna happen!!!!!!

Oh well, at least now folks won't get a false preview of what is/is not going in there.

And The Deception Continues

On January 12th I posted an item about the deception of the developer for the Westbrooke Green project.  In that post was an image of the sign placed at the entrance to the development (there are two of these signs).  It was noted that the developer is still using an image from the December 2017 plans for the development and not from the scaled back version of December 2019. 

To me, showing an image of a project that will not be done is deceptive.  There is a big difference from what the city was told in 2017 to what has been chopped up in 2019. 

I also was critical of Council Member Larson-Bunnell for voting for the current project.  In one of her replies to me she indicated that she had not been on the council in 2017.  Duhhhhhh, she could have researched the info to see the big differences.  Oh well, so much for common sense, or lack thereof.

Now, let's talk about certain council members.  The aforementioned Larson-Bunnell, Zimmerman and Constance.  These three are what is left of the group that voted for the severely reduced project.  This project stinks.  The developer is getting a load of incentives to include the fact that the city is giving up its 1% sales tax at that location.  When will the city ever see any financial benefits from this project?   What will it cost the city in services because of this project?

These three council members are all up for reelection in 2021.  Actually about 1-1/2 years from now if there are any primaries.  These three were also supporters of the boondoggle known as the community center.  You know the one.  The one where they thought it was a good idea to blow $54 million on a project and have the citizens of Shawnee foot the bill in higher property taxes and user fees.  Amazing isn't it?  Hit the citizens up for money for a boondoggle and then have no qualms about giving up incentives to a developer who has deceived the city.

These three need to be defeated at the next election should they be dumb enough to run.  As for Constance, she wants to be a state senator and has filed for the election this year which is only nine months away.  Her actions on the city council indicate that she could care less about Shawnee and its citizens.  She would be a disaster as this city's representative in the state senate.

I Got My Hand Slapped

Yepper, I got my hand slapped, by the mayor at the city council meeting of Jan 27, 2020.

Mickey Sandifer was being appointed to the Visit Shawnee committee.  I spoke in opposition to that appointment.  Why, because Sandifer had deliberately gone to a National League of Cities meeting at the end of November knowing full well that he would not be serving on the council anymore.  Former coucnilmember Stephanie Meyer did the same thing.  Sandifer's expense for that meeting were approximately $2,500.  He has a history of atending every NLC meeting every year.  There are two of them a year.  And, his expenses were usually the highest of all the Shawnee attendees.

Anyway I objected to his appointment.  Immediately after taking my seat the mayor had this to say (copied from the minutes of the meeting):

MAYOR DISTLER: If a Councilmember chooses to do that I would certainly honor it, but I would like to give my reasoning as to why I am appointing Mr. Sandifer personally because this man has given more time to this City before he was ever a Councilmember, during the entire time he was a Councilmember, and wants to continue to give his time to this City after he’s a Councilmember. And of anybody that understands the value that volunteers bring and what we save in money, I think it would be someone who is an active volunteer with our City. And he has put in more hours than that $2,500 will ever, ever be paid in this [inaudible], ever. Just Old Shawnee Days, he is there from before opening until after close for four days in a row and every single event that this City puts on. So, that $2,500 that does not repay his service to the City.

So, I guess wasting $2,500 of the city's money is OK because of his volunteer work? Hope he had a nice time in San Antonio.  Wonder how many seminars he attended, or did he take one of his grandkids and go sightseeing instead?

Kansas State Constitution

At the Jan 13, 2020 council meeting one item I brought up from the floor was a "homework" assignment for the newly sworn in members of the city council.  The assignment was a simple one:  to read Section 3 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the State of Kansas.  Remember, all council members took oaths to support and defend that document and the Constitution of the United States.

Every once in awhile some existing council members also need to be reminded of the contents of that item. It seems that occasionally we get a member of the council who thinks they are better than everybody or that they know everything.  They fall into the category of extreme arrogance.

Anyway for the newbies, and those that may have forgotten it, here is that section of the document, with certain items highlighted by yours truly.

§ 3. Right of peaceable assembly; petition. The people have the right to assemble, in a peaceable manner, to consult for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, for the redress of grievances.

For the record, the Bill of Rights comes before the other sections of the constitution.  There was a reason for that!!!!!!  Oh, and that section has been in effect since 1859.

Is Lisa Larson-Bunnell the "Mystery" Councilwoman?

Please see my blog post right before this one.

Is Lisa Larson-Bunnell the "mystery" councilwoman mentioned in the lawsuit filed by Austin Homes?  Even though she denied it to a member of the community just prior to the council meeting of 1/27/20?

Remember this info from the lawsuit: 

"(b) The prejudgment of the matter by another councilmember, who wrongfully and inappropriately (i)offered to assist the owners of neighboring properties in preparing the protest petition before the Application had been heard by the Planning Commission; (ii) attend the Planning Commission to publicly show her support of those in opposition; (iii) made statements in social media about her position on the development before it reached the City Council for hearing, and (iv) read from a script at the December 9, 2019 City Council meeting, prepared before the evidence and testimony had been received."

OK, this is from the minutes of the 12/9/19 city council meeting: 

"COUNCILMEMBER LARSON-BUNNELL: All right. Thank you. I did create some prepared comments for this evening."

She then proceeded to read her prepared commentary.  Basically in line with item iv above.  We know she was at the planning commission meeting..............her social media site had numerous comments about the project, including the fact that she did attend the planning commission meeting. 

 Did she assist the citizens in the preparation of the protest petition?  Basically, is she the unnamed councilmember, "her" listed in the lawsuit?  Was she truthful with the citizen who inquired prior to the 1/27/20 meeting as to whether or not it was her?

Time will tell.  I will be very interested in reading any pre trial depositions that become part of the record of the lawsuit.

This will get interesting.