Mayor Michelle Distler - MIA

 Well, let's see what we have.  Shawnee Mayor Michelle Distler was not present at the 11/22/21 council meeting.  Information available indicates that she won't be at the 12/13/21 meeting.

The 11/22/21 meeting had some important and contentious items on the agenda.  The December 13th meeting will, among other things, include the swearing in of the new council members from the recent election.

So, where is our Mayor?  Why didn't she participate remotely since there are now provisions for that?  She was elected to be the titular head of the city.  No explanation has been forthcoming from her, and an inquiry to the city communications manager asking if there would be a press release or announcement has so far not been responded to.

Technically, there is no requirement that the mayor notify anyone as to the reason for her non-participation at city council meetings.  But, IMHO she does have a moral and ethical responsibility to let the folks of the city know why she is not at meetings. Naturally we must realize that Ms. Distler is, IMHO morally and ethically challenged because of what she did to cause herself to be arrested and charged with perjury.  Additionally, her continued unwillingness to apologize for her transgression has not gone unnoticed.

Updated 11/30/21 for city communications manager's commentary:

Hi Ray,

I was off for a few days starting last Wednesday so that is why I am just now responding. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was only informed that Mayor Distler was not going to be at Monday's meeting but I did not have a specific location or reason.

Thank you,

So, what is the mayor hiding?

How A City Manager Sticks It To A City

 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.   

What Is A Veteran?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the

evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in theleg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have

kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking. 

What is a vet? He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. She -or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL. He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat, but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs. 

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by. He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep. 

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs. He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded. Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU!" 

It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press. 

It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech. 

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. 

It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the

protester to burn the flag.

Thank You to all who have served

Candidates With No Class

 I remember when a candidate would lose an election they would still show some class by contacting the winner and congratulating them.

As of 5:00 PM today none of the four losing candidates in the Shawnee council races has, to the best of my knowledge, contacted the winners to offer congratulations.

Remember, these are the folks who pontificate about getting along, unity, working together, etc etc etc.  Classical examples of hypocritical bovine scatology.  

Who, IMHO, are these four classless folks?:

Sophia Theodore

Eric Persson

Lisa Larson-Bunnell

Kevin Makalous

Congratulations Shawnee

 The unofficial results of yesterday's election have been posted and it looks like the following four individuals will be taking the oath of office as city council members.  The swearing in of these individuals will be Monday, December 13, 2021 at 6:00PM at city hall, 11110 Johnson Drive.  The council will also be electing a new council president that night.

Here are the winners:

Ward 1 - Tony Gillette

Ward 2 - Dr. Mike Kemmling (reelected)

Ward 3 - Angela Stiens

Ward 4 - Jacklynn Walters

They will be joining Tammy Thomas, Eric Jenkins, Kurt Knappen and Jill Chalfie to make up the face of the new council

The big winner will be the City of Shawnee. Voters made it clear that they were not in the mood to put up with individuals that were left leaning socialists.

Look for some positive changes going forward.  One of which will be the city's budget.  I'd be willing to bet that our overpaid, neophyte city manager will not be allowed to get away with submitting a "summary budget".  The council (and the people) deserve to see a more specific budget.  At the last budget session it was council members, Eric Jenkins, Dr. Mike Kemmling and Tammy Thomas who challenged that submission.  Should we even discuss outgoing council member Lisa Larson-Bunnell's comments about how the city has "buckets".

In another area, I'd also bet that you will see more productive development in the city.  Certain elements had said that fiscal conservatives would make Shawnee unattractive to developers.  I don't buy that.  What you will probably see is a more cooperative effort to work with developers to everyone's benefit.  No more giving up the farm which becomes detrimental to the city and its taxpayers.  Development has to be a win-win situation, not a lopsided affair.  

Election Day Tomorrow - 11/2/21 Wake Up Shawnee

 And no, I do not mean become woke.  In a previous post it was mentioned that we here in Shawnee are and have been insulated from some situations that happen in other parts of the country.  But those situations can eventually creep across the country and hit us. Partisan stuff is supposedly not discussed locally. And, the biggest screamers about that are certain individuals with left leaning, socialist tendencies who want to stay under the radar.  But, they want to control your lives, your thoughts, and indoctrinate your children.

And that has been their plan for some time now.  Get elected to local level government positions (city councils, school boards, water districts etc.). As such they can pass and sneak their progressive socialist programs in locally and then move on up to county, state and federal offices.  We see it happening on both coasts, and eventually it will creep into flyover country (that's us).  Let's take a preventive vaccine against the progressive socialist virus and elect folks that will stand up for American ideals.  

My choices:

Shawnee City Council:

Ward 1 - Tony Gillette

Ward 2 - Dr. Mike Kemmling

Ward 3 - Angela Stiens

Ward 4 - Jacklynn Walters

Shawnee Mission School Board 512:

Brian Neilson

Zach Roberts

Sean Claycamp

De Soto School Board 232:

Amy Parker

Emily Carpenter

Crystal Duke

Johnson County Community College (vote for four):

Dr. Gerry Malnar

Mark Hamill

Paul Snider

Wayne Sandberg

Johnson County Water Board:

Steve Gordon

Bob Reese

Missey Smith