Four mayoral candidates were quizzed by the influential citizens group - Citizens Association - and TKC - Tony's Kansas City blogged it with live tweets - thank you TKC for giving people at least a glimpse of what was going on in an important forum. See his tweets here: http://twitter.com/#!/TKCLiveTweets.
There was one question about the 3rd district and another about poverty that merit attention here. See one of my previous blog posts on the 5 questions I would ask any candidate about their vision for the 3rd district. Here are the tweets as Tony posted them - first on poverty, then on 3rd district.
Rowland on poverty: It will take a massive level of cooperation to address the complex issue of poverty.
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TKCLiveTweets Tony Bee
KMBC'S Mahoney moderates and asks about poverty. Mike Burke: The best solution to poverty is to create jobs.
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Here's another interesting contribution to understanding the Mayoral Election: A Great Mayor for a Great City at http://www.kcmayor.com/ Billed as a citizen's site of 40 and 50 somethings who want to make a difference in improving KCMO via the mayoral election. You can read "In Their Own Words" from candidates and you can vote in a popularity poll for the candidate of your choice.
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TKCLiveTweets Tony Bee
Sly James touts grants and biz cooperation to foster 3rd district development.
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TKCLiveTweets Tony Bee
Another Looooooong question from Bonaye (sp?) about developing the 3rd.
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It's difficult to judge the quality of answers since I wasn't there and I must rely on the quality of tweets. Hopefully, news reports will speak to this in greater detail. Here is Yael A.'s KC Star thought piece: http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/kc-mayors-campaign-what-we-know-so-far/
I will say, however, that Deb's focus on infrastructure for the 3rd is not a very enlightened answer - though there certainly are infrastructure needs in the 3rd. If you build it, no one will come. And Mike's response that jobs are the answer to poverty is about as lame as they come. Of course jobs are an antidote to poverty - but are you saying that KC does not have enough jobs or that 3rd district residents haven't gotten them - either way - there is a large underlying issue that the generic "jobs" won't fix. It is a matter of getting 3rd district residents into said jobs and that is an answer fraught with peril that most of these candidates won't touch. Sly's response about grants and biz cooperation sounds nice, but we have been there and done that - 18th and Vine.
None of these candidates have said - invest in residents. None of the candidates said - cooperate with people who live there to build their assets so the 3rd district can be competitive. None of these candidates will address white privilege - not as a mea culpa - but as an honest understanding of one of the reasons why the 3rd district languishes. What responsibility are each of these candidates willing to take in the making of our current situation? I would bet - none.
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It's difficult to judge the quality of answers since I wasn't there and I must rely on the quality of tweets. Hopefully, news reports will speak to this in greater detail. Here is Yael A.'s KC Star thought piece: http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/kc-mayors-campaign-what-we-know-so-far/
I will say, however, that Deb's focus on infrastructure for the 3rd is not a very enlightened answer - though there certainly are infrastructure needs in the 3rd. If you build it, no one will come. And Mike's response that jobs are the answer to poverty is about as lame as they come. Of course jobs are an antidote to poverty - but are you saying that KC does not have enough jobs or that 3rd district residents haven't gotten them - either way - there is a large underlying issue that the generic "jobs" won't fix. It is a matter of getting 3rd district residents into said jobs and that is an answer fraught with peril that most of these candidates won't touch. Sly's response about grants and biz cooperation sounds nice, but we have been there and done that - 18th and Vine.
None of these candidates have said - invest in residents. None of the candidates said - cooperate with people who live there to build their assets so the 3rd district can be competitive. None of these candidates will address white privilege - not as a mea culpa - but as an honest understanding of one of the reasons why the 3rd district languishes. What responsibility are each of these candidates willing to take in the making of our current situation? I would bet - none.
Here's another interesting contribution to understanding the Mayoral Election: A Great Mayor for a Great City at http://www.kcmayor.com/ Billed as a citizen's site of 40 and 50 somethings who want to make a difference in improving KCMO via the mayoral election. You can read "In Their Own Words" from candidates and you can vote in a popularity poll for the candidate of your choice.
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