Citizens Association: Glass Houses

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Recently the Citizens Association released a strongly worded letter directed at the Mayor and City Council. While I agree with the sentiments, I just can't take a call for ethics seriously from an organization so rife with conflicts of interest and outright disdain for a transparent political process. The CA even goes so far as to threaten the endorsements of the very council people they helped to get elected. Need I remind you, Citizens Association that those candidates paid good money for your endorsement? You can't sell something to someone and then complain about how they use your product. I believe the going rate for an in-district endorsement was $1,500 and an at-large was $2,500? Calling it a "reimbursement" does not take the stink away. You can buy "naturally processed organic fertilizer" in a pretty bag with fancy labels but when you get it home you find the contents still came out the back end of a horse. The Citizens Association is "issuing a call" to all of us "to become recommitted to cooperation, honesty, efficiency and transparency." Empty words. I urge those same citizens the CA is imploring to issue a call back to the Citizens Association to do the following: 1. End your paid endorsement system. I can't make it much simpler than that. Yes I've heard the rationalization from several directors in your ranks. "That's just the way it works." The current quid-pro-quo system at City Hall is also "just the way it works". Okay for you but not for them? If an ethics investigation were launched and had nothing to go on but your list of endorsements and your campaign finance reports; what conclusion do you think would be reached? 2007 Citizens Association Report - 8 days before primary 2007 Citizens Association Report - 8 days before general 2007 Citizens Association Report - April Quarterly 2007 Citizens Association Report - 30 days after general 2. Remove one of your biggest conflicts of interest by ceasing to funnel tens of thousands of dollars of "reimbursement" funds directly into one of your director's communications business. 3. Do not accept contributions from PACs or corporate interests. You're the "Citizens" Association. Not the Association for funneling PAC money. 4. Place a cap on contributions you accept from individuals. When one individual writes a check for $10,000 are the rest of us "citizens" to be expected to believe that no influence peddling exists? 5. Purge your ranks of politicians looking to put in their time, make the needed connections, and then rise from your organization with an endorsement all but guaranteed. How do you do that? Change your bylaws so that no director may gain an endorsement from your organization within five years of their last day of service. You're not alone in this CA. Other endorsing organizations in KC need to do the same. The best leadership is by example. Until your organization sets an example of unimpeachable processes, every strongly worded letter, every endorsement you sell make will ring hollow. Until you change your ways of politics as usual, your organization certainly isn't speaking for the citizens. At least not the citizens without $10,000 lying around.