Incentives should require signoff

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post We've read the stories so many times it fails to register with even the most ardent economic incentive critics. Some small to medium firm receives tax breaks to move from an adjoining municipality like Lenexa or Independence and Kansas City claims "economic development" or "new jobs." It's a wonderful game... if you're one of the companies playing neighboring communities against each other. The business avoids paying property taxes for 10 to 25 years, and since they rarely move more than 20 miles it can retain the majority of its employees. The only thing that really changes is the employees' commute. It would seem with embattled Mayor Funkhouser going around trying to sell a regional light rail plan he would receive a warmer reception if he had something to offer. It doesn't make sense to have conversations about regional cooperation for transit when the attitude towards economic development is anything but. Why not come bearing a pledge? A pledge of a non-compete clause in our supposed Economic Development Policy. I see it working like this. A company grows tired of their current location in Lenexa. Their tax-abated building is about to go back on the roles at full rate, and coincidentally they've managed to "outgrow" their surroundings and need a different facility. Funny how these realizations always seem to happen right about the time taxes need to be paid. The company determines that maybe they should relocate to one of Kansas City's many URD (Urban Redevelopment District) zones where they can receive generous Chapter 353 tax abatements and perhaps some TIF. Here's where the non-compete clause kicks in. Why not make it policy that Lenexa's city council has to approve the deal? It would seem that if everything is above board, if every incentive being offered is necessary and all parties are bargaining in good faith there should be no problem with all parties involved approving the deal. By "all parties" that includes the municipality that supposedly can no longer contain the growing company. After all, we are OneKC. Aren't we?

City Manager: A different perspective

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post The most talked about topic for the last 48 hours has been the apparent firing of City Manager Wayne Cauthen. I say apparent because by charter all the mayor can really do is refuse to introduce an ordinance renewing Cauthen's contract. If the City Manager so chooses he can continue to work without a contract at his current pay rate and serve at the pleasure of the City Council. He cannot be fired without a majority vote, so as long as seven council people are happy with his performance, he stays. You'll get no argument from me that Mayor Funkhouser handled this poorly. His actions following his memo have also been ill-advised. At the minimum he should have given the council advance notice of his memo if only so they wouldn't be blindsided by the press or constituents asking for information. There is no question that the relationship between the mayor and the city council has become completely dysfunctional and may be irretrievably damaged. What strikes me as odd is that in all the hand-wringing and "I want to be mayor" posturing of certain City Council members, the indignant outrage of segments in the business community, and the predictable reactions from partisan hacks, one group of very important people has been ignored. The City employees. How do the people that work under the leadership of Wayne Cauthen feel about it? Granted nobody receiving a paycheck from the City is going to go on record in support or opposition of the City Manager, but surely the media has one or two anonymous sources within City Hall who will gladly give their opinion. A City Manager should be much more than a task master who gets the job done at any cost. Not when that cost is at the expense of the good people working for you. I have heard numerous firsthand accounts of Wayne Cauthen's managerial style that have caused me great concern. Tirades, unreasonable requests, favoritism and an atmosphere of intimidation are all common knowledge at City Hall. I'm willing to concede that perhaps my sampling is not accurate. Maybe I have only come in contact with a minority segment that has some sort of ax to grind with the City Manager, but I doubt it. I know a lot of people at 414 E 12th Street. The fact is I haven't heard one account of how wonderful it is working for the current city manager. The future of the Wayne Cauthen rests in the hands and aspirations of the City Council. Politicians live for this kind of grandstanding opportunity. Over the next few weeks and months there will be a veritable orgy of quotes, stunts, press conferences, breathless orations in council chambers and behind the scenes maneuvering. Some will use this latest mayoral blunder as a springboard for their own mayoral run. Or at least a way to rally support for their re-election. Beats doing real work I guess. I have no idea who the City Manager will be 12 months from now. My only hope is that somewhere along the way the Council will take the time to consider that leadership, employee motivation and a healthy work environment are traits worthy of just as much weight as making the trains run on time. You can command people and they will respond. But if you lead people, they will excel.

Keep On Truckin?

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Reported months ago by The Pitch, Kansas City has purchased the midwest's first EV (Electric Vehicle) to be put into full-time service for a municipality. Our own ZAP! truck can be seen running errands around the water treatment plant. Not to be outdone, UPS has gotten in on the act announcing a lease deal of 42 ZAP! cars and trucks for delivery service in and around Petaluma, California. While I kid about UPS following the lead of Kansas City, the article on CNNMoney.com does bring up an intriguing concept. "UPS is setting up strategic distribution nodes where vans can transfer packages to the ZAP Xebras for final delivery in smaller communities, neighborhoods and downtown areas where larger delivery vans are less efficient and have a more difficult time navigating or parking." [Source CNNMoney.com "Brown Goes Green"] How many times in Kansas City have you seen an 18-wheeler blocking traffic while awkwardly trying to negotiate a small entrance? For that matter how many times have you seen a large truck forgoing the driveways and alleyways altogether in favor of just stopping anywhere to make a delivery? It doesn't take a transportation engineer to understand that large trucks are not efficient in dense urban areas. While in London last spring I was struck by the complete absence of large "lorries" in the urban core. Everywhere you looked the day to day commerce was being performed by service vehicles no larger than an American minivan. Even the firetrucks were small, opting for a quick and nimble Mercedes firetruck about 2/3 the size of the trucks we are used to seeing in the US. So why has UPS made the move to electric vehicles (EV's)? If we're to believe officials from ZAP! it's because of logistic advantages as well as cost savings of smaller, electric vehicles. But if that's the case, then why isn't UPS employing this strategy across North America instead of just Petaluma? The answer is indeed for economic reasons, just not the ones ZAP! is touting. California has the most aggressive environmental policies in the country. With each passing year the golden state's rules on carbon emissions become more strict, and its municipalities are getting in on the act as well by tightening regulations even further then state mandates. UPS is simply positioning itself for the inevitable, and by doing so is gaining a competitive advantage. Once regulations reach a point where EV's are mandated, UPS will be at a competitive advantage already having the infrastructure in place for a regional delivery system. Kansas City should become more aggressive with restricting large commercial vehicle traffic in certain areas. The net positive effects would be less wear and tear on streets not designed to handle 70,000 lb vehicles, less interruption of traffic flow by not having 18 wheel trucks attempting to maneuver in standard streets and perhaps a gentle nudge to corporations to become better environmental citizens by using smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles to do the job.