Cease and Desist
I ran out of cell-phone minutes for the month on September 10th, which tells me two things: One, I need a better cellphone plan and; Two, people care.
That’s because the week before, I had written a column calling for the breakup of the two-name alliance that dominates the Main Street Association/Parkville Community Development Corporation (PCDC) and Community Improvement District in downtown Parkville. This provoked a strong reaction – namely because it’s the first time I mentioned Mr. Kuhns by name in print. Call after call, highly respected people in the community told me stories that resemble the one you see on this week’s front page.
Mr. Kuhns is not a bad man. He is a husband, a father, and a respected scientist. His store is one of the best stores in Kansas City – certainly the best science store.
But Mr. Kuhns clearly doesn’t get it. While the rest of Main Street wallows under his “leadership,” while the rest of the volunteers in town are working for selfless aims, Mr. Kuhns wants to play downtown gangster. He wants to bully girls and mock customers. Then he tells people he deserves to be thanked for all of his hard work. Read our page one story this week. How this guy thought it would be a good idea to treat a handful of women shoppers the way he did — during an economic downturn, no less — should baffle you beyond belief. Great job, Mr. Kuhns. You collected a one percent sales tax on a $5 plate. That’s 5 cents for the CID. Now tell us about the rabbits, George.
Mr. Kuhns needs to resign from the CID and PCDC boards. As his actions time and time again prove, he is not the appropriate leader for downtown. He needs a timeout. We need to do him this favor. Clearly he is not happy, and clearly he is ineffective in his role.
If Mr. Kuhns does not resign from the board, then downtown merchants need to vote to remove him from the boards he serves on. The community cannot afford to have him in the leadership role he now possesses – a role he is trying to hold onto with a curiously iron grip.
There are plenty of volunteers waiting to fill the gap, plenty of entities that want to support downtown, and they are being suppressed. It’s time to stop blaming the economy, the city government, the state tax code, the local paper, and time to start cleaning house. We have so much to build on – English Landing Park, Park University’s continued ascendance and the coming boom of small-business entrepreneurs.
This is a call to action. Let “Daisygate” be the tipping point.
We can do better than this.