Knottingham Sandwich
The latest version of the Parkville Board of Aldermen failed to gain momentum this Tuesday, following up one of their most entertaining and raucous meetings by failing to muster a quorum. As a result, the aldermen who were able to make the meeting spent their evening volunteering in the community.
According to Nancy Jack’s front page story on the meeting, it was the first time Parkville has failed to muster a quorum for a regular meeting since the 1980s. The aldermen and staff reportedly went out for dinner the last time it happened. Indeed, those were much simpler times. Back then, unelected city officials could probably just stroke a check for a big party without any oversight or competitive bid.
It was suggested that the city replay the aldermen’s previous meeting on their cable access station. For those of you who missed The Luminary a few weeks ago (one of our best selling of all-time), you basically missed out on a story of accountability.
To summarize, the story goes like this: Platte County has a road system designed during the Woodrow Wilson administration. Modern day commissioners want to change that, so they devise a tax. Said commissioners promise voters that the tax money will split equally between the municipalities and the unincorporated parts of the county. The plan passes, but the commissioners fail to get reelected, largely because they are decried as tax and spend liberals in conservative clothing (and Mardi Gras beads). The new commission comes in, and using a radical system called “arithmetic,” find that the tax plan numbers simply do not add up. They reformulate the plan, largely by sticking it to Parkville. They come down to Parkville to explain just why they are sticking it to Parkville. Parkville doesn’t like it. The end (for now).
The main character in this tale is Jim Plunkett of Loksley. Mr. Plunkett ran for the position not as a politician, but as a “numbers guy.”
When he took his seat on the commission, the hallmark of the first few regular meetings were of Plunkett absolutely grilling county planning staffers about the road and bridge tax. To say the least, his actions were incredibly well received by officeholders and staffers who were observing from the gallery. I particularly recall two women officeholders who reside in the Northern half of the county giggling like bobbysoxers at a Sinatra concert when he made clear that he intended to reformulate the tax.
Commissioner Plunkett was correct in theory – if his projections bear out – because the plan was top-loaded to work on projects in the South. According to his magical number adding machine he called a “calculator,” he figured that by the time the project got around to the North, there’d be no money left in the tax. Hey, if i was publishing The Dearborn Luminary, I’d think he was a dreamboat, too.
The reality, however, is a little different. Plunkett’s Robin Hood act is starting to wear a bit thin. People in attendance may have thought it was just a little joke when he took to the podium and said that it was “nice to be down here in the big city of Parkville,” but it was a revealing comment. Taken in the context that this was the guy who just shafted you out of the tax spoils you voted for, it was borderline mocking.
Still, you got to love the guy for standing at the podium and taking the heat from the angry aldermen. At one point, Alderman Rittman said something to the effect that he understood it was late, and that Plunkett wanted to go. Plunkett informed him that he would stay there all night if they wanted. And he never budged. Later Rittman and him had a classic exchange: “We’re not you’re problem,” Rittman told him, meaning the aldermen. “I’m not your problem,” Plunkett, shot back, probably erroneously. “Our voters are your problem,” Rittman returned, probably equally as wrong. Plunkett should win in a landslide up north next election. The voters are District 1 Commissioner Tom Pryor’s problem.
Already, rumors abound of a recall effort for Pryor. Both current Parkville Mayor Kathy Dusenbery and former Weatherby Lake Mayor Pauli Kendrick are frequently mentioned as his next opponent. To Pryor’s credit, he’s been nothing but open and honest about the reformulation. Unfortunately, with Presiding Commissioner Betty Knight dodging, ducking, dipping, diving and dodging along to her reelection amid terrible infighting among County Republicans, Pryor can’t seem to match Plunkett’s territorial instincts and intensity, and it may cost him in the long run.
Numbers have a way of catching up to you.