JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

What had been controlled friction between Mayor Sly James and several City Council members has now erupted into a gaping fissure, and as a result we might be looking at a delay of several years on any contract for a new KCI terminal.

Here’s my take:

:: Edgemoor is out. Finished in KC and at KCI.

:: AECOM has an outside chance of getting the contract, but probably not.

:: Burns & McDonnell remains on the outside looking in but could get back in the hunt if this round of construction proposals is thrown out and if a “friend” is elected mayor.

But with James charging he was the victim of “an ambush” and saying “you can’t lead people you can’t trust,” the most likely scenario now is no airport deal will be accomplished during the last 16 months of James’ second and last term.

I’m not much of a poet, but I’m going to attempt to put into rhyme how we got to this messy juncture:

When without a design a terminal project goes forth
And a deal no-bid points the course
Trouble lurks afore every tenuous step
Until, at last, beckons the murky depth

Reverting to plain prose, here’s what could well unfold over the next few weeks:

A council majority votes to end negotiations with Edgemoor.

Most of the nine council members who all but eliminated Edgemoor on Thursday (the vote was 9-4), come back with a proposal to begin negotiating a deal with AECOM.

A council majority — but probably not a veto-proof collection of nine or more — approves a measure to engage with AECOM.

Sly James vetoes the measure, and council is unable to override.

The prospect of a new KCI goes dormant until a new mayor and several new council members are elected in 2019.

**

Now, let’s look at some of the people responsible for preparing us for a couple of long winters’ naps.

• 

  Barnes

  Councilman Lee Barnes Jr. Until KCI came along, Barnes had been a low-key, low-profile council member since being elected in the spring of 2015. But he has been openly agitating against Edgemoor and in favor of AECOM ever since the council decided to solicit proposals from firms other than Burns and Mac. Barnes is the leading advocate of a demand for minority contractors to get 40 percent of all subcontracts, as well as 40 percent minority workforce participation. Those are extremely high numbers, probably the highest ever in any big municipal construction project. Barnes would have more credibility on this front were he not carrying water for his pal and political mentor Kelvin Perry, president of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. Perry, a businessman, has never held office, has never had to compromise and always holds to a hard line.

• 

  Adams

  Clinton Adams. Adams, attorney for the black political group Freedom Inc., is in league with Barnes and Perry, railing against Edgemoor. Because Adams has significant influence with Freedom Inc., some of the council members who either are running for mayor in 2019 or are thinking about that possibility are mulling how their positions on KCI could benefit or hurt them in 2019. Adams has a long history of enmity toward James because he thinks James has not put a sufficiently high priority on East Side economic development.

• 

  Taylor

  Councilman Scott Taylor and Councilman Kevin McManus. Taylor and McManus were among the nine who voted against Edgemoor on Thursday. Both live in the 6th District in south Kansas City. Taylor, an at-large councilman (meaning he runs city-wide, not just within the district) is not only an announced candidate for mayor but far and away the leader in campaign funds. I am convinced Taylor and McManus are firmly committed to Burns & McDonnell, which has its headquarters building in the 6th District, and were greatly disappointed when the selection committee eliminated Burns and Mac from consideration. My guess is that with this situation plunged back into uncertainty, Taylor and McManus will play a chess game aimed at getting Burns and Mac back in the picture. The only way they win this game, though, is if Taylor is elected mayor.

**

Personally, I don’t care if Edgemoor gets the boot. My indifference to the firm goes back to late October, when my homes association, Romanelli West, hosted a pre-election, issue-education session for our members at The Well in Waldo. The campaign committee person I worked with in arranging the event lined up a top-notch trio of presenters: City Manager Troy Schulte, Councilman Quinton Lucas and Stricker, who, as I said earlier, is Edgemoor’s managing partner.

Stricker

The evening of the event, Schulte and Lucas appeared as scheduled and made informative and impressive presentations. Stricker, however, did not show up. I was irked, and so were some of the 50 people who attended. Stricker made no effort that night to contact either the campaign committee or me to extend his regrets or explain his absence. The next day, I got an email from my campaign contact, telling me Stricker had been “taken ill.” I don’t believe it. I think he stiffed us, so screw him.

…As I have said more than once, this long, troubled dance got off to a stumbling, bumbling start. Six months ago, what was needed was a design RFP (request for proposals). After a detailed design was selected and approved, the city could proceed to advertise and accept construction bids — bids that could be compared, if not line by line, at least element by element. Most important, the city would finance the project with revenue bonds, so the city, not the contractors, would be in the driver’s seat.

It still needs to happen that way. So, let’s just back off for a few years, let the bad taste in our mouths recede, and then make another run at a new, single terminal. And next time, right up front, before we get carried away, let’s see what that terminal would look like.