These People Belong In Jail
Kevin Bryant
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that this is happening throughout the United States, but it’s happening here in the Kansas City Metro. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.
For years, we have witnessed a massive growth in the number of various community organizations. I’m not talking about chapters of Jaycees or Kiwanis Clubs. I’m not referring to feed the needy organizations even though over the past couple of years these too have nearly doubled in size. What I am talking about is the community activism type organizations. Predominately these have been springing up in lower income sections of the city.
The idea of community organizing has been around for 50 plus years. These, like most things, started out with good intentions. Communities standing together to correct the wrongs done to them is still a good thing. Such things as excessive police brutality towards those of certain neighborhoods, lack of maintenance in an apartment building, price gouging in various neighborhoods. These are just a few of countless examples of why community organizing is a good thing when done for the right reasons. Unfortunately in the past 15 or do years we have witnessed a transformation of what community organizing should be into what community organizing is what it is today. Our tax dollars have paid for this transformation through grants as well as these organizations allowed to become non-profit tax exempt entities.
Here in Kansas City, The good reverend Emanuel “Obama is more popular than God” Cleaver, with strong urging and support from many tax exempt community organizations got a $200 million grant from the stimulus package to create a Green Impact Zone Project for a lower income section of downtown Kansas City which just happens to be in his district. What a heartwarming story this would be and it would most definitely be one the jewels in his crown as a self….I mean public servant.
The Green Impact Zone Project, $200 million in our tax dollars in hand and almost all of it wasted. The idea behind the money is to clean up the neighborhood so one would think that for the project headquarters, they would renovate some old business or church to operate out of. That is not good enough for these people. They went out, bought the land and built themselves a nice new office building. Several 100’s of thousands of dollars not used for the good of the community. Did they furnish this place with second hand items bought from the likes of Goodwill and the Army Salvation, hahahaha I don’t think so. Brand new furnishings throughout this building. Several 100’s of thousands of more dollars not spent on the community. Roughly 65% of the Green Impact Zone population is black. Do you think the administrator or anyone working in this nice new office represents the other 35% of the community? Not a since only is White, Mexican, Asian or even male. That’s right, the administrator and the entire staff consist of black females. Not much diversity there wouldn’t you say. Houses aren’t getting the makeovers that were promised but do you think any of these people have missed a paycheck? Of course they haven’t. A few more 100 thousands dollars flushed down the toilet.
The suburb of KC that I live in is like many of the suburbs within Cleaver’s district. As people have been able to afford to move out of the inner city, they have escaped the stranglehold of the community organizations that have controlled inner KC for years. No longer do they hear only the good things about their dear elected representative. They actually hear criticism of him and how he is playing and manipulating the people of Kansas City. Emanuel Cleaver needs these community organizations now more than ever to maintain his status as a life long politician and live in a lifestyle only few of us could ever hope for. These tax exempt organizations continually go out in ACORN style groups and using ACORN style tactics continually get this man re-elected to do their bidding. With each passing year, his support dwindles and come 2010, if he doesn’t produce, he could possibly lose his seat in 2010, but I really don’t see that happening until 2012.
The community is disappointed by the fact that not very many houses have received green winterizing this late in the year and to top it all off, the project is close to being broke. In the words of Cuba Gooding Jr, (Movie: Jerry McGuire) show us the money. Where oh where did it all go? These people need to be in jail. They ran around for countless months doing who knows what and yet they have not produced records showing where all the money went. Not only that, they missed deadlines for filing for additional funds and thee people are being paid with our tax dollars to makes the lives of those in their own neighborhood better and failing miserably at it.
Not a peep has been said about the lack of accountability for the funds spent. No criticism has been spoken about the new building or those nice new lavish furnishings. Not one breath spoken about the hiring of black females only. No one is willing to touch this because this is the brain child of those community organizations that support and pull the puppet strings of Emanuel Cleaver.
Politically backed, tax dollar funded, community organizing at its best.
http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-story-green-zone-111909,0,6953484.story
