Kansas City Councilmember Condemns Colleague Bombing Action Against Employees During Public Meeting | News
KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) – A Kansas City councilmember vented his frustrations during a committee meeting Wednesday, vulgarly berating a staff attorney while city leaders quit vote on an ordinance on incentives for a housing project.
The Committee on Finance, Governance and Public Safety has just completed its discussion on Ordinance 211077, regarding taxes used to support affordable housing in Midtown.
Councilman Kathryn Shields was trying to call a vote on the issue, when the vote was interrupted by people asking for clarification. When Shields returned to call the list for a vote and tried to claim it passed, she was urged to restart the vote because it had been interrupted.
Clearly frustrated, Shields replied, “I think we just lost one of the fu**ing votes thanks to all of you!”
Shields then agreed to the request and began voting, with the proposal passing 3-2.
On Wednesday night, Councilmember Kevin O’Neill took to Twitter to react, saying Shields should apologize to the staff attorney and that Mayor Quinton Lucas should look into the situation.
“In a time of financial stress, a Councilor came to appreciate one of our staff attorneys,” O’Neill’s Tweet said. “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am. Our employees work by their stories (sic) and don’t deserve to be criticized in public by any elected official. The mayor should take a closer look at this.”
