End of the Year Look at 2008 Wishes

2008 is almost over, which means I need to look back at my wishes for 2008.

1. Save Bannister Mall Petition Fails - As I said in my mid-year review, the petition failed early in 2008, and we haven't heard from Richard Tolbert since that failure. Now with everything secured, it looks like we won't have to worry about him at all.

2. Public Ground Breaking for the Wizards SSS in Early 08 - Well that didn't happen, wasn't even close. Looks like we won't have a ground breaking until some time this coming year due to all the monetary delays.

3. Eddie Johnson Stays in KC - Again as I said in the mid-year review, Johnson is gone, went to Fulham, and this season has been loaned out to Cardiff City, where he still hasn't scored, and is struggling to get off the bench. Johnson hasn't scored a league goal since his 93rd minute penalty kick goal against Columbus on September 15th of 2007.

4. More Consistent Goal Scoring - This one didn't happen either. The Wizards weren't able to get consistent goalscoring from anyone on the team. With Davy Arnaud being the team's top goalscorer with only 7 goals, this one has to go down as an unfulfilled wish.

5. Good Start to US Qualifying for South Africa 2010 - Well the US is into the Hex without much trouble. The US won their first 4 games of qualifying clinching their spot in the Hex with 2 games to play. Qualifying will start back up in February with the US taking on Mexico in Columbus, OH.

6. Some Silverware - The Saturn Cup and New Mexico Cup don't count, the Wizards ended the season without any silverware. They finished in the regular season 15 points behind Supporters' Shield winners, Columbus and were eliminated by them in the MLS Cup playoffs. The Wizards other chance for silverware was in the US Open Cup. They went out in the quarterfinals to Seattle Sounders.

7. A Friendly Against a Foreign Team for the Wizards - As I said I mid-year, I wasn't happy about the timing of it, but the Wizards did have their first home friendly since 1997 when they took on sister club Atlas.

8. Sell Outs at CAB - We had sell outs, but not the number I was hoping for or expecting. The Wizards sold out 5 games at CAB this year. Definitely not a great number. Hopefully next year the Wizards will do better in that regard.

Tolbert Fails but Doesn't Concede

Today was the final day for Richard Tolbert and the Save Bannister Group to turn in their signatures for saving Bannister Mall. And the grand total of signatures turned in? TWO!!! He didn't turn in any more signatures today, but since he likely had no where close to the number needed it's not surprising.

Still, though, Tolbert and his group are not conceding, and will continue to fight. Tolbert again pimps his plan to have them cut the mall out of the redevelopment, and ask for TIF money to let HIM and his group redevelop the mall. Tolbert says that with an anchor tenant like Walmart, the mall would "thrive." Excuse me, Bannister Mall has room for four anchor stores. A Walmart taking up one floor of one of those anchor stores is not going to help the mall thrive. And putting faith in Tolbert to adequately redevlop the mall is foolhardy. As I've said in the past, one only has to look at Tolbert's track record (which will now be linked any time I say his name) to realize the city should not give him one cent for redevelopment.

As Councilman John Sharp says in the article. "So far he has delayed this project for a month and he turned in two signatures. That is a joke. It makes a mockery of the referendum initiative process." Tolbert has made a complete joke of the process. This plan was nothing more then a delay tactic, and due to the fact that there is no minimum required number of signatures, Tolbert got his time. Now he's trying to hold the project up more.

He says he's for both in the area, when the truth is he's likely just killing time until the Wizards decide to drop out and he can have the only plan left to redevelop the area. Demolition of the mall is supposed in the spring, but as is the case today in our sue happy country, Tolbert says he will sue to stop the building from being torn down.

In other Tolbert news, more and more people around the city are starting to call him out on his false cries of racism, a point I made back in October.

Tolbert Basically Admits to Not Having Signatures

Tonight on 980 KMBZ AM here in Kansas City, Richard Tolbert basically admitted the group did not have the signatures required to put the 3 Trials TIF funding on the ballot. While on the radio talking about the campaign to recall Kansas City Mayor, Mark Funkhouser, the hosts asked Tolbert about his Bannister petition and if he had the signatures. Tolbert appeared to stumble and back track saying that the group may have taken the wrong path as even if the petition is successful to bring a vote, it does nothing to grant us ownership anyway. To me this sounds like a white flag going up from the camp on this plan. His excuse is something I've been saying since day 1, even if the group did succeed, it did not make the owners of the mall reopen it. But it helped to delay the process.

He tried to hype up his new plan, which would move to exclude the mall area from the 3 Trials TIF plan, and give the Save Bannister group TIF money to buy the mall from the current owners.

The city council should take one look at Tolbert's track record with owning property in this city and laugh him out of the building. Hopefully this plan will not make it out of the TIF commission. If it does, the city council would be a big step, especially with all the support the 3 Trails TIF had with the council.

Tolbert's New Plan

Apparently, Richard Tolbert and the Save Bannister group are struggling for their signatures. So much so that they are planning to change their tactics on trying to save the mall.

According to the article, Tolbert and the group are now going to try and get the title to the mall and get TIF funding to resurrect the mall. The mall's current owners will hopefully be persuaded by the city council to avoid this path at all cost. Should it come down to it, the city should only have to show the owners this article about Tolbert to see what the man can do. How Tolbert continues to view the mall as a viable option any more is beyond belief. Enclosed malls are dying in this country, people want to park right in front of the store they want to shop at, go in and leave. Hopes are that this is just a minor speed bump in the redevelopment of the area.

Save Bannister Group Get Their Extension

The save Bannister Mall group got the extension that they wanted for their work to collect signatures. Today the group turned in a whopping 2 signatures to get the extension on the plan. You can see the report here on NBC Action News' website, it's currently the top story on the left.

Richard Tolbert, Woody Woodruff, and the rest of the Save Bannister Mall group continue to use misdirection in their campaign to stop the redevelopment of the area. Yesterday, they were kicked off of mall property after police were called. The group is saying they were treated differently then the rally that was held last Sunday in support of the redevelopment. What they don't mention is the fact that they were kicked off because Tolbert made threats about breaking into the mall to get to his business. Which is a far different case then what the rally last Sunday was there to do.

But that would paint the Save Bannister group in a poor light, so they "accidentally" leave that detail out. The extension gives the group until February 1st to get the rest of the signatures they require for the project.

While I agree with the quote from John Sharp at the end of the report, that they'd have turned in more if they had more, I also think this is a political play by Tolbert and his group to hide exactly how many people they actually have on the petition. If they turn in the exact number they have now, they'd be showing the people for the redevelopment exactly where they are. They don't want that. They want to keep them on their toes. So it's not quite over yet.

Tolbert Filing for Extension

It's not over yet. The hopes of Wizards fans, and South KC residents that after tomorrow Richard Tolbert would be gone from our minds will have to wait. Tomorrow was supposed to be the date that Tolbert had to have his 8500 signatures to put the redevelopment funding on an upcoming ballot. Unfortunately, tonight we find out that Tolbert plans to file for a 10 day extension in hopes of collecting the signatures he needs. He made the announcement today at a rally supporting his cause. Apparently, though, the rally was not very well attended, but did bring the police who were called to keep Tolbert and the rest of the Save Bannister group from trespassing on mall property.

The thoughts of people I've talked to is that with the poor turn out at their "rally" today, is a sign that Tolbert and his group are struggling to get the 8500 signatures, and his filing for extension is him grasping at the last straws to stop this project from happening.

We also have Steve Penn at the Star with another column on the whole situation and Tolbert comparing his battle to save the mall to the Biblical story of Jericho. The best part of the article, though, is where Tolbert actually believes that the citizens of Kansas City would vote for them to keep the mall there.

“John Sharp and these people don’t want a vote of the people, because they know black and white will vote overwhelmingly to have a nice mall there,” Tolbert said.

You really can't make up some of the stuff this guy is saying. He continues to claim that the this is for the black community and that the black community is for this project. Yet, as the article mentions, Freedom, Inc., the cities chapter of the black political club, voted 28-1 in support of the project. The only decenter, was Tolbert. I've heard that The Globe, the cities black newspaper, has run ads telling people not to sign the petition. I've even had local black church leaders post comments in this blog stating their approval for this project. So where is all the black community that is supposedly for it?

Or is Tolbert like an overbearing parent that says they know what's best for you?

Bannister Plans

I came across this article from The Call while looking around the KCrag Forums. The article is a rehash of a lot of the information that's been out there already about Richard Tolbert's attempts to stop the redevelopment of the area. Still there are a few things from the article I want to touch on.

The first goes back to a quote from Councilman John Sharp during the rally. The article gives tells us that of the 5 main members of the "Save Bannister Mall" group, only 1 of them lives in the area around the mall. So 4 of them get to go home to a different part of town and not see the eyesore of a mall and all that comes with it at night. While the majority of those in the area, that do have to live with it, are for this redevelopment, for a second chance at making the area thrive again.

Tolbert continues to bait the race issue on this topic saying basically that the black leaders of the area are folding to the pressure of the white developer. Tolbert says "A better road to prosperity is through a nice black mall, over a white soccer stadium." Yet as is pointed out by Sharp in the article, and seen during the rally, it's not just whites in the area that are for it. It's all races, the blight of the area is driving both white and black people away from the area, which can be seen by the housing costs which have been falling steadily for years, even before the recent housing market collapse. Many of the black people in the area don't seem to think of this as a "gold mine" for the black community.

We also get to see what Tolbert and his friends have planned for the mall. The group wants to get a $25 million TIF for the mall. With that TIF they plan to do four major things with the area.

• Repave the parking lot.
• Update the plumbing.
• Add aesthetic imp-rovements inside the mall including “nice skylights.”
• And, add security features including a security fence surrounding the property, armed security guards and metal detectors.

Can't you just see people flocking to a mall that has a security fence, armed security guards, and metal detectors in it? Would this be a mall or a prison? How is creating almost a police state around the mall suppose to make the area a vibrant area to go to again? All of that stuff is just like finger in a damn. It may work for a short while, but pretty soon it's going to break down. The best thing is to just start over with this area.

In regards to the metal detectors, I refer you to the immortal words of Chris Rock, in his song No Sex (in the Champaign Room), "Don't go to parties with metal detectors. Sure it fells safe inside,but what about all those niggas waiting outside with guns. They know you ain't got one. "

Upcoming Wizards News this Week

There could be some big news this week in regards to the Wizards. Specifically their stadium and their MVP last season.

The first bit of news that will be coming out, is news on the Wizards potential stadium. On Tuesday the 22nd, Richard Tolbert's petition to save Bannister Mall is due. Last Sunday after the rally in support for the redevelopment of the mall, we learned that Tolbert apparently has between 2 and 3 thousand of the 8500 signatures required to get the redevelopment on the ballot. I'm not going to count chickens before they are hatched, but things look good for the development at the moment.

The other news pertains to the Wizards 2007 MVP, Eddie Johnson. According to reports, the team and Johnson are waiting on his work permit. Johnson falls short of the 75% requirement set forth by the FA, but is appealing the decision. The appeal is to be heard on Wednesday.

Update on Bannister Petition

Earlier today I posted about the rally at Bannister Mall for the redevelopment of the area. I also mentioned how Richard Tolbert and his crew were there as well. Tonight, we have some news of how many of the 8500 signatures Tolbert already has. The answer, not nearly enough. According to Fox4, Tolbert has somewhere between 2000-3000 signatures with just over a week left. It doesn't make sense to me for Tolbert to lie with a number that low in this situation, with the amount of time they have left.

Another interesting part of the article is the wording of the article, which makes Tolbert look really stubborn. The article says:

He also says project supporters are misleading the public, and refuses to believe anyone who says the old building is beyond repair.

From everything I've heard, the mall IS pretty much beyond repair. Apparently people have been breaking in, stealing wiring, copper piping and other things inside the mall that would need to be replaced before anything could reopen at the mall. That's not even mentioning the damage done to the reputation of the area due to the empty mall, which is also beyond repair without some major redevelopment.

Redevelop Bannister Rally

Today at Bannister Mall, the rally to support the tearing down and redevelopment of the area occurred outside the old Dillard's entrance. Which, as you can see, has seen much better days. There was a large crowd there, at least 100-150 people there, many of them with signs against the petition and for the redevelopment of the area. Not bad for only 3 or so days of getting it together, according to Al Brooks, who basically MC'd the rally. Most of the ralliers were local citizens, mainly from one of the local churches. Also there, though, were many community leaders who were in support of the project, including, Chuck Eddy, John Sharp, sixth district rep, Cathy Jolly, sixth district at large, Representative Michael Brown, representatives from both the KCMO and Hickman Mills school district, including Hickman Mills superintendent Marge Williams, along with many others, including cameras from Fox 4, KCTV 5, and KMBC 9 as well as the local print medias.

All of the major leaders spoke about the need for this development and the back handed and lying nature that Richard Tolbert apparently is using to get people to sign the petition to stop this plan. As councilman John Sharp said when he spoke, "The people that don't want this to happen don't even live in this area. They live no where near it. The people that are for this are those that live here in the community."

"We need more here then a flea market." Sharp continued. "Soccer is the hook to make the retail work."

Representative Michael Brown spoke again on the states support for this project and that it needed to happen. As one of the other speakers said, "There is a hole in the soul of the sixth district."

Many of the speakers got the crowd involved, starting "Decline to sign" chants. And call and response asking if Bannister Mall was dead, and if the community deserved this redevelopment. Both of which received resounding yeses from the crowd.

As expected, the opposition, Richard Tolbert and his friends showed up as well. After hanging back from the main group for a little bit, the group moved over to their own area. Putting up a sign saying "Save the Mall." There were a grand total of 4 of them there. They accomplished the goal that I assumed they'd set out to do though, and that's to get on the news about their stance, as the news people all went over to talk with them as well after the rally had ended.

Below are a few more pictures of the rally, the first is a lady who let me take a picture of her with her sign. The second is of the entire Save Bannister group. The third is a picture of the rally group right before it started. You can view all the pictures I took at the event here.

Bannister Racial Debate Continues

Steve Penn had a great article for the Star today discussing the petition being put together by Richard Tolbert and the Save Bannister Group. He comes right out and says how bad the idea is to try and save the mall. We even get some new quotes from Tolbert in this piece. Again we get the comment that the area is "the black community's gold mine." Tolbert continues to bring race into the issue.

He calls the project to save Bannister Mall the third phase of the civil rights movement. Yes, because Tolbert is exactly who I think of when I think of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Richard Tolbert. Tolbert says that the third phase is to get economic control of the black community. He says that the black community should have one "nice mall." How is this mall nice anymore? The entire area is an eyesore and the people that live in that area seem to realize that.

After reading through the comments I came across someone who had gotten the petition from the city clerk. Using the email the person provided, I was able to contact the city clerk as well and get a copy of the petition that was turned in with the signatures on it. It included the zip codes of all the signers.

Being someone that enjoys breaking stuff down, I went through and counted the different zip codes on the list. Here are some of the more interesting zip code break downs.

64130 had the most signers with 30. Plugging it into google maps, you see that the area is east of 71 around the Blue Parkway.

64131 had the second most signers with 28. Here's the google maps link of the area code.

64137. This is the most interesting one in my opinion. This is the zip code that Bannister Mall is located in. From the 186 signatures I was able to make out, a grand total of ONE of them were from the 64137 zip code. ONE!!!! EDIT: Although I've had it pointed out to me that 64192 looks to be a zip code specifically for the mall...

With only 1 signature from the zip code the mall is in, doesn't that make you question exactly who Tolbert is trying to appeal to?

Bannister Petition Keeps Coming

More news today about the petition to save Bannister Mall from being redeveloped by Lane4 and the Wizards. Today comes the news that the petition has cleared the first hurdle, and that's get 100 valid signatures. The group had 148 out of the 191 that were on the petition that they originally turned in. 77% of the signatures were valid. If that holds true for the rest of their petition gathering, they'll have to gather just over 11,000 to really have the 8500 required by the city to force a vote.

Tolbert and the rest of the Save Bannister group are continuing to try and make this into a racial issue like they did back in October. "It is wrong to destroy an asset that could be valuable to the black community." It's funny he says that, when you read the comments for the past few articles that were posted by the Star on this topic, or talk to people that were at the city council vote. Much of the black community around Bannister Mall is FOR the redevelopment. They see it as a chance for the area to start over and become a good shopping area again. They claim to be fighting for the black people, when just as many black people seem to be fighting against them and this petition.

If anyone has a way to contact him, please send it my way, or ask him this. What is his plan for Bannister Mall? What will this group do to make sure the area becomes a strong shopping area like it was before? How are they going to fill the mall up with enough businesses to make it economically viable for the owners of the mall to reopen it?

These are questions I really want to know. Especially the first and last one. The only plan I've heard from this group is to just reopen the mall, cut the grass, put on a fresh coat of paint and people will come flooding back. The last question is also important. Bannister Mall is not a small building. It probably costs quite a bit of money to run electricity, as well as to heat and cool the building. I don't think that they can find enough local businesses to move in there to make it worth it for the owners of the mall to reopen it.

As I've said before, this isn't about the stadium for the Wizards as much anymore, as it is about redeveloping a part of the city that has become the butt of jokes, and become an eyesore on the city. I would think the black community in that area would want to try to remove some of the stigmas that there are about the area.

I'm serious about that contact information too, if you have it, please pass it along.

Save Bannister People Are Back

You knew this was coming. You may not wanted to have admitted it, but you knew it was coming. The Save Bannister Mall Group Inc, is attempting to block the destruction of Bannister Mall and adjacent Benjamin Plaza to build a new complex that would include the Wizards stadium.

The group has filed a notice of intent to circulate a referendum petition. The apparently turned in 191 signatures on Sunday. If 100 of those signatures are validated, the group will have until late January to get 8475 people to force an election on the issue. This will be a test of how strongly this is supported in the city. We've heard all this talk from the city council members, especially in the 6th district that this project is being very well received by people in the area. Now is the time that we will see if this is true.

The best part of the article, though, is at the end, where it says;

his group objects to the destruction of a valuable community asset to make way for a project that will not produce revenue for several years.

I find this just hilarious. I can't see how that area was producing revenue at all over the past several years, and he's complaining because this new project won't do the same for a few years? After those few years this project has a much better chance of producing revenue then to just leave the mall there. Most of the area has been empty for years. Who are they going to get to fill these box stores where Toys R Us, Just for Feet, Best Buy, Hypermart, JC Penny's Circuit City, Jones Store, Dillard's, Montgomery Ward and Sears used to be?

This isn't even about the stadium any more when it comes to dealing with these guys. It's about the pigheadedness of some people that can't see how much good this redevelopment will do for an area that sorely needs it. Instead, they're happy to continue along with the status quo, with a huge eyesore on the south side of Kansas City.