The latest update and a huge effort to possibly save the track!!

As many of you know, my post regarding the KCIR issue has been plastered all over message boards, facebook pages, and even made it's way onto 98.9 this morning.

I've been fielding phone calls, emails and private messages non-stop from concerned race fans, auto-related business owners, and even the owners of the track for the last 36 hours. While I am not currently representing the track in its "negotiations" with the city, I'm apparently still considered one of the track's lawyers and the "go to" guy on this issue. With that said, here's where things currently stand:

As you may know, Councilwoman Cindy Circo gave an interview to KCTV5 news last night and claimed that condemnation played no part in the process and that the track owners approached the city voluntarily. This, of course, caused a HUGE backlash against the track owners who were berated in emails and phone calls, being accused of being sell-outs, not caring about the racing community, etc. However, you can't believe everything you hear, especially when it comes from a politician.

I tried to be detailed enough in my post on here that people would know that my facts were accurate, without actually posting any of the paperwork to prove it up unless and until I had authority to do so. As of last night, many of you may have discovered that the May 2011 letter threatening the condemnation of the property (which I referenced in my post) was made public. It is now in the hands of several news media outlets as well as many facebook pages and other internet sites.

Now that the actual letter from KCMO threatening the condemnation of the property has been made public, the news media is down at City Hall trying to get an explanation as to the clearly contradictory statements from Councilwoman Circo. My sources over there have indicated to me that she is now trying to throw the city attorney, Ted Anderson, under the bus, claiming that she was not aware of such a letter and nobody informed the council of this threat of condemnation. Apparently, there are several other council members who may truly not have been aware of the letter who are purportedly VERY angry over this lack of information.

I'm not sure how she could claim she didn't know. The parks department doesn't write letters threatening to condemn very expensive land without the approval of the city. Someone knew about that letter. Furthermore, it is my understanding that there is language in the contract which CLEARLY states that this sale is made under threat of condemnation. Anyone paying attention to the sale they were entering into should have read the contract. If they had, they'd know about the threat of condemnation. That leaves two choices. You are either not telling the truth about what you knew, or you didn't even bother to read the document you voted to approve, which would seem pretty negligent. Draw your own conclusions on that one.

I've been on the phone with the Mayor's office this morning and I am trying to get an audience with Sly or his Chief of Staff, John McGurk to discuss how this thing has spiraled out of control and a proposed face saving way out of this mess for the city.

I'm not at liberty to discuss any details of what those proposals might be, but we have some ideas that I think might bail the city out, and provide a win-win for everybody. There are no guarantees. In the end, it's possible that Sly and John don't even give me a chance to present our ideas. But make no mistake, I, along with the owners of the track are doing all things possible to try to rectify this situation.

Please continue to support the track as they negotiate this very difficult road. But now you know the truth. This was not, and never was a voluntary sale. And the in-district council woman mislead the community when she said that condemnation played no part in this transaction.

Hi Eric,

Yes, I read about this today.

I agree it sounds like a waste of taxpayer dollars.



This is out of our jurisdiction since it deals with city-level government.

However, I believe KCMO has an ethics commission where complaints can be filed. If you can’t locate that, the State Ethics Commission might be able to direct you in filing complaints against city officials.

http://www.moethics.mo.gov/



Or the state auditor sometimes audits the actions of local governments. They have a confidential hotline for complaints. http://www.auditor.mo.gov/aboutus/contact.htm



Sorry we’re not able to get involved. I’m sure lots of people are upset about this.



Have a good weekend,