Golden Plains Technology Park

[FangKC]

I won't be surprised if a developer who had to follow the diversity rules later sues the City saying it gave preferential treatment to another developer.

[Sani]

Kansas City Council waived the requirements when it executed its contract with the developer.

Two most common reasons this can happen for two reasons: scale of project and specialization.

Which of those would apply here, though?

The story feels pretty damning to me. It sounds like Meta didn't want to deal with what they perceived as Kansas City's "red tape" and knew they could say jump and the city would ask, how high? Then, when Andrea Dorch started asking questions and pointing out problems, the city manager decided she didn't meet the residency requirement, even though she says she's lived at the same address in the city since 1994.

[FangKC]

Ironic, it appears Ms. Dorch has lived locally much longer than the City Manager.

This is the second example of the City Manager seeming to retaliate against a City employee.

https://www.kmbc.com/article/former-kan ... g/42191315

I don't like the idea of these rules being set aside for one company not based in Kansas City. It's blatantly unfair to all the other smaller companies that have to comply with the rules--especially home-grown companies.

[shinatoo]

Didn't it say right in the article that she had purchased a house in Lee's Summit as her primary residence, and that she was claiming her mother's house for residency requirements?

[FangKC]

No, it said she purchased that house for an investment, and that she had has lived in KCMO for years.

The City Manager’s office said Dorch was found to be violating the city’s residency rule, which requires all city employees to live in Kansas City, Missouri. The City Manager’s office cited a deed for a house in Lee’s Summit that listed Dorch as the owner, and said the city conducted an investigation and interviewed Dorch to verify that claim.

Dorch said she bought a home in Lee’s Summit in 2020 as an investment property, but her primary residence is in Kansas City proper. Dorch showed KCUR multiple government documents — including tax filings and her government ID — listing an address within city limits.

Dorch said she’s lived at that same address since 1994. She began working with the city in 1997, and said she’s always been aware of the residency requirement.

[shinatoo]

No, it said she purchased that house for an investment, and that she had has lived in KCMO for years.

The City Manager’s office said Dorch was found to be violating the city’s residency rule, which requires all city employees to live in Kansas City, Missouri. The City Manager’s office cited a deed for a house in Lee’s Summit that listed Dorch as the owner, and said the city conducted an investigation and interviewed Dorch to verify that claim.

Dorch said she bought a home in Lee’s Summit in 2020 as an investment property, but her primary residence is in Kansas City proper. Dorch showed KCUR multiple government documents — including tax filings and her government ID — listing an address within city limits.

Dorch said she’s lived at that same address since 1994. She began working with the city in 1997, and said she’s always been aware of the residency requirement.

I stand corrected.

[langosta]

@stani

I just want to know if one of those two applied before I rush to judgment. Given it’s a high tech building and a big one at that I could see it being possible.

KC has a lot of requirements for incentives projects that start to add up. I think it’s important to keep them in mind and revisit as needed to make sure they actually help us reach the goals we set. Especially when our competitors don’t have them.

The article raises important issues

[langosta]

No, it said she purchased that house for an investment, and that she had has lived in KCMO for years.

The City Manager’s office said Dorch was found to be violating the city’s residency rule, which requires all city employees to live in Kansas City, Missouri. The City Manager’s office cited a deed for a house in Lee’s Summit that listed Dorch as the owner, and said the city conducted an investigation and interviewed Dorch to verify that claim.

Dorch said she bought a home in Lee’s Summit in 2020 as an investment property, but her primary residence is in Kansas City proper. Dorch showed KCUR multiple government documents — including tax filings and her government ID — listing an address within city limits.

Dorch said she’s lived at that same address since 1994. She began working with the city in 1997, and said she’s always been aware of the residency requirement.

I stand corrected.

City states Andrea signed bank documents that required her house in Lee’s Summit to be her primary residence. An investigation into her residency also included a few days of private investigators. PI found she traveled back and forth between City Hall and the home in Lees Summit. Andrea claimed her daughter was staying at the home and it was being renovated.

I also have some confusion - Andrea released a report stating that Meta refused to comply with the city’s standard MWBE requirements but the articles also mention those requirements were waived for the project.

A city spokesperson maintains that Dorch violated the residency requirement. The city noted that mortgage documents Dorch signed for the Lee's Summit property in 2020 and 2023 include language requiring the borrower establish the property as her principal residence and maintain it as a principal residence for at least one year — "unless Lender otherwise agrees in writing."

https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-05-02/ka ... s-director

[taxi]

Ironic that it appears her home in Lee's Summit is an MWBE.

[alejandro46]

That article is confusingly written and does seem very one-sided. It doesn't mention the fact that the council waived the MBE/WBE requirements for the project.

[langosta]

City states Andrea signed bank documents that required her house in Lee’s Summit to be her primary residence. An investigation into her residency also included a few days of private investigators. PI found she traveled back and forth between City Hall and the home in Lees Summit. Andrea claimed her daughter was staying at the home and it was being renovated.

I also have some confusion - Andrea released a report stating that Meta refused to comply with the city’s standard MWBE requirements but the articles also mention those requirements were waived for the project.

A city spokesperson maintains that Dorch violated the residency requirement. The city noted that mortgage documents Dorch signed for the Lee's Summit property in 2020 and 2023 include language requiring the borrower establish the property as her principal residence and maintain it as a principal residence for at least one year — "unless Lender otherwise agrees in writing."

https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-05-02/ka ... s-director

Getting better.

“We started the investigation in October,” she said. (Assistant CM)

The probe began, she (Assistant CM) said, after the city’s law department accepted a subpoena on Dorch’s behalf last fall in connection with a legal action that was unrelated to her job. The home address on the subpoena was for the address of the house that Dorch owns in Lee’s Summit.

“That’s why we started the investigation,” Kozakiewicz said, “not because of any email that she wrote, or any document that she claims spawned it. We started the investigation because she was served at work with an address that had a Lee’s Summit address.”

She (Andrea - fired employee) also disagrees with the city’s timeline. She (Andrea) says the city’s law department received the subpoena with the Lee’s Summit address on it last spring, not last fall, and that the city was aware of the house in Lee’s Summit when she was hired as a department director in 2021 because the city did a background check at that time.

https://news.yahoo.com/kc-says-records- ... 32619.html

[Sani]

I realize the residency rule is the rule, but I'd be pretty pissed if I'd provided documentation to my employer that I lived at the city address where I said I lived, and then they hired a PI to follow me home. Do they do this kind of investigation on all city employees they suspect might be living outside city limits? Seems like that would take a lot of resources.

[dnweava]

I realize the residency rule is the rule, but I'd be pretty pissed if I'd provided documentation to my employer that I lived at the city address where I said I lived, and then they hired a PI to follow me home. Do they do this kind of investigation on all city employees they suspect might be living outside city limits? Seems like that would take a lot of resources.

Yep....

[langosta]

I realize the residency rule is the rule, but I'd be pretty pissed if I'd provided documentation to my employer that I lived at the city address where I said I lived, and then they hired a PI to follow me home. Do they do this kind of investigation on all city employees they suspect might be living outside city limits? Seems like that would take a lot of resources.

Yep....

The city was given cause to suspect the rule had been broken. In this case, Andrea’s legal notice, addressed with residence of Lees Summit, was delivered to City Hall.

If you read the article, the PI is a result of wanting an open and shut case to avoid later lawsuits.

Andrea’s own provided timeline for buying the Lees Summit house was once she left the city for a new job. Only later did she return working for the city but she does maintain she never lived at the Lee Summit house (despite singing contracts she would and having legal notices with it listed as her residence).

At best the issue is complicated but leans favoring the city. Certainly isn’t an easy retaliation case like KCUR reports it to be.

[langosta]

Google's doubled their KC land holdings to ~800 acres by buying the Diode Ventures project that was cancelled due to lack of power supply.