Cauthen Speaks

[Highlander]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 643827.htm

I enjoyed this article which is essentially an interview of Cauthen.  He is both upbeat about the future of KC and very frank about some controversial subjects.  Also speaks a bit about the P&L district. 

[KCMax]

Why is Cauthen being criticized lately? Seems like some mayoral candidates are taking swipes at him.

Steve Penn: The Proof is in the Performance

Although Cauthen can handle the criticism, he admits that it sometimes gets to his wife.

“She knows how hard I work,” Cauthen said. “And she hasn’t developed the thick skin I have. I know it’s campaign season. The city manager is always a campaign issue when you’re getting a whole new council and mayor.”

When you evaluate the effectiveness of Mayor Kay Barnes in her first and second terms, there’s no debate — her second term was the most productive. The big difference was the arrival of Cauthen, who came on board at the start of her second term.

“There was no arena,” Cauthen said. “There was no entertainment district. There was all this talk.”

The business community is making money right now in Kansas City. And people in the business community don’t care who is city manager as long as they’re making bucks.

Here’s the reality that the next mayor and council must consider.

If you want to get rid of Cauthen just for style points, then what kind of signal does that send to potential city administrators who might consider coming here?

It’s ironic how Kansas City looks to Denver’s renaissance as a sort of blueprint for our resurgence. We have the very man on board who guided that transformation. And yet, we are to believe he’s suddenly not good enough even after he has had similar success here....

[DaveKCMO]

Why is Cauthen being criticized lately? Seems like some mayoral candidates are taking swipes at him.

Steve Penn: The Proof is in the Performance

Although Cauthen can handle the criticism, he admits that it sometimes gets to his wife.

“She knows how hard I work,” Cauthen said. “And she hasn’t developed the thick skin I have. I know it’s campaign season. The city manager is always a campaign issue when you’re getting a whole new council and mayor.”

When you evaluate the effectiveness of Mayor Kay Barnes in her first and second terms, there’s no debate — her second term was the most productive. The big difference was the arrival of Cauthen, who came on board at the start of her second term.

“There was no arena,” Cauthen said. “There was no entertainment district. There was all this talk.”

The business community is making money right now in Kansas City. And people in the business community don’t care who is city manager as long as they’re making bucks.

Here’s the reality that the next mayor and council must consider.

If you want to get rid of Cauthen just for style points, then what kind of signal does that send to potential city administrators who might consider coming here?

It’s ironic how Kansas City looks to Denver’s renaissance as a sort of blueprint for our resurgence. We have the very man on board who guided that transformation. And yet, we are to believe he’s suddenly not good enough even after he has had similar success here....

cauthen guided the transformation of denver? really? he wasn't the city manager there, which, if you read the fine print in these puff pieces, is quite obvious. funkhouser makes the most obvious declaration... hire someone who has actually been a city manager before or has an MPA. you'd be hard-pressed to find another muncipality even in our own metro that wouldn't use the same entrance criteria. my boyfriend applied to butler-fucking-missouri and they even stated "MPA preferred"... butler has 2,000 residents and a one-room shack for city hall.

i'm not saying he hasn't been a catalyst, but for an operation this big you need more than just a visionary. one only has to look at CIMO (as henry klein often points out) to judge the true operational skill at work here.

[kard]

i'm not saying he hasn't been a catalyst, but for an operation this big you need more than just a visionary. one only has to look at CIMO (as henry klein often points out) to judge the true operational skill at work here.

I'd say give CIMO a chance.  They just completed some major organizational changes.

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op ... sid/20764/

Numerous process improvements have been made in the course of managing this project portfolio. Project completion time is now averaging 18 months, as opposed to the 36 months prior to CIMO. Payments to contractors are now being processed at an average of 23 days, three times faster than in 2003. These achievements have helped to keep project costs down by expediting certain time elements within a project's life cycle while allowing the local contracting community to plan their resources more effectively for projects.

[KC0KEK]

cauthen guided the transformation of denver? really? he wasn't the city manager there, which, if you read the fine print in these puff pieces, is quite obvious. funkhouser makes the most obvious declaration... hire someone who has actually been a city manager before or has an MPA. you'd be hard-pressed to find another muncipality even in our own metro that would use the same entrance criteria.

I didn't know that. Sounds like something you ought to point out in a letter to the editor or at least to Penn.

[mean]

Cauthen worked in Denver City Hall for something like 20 years. So what if he wasn't the city manager there--he's doing a fine job here, and firing him because he wasn't previously a city manager is ridiculous. I'm with Funk on 99% of stuff, but not this. Indeed, I like Cauthen enough that if Funk says he's going to fire him it could change my vote.

[midtown guy]

Cauthen worked in Denver City Hall for something like 20 years. So what if he wasn't the city manager there--he's doing a fine job here, and firing him because he wasn't previously a city manager is ridiculous. I'm with Funk on 99% of stuff, but not this. Indeed, I like Cauthen enough that if Funk says he's going to fire him it could change my vote.

I completely agree...Cauthen seems to be the only person who gets that parking garages are better than surface lots, increasing the pedestrian-friendliness of the city, etc.  I know that Funk thinks he's over-extended the city's budget, and maybe he's right (Funk would know better than I do) but I feel like a lot of what is good in this city right now is because of the work that Cauthen is doing (and started happening after he got here).  It's not perfect, but I will say that Funk's views on Cauthen are the one thing keeping me from being a shoe-in voting for him.  Although anything to keep Brooks out...

[DaveKCMO]

from cauthen's very own bio:

Cauthen brings to the office more than 25 years of professional experience in both the public and private sector. A native of Englewood, N.J., Cauthen came to Kansas City from Denver, where he was chief of staff to Mayor Wellington E. Webb from March 1997 to March 2003. Cauthen also served as Webb's deputy chief of staff from March 1997 through January 2000, and director of the Mayor's Office of Contract Compliance from January 1993 through February 1997.

Cauthen received his bachelor's degree in political science from Central State University in Ohio, and completed graduate studies in political science at the University of Colorado.

once again, it's not that cauthen isn't doing a decent job on the big ticket items like P+L, or that he didn't inherit serious problems from predecesors. my point is that citizen satisfaction with basic services are where we continue to falter (and have continued to drop under cauthen's lead). keep that in mind before you change your vote for funk. and to be fair, only alvin brooks has been 100% clear at forums and in print on whether cauthen would be retained. i guess you'll have to vote for him if saving cauthen is your top priority (and hey... he's already the "frontrunner"!).

[kard]

from cauthen's very own bio:

once again, it's not that cauthen isn't doing a decent job on the big ticket items like P+L, or that he didn't inherit serious problems from predecesors. my point is that citizen satisfaction with basic services are where we continue to falter (and have continued to drop under cauthen's lead). keep that in mind before you change your vote for funk. and to be fair, only alvin brooks has been 100% clear at forums and in print on whether cauthen would be retained. i guess you'll have to vote for him if saving cauthen is your top priority (and hey... he's already the "frontrunner"!).

Dave, have you ever talked to Wayne?

[DaveKCMO]

metro-area municipalities that have MPAs as their city manager/administrator:

Overland Park - John Nachbar

Lenexa - Eric Wade

Shawnee - Carol Gonzales (Also, Vicki Charlesworth - Asst. CM)

Mission Hills - Courtney Christensen

Merriam - Stephanie ???

Olathe - J. Michael Wilkes

[lock+load]

metro-area municipalities that have MPAs as their city manager/administrator:

Overland Park - John Nachbar

Lenexa - Eric Wade

Shawnee - Carol Gonzales (Also, Vicki Charlesworth - Asst. CM)

Mission Hills - Courtney Christensen

Merriam - Stephanie ???

Olathe - J. Michael Wilkes

Who cares?  If he can do the job, what difference does his education make?  If you don't like Cauthen's style or priorities, fine, but don't blame it on his background.

[DaveKCMO]

Dave, have you ever talked to Wayne?

no, and i would guess that most city residents haven't either. i'm not completely against the guy. i'm just trying to illustrate a point that there's always more to the situation than what's on the surface. i'm judging his performance based on what i see that he is responsible for, not on him as a person. there are lots of cool and nice people in the world who sound like they know their business, but not all of them are truly qualified to run a city with a billion dollar budget.

[mean]

Personally, I think a Cauthen / Funk team would be ideal. That's what I was hoping for: Funk to reign in the finances with Cauthen to retain his vision and productivity, just perhaps with a bit more restraint.

[DaveKCMO]

Who cares?  If he can do the job, what difference does his education make?  If you don't like Cauthen's style or priorities, fine, but don't blame it on his background.

you are correct... if he can do the job better than any other candidate, which no one can prove. my point stands that there is a reason municipalities consistently select MPAs as city managers these days. it's the same reason you want a CPA doing your books.

this isn't the same as the janice ellis approach of noting other mayors that haven't had elected experience before. that is an elected position that sets direction, not the person running the day-to-day non-legislative business of the city.

[beautyfromashes]

my point is that citizen satisfaction with basic services are where we continue to falter (and have continued to drop under cauthen's lead).

People have been saying this on the board for a long time.  I just chalk it up to people wanting to complain about SOMETHING.  Besides the sewer issue, what exactly is everyones beef? 

[DaveKCMO]

http://www.kcmo.org/auditor/05-06audits ... ults05.pdf

Kansas City was compared to 13 large regional cities in residents’ overall satisfaction with public safety, parks and recreation, maintenance, code enforcement, and city communication. Kansas Citians’ ratings were lower than the average in all these five areas and less than half of the average for maintenance.

Kansas City’s ratings were also compared with 21 other cities in the metropolitan area regarding overall satisfaction with city services, perceptions of the city, satisfaction with public safety, maintenance services, parks and recreation, code enforcement, and city communication. Out of 44 items, Kansas City’s satisfaction never exceeded the average satisfaction rating. Only 4 items, fire protection, ambulance service, water and sewer utilities, and street lighting, were close to averages.

[kard]

http://www.kcmo.org/auditor/05-06audits ... ults05.pdf

We're aware that the city's scores were not where we'd like them, as are Barnes and Cauthen.  The years-old statement stating more of a push towards neighborhoods from city hall said that.

What specific changes does Funkhouser recommend be made to push the scores higher?

[mean]

http://markfunkhouser.com/issues.html

There are like a jillion PDFs of his audits, which make sound suggestions for things like streets and sidewalks, parks, emergency services, sewers, transportation...

[loftguy]

The general public in Kansas City is unhappy with how their city has been operated.  They should be.  So much has been neglected and allowed to rot.  The negligence has been institutional.

Wayne Cauthen has next to nothing to do with this fact.  He just happens to be in the head dudes seat at this moment in our history.  He's catching hell for the results created by so many who came before him.

I worked in Denver during the years that Wayne was serving under Wellington Webbs umbrella.  I have also had the chance to interact with and observe Waynes work here in Kansas City.  He's not a god, but he is a smart, honest, demanding change-maker.

City Hall has changed much during the Barnes/Cauthen term.  To describe the extent would take far more time than I now have.  Simply stated, much debris was cleared, (not all), and good folks at city hall have  been empowered.  We are moving in such an improved direction.  I love this city and I am so thankful that Wayne had the guts to take this position and do what he has done.

Again, where we visibly are today is not the work of Cauthen.  His results will be seen in years to come.

[DaveKCMO]

here's a recent example about sidewalks:

http://www.kcmo.org/auditor/05-06audits ... gement.pdf

Although sidewalks are an important city asset, the city does not manage its sidewalk system. Kansas City does not have a systematic sidewalk inspection program. The city does not know how many miles of sidewalk are located within the city or the condition of the sidewalks. Rather, the city only inspects sidewalk conditions when property owners or community groups initiate a request or complain about a sidewalk. A systematic inspection program could help allocate city resources and target areas for repair.

Minneapolis and Milwaukee both conduct systematic inspections of their sidewalk systems. Minneapolis, whose residents reported high satisfaction with their city’s sidewalks, inspects sidewalks on a 10 to 16 year cycle. Milwaukee conducts sidewalk inspections on a 30-year cycle and Denver is developing an inventory plan that would inspect sidewalks every 5 years.

just one example, and certainly not new information.