By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
March 2, 2011

City of Kansas City council members, the mayor and municipal judges won’t be seeing a raise for several years.

During a Feb. 24 City of Kansas City Council meeting, council members voted to adopt a four-year salary freeze for council members and the mayor. Municipal judges will have their wages frozen until their salary is less than circuit court judges. Then, the municipal judge’s salaries will be increased to match the salaries of the circuit court judges. Municipal judges currently make $144,875 per year.

Council member Ed Ford defended the circuit court judges and stressed that Missouri judges rank 49th to 50th in the U.S. in terms of salary figures.

“The perception is our judges are overpaid because in comparison of the circuit and associate circuit judges, they make more money, which is true,” Ford said. “But, at the state level, they are greatly underpaid. We’ve lost a number of good judges over the years as a result of that… I don’t believe our (municipal) judges are overpaid, I think the other judges are underpaid.”

Council member Sharon Sanders Brooks agreed and said Missouri State judges would earn much more opening up private practices and that they’re “sacrificing to be public servants.”

Council member John Sharp also defended municipal judges.

“I do think sometimes the public doesn’t appreciate the work of our municipal judges as much as they should,” Sharp said. “At the municipal court level, they interact with so many more people than a circuit or appellate judge… Even though these cases may not be earth shattering, they’re pretty important to the people involved.”

Chronic code violators to receive harsher fines

Citizens haven’t been pleased with the city’s enforcement of property maintenance and code violations, Brooks said. Citizens said it needed more bite, she added.

To assist with the problem, the council raised the fine violations from $100 to $1,000, she said, but that sparked controversy among those who may have only violated a code once.

“This is something our neighborhood leaders have been asking for a long time. This won’t affect the average person who may have property maintenance issues from time to time,” Council member Cathy Jolly said.

Harsher fines will be reserved for repeat offenders, who violate the same code on the same property within a 12-month period. With subsequent violations, the fines will continue to increase.

However, Jolly said, the director of a community neighborhood organization is allowed to use discretion and waive fines under certain circumstances.

“Hopefully, this will help get a handle on certain properties that have blighted whole neighborhoods in some cases,” Jolly said.

Council members approved the amended version of Chapter 56, Code of Ordinances, regarding fines and penalties.

A half pint of books

To honor Half Price Books’ annual “Half Pint Library” Book Drive for children’s books, city council members each brought a few books of their own to donate and approved a resolution to honor the drive.

Representatives attending from Half Price Books included Serge Hansel, district inventory manager, Jeff Wenger, district training coordinator and Debra Harris, store manager.

Jolly expressed the importance of reading to children and how it opens their eyes to new worlds and cultures.

“My son – if you don’t read him a book at night, I don’t think he would go to bed,” Council member Sharp said. “Some people say, ‘I didn’t graduate from high school or I don’t have the ability to read.’

“But, start with your child at the lowest level and grow and experience reading with your child. That’s something you can give them for a lifetime.”

Wenger thanked the council and mayor and added, “We think bringing in your used books is a great way to do good while clearing out your shelf.”