Here's an extended freebie chapter to give readers a sense of the TKC E-book chronicling, critiquing, clowning and considering the tenure of Kansas City Mayor Sly James so far.
If you liked what you read, please consider buying the E-book via Paypal.
On the introductory post, we wrote just a bit more about the e-book and the future discussion we plan to have with folks who purchased the work that's really the first critical examination of Mayor Sly's tenure from an independent, local author.
Here's the first chapter in the spirit of Christmas and to spark a dialogue among our blog community denizens.
All About The Bow Tie
There’s no denying that Kansas City Mayor Sly James kinda looks like a clown when he wears one of his signature bow ties.
That's a petty criticism, sure, but also well deserved given that the bow tie symbolizes a Mayoral Administration that has consistently emphasized style over substance at every turn and touted an image of sophistication, proficiency and technological savvy when, in fact, Mayor Sly has simply served as nothing more than a glorified maître d' for the developer and corporate class of Kansas City.
Mayor Sly James wears too much jewelry, his suits are cheap looking and don't really fit — They're designed to drape off him and hide the excess 100 to 150 pounds that he carries on his medium-sized frame. Look closely on any given day and a heavy dusting of dandruff adorns his shoulders. In reality Sly James is a lovable slob like most men enduring middle-age and approaching their senior years.
Nevertheless, the bow tie has been accepted by mostly unquestioning KC media as the fashion-forward emblem of an upscale trial lawyer who climbed to the top of his profession locally and then ascended to the rank of mayor. Again, the reality of a personal-injury attorney winning against a field of nobodies and a historically unpopular incumbent mayor contradicts this false perception.
But Kansas City has always had an inferiority complex and the trendy posturing of a political neophyte easily impressed reporters who didn't want to get bogged down in the mundane reporting of KC's worsening financial condition or its increasingly violent streets.
Reality: The bow tie is a fashion metaphor.
The Mayor’s favorite fashion accessory isn’t really about old-world haute couture reemerging as a viable trend for the tragically hip professional class. It's obvious that most of the Mayor's bow ties are clip-ons, cheap or share the same color scheme as a toilet bowl on a busy night at an Indian restaurant.
Here's what could be the hidden meaning of this accessory: The bow tie shows us a powerful man on his best behavior and bowing to the customs and traditions of the ruling class which mostly serve to undermine the efforts of working poor residents in Kansas City. In that way, it's the perfect symbol for Mayor Sly's tenure that has expended most of its energy and effort on an exceptionally expensive and speculative development agenda.
Let’s take it one step further:
Fastened securely around neck a man who should be one of the most powerful residents of Kansas City, the bow tie begins to look more like a fancy leash designed for special occasions. The uncomfortable formality of the bow tie seemingly strangling the mayor is reminiscent of socialites dressing their pets in diamond necklaces and other silly trinkets for celebrity tabloid photographs. Paris Hilton regularly put diamonds around the neck of her pet chihuahua Tinkerbell before its untimely death. To be fair, there’s no accounting for bad taste and the Mayor is a grown man who probably makes his own (poor) fashion choices but adopting the bowtie as a political statement is a cynical act that deserves to be taken apart. The Mayor’s semi-regular e-mail blast entitled “The Bow Tie Newsletter” seems to champion the fashion accessory as part of a crafted branding proposition with no accounting for Mayor Sly’s oddball design choices and his lack of talent at making sure his clothes match.
Still, most people love the bow tie.
Similarly, the City Hall leader’s neckwear fashion affinity is right in line with his dancing and singing at nearly every opportunity.
First, let’s consider the the fancy feet of Mayor Sly James. Kansas City’s City Hall honcho dances for Internet commercials, visiting officials and especially around the holidays. It’s not everyday that an elected official shows off their twinkle toes, so the guy’s shimmy almost certainly stands out. The mayor smiling, dancing, shaking his barrel chest and jiggling his protruding gut for cameras creates a striking and memorable image that’s strangely appropriate for Kansas City’s amateur politics comprised mostly of cheerleaders and the desperate consultant class.
The absurdity of the Mayor’s dancing is also exacerbated because the top elected official at City Hall is typically flanked by some of the most humorless people in Kansas City - like the city council - who labor under the mistaken impression that their service will lead to bigger and better opportunities. It’s not clear if the Mayor’s dancing is disrespectful or just a nervous affectation but it’s clearly a distraction from otherwise boring public events which suffice for news among media toiling away in a mid-sized, Midwestern market. Most press events in Kansas City can (and usually are) written up before they begin. The dancing Mayor is regarded as a special treat for journalists, morning anchors and veteran cameramen on their way up, down or out of the news game.
In the most memorable bit of public dancing, Mayor Sly James greeted Republican officials on the tarmac of the airport with a marching band in tow and took the hand of a member of the selection committee in order to move to the music. He twirled her around and two-stepped to the delight of media and bystanders. In the end Kansas City didn’t get the GOP National Convention but the image of the Mayor dancing for and with high powered visitors while millions of tourism dollars were on the line remains one of the highlights of the James administration.
Finally, no discussion of the style of Mayor Sly James is complete without a consideration of his love of creative expression through the majesty of song.
Mayor Sly James started his journey to the center of the Kansas City spotlight in high school as the lead singer of the Amelia Earhart Memorial Flying Band. The band later changed its name to Manchester Trafficway and Wikipedia claims Sly James served as the frontman of the group from 1965-1970. The claim to fame of this collaboration was an opening act performance for Jefferson Airplane when the legendary group of stoners passed through KCMO.
Military service in the Marines and a legal career cut short the Mayor’s singing ambitions for the most part but his love of public crooning continued to inspire impromptu and some scheduled performances during his tenure. The Mayor sang at his inaugural party, he bellowed “Going to Kansas City” after a “State Of The City” speech and in a touching tribute he delivered poignant rendition of “Amazing Grace” at the public memorial service of two fighters killed in the line of duty. Still, from John Ashcroft’s “Let The Eagle Soar” to many painful public performances of boxer Manny Pacquiao - Respect for a public official or an otherwise beloved personality often prohibits any meaningful critique of vocal ability. Clowning the mayor’s singing has more to do with political or pop culture opposition and not the intent or context with which a song is offered. Suffice it to say, there hasn’t been any criticism of the Mayor’s throaty baritone. Again, the singing is another symbolic gesture of a creative, heartfelt and approachable politico offered at the perfect moment to elicit an emotional reaction.
In the final analysis, few recognize the image of a fashionable, singing and dancing Kansas City politician as merely a carefully crafted public persona that puts any criticism at odds with a good time, a rare emotional connection with a public figure or an overly sentimental civic moment. Disarming critics or potential opposition with a winning smile and a lot of personality speaks to the pathological politeness which is the defining characteristic of Kansas City - The town that’s home to the sappy and saccharine Hallmark Cards.
Sly James has made a career of killing his opponents with kindness and the world of local politics proved far easier to conquer than any legal proceeding. Old school Broadway musical “The Music Man” turned into Hollywood movie Americana is a bit of an out of date reference but the lead character Professor Harold Hill provides a cultural touchstone for this local leader who is more pitch man than politico. Moreover, the career of Mayor Sly James demonstrates that flashy clothes, a song and a dance is more than enough to distract the vast majority of people in Kansas City.
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