I Went to a City Commission Meeting

On the eve of our Independence Day celebration, I attended a Lenexa, KS city commission meeting. The primary purpose for my attendance was to speak about a proposed smoking ban. I came away with at least 3 blog subjects.

I will take the outrages in the order that they occurred. First on the agenda was a period of open communication where people can address the august governing body on any topic not otherwise on the agenda for the evening.

Two ladies complained about their newly built houses falling apart and wanted the city to do something about it. They thought that the city should be liable for their huge loss because the building inspector did not do a good job. The Mayor and the council let them rant through their allotted 5 minutes and then ignored them.

I find this very disrespectful. They deserve a meaningful answer. Of course the city isn't liable. The Mayor should tell them so. He should explain that under Kansas Statute 75-6104 no state or municipal employee is civilly liable for any failure to perform and their only recourse is to sue their builders.

The public should be aware that, notwithstanding the taxes we pay for police, fire, building inspectors and a host of other "discretionary" services, there is no liability if the municipality fails to perform well or even fails to perform at all.

The public needs to be more aware of this statute so that they do not foolishly rely on municipal services as these two ladies apparently did to their catastrophic sorrow.

This has application in other matters such as gun control. They would know that the argument that you don't need a gun because the police are there to protect you is an empty and false promise. A right to protection that cannot be enforced is a gift that can arbitrarily be withdrawn. This is certainly not a right by any common understanding of the word. It doesn't matter that you paid taxes specifically to secure the right.

So, if the Fire Department doesn't show up for an hour when your house is on fire, you have no claim on the city for negligence. You better have taken care of yourself with fire alarms and fire insurance.