• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

Czars and fellows,

Guy Speckman by Guy Speckman
October 27, 2022
in Ponder the Thought
Czar
5
SHARES
123
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Foley told a Landmark Live guest the other day that I wrote a “humor” column for your Landmark. I had no idea. I thought I was in charge of bad political takes and right-wing conspiracies and turns out I was in charge of humor. I guess the joke’s on me.


Brings to mind the old saying, “If you’re playing poker and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.”
Honestly this is familiar territory for me, I’ll press onward.

RelatedNews

Birds, weddings and such

Real estate, education, roundabouts

Fixing stupid, sports gambling


The City of Kansas City has an “Infrastructure Czar.” I had no idea such a position existed and that one was even needed. Chief Innovation Officer Melissa Kozakiewicz, an assistant city manager, has this unofficial title.

Anyway, it was announced that the City of Kansas City has hired a “Fellow” to collaborate with the Czar to streamline and improve its non-car transportation systems ahead of the World Cup. This is not an inappropriate pronoun usage, this is a real life “Fellow,” someone of such distinction in their field that it rises above consultant or employee.

Read that again, slowly. A city that has problems getting the streets plowed has appointed a Czar and hired a Fellow to improve “non-car” transportation.

Was George Jetson unavailable?

The city hired Andrew Ngui to provide this service. Andrew comes to our area from Peoria, where he was the director of the Peoria Economic Development Council’s Office of Innovation. According to the City of Kansas City, Andrew will focus on the corridors from Kansas City International Airport to downtown and downtown to the Truman Sports Complex, “specifically prioritizing innovations in transportation which could include multi-modal options.”

The city further elaborates on this plan by saying Andrew would work with city officials and other community stakeholders — specifically private custodians of trails on public land, environmental justice groups and transit-focused community groups as well as the general public — to help chart a path forward for green transportation in Kansas City.

I am not even sure what any of that means. Fairly sure they may have to hire another “fellow” of the regular variety to translate what you are getting for your money on this other “Fellow” because none of this made its way through my common sense filter.

I think this means they are going to use more electric vehicles and stuff cause horseback seems like a poor option, but you’d have to ask the Czar or Fellow or somebody that is obviously much smarter than me because none of this is clear, I’m just hoping they can clear the snow this winter.


Don’t bring your soccer hate to my doorstep. I’m all giddy about World Cup soccer for Kansas City, so don’t twist the facts. Well, that’s not true. I’m not giddy about World Cup, but I get the impact and accomplishment to host such an event. It’s a noticeably big deal that even a simple guy like me understands, even without having to consult a Fellow.


I’m officially asking Foley to name me the Column Czar of the Landmark. That would be nifty. He’ll probably need to hire a Fellow to consult him on this decision. Apply at the Landmark website.

(Guy Speckman can only be reached by driving a combustible engine vehicle to his locale)

Tags: Guy Speckmanlandmark live
Guy Speckman

Guy Speckman

Guy Speckman is a Landmark contributing columnist with his Ponder the Thought column. Speckman is the former owner of the Savannah Reporter, where the column appeared for nearly two decades. Speckman is a former city government manager, serving as city administrator in Maysville, Plattsburg and Savannah before entering business. He is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University (1989). He is originally from Plattsburg, Missouri. He and his wife own and operate a real estate valuation firm and a daily legal newspaper and are the parents of two grown children.

Related Posts

Let’s get this par-tea started

Birds, weddings and such

by Guy Speckman
May 22, 2025
0

My wife has declared some type of war on birds around our house without telling me of this declaration. I walked onto our rear patio area last week and she had constructed this table on a table contraption with a...

Roundabout

Real estate, education, roundabouts

by Guy Speckman
May 14, 2025
0

Let's nerd out on some Platte County real estate. The real estate market is quickly pumping the brakes around here. Listings are moving upward, and houses are sitting on the market longer. It's starting to look like 2017-18 around here....

Sports betting

Fixing stupid, sports gambling

by Guy Speckman
May 11, 2025
0

This is a tariff free column. I negotiated a “yuge” deal with Foley to bring it to you this way. You're welcome. Maybe next week we'll bring you low-cost eggs to go with no tariffs. The State of Missouri still...

random thoughts

Pope, religion, retirement

by Guy Speckman
May 1, 2025
0

I am attending my wife's little brother's retirement party this weekend. It seems like yesterday I was hoping that dude would go to his room and leave 17- year-old me alone with his sister. Nowadays, I just hope he has...

Next Post
yelling at referees

It's showtime

Popular News

  • Jeff Wilson

    Police have suspect in string of Platte City burglaries

    36 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • KC’s curfew, backyard chickens, selfie stations

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Surgery Center of Northland being built in Platte City

    52 shares
    Share 21 Tweet 13
  • ‘Guilt by association’ ends appointment talk

    8 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • Amenities being added to Park at Platte Meadows

    7 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 2
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Online
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved