Pay for play does not work out this way.

Cranky?

Was this li’l pooch just called cranky?

That’s how mayoral spokesman Joe Miller sees it after our portrayal of the Mayor’s “pay to play” PR tour that hits Historic Northeast on Sept. 6. We rightfully called this red herring what it is the minute the donor letter arrived.

But wait — the donor letter isn’t really supposed to be a donor letter. It’s supposed to only advertise the event at Concourse Park.

Huh?

“We’re just trying to get the word out, casting a wide net,” Miller said.

When we asked if Miller had read the part of the letter establishing the donor levels that we took issue with — he openly said that he had not read it prior to it being sent out. An out-of-town company is planning the event.

Remember, “...in a city that works.”

Well here’s some straight skinny from a veteran — and apparently cranky — newshound.

We’d like to remind the Mayor — and his brood — that once upon a time during his campaign we sat in a little trailer on the West Side as he told our Publisher boss that, and I quote: “I expect you as a member of the media to call me on the carpet if I do something stupid,” (His words, not ours).

He has and we are.

Maybe in a city that works, instead of gutting neighborhood programs and getting local businesses and neighborhoods to pony up for what’s essentially the Mayor’s “Ghetto PR Tour ‘08” that equates to a bus ride and free appetizers in a tent, he should find a way to restore some of the programs and services to neighborhoods that took it on the chin last spring when the “neighborhoods first” City Council and the “city that works” Mayor decided it was indeed going to be the neighborhoods that got it first!

We got it alright.

And for the record — we’re going to stay “cranky.”

Cliff Drive Classic in Northeast

More than 400 cyclists converged on the Concourse and Cliff Drive to race in the 10th annual Cliff Drive Classic.

With several heats and hundreds of riders, Cliff Drive and several surrounding roads near Concourse Park and The Kansas City Museum were close to traffic as the cyclists took seven laps around the hilly Cliff Drive early Saturday morning.

The race is one leg of a three-part race that take cyclists to different portions of the city.

Here are some photos from Saturday's event:

A little rain did not stop cyclists in the Master Race as they made their way up the reconstructed portion of Cliff Drive near the Benton Boulevard entrance.

The Scenic Byway, now car free on the weekends, got one of its first major events this past weekend with the Cliff Drive Classic bicycle race.

Shootings near St. John and Hardesty

Police are reporting that late last night two shootings took place near St. John and Hardesty. No was reported injured in the shootings and police have not yet provided any more information.

PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS: Burnett retains State House seat — Rizzo takes Committeeman seat from Royster

Burnett with his family thanking supporters / Mike Ekey

State Rep. John Burnett early Tuesday night declared victory for a third time over challenger John Rizzo.

Burnett, speaking to a crowd of supporters in the River Market, said this primary victory was not necessarily about winning. Rather, he said, the victory proved that Northeast residents approved of the work he has already done in Jefferson City.

Voters will send Burnett back to the Capitol with 57 percent of the vote. Burnett enjoyed more of a cushion in this election winning with 933 votes as Rizzo garnered only 636.

"I am really happy with the way thing turned out," Burnett said. "I did not want to win another narrow victory. I wanted to ... know that what I was going to do in the next two years had the support of the voters."

In their last meeting, Burnett won by only seven votes.

Rizzo, meeting with supporters and campaign managers less than two blocks away from Burnett's party, said he attributed the election results to Burnett's negative attacks on him and his efforts to help the neighborhoods.

"He wanted to make this more about me and not about the issues," Rizzo said. "And it worked, I guess."

But the night was not completely lost for Rizzo as he beat Will Royster in an oddly high profile committeeman race in the 11th Ward. Rizzo said he plans to use that seat to continue to help the neighborhoods. Rizzo would not say whether he planned to run again in two years for the legislative seat as Burnett will be forced out because of term limits.

IN OTHER NEWS: Carol Royster retained her 11th ward Committeewoman seat over challenger Lindsay Runnels winning with 55 percent of the vote. Scott Wagner retained his 12th ward Committeman seat over Nick Zicarelli garnering 60 percent of the vote and Laura Wagner, 12th Ward Committeewoman ran unopposed.

In the Sheriff race, Mike Sharp bested John Bullard for the Democrats. Jim Kanatzar beat Rachel Townsend with 65 percent of the vote in the County Proctors race for Democrats.

For a full list of results and statistics, go to the Kansas City Election Board and click Current Results.

St. Anthony polling place keeps busy

Reports are sketchy, but several sources have said that a fight broke out at the St. Anthony's polling place late in the day.

Sources say that an intoxicated male went to the polling place and was becoming argumentative with campaign workers there. Tensions got hot and poll workers had to call the police to have the man escorted away.

Dispatchers confirmed that police were sent to St. Anthony, but could not say if anyone had been arrested. Voters at St. Anthony, earlier in the day, had discovered that ballots sent there had been misprinted and nearly 60 voters did not get a chance to vote in the Sheriff and Prosecutor's races.

Committee races get hot

Scott Wagner's hand-made sign stood out from the other political signs along St. John on Tuesday.

It was his last-ditch effort to get him and his wife, who are running for Democrat Committeeman and Committeewoman positions in Historic Northeast's 12th Ward, in front of voters as they cast their ballots Tuesday at Holy Cross Parish. Down on Independence Ave., drivers have spent weeks looking at several political billboards, two of which were purchased by Democrat Committeman candidate Will Royster, as well the thousands of dollars worth of advertising he purchased in The Northeast News.

The once lowly Democrat Committee position, which historically has seen little campaigning if any in Northeast, has become just as heated as the other races sharing the same ballot.

That influx of campaigning also means Committeemen and women candidates are spending more money, thus catching the attention of state and county election officials who question where that money came from.

"I have never seen anyone campaign that much as to take out a billboard for a committeeman position," said Liz Ziegler with the Missouri Ethics Commission. "That situation has us really digging for answers here."

That situation? Do Committee candidates have to file reports with the state Ethics Commission, outlining where they get their campaign donations from and how they spent that money in their campaigns, just like every other candidate on the ballot?

State, county and even city Election Board officials are unsure of the answer. Officials are even more unsure as they have watched Royster's campaign spend large amounts of money and not file any paperwork with the state or local election boards, the same financial paperwork that is required of other candidates on the ballot. Missouri law dictates that if more than $500 is spent during any campaign, by any candidate or campaign committee, then it needs to be reported to the state. Those reports are public documents.

In July, candidates had to file a quarterly financial reports showing all donations to their campaign and, in turn, how and where they spent those donations. Candidates also had to file a similar report one week prior to Election Day.

Royster, to date, has not filed that paperwork. Wagner, when questioned, indicated he and his wife have spent less than the required threshold required for reporting. Nick Zicarelli, who is running against Wagner, went through the Old Northeast New Democrats political action committee — which is up to date with their Ethics Commission filings. Reports indicated that at the time of the last filing, John Rizzo has not spent any money on his own Committeeman race against Royster.

Ethics commission officials said they were unsure what action would have to be taken, if any when they looked at the numbers in Northeast's Democrat Committee races. Royster could not be reached for comment.

City yanking signs out of parks

Both Burnet and Rizzo campaign volunteers today are saying they have seen someone in a city vehicle removing signs from park land around Northeast.

Earlier today, both camps had yard signs prominently placed along St. john in Concourse Park and Budd Park.

Volunteers said they saw the green car with city license plate pull up and begin removing signs and even warned the volunteers not to place them back in the public space.

City officials could not be reached to comment on whether this was happening all over the city or just in Northeast.