Katheryn the Grate

Four years ago, the Pitch titled a profile of Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields "She Rules" because of her reputation for getting her way in county politics.

The progressive Democrat, who was then about to be re-elected to her third term as the county's CEO, was known as much for her aggressive and controlling style as she was for her liberal causes. If she had a tendency to hire friends and punish enemies, her record promoting the arts and anti-discrimination policies made her seem nearly invincible, at least among Jackson County's liberal Democrats, and a popular choice to succeed Kay Barnes someday as Kansas City's mayor.

But today, not so much. Speculation these days isn't about whether she can take over the city. Usually it's about whether she can avoid a criminal indictment.

Shields' crown has lost much of its luster after a long and public feud with County Prosecutor Michael Sanders and the shadow cast by a yearlong federal investigation of county contracting practices.

In November a close Shields ally, former County Executive Bill Waris, was indicted in the federal probe, and he faces trial later this year. The story of Waris' indictment was an above-the-fold front page story in The Kansas City Star.

But the nature of Waris' alleged crime was so arcane and difficult to explain -- the Star's few stories on it have described the matter with all the clarity of fine print on a medication pamphlet --that it almost immediately disappeared as a news story.

Only one thing seemed clear: Shields herself was involved in the Waris matter, even if the U.S. Attorney's Office had taken pains to keep her name out of Waris' indictment.

For months now, journalists and other observers have waited for the other shoe to drop and wondered if an indictment for Shields herself is next. And that curiosity has apparently kept local media from explaining how Shields found herself in this mess at all.

The surprising answer to that question is that she may have only her own controlling ways to blame.

Under the powerful reign of Shields,her friends benefited greatly. While critics howled, the county executive assigned friends and campaign employees to numerous county jobs and tangled publicly with legislators and others who questioned her appointments.

John Bondon, for example, is the sort of person who benefited from Shields at her most ascendant.

From across a room, Bondon's most distinguishing characteristic is his hair, a gray and black mass of steel wool circling his receding hairline like a halo. But up close, it's his glib patter and ready handshake that define him, and those assets have helped to make him successful in positions that reward his powers of persuasion.

For 35 years, Bondon ran the former Italian Gardens restaurant downtown. And for 12 years, ending last August, Bondon also filled one of the more visible posts in local government as a member of the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority.

First appointed to the body in 1992, Bondon was reappointed to a second five-year term in 1997, when Shields was county executive. The two were once tight. He donated to her campaigns. She supported his continued presence on the Sports Authority.

Bondon loved the role, particularly as the Sports Authority's chairman, a position he held twice for a total of about five years. The quintessential host, he took obvious pleasure in greeting guests at the door of the Sports Authority's suite at Arrowhead Stadium and jawing over the complimentary barbecue and sodas.

The Sports Authority was created when the Truman Sports Complex was built in 1972, and its five-member board serves as landlord for Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums and their acres of parking. The authority was designed, in part, to distance the running of the facilities from the often bitter politics of the County Legislature itself.

But serving on it has fringe benefits. Sports Authority members have access to free tickets and special suites, which are used to schmooze city, county and state politicians who have power over stadium budgets.

In most years, the Sports Authority's business is uncontroversial, and its members' most taxing chore is glad-handing. And in that role, Bondon excelled. He knew everyone of consequence in the city through his restaurant and his connection to the Berbiglia liquor-store chain. (His mother's second husband was Mike Berbiglia, the company's founder. The business is now run by Bondon's brothers.) During most of his tenure, Bondon presided over a remarkably unified Sports Authority. He can recall only a handful of votes during his stint that weren't unanimous.

But if Bondon seemed to have the right connections and qualities to run the Sports Authority smoothly, he also learned what it was like to go from being one of Shields' favored subjects to one of her enemies.

As the summer of 2003 arrived and an election crucial to Shields drew near, it became clear that the Sports Authority would need to raise its profile. The following year would see a vote on the Bistate II proposal, which would attempt to raise taxes in both Kansas and Missouri to pay for expensive overhauls at the stadiums and for metro-area arts projects. But perhaps more important to Shields, the measure would allow her to lock the teams into new, 25-year leases with the county. Passage would require a huge effort, particularly from the chairman of the Sports Authority. But Bondon had already done poorly promoting the measure, failing to get backing from such key supporters as Johnson County bigwig Steve Rose and Kansas City lawyer Jack Craft.