The Dumb Defense

In an effort to prevent the foreclosure, McFadden-Weaver sought pity from the credit company. She wrote a letter to the company last summer describing her misplaced trust. She also stated that she had been involved in two "major" auto accidents. The councilwoman neglected to mention that the more serious of the accidents occurred in September 2004 — a full year prior to the purchase of the Lee's Summit house. McFadden-Weaver was hospitalized following the first collision, but she returned to council meetings less than a month afterward. That Halloween, she performed at a fund-raiser with her brother Lonnie. She sang "When I Fall in Love."

Hot dogs cook on a grill outside a compact office building at 75th Street and Holmes. The food is for volunteers willing to help Alvin Brooks become mayor. Inside the office, a team assembles yard signs for the volunteers to take home.

It's a sunny Saturday afternoon. Brooks is wearing a Chiefs hat and a cable-knit sweater. He works the room, exchanging handshakes and hugs. Brooks' reputation as a community healer and the size of his campaign chest make him a favorite to advance past the February 27 primary. He calls for quiet in order to praise the volunteers and share his confidence in the upcoming elections. "I expect to be Kansas City's next mayor with your help," he says.

Brooks is not saying much about vouching for McFadden-Weaver during the recall. He won't say whether McFadden-Weaver should now resign. A day after the indictment came down, he called her decision to remain in office a "personal kind of thing."

Opposing a radical procedure such as a recall is one thing. But will Brooks maintain his support for McFadden-Weaver during a regular election? Brooks indicates that he will not get involved in her race. "I think that she's under indictment, the ethics commission is active, and as far as I'm concerned, anything else would not add or detract from it."

A Pitch reporter asks Brooks if he felt let down by McFadden-Weaver. "I'm not going to comment."

Visited at his church after he led a noontime Wednesday service, the Rev. Hartsfield, who also supported McFadden-Weaver during the recall, is similarly noncommittal. Hartsfield says voters in the 3rd District will decide for themselves what needs to be done. "They're intelligent people," he says. "They are people who love the community and people who want justice in government. And they will make that determination. I don't think I should be one to try to say to them, 'You need to do this. You need to do the other.'"

Voters should also not expect to hear from Cleaver, now a second-term congressman and the city's preeminent black politician. "The congressman's staying out of all the city races," says Phil Scaglia, Cleaver's acting chief of staff. Cleaver is remaining neutral this year, but he took sides in the previous city election, when he fought against the re-election of 5th District Councilwoman Becky Nace.

McFadden-Weaver enters the 2007 race having been censured by the city's ethics commission. On January 9, six days after the indictment, the commission issued an opinion that said McFadden-Weaver had either lied or been careless, damaging her reputation in either instance. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse," the opinion read.

As the election approaches, McFadden-Weaver will rely on her popularity in the 3rd District. A group of about eight women attended one of the ethics commission hearings. One woman who declined to give her name faulted the Star. She said the paper had made McFadden-Weaver a possible target by printing information about her finances. "As bad as society is, they kill you for a dime," she said.

Another supporter, Ramonda Brown, credited McFadden-Weaver for feeding the hungry through her ministry and participating in neighborhood cleanups. "She does a lot of good things in the area," she said. "I trust her."

Voters may accept that McFadden-Weaver is a compassionate person who has been victimized (by con men, by the Star, by prosecutors). On the day that McFadden-Weaver appeared in court, a federal grand jury indicted former Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields on similar charges. The charges against Shields may lead residents to doubt the accusation against McFadden-Weaver because, in the words of Carol Coe, "it smacks of political motivation." Coe adds: "It was interesting they indicted them within 48 hours. That was not a coincidence."

Coe concedes that McFadden-Weaver has made mistakes. Being a council member, Coe says, is like being the trustee of a major corporation. Coe says McFadden-Weaver can keep up. "I still support her," she says.

But Coe sounds as though she's not completely convinced that McFadden-Weaver is equipped for city politics.

"The game is so fast now."

Multicolored Christmas lights hang from low tree branches in a corner of Spring Valley Park near 28th Street and Brooklyn. The trees surround a statue of Bernard Powell, a civil rights activist who was shot to death at a club on April 8, 1979.