Who says you can't fight City Hall? After eleven years working as a lifeguard for Kansas City's forlorn swimming pools, teaching thousands of kids to swim -- and spending all of this summer getting underpaid for it -- Christal Camp organized thirty of her fellow lifesavers. They walked out on August 2, forcing the city to close its pools on one of the hottest weekends of the year. Parks Director Terry Dopson had the gall to say that they'd be fired for the walkout -- but it turned out that Camp and her comrades had been right all along: The city had promised them raises at the beginning of the summer, but problems in the payroll department had kept the proper amounts from showing up on their checks. Camp's action should be an inspiration to all other city employees who are fed up with the arrogance that infects some top levels of the administration at 12th and Oak.
