A city committee exploring the development of a 1,000-room convention hotel decided that it needed to hire a communications professional. The choice? The committee chair's campaign manager.
On Tuesday, the Kansas City Convention Center Hotel Development Steering Committee awarded KC Consulting a contract "to educate and inform constituents regarding the potential development" of the hotel. KC Consulting is run by Kim Carlos, an attorney and political consultant. Carlos, a former aide to former Third District Councilman Troy Nash and the co-author of a book about living with breast cancer, formed KC Consulting in 2003.
Councilwoman Cindy Circo chairs the steering committee. Campaign records indicate that her campaign paid KC Consulting five payments of $4,000 over the first five months of 2007, the year Circo won her seat.
KC Consulting beat out two other applicants, who, Circo says, also "have the same type of involvement in local campaigns." Circo says she made "a conscious choice" to not be involved with the development of the request for proposals for the constituent educator gig. Circo says she did not participate in the subcommittee that selected KC Consulting and abstained from the vote by the full committee.
Circo says the city's lawyers advised her that she could have taken a more active role. "Even with this information, however, I chose not to participate in this process," Circo says in an e-mail.
KC Consulting will be paid $40,000 for communicating the progress of Kansas City's descent into madness pursuit of an exciting opportunity.
A consultant charged with finding the best proposal for building the hotel will be paid $250,000.
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