Peculiar City Administrator Mickey Ary, also a member of Calvary University’s adjunct faculty in business administration since February of 2023, could teach a graduate-level course on how to mismanage an economic development project, it has become clear over the last several months. Only the Belton/Raymore team disaster in the early days of centralized waste collection could even come close to the debacle that Ary’s tenure has become in a town once flawlessly operated by Brad Ratliff.

While Harrisonville experiences its first smoothly running city government in years under Ratliff, Belton shows signs of finally reaching its potential under fresh leadership and Raymore, well, Raymore enjoys its overflowing coffers, Peculiar is now trying to figure out where to go from here following the spectacular failure of its “data center” project.
Touted in the beginning as a non-obtrusive, 21st century source of municipal revenue that would not only take advantage of the ample electrical supply coming from the nearby substation that was built nearly 20 years ago in defiance of a court order, it appeared this solution might get a desperately needed police station built, might repave miles of neglected roads and could actually begin the process of updating a water/sewer infrastructure in urgent need.
It didn’t take long at all for alert residents to begin seeing through the smokescreen and poking holes in a fog expertly placed by a city administrator with absolutely no idea how to deal with adversity, no clue when to walk away from a proposal that had become untenable and perhaps worse still, zero ability to fully inform, protect and prepare those to whom he reports – his mayor and board of aldermen – for what to expect.
As the process moved forward and the prospects became less a vision of pastoral, green landscape with a couple of buildings obscured from public view by timber and berms and more a horrific vision of giant warehouses butting up against 203rd Street, putting county residents in a permanent shadow just yards from the nearest behemoth, the outcry became louder.
Aldermen began citing point by point the areas in which they had been misled. Reports emerged that showed email communication between the data center representatives and city staff confirming that certain Planning Commission documents needed to remain shielded from public view. And Mayor Doug Stark’s temper grew shorter and shorter.
And finally, in what might have been the coup de grace in my view, one of the 203rd Street residents stood Monday night, as she had at meetings prior. This time, she had a report to give to the mayor, aldermen and her fellow citizens that still has me literally laughing in amazement at the incompetence on display.
Patti DiPardo Livergood – yes, that Patti DiPardo. Tony DiPardo’s daughter. The TD Pack Band? Kansas City’s Music Man? We clear? She’s kind of a big deal. She and her dad were a big deal long before Mahomes and Kelce were even born.
So yeah, I think most of us have a pretty good idea who she is, what she represents, and the almost magical effect the name DiPardo and her father’s friendship with Lamar Hunt and Hank Stram has had for decades here. What makes it magical is that through all the losing, all the ups and downs, no one ever got anything but a smile out of Tony and later Patti DiPardo.
So this guy...yeah, I think that’s the best way to describe him, apparently thinks the wise move on behalf of his mayor, his board of aldermen and the citizens he represents (actually, that’s questionable since he lives in Raymore – he only collects a six-figure salary from Peculiar citizens) to call this Livermore woman’s boss and complain about her excercising her rights to speak in public meetings regarding developments that would negatively affect her and her retirement property. I mean, we can’t have that, can we?
I assume these are the tactics Ary teaches at Calvary while moonlighting? If he does, he can report it backfired. Horrifically. And my occasional contacts with Calvary’s executive leadership has never left me under the impression they hire based on incompetence. But I digress.
First, DiPardo’s boss is U.S. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.), one of those people every municipal leader in the district would do well to cultivate a relationship with. Hearing this kind of complaint against a part-time special engagements director that he clearly values for her enthusiasm, charm and lifetime connections was not likely high on Alford’s list of things that impress and inspire confidence.
Second, clearly it did not have Ary’s desired effect. Because word of Ary’s report went straight back to her in a manner which left her not chastened, but emboldened enough to drop the bombshell in front of an overflow crowd in the Ray-Pec Innovations Center Monday. Ary failed to return an email inquiry regarding his alleged report on Tuesday.
“Shame on you, Mickey,” screamed a voice from the crowd as the rest groaned in disgust and Ary sat red-faced and mute.
And I’m left to marvel at the almost comical incompetence of a guy that chooses, of all people, one of the metropolitan area’s beloved figures to “report” to her boss. And that’s assuming such an action would be acceptable for a public employee in the first place.
City administrators and city managers, county executives, it doesn’t matter. These people are hired specifically to accomplish goals while protecting their citizens and elected representatives from exactly the kind of debacle we’ve seen in Peculiar. In other words, no surprises, no secrecy that comes out later, no ugliness. If a project’s not going to work, abandon it quietly before it has a chance to lay waste to a lot of hard-earned reputations.
And the discussion on the way out of Monday’s meeting?
Well, it sure wasn’t “hey Mickey, you’re so fine.”
Comentarios