James R. (“Joe”) Serviss died on December 26, 2024 (obituary here). There will be a Celebration of Life next week on Tuesday, January 28, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Twin City Tavern (State Line and Westport Road).
Last month, on Christmas Eve morning at 7:00 a.m., six of our usual crew of seven sat at our regular table at Classic Cup on the Plaza. The missing member was our leader Joe Serviss who was a few blocks away at St. Lukes Hospital. He was in ICU after a bad stroke that would take him two days later.
We had Joe’s Missouri Valley yearbook and took turns leafing through the pages. We knew he had been president of the student body, but there was another entry in his list of extracurricular activities that was a big surprise:
Young College Republicans?? I don’t know what that was about, but it clearly did not take. And I can personally attest to this. I graduated from law school in 1967 and joined the Jackson County Young Democrats. Joe graduated from Missouri Valley in 1969 and joined the Kansas City Young Democrats. We were destined to cross paths often.
Kansas City Young Democrats: Joe hit the ground running. His Young Democrats connections led to working on the George Lehr campaign for presiding judge in 1970. And as would be the case over the years, Joe had no problem getting press. Here he is in the Kansas City Star on December 8, 1970:
1971 City Council Race: At 24 years old, Joe filed to run for city council. One of his campaign events was at a candidate forum at my club, the Jackson County Young Democrats.
Joe had a tough race. The incumbent J.D. Robins was backed by the powerful Citizens Association. Also in the race was Joe Shaughnessy, a popular neighborhood advocate. The results:
Very impressive for the upstart Serviss. Shaughnessy came back in the general to upset Robins and four years later ran (unsuccessfully) for mayor.
Note the (C) after Robins name. This means he was endorsed by the Citizens Association, which was considered so powerful by the Kansas City Star that it was highlighted in the election results.
Joe’s youthful success drew attention, and he was hired by the city to be part of its lobby team in Jeff City. This introduced Joe to a whole new set of politicians, lobbyists and administrative officials.
He also made a move to broaden his base by joining the Citizens Association. Even that got Joe a Star headline (10/15/71)…
It’s hard to believe that Joe, then all of 25 years old, got coverage for a public exchange of letters. The chair of the Citizens Association welcomed Joe’s request to join, but cautioned that “Your activities during your present tenure at City Hall and subsequent activities will weigh heavily in the association endorsing you in any future election.” Joe’s response, “Hopefully my membership along with others whom I hope to bring into the association will return it to the prominence it once enjoyed.” [my emphasis].
A delicate dance played out in public. Stay tuned for how this worked out four years later.
Bill Morris and Joe Serviss: In 1966, the Committee for County Progress won eight of the nine elected offices of Jackson County. The one exception was that Bill Morris beat the CCP candidate for public administrator.
In 1968, again without CCP support, Morris was elected lieutenant governor. Morris’s daughter, Lisa Morris, was only 10 at the time, but tells me she well remembers being most impressed by a charismatic campaign worker named Ken Hill (more on Ken later).
Morris not only held statewide office but was one of Missouri’s best known power brokers. Lisa Morris describes how the Morris family home was a hotbed of politics, “It was a who’s who of politicians around town. Someone was always there. It was a weird way to grow up, but I wouldn’t change it. After all, few kids can say they answered the phone and the caller said, ‘Vice President Humphrey calling for Bill Morris’.”
I was not one of those socializing at the Morris home. My club, the Jackson County Young Democrats, was closely tied to the Committee for County Progress, a frequent rival to Morris and Morris-backed candidates in Democratic primaries. Joe Serviss took a different path and became a part of the Morris network.
Even though Joe and I were in different camps, our two YD clubs were friendly and supported each other in state YD elections, and we often overlapped in supporting candidates. The media and campaigns sometimes split rivals into “black hats” and “white hats,” but as years went by, we came to recognize that we were mostly gray hats.
In 1972, Bill Morris ran for governor, this time with a CCP endorsement (yes, the old line, strange bedfellows). Ken Hill was his statewide campaign manager. By then, Joe Serviss had become a regular at the Morris household (Lisa Morris, “Joe was always there.”). Joe became one of primary drivers taking Morris around the state to campaign. With all those hours together, Joe no doubt got a clinic on politics, and Joe often spoke of Morris as his political mentor. Lisa: “My dad respected Joe’s opinion because he knew Joe would tell him straight. Joe was not a ‘yes man.’ My dad had no tolerance for yes men.”
I remember meeting Lisa, a teenager in 1972, campaigning for her father at state events like Jackson Day, always closely chaperoned by Morris campaign workers Mary Byrne and Elaine Spielbusch.
In the primary, Bill Morris and Joe Teasdale split the Kansas City vote, clearing the way for Ed Dowd of St. Louis to win (Dowd lost to Kit Bond in the general). Although Morris lost, he continued as a force in politics, including as a key supporter in Joe’s next city council race.
Below, Lisa and Joe on the campaign trail.
Missouri State Young Democrats: Joe continued his Kansas City Young Democrats work. One of his big events honored County Executive George Lehr and Mayor Charles Wheeler, and the Star reported that it drew 500 guests for champagne, popcorn and rock music.
Joe’s Young Democrats activities and his statewide lobby contacts set him up for his next goal, running for president of the Missouri Young Democrats. As headlined in the Star (6/22/72):
Below, Joe’s ad in the state convention program. He won!
The following year, at the state YD breakfast at Jackson Day in Springfield, Joe was named the Outstanding Young Democrat of Missouri. Below, the prior year’s winner of the award (me), handing Joe his trophy.
In June of 1973, the state YD convention was held in Kansas City. The legendary California politician Willie Brown was the speaker for the final banquet. Preceding dinner, there was a wine and cheese tasting, and as reported by the Star, no cheese was served. Joe Serviss, as outgoing state president, said the souvenir programs would be redeemable later for a cheese sandwich.
Below, Joe and Rita Leifhelm at a YD event, circa 1974. Rita and I married in 1981. Joe liked to say I got the better end of that deal. He was right.
1974 County Executive Race: While Joe was working the City Hall side of politics, I was applying most of my political energy across the street at the Jackson County Courthouse. My friend Mike White ran for county executive in 1974, and I signed on to be his campaign manager.
Mike was the favorite of the Committee for County Progress and its former nemesis, Bill Morris, who helped with fundraising, strategy and old-line Democratic club endorsements. Morris also suggested we bring Ken Hill into the campaign, and Ken proved to be a terrific addition. Mike easily won the primary and general.
Ken Hill also did a cool thing for me. After Mike’s win in the primary, Ken engineered my election as chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Committee.
1975 City Council Race: A Star headline on November 22, 1974:
First big question. Would Joe be endorsed by the Citizens Association? On January 6, 1975, the Star reported Joe’s thoughts, “Serviss made it clear that he did not expect association endorsement but would welcome it. He did not receive the group’s support in 1971.” And he did not get it in 1975. Nor did incumbent mayor Charlie Wheeler who faced Sarah Snow and Citizens-backed Joe Shaughnessy.
To counter this, Ken Hill and Bill Morris founded the Democrats for Progress to support Wheeler, Serviss and other council candidates. The Citizens Association derided the “Hill-Morris” ticket in an attempt to paint a “white hat/black hat” scenario. Morris fought back and gave a long interview reported in the Kansas City Times in January of 1975. He was rushing through the interview because he was headed to St. Luke’s for open-heart surgery. Morris died on March 5 at the age of 55, three weeks before the general election.
This made for a bittersweet ending to the campaign. Wheeler was reelected and Joe won by over 5,000 votes. Four days after Joe’s victory, he celebrated his 29th birthday.
In the Jackson County Democrat, the county committee newsletter, Mike White wrote about the impact of Bill Morris, “There are many people who would not hold elective office today if it were not for Bill Morris, and I am one of them. We started against terrible odds, but he evened those odds with his tremendous intelligence of the nature of politics.” The newsletter also included interviews with new city councilmen, including Joe Serviss…
“Everyone knows Joe Serviss now. Shortly after winning a decisive 5,000 vote plus plurality, the newly elected Second District-at-Large city councilman was named chairman of the powerful Finance and Audit Committee. This position distinguishes Serviss as one of the youngest major city officials in the United States.”
Joe: “Being 29 and single is a great asset. How many people my age have had the opportunity to experience the front-line battles as I have?”…While many of my friends were all down at Kelly’s drinking beer, I was flying around the state trying to get Bill Morris elected governor, or I was down in Jeff City after midnight talking to Senator Cason or just doing the kinds of things that friends my own age thought were crazy…Only it all kind of fell into place in these last few months – the effort I’d spent, the friends I’d made, and the knowledge that I’d acquired.”
Visions of Being Mayor: The goal was clearly to become mayor of Kansas City. Joe was everywhere, networking for political support and campaign funds. I found a couple of samples in my files from those days…
During my term as chairman, the Jackson County Democratic Committee held two roasts with politicos tossing humorous jabs at each other on stage. From left, Mike White, Joe, Alex Petrovic and George Lehr.
Joe with Rita with Congressman Dick Gephardt in 1977.
Kansas City Mayors: Before getting to Joe’s potential (1979) and actual (1983) runs for mayor, I’d like to add some context from Kansas City history. The Wikipedia chart below lists the KC mayors since 1924. Although the city races are nonpartisan (no D or R on the ballot), the candidate affiliations are well known. In the chart, the red indicates that two of the 14 mayors over the last 100 years have been Republicans, holding office for 18 of those 100 years.
Remarkably, Republican Albert Beach served six years (three 2-year terms) during the Pendergast years. How could that be? Factional politics. The two strong Democratic factions, the Pendergast goats and the Shannon rabbits, could not agree on a candidate, and Beach slipped in. Beach backed a 1926 referendum that created a city manager form of government – a “good government” move. Pendergast got the last laugh by successfully maneuvering to get his ally Henry McElroy appointed city manager. McElroy seized the mayor’s office and moved Beach to smaller quarters. McElroy retained his power until Pendergast was indicted in 1939.
Ready for some déjà vu?
1979 Mayoral Race: Joe tiptoed into the race and then backed out. From the Star on December 18, 1978:
There were still four major candidates in the primary, and the final count was close: Bruce Watkins 28.37%, Dick Berkley 27.24%, Joel Pelofsky 22.34% and Charlie Wheeler 22.05%. With the three Democrats taking 70%+ of the vote, the next step was to see if the Democratic clubs would unite against the Republican Berkley. Although there was a substantial effort, including Senator Tom Eagleton bringing in Vice President Walter Mondale, it did not work. Several of the old-line clubs felt their constituents would not vote for Watkins, so did not endorse either candidate. Berkley won by a comfortable margin.
Not all was lost. Bruce’s campaign opened the door to the prospect of the city someday electing a Black mayor. Another step came in 1982 when Alan Wheat was elected to Congress. In 1991, Emanuel Cleaver became the city’s first Black mayor, to be followed by Sly James and Quinton Lucas. They all stand on the shoulders of Bruce Watkins.
1979 City Council Race: While the mayor’s race was hectic, Joe’s run for reelection to his council seat was a breeze. He topped all candidates with 84,000+ votes. Joe had only nominal opposition, so even the Citizens Association endorsed him. Of his four runs city-wide (including for mayor in 1983), this was his only Citizens Association endorsement.
General election day for Joe’s second term was March 27. Two days later was his 33rd birthday.
1983 Mayoral Campaign: As I had in 1979 (when he dropped out), I supported Joe in his 1983 race for mayor. He was touted as the titular head of the Democratic side of city politics and looked like the front runner to take on Berkley in 1983. But the goats and rabbits effect returned. Former mayor Charlie Wheeler, who ran fourth in the 1979 primary, came back to run again. Lee Judge’s cartoon was a classic (Joe liked it; a framed copy hung in his condo).
So, Joe was running against an incumbent mayor and a former mayor. Even worse, many of the Democratic clubs that sat out the 1979 Watkins race decided to endorse Berkley. The Democrats for Progress, the club founded in 1975 to support Wheeler for mayor and Joe for council, initially signaled they would endorse Serviss for mayor in the primary. But with factional differences, they instead left the issue open for the primary with the intent to support the surviving Democrat in the general. It was a mess. Joe ran third in the primary. Berkley then easily beat Wheeler in the general. Déjà vu.
Although Joe had run against Berkely, the mayor appreciated Joe’s value to the city and appointed him to the City Plan Commission. Joe eventually became chair of the Commission. Jim Chappell (as in Chappell’s in NKC) was on the Commission with Joe and told me how much Joe enjoyed staying involved in city development. Below, Jim and Joe at Chappell’s.
Berkley won a third term in 1987, defeating Democrat Jim Heeter. Again, the Democrats were not unified. But I don’t want to take anything away from Dick Berkley. He was a hard-working and popular mayor who was astute at getting Democratic support three elections in a row.
This made Dick the longest-serving mayor in KC history at 12 years. He had another distinction. He was the first Jewish mayor of Kansas City. He was succeeded by Emanuel Cleaver, the first Black mayor. Cleaver was succeeded by Kay Barnes, the first woman to hold the office. And that brings us back to Joe.
Joe Serviss, Chief of Staff (1999-2003): In the 1999 race for mayor, the Citizens Association endorsement continued to be a key factor. The Citizens chair that year? Joe Serviss!!! Politics and strange bedfellows. With Citizens Association and solid Democratic support, Kay was elected mayor. One of her first moves was to name Joe Serviss as her chief of staff.
This was not the first time Joe and Kay had worked together at City Hall. When Joe won his second term in 1979, Kay was newly elected to the council (then as Kay Waldo). After his appointment as chief of staff, Joe looked back at 1979: “Rev. Cleaver, Jerry Riffel and Kay Barnes were the freshmen, and we (the others on the council) called them the green beans. I had to put a name on everybody. It’s kind of ironic, because now Jerry Riffel is a million-dollar development attorney, Cleaver is a former mayor, and I currently work for Kay. I should have been nicer to them.”
Joe’s return to City Hall was chronicled by Hearne Christopher in the Star (4/13/99): “Hold the ‘No shoes, no shirt, no Serviss’ jokes. Joe Serviss, the politician turned real estate and tavern entrepreneur, described his political career in this column as ‘o-v-e-r.’ But times ‘c-h-a-n-g-e,’ and the colorful Serviss, whose name is practically synonymous with the 1970s and early 1980s local politics, is now b-a-c-k.”
Soon after Kay won her second term in 2003, Joe stepped down as chief of staff to return to the private sector. Barnes said that rather than refill the position, she would parcel out the duties that Serviss performed. Why? “He’s irreplaceable.” But to keep his hand on the pulse of the city, Joe accepted an appointment by Mayor Barnes to serve on the TIF Commission.
I checked in with Kay last week, and she lauded her chief of staff: “Joe was a unique individual and made a multitude of positive contributions to our city and state over the decades. I always valued his input and admired his fortitude.”
2007 Mayoral Race: Joe was back in the headlines as he considered running for mayor in 2007. On June 21, 2006…
And on October 3, 2006…
This article began, “Talk about the 70s show…If there are such things as political flashbacks, Joe Serviss may be having one. The former councilman and mayor pro tem with an impressive pedigree is eyeing a run for Kansas City mayor.” Joe’s quote: “You know being 60 years old – I think I started out at 26 – you learn a lot. You learn it’s important to put things into proper perspective, and perspective is very important for the projects at hand.”
On November 7, 2006, there was a short blurb in the Star saying Joe was withdrawing and would return all contributions.
After 2006, no more headlines.
Breakfasts: But Joe’s routine of meeting friends to talk politics (and life) continued. This was primarily at the Classic Cup on the Plaza where Joe held court daily for many years with various participants from day to day. The most regular in recent times has been our group of seven on Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m. As we were leaving one day, David Block was coming in and took this photo of four of us on the sidewalk. From left, John Shipp, Butch Rigby, Joe and me. The other three had already left that morning (Joe Downs, Dan Fleming and Steve Fuller).
At the Classic Cup last March, we celebrated Joe’s 78th birthday…
Joe and I also got together occasionally with some of our friends from the 1970s. Below, from 2023…
Clockwise from left: Elaine Spielbusch, Lonnie, Rita, Pat O’Neill, Bill Lochman (RIP, May of 2024), Lisa Morris, Joe Serviss and Joe Downs. YD Trivia: Three winners of the award for “Outstanding Young Democrat of Missouri” are at the table. Lonnie (1972), Joe Serviss (1973) and Bill Lochman (1974).
The next photo is not from a breakfast, but instead shows Joe and me a party at JJ’s last August celebrating the 50th anniversary of Mike White’s victory in the county executive election. (Photo by the ubiquitous David Block).
RIP: When Joe died, I contacted our mutual friend John Ashford who first knew Joe through student government politicking at Missouri Valley. John responded with a quote from a friend, “The thing I hate most about growing old is that all the bright lights in my life are going out.” Joe was one of our bright lights. We’ll miss you, Joe. RIP.