The ongoing conflict between City Manager Wayne Cauthen and Kansas City Councilwoman Deb Hermann escalated this morning, when Cauthen didn't show for the 8:15 a.m. start of the Finance and Audit Committee meeting, which Hermann chairs.

When Cauthen sent his chief of staff, Chuck Eddy, to last week's  finance meeting, committee members made it clear that they weren't satisfied and said they wanted Cauthen himself present to address the city's budget problems.

While finance committee members often come straggling in a few minutes late on Wednesdays, Hermann gaveled today's meeting to order on the dot of 8:15 a.m. Cauthen wasn't in the room. Assistant City Manager Rich Noll told her he thought Cauthen was on the way.

But Hermann announced, "This meeting is adjourned."

Moments later, on an elevator, Cauthen fumed that he was in the building, had his presentation in hand and was just outside the meeting room. He said different clocks in City Hall had different times on them, and there was no reason to halt the meeting.

"Maybe they don't want to speak to me," Cauthen said.

Hermann said later that Cauthen had confronted her after the meeting, complaining that she knew he was in the building and was on his way.

 "He's in the building. That doesn't mean he's where we want him to be," Hermann said. "I'm not going to publicly fight with him."

Hermann said the only item on the agenda was her resolution directing the city manager to freeze all but essential city expenditures. She said Cauthen had an alternative that he wanted the committee to consider, but he failed to get the information to them until this morning, so they had not yet had time to review it and had nothing to discuss. She said she wasn't inclined to sit around waiting for him to show up.

Hermann said she is anxious for the city to start curtailing expenses now, to get a handle on a huge budget shortfall projected for next year. "Every dollar we save now is a dollar we don't have to cut later," she said.

Presumably, the committee will discuss the budget proposals next Wednesday, and presumably everyone, including Cauthen, will show up on time.