Shields was born north of the Missouri River in Kansas City, attended Park Hill High School and graduated from North Kansas City High School in 1964.
[1] While on the Council, she championed the 1% for Art Program and an ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Shields was the area's highest ranking Democratic elected local official, and a prominent supporter of John Kerry in 2004.
On January 6, 2007, the day before she was scheduled to file for Mayor of Kansas City (a race in which she was a frontrunner in the polls), she and her husband Phil Cardarella were indicted on federal charges of wire fraud in connection with the sale of their Sunset Hills house; prosecutors said the sale was at an inflated price.
Shields and Cardarella were found not guilty of all charges,[3] although co-defendant appraiser and co-horts were convicted.