They include members of UMKC who unfortunately spoke out against renaming their school the University of Kansas City, the Overland Park City Council, KC Council member Cindy Circo, and fans of the Chiefs and Royals.
The $600 million Johnson County Gateway is the project from hell, supposedly paved with good intentions.
So far, Mayor Sly James has made several solid decisions regarding public safety, with the Kansas City Council’s help. Now, even more public safety issues — especially long-stalled pension reforms — are challenging the abilities of the mayor and council members to effectively lead City Hall. Take a closer look at three of them.
Claire McCaskill, Emanuel Cleaver and Jay Nixon are among the most popular politicians ever in Missouri.
It’s an easy call on Nov. 6: Vote for a higher cigarette tax, and Missourians will benefit mightily. Hiking the rock-bottom, lowest-in-the-nation tax from 17 cents a pack to 90 cents would generate from $300 million to $400 million a year. But don’t look for leadership on this issue from gubernatorial candidates Jay Nixon or Dave Spence.
The future of the most politically and economically powerful county in Kansas is up for grabs. On Nov. 6, voters will go a long way in deciding how Johnson County’s future will unfold. Or, as some critics of the far right contend, whether the county’s future is going to further unravel.
In less than a month, Kansas City-area voters will go to the polls to determine who will fill many important governmental positions. Unfortunately, too many of those winners aren’t going to be from this region. Or, they aren’t going to have the firepower to get much done in Washington, Jefferson City or Topeka.
This year City Manager Troy Schulte has held more than a dozen closed-door meetings with union representatives on possible reforms to Kansas City's employee pension plans, but no proposal had been adopted yet by all the factions. Keeping the pressure on is a good thing, especially as the city’s unfunded pension liabilities keep growing.
The Kansas City region needs much more dynamic leadership at its many economic devolopment agencies. It needs better cooperation among politicians to woo private investment. Other metro areas have ramped up their games. We must stop lagging behind.
Kansas City Mayor Sly James these days is looking like the good Mark Funkhouser, the one who repeatedly pledged to provide excellent basic services to Kansas Citians and to keep a close eye on how City Hall used their tax dollars. This is an encouraging development.
Is Kansas City going to be Version 2.0 of Seattle, Austin or Boston, attracting gobs of young people eager to live an urban lifestyle while creating lots of cool high-tech companies? Maybe. And maybe not. Take that as a challenge to all the ardent believers in Kansas City’s future, not as a cranky never-going-to-happen statement.
Contrary to what billboard owners are contending — that there’s an “assault” under way to get rid of their signs — something better should be happening at City Hall. Elected officials must be vigorous in removing dilapidated and illegal signs. That would be a well-earned victory for Kansas Citians.
It gets rather tiresome beating back the story line — promoted by elected officials, some in the business sector and too many residents — that this city can’t become a world-class one because it’s too conservative. Good things don’t just magically happen. People have to make bold decisions to try to make them happen.
Local school districts, counties, libraries and other taxing jurisdictions don’t control how millions of dollars in public incentives are granted. Instead, state laws allow the decisions to be made by TIF commissions stacked with city-appointed members and by city councils. After years of wrangling and being ignored by city officials, the taxing jurisdictions are fit to be tied.
If you’re looking for a leader in fearlessly acting to provide a superior quality of life for this region, Kansas City has put its best foot forward. Meanwhile, Johnson Countians look like they are ready to retrench after years of being the area’s movers and shakers.
Mayor Sly James, riding high early in this first term, is working hard to convince voters to approve a half-cent sales tax increase that would help finance the city’s parks department and better maintain city streets. However, once again, a mayor and other city officials have put forward a plan that is not well organized and is not a high priority for taxpayers.
Sly James was one ticked off mayor at the start of our face-to-face meeting Tuesday afternoon, after I had written about a mailed advertisement supporting the half-cent sales tax increase on the Aug. 7 ballot, then used two words to describe the ad: “shameful” and “deceitful.” The mayor made it clear he was hurt I had questioned his ethics.
Blunt promises have been made in the last year to reform Kansas City government, but the results so far haven’t been nearly as impressive as the rhetoric. That’s why I and many other Kansas Citians are still evaluating whether to support the permanent half-cent sales tax increase Aug. 7.
Just minutes after the All-Star Game ended Tuesday night, I tweeted a thank you to Mayor Sly James for his passionate work on behalf of Kansas City during the recent festivities.
Kansas City’s tiresome and unnecessary inferiority complex risks wider exposure as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game activities roll out over the next few days.
Unless I drop dead on my planned eight-mile training run this morning, I’ll continue to believe that strenuous exercise is one good way to stay healthy and live a full life. I believe so even though the public just got a dose of bad news about exercise, about how too much of it can lead to formation of scar tissue in hearts that increases the possibility of dangerous rhythms.
Plenty of people insist the problem of uncooperative shooting victims is an ages-old one — complicated by racial issues and mistrust of law enforcement officials — that can’t be solved. Kansas City’s first black chief, Darryl Forté, says he’s going to try to do that, and more power to him. But plenty of factors are working against the effort.
Sewer and water bills are soaring in Kansas City, where the economy is still in the doldrums.
When customers rip open a monthly water bill, they aren’t happy to see sewer and water rates marching higher. But private companies see something far more positive when they look at the Kansas City Water Services Department. A cash cow.
This could be a great year for transit in the Kansas City area. Unless, of course, it turns out not to be. Failure wouldn’t be a big surprise for this region, still one of the most backward and underserved in the nation when it comes to alternative forms of transportation. But it sure isn’t for lack of trying.
