Let’s see who’s in that category now — as well as who will have the chance to exhibit that leadership in coming weeks.
• Lawyer Michael T. White, a former Jackson County executive, provided crucial support for the smoke-free law that Kansas City voters narrowly but properly passed Tuesday.
White is a jazz musician who’s played in enough smoky bars to know that smoking is bad for customers, employees and entertainers. He marshaled the legal arguments needed to put together a law that will protect thousands of Kansas Citians when it goes into effect.
• Johnson County Chairwoman Annabeth Surbaugh gave her annual State of the County speech on Tuesday. (Short version: Most everything is fine!)
Give Surbaugh credit for homing in on the importance of providing good public-safety services for residents. Hence her early and strong support for an August tax to expand the jail, construct a new juvenile justice complex and build a new crime lab.
• The leaders of the campaign for the permanent quarter-cent sales tax — announced by Surbaugh on Tuesday — must take advantage of their opportunity to place a well-designed tax before the public.
They make up a Who’s Who of civic leaders: lawyer Fred Logan, banker Bob Regnier, retired Olathe superintendent Ron Wimmer and lawyer Larry Winn.
Here’s their first challenge: Go to Overland Park Mayor Carl Gerlach, Olathe Mayor Mike Copeland, Shawnee Mayor Jeff Meyers, Lenexa Mayor Mike Boehm, Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn and other leaders of the county’s cities. Get them to spell out exactly how their cities would use their shares of the tax funds.
Remember, a silly Kansas law gives cities more than one-third of every sales-tax dollar that the county collects.
• Political strategist Pat O’Neill is an upbeat guy who ran an optimistic campaign to extend the three-eighths-cent sales tax for buses.
Sure, early polls showed the 15-year tax extension winning by a large margin. And it did. But the key in a can’t-lose campaign is to stay on message. O’Neill did that, despite a last-ditch, well-financed attack from mysterious critics.
• Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser remains on a roll.
He has brought two large tax issues before voters since his 2007 election. With strong support from the mayor, Kansas Citians approved a capital improvements sales-tax renewal for 10 years and the bus-tax extension for 15 years.
• In Blue Springs, residents elected Carson Ross as their new mayor. It’s a fine selection, given Ross’ experience as a state legislator and a community servant.
Blue Springs, a suburban bedroom community, has lost some of its swagger. Voters turned down a tax to improve the city’s bumpy roads, a warning sign that residents weren’t happy with City Hall. Ross must make sure the city properly finances its needed capital improvements.
• Finally, despite current economic problems afflicting local residents, voters approved almost every school bond and levy issue on Tuesday.
For instance, Raytown School District voters stepped forward to endorse a property tax increase that will benefit the schools that serve my Kansas City neighborhood as well as Raytown.
Voters also made the right calls to help improve growing districts (Liberty, Lee’s Summit) as well as struggling ones (Hickman Mills).
It took a plenty of hard work to pass issues that will benefit area children.
Fortunately, a lot of true civic leaders won’t sit idly on the sidelines when challenges confront this region.
This week:
Funkhouser has guts
KU’s great comeback
Good job on smoking ban
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