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For Brooks, no retreating from public life
By STEVE PENNThe Kansas City Star
He was knocked down, but not out, during Kansas City’s last mayoral race.
Proof of Alvin Brooks’ resiliency was perched in the back seat of his car last week. That’s where 20 yard signs for two different ballot measures could be found, each ready for public display.
He may have lost the mayoral race by a razor-thin margin last year, and he no longer occupies an office at City Hall. But that hasn’t stopped Brooks from lending his name and influence to important community causes.
Consider the two major issues on today’s ballot in Kansas City.
Brooks, a well-known anti-smoking advocate for decades, is co-chairman of the campaign supporting Question 3, which asks voters whether smoking should be banned in bars and restaurants.
Brooks is also a co-chairman of the initiative to renew a 3/8-cent sales tax for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.
He didn’t seek either role, but Brooks readily accepted when asked.
“I never asked them why they called on me to be the co-chair,” Brooks said. “If it’s a cause that I’m supportive of and one that the general population can benefit from, I’ll say yes.
“Most of them require more of you than just saying yes. It’s one thing to be a co-chair and not have any responsibilities. Some just want to use your name. But all these up for a vote today require you to do something.”
Passing out yard signs is one of those responsibilities.
“If I go past places, I ask people if they’re supportive of this cause or that cause,” Brooks said. “I say, ‘Would you mind taking these two signs?’ ”
Lately he has injected his outspoken views into the debate over public smoking.
“I’ve read the studies on secondhand smoke,” Brooks said. “It bothers me to even see a couple of adults driving down the street smoking with a couple of kids in the car. Those kids are inhaling that smoke.
“And smoking has a disproportional effect on African-Americans, especially African-American women. So I’m concerned about the effect it has in restaurants and bars and those who patronize those places and work in those places.”
As for his support of the renewal of the bus sales tax, Brooks summed up his feelings by pointing out that the majority of bus riders in Kansas City are people who can’t afford a car.
“These people use the bus to go to work, to go to the doctor, to pick up prescriptions and that type of thing,” Brooks said. “If you’re talking about having a light-rail system of any kind, then you need a progressive bus system to link the riders to that light rail, wherever it is.
“The bus system is a function of the city. They may have their own board, but the city has a responsibility to make sure transportation is good.”
In addition to his involvement in the two campaigns, Brooks has been busy planning and working toward the return of the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, his brainchild launched decades ago that faded away but is now making a return. Offices for his new crime-fighting outfit have been found at 3116 Prospect Ave.
“By the middle of this month, we might be ready,” Brooks said. “We’re going to have to start out with just volunteers. And we’ll need to raise some money. Fortunately, we’ve got an energetic and active board.”
Brooks also finds time to serve on the Missouri Supreme Court advisory committee, the body that reviews allegations lodged against lawyers across the state of Missouri.
Brooks could have continued to wear his election defeat on his sleeve and retreated from public life. No one would have blamed him.
But that just wouldn’t be Alvin Brooks.
Now, instead of at City Hall, he’s back working in the trenches. And for Brooks, that’s really where he’s most effective and where the need for someone like him is the greatest.