Despite council frustration, Brian Platt will be Kansas City’s next city manager
Brian Platt will become Kansas City’s next city manager early next year following a City Council vote Thursday with a number of members expressing frustration over the process.
Mayor Quinton Lucas introduced legislation Thursday recommending Platt to the council, which then approved the appointment 9-4.
Platt is currently business administrator for Jersey City, New Jersey. He is expected to move to Kansas City and start work in early January.
Lucas called the approval a “positive step” for Kansas City, though he said it was unfortunate several council members were upset by the rollout.
“In his 8.5 years of government service, (Platt) has really shown an exceptional command of leadership and an exceptional command of the issues that face the American city,” Lucas said on the floor.
In an interview Thursday afternoon Platt said he was excited and grateful for the opportunity.
“My big focus is going to be, in the beginning, listening to and understanding the challenges that all of our neighborhoods across Kansas City face, working with council members and understanding their challenges and their goals and moving from there,” Platt said.
Platt said he was proud of his work in Jersey City, ensuring fiscal stability amid the COVID-19 pandemic, making housing more affordable and supporting small businesses and underserved communities.
Under Kansas City’s charter, the mayor and council work together to search for candidates, and the mayor submits a recommendation for council approval.
Platt and three other finalists came to Kansas City earlier this fall to interview, but members learned of Lucas’ recommendation Tuesday evening from an article in the Jersey City Times, saying Platt had already been offered and accepted the job. The article was later deleted. The council members accused Lucas of taking their yet-to-be-cast votes for granted.
Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, 3rd District, tweeted her frustration on Tuesday, and said on the floor Thursday that Lucas announcing a pick before the council vote was “disingenuous.”
“It’s insulting to our constituents, which ultimately disparages the people we represent,” Robinson said.
Lucas has maintained that he did not offer Platt the job out of turn. He noted in a statement Tuesday that he made the recommendation “based in no small part on the majority of council’s” preferences. He had spoken to each council member individually about their top choices.
“The Council must then codify this recommendation by a majority vote,” Lucas said. “No formal job offer is extended, and presumably no candidate is separated from their place of employment until a contract has been signed.”
He told The Star Thursday it was unfortunate the Jersey City Times article tainted the waters and that it surprised him, too, but he thinks the council will be able to move ahead.
“You heard a lot of people who said, ‘Yeah, I may disagree with this step or that step,’ but it’s more procedural issues than substantive ones, so I think he’ll have very strong support when he comes to Kansas City and gets to meet our community,” Lucas said.
Platt said Lucas did not extend an offer, but rather made sure Platt still had an interest in the position before recommending him to the council.
Councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw, who voted against Platt, said she was frustrated by the article’s claim that Platt had already been offered the job before the council vote. She said the website’s decision to delete the article and the mayor’s statement that he had not offered Platt the job did not assuage her concerns.
Despite the frustration, she said she would do whatever she could to provide support.
“I think we’re all professionals,” Parks-Shaw said. “I think we’ll be able to get beyond the votes that we had today because it’s about doing the right thing for our citizens and for our city.”
Platt was one of four finalists for the job along with Milton Dohoney, of Phoenix; Kevin Jackson, of Long Beach, California; and Janice Allen Jackson, of Augusta, Georgia. He was the only white candidate, and he had the least time in local government of the group.
For that reason, in addition to the rollout, Robinson said she wouldn’t support him.
“There is a saying in the African American community — you have to be twice as prepared to get half as much,” Robinson said, adding that in this case, the other candidates were far more experienced.
When Lucas began the search, he said he recognized that Kansas City had never had a female city manager and only one permanent city manager of color. Rouse is also Black.
But Lucas said the process was fair to both the finalists and the public and he was proud there were strong candidates of color.
“I will continue to look for opportunities for talented people from all walks of life in Kansas City,” Lucas said. “If you look at the problem of history, it was that probably 30, 40 years ago, we just didn’t consider women. We just didn’t consider people of color.”
Platt replaces Earnest Rouse, who has been interim city manager since Troy Schulte stepped down last year. Schulte served in the post for a decade, overseeing the construction of a new downtown convention hotel, negotiation of a deal to build a new terminal at Kansas City International Airport and the construction of the streetcar starter line.
When Schulte resigned, Lucas said Kansas City needed to “be a city that walks and chews gum,” saying it doesn’t matter “how many nice, gleaming towers we build” if people are being shot and basic services and housing aren’t addressed.
Lucas said in an interview Wednesday that Platt lives up to that vision and understood that Kansas City government needed to work for every part of the community.
“I think he is, without a doubt, one of the most talented city management professionals in the United States, and I think he will have a strong impact on Kansas City, hopefully long after people are done having to deal with Mayor Quinton Lucas,” he said.
In addition to Robinson and Parks-Shaw, Councilman Brandon Ellingto and Councilman Lee Barnes voted against the appointment. The rest of the council and Lucas voted for it.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Despite council frustration, Brian Platt will be Kansas City’s next city manager."
