New sibling organization of KC Tenants launches with goal of building political power
About 200 people gathered Saturday in downtown Kansas City for the launch of KC Tenants Power, a sibling organization to KC Tenants which has celebrated several wins since it formed in 2019.
KC Tenants Power will focus on education and building political power.
Supporters, many wearing yellow KC Tenants T-shirts, chanted in Ilus Park and held signs reading “The rent is too damn high” and “Our city our future.”
Some speakers during the rally hinted at running for City Council.
Johnathan Duncan, who lives in the Sixth District, said the possibility was “definitely on my mind” and that he supports “co-governance.”
“I want to see our city’s leaders take lead from the people they were elected to serve,” he said. “When our city’s leaders pass ordinances that displace us, they should be accountable to those people.”
Over chants from KC Tenants, the City Council in August eased requirements for developers to create affordable housing by defining affordable as nearly $1,200 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.
Leaders with KC Tenants Power said Saturday that the group will be organizing listening sessions and endorse political candidates in future elections. Denise Brown spoke of her support for a $50 million bond initiative for the city’s Housing Trust Fund that will be on November’s ballot.
Last month, a city report said there was a 27,000-unit deficit for renters who make 30% of the average median income or less.
“We are going to knock on 25,000 doors to pass that bond,” Brown said. “When we win, let’s be clear, that was the people who secured those funds and it should be the people who decide how they’re spent.”
Daj Moreland told the crowd that she wants to live in a city where she has access to housing that doesn’t require half her paycheck.
“One where the folks in power are folks like my neighbors, folks who have lived my struggle and who fight for the tens of thousands of people who are just like me, who are just like us,” she said. “I am here today because I believe that KC Tenants Power gets me one step closer to that dream.”
Duncan said being part of KC Tenants Power gives him hope.
“Right now, it’s my belief that if our city continues on this same path, that the children who are growing up right now won’t be able to live as adults in the neighborhoods they grew up in. ... It’s my hope that we can stop that from happening, that everybody in this city, who wants to be in this city will have a place to live,” he said.
KC Tenants was created in February 2019. Since then, the group has been successful in getting a tenants’ Right to Counsel passed, helped delay evictions during the pandemic and convened more than 4,300 members in a citywide union.
