Mayor Sly James to host KCI town hall

Kansas City Mayor Sly James will take his KCI Airport pitch to the public on Wednesday night.

The town hall meeting is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Gem Theater, 1615 E. 18th Street.

Mayor’s spokesman James Roberts said the mayor will talk to members of the public about why it’s important for voters to decide soon on the future of Kansas City International Airport.

Roberts said the mayor will not talk about the specific proposals that a KCI selection committee is currently weighing for possible airport improvements. That committee is not expected to finish its work until late this week at the earliest. The mayor is not part of that selection group. Any recommendation from the selection committee still must go to the city council.

Instead, Roberts said, this will be a chance for the mayor to talk to the public, and listen to their comments, about why a decision and a vote on KCI is important now after more than five years of debate.

The city council hopes to approve ballot language by Aug. 24 to put a measure before voters seeking approval to move forward with some type of plan for a new single terminal at the airport.

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Mayor Sly James to host KCI town hall."