Kansas City councilman pulls out of homeless task force, calls it mayoral PR stunt
Kansas City Councilman Brandon Ellington said Thursday he won’t serve on a task force proposed by the mayor to address homelessness, calling it “a P.R. related stunt.”
Ellington, 3rd District at-large, told Mayor Quinton Lucas his position in a letter, saying he would “respectfully decline” the invitation to serve. He wrote that he previously told the mayor that task forces without directives are “useless.” He wanted to use the task force as a sign of support for his proposal to create homeless enclaves in city parks.
“Well, it appears that the directives have changed, and there is no clear direction other than what appears to be a P.R. related stunt,” he said.
Members of the City Council, including Ellington, voted unanimously last month to establish the task force to “better coordinate city services provided to persons experiencing homelessness.” It was to include two City Council members, city staffers from multiple departments, police and external agencies.
“(Lucas) is doing what he was instructed to do,” his deputy chief of staff, Morgan Said, said. “He looks forward to working with all his colleagues and the community to implement sustainable and transformative changes in how we improve conditions for those experiencing homelessness.”
Said noted the mayor had yet to announce the task force’s members.
In his letter, Ellington said he had a duty to engage his constituents, and he has “no time to waste.”
“For the past 13 years, I have shown dedication to serving and providing resources to the unhoused community, and I refuse to let sincere, dedicated actions be diverted by political gamesmanship.”
It was unclear what about the task force Ellington objected to or why it lost his support, and Thursday evening he did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ellington’s letter came not long after City Council members grilled City Manager Brian Platt and staffers during their weekly Business Session over the establishment of a shelter at Bartle Hall, dubbed the Scott Eicke Warming Center in honor of a homeless man found dead from exposure on New Year’s Day.
Council members raised concerns about safety and management of the warming center, which Lucas and Platt announced with community leaders on Friday. Ellington questioned a preliminary budget that said the shelter would cost the city more than $400,000.
Platt said some of those costs were already expenditures the city would simply transfer from the Columbus Park center to Bartle Hall.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 9:05 PM.
