Mayor Sly James touts progress throughout Kansas City and takes aim at naysayers

One year into his second term, Mayor Sly James is a lot grayer and a lot less rested than when he was first elected in 2011.

But as he said in his State of the City speech on Tuesday, the city that he leads is more vibrant and fun than when he took office.

“Back then, Kansas City was in the doldrums,” James told an audience of several hundred people at the Uptown Theater.

Then Google Fiber came to town, the streetcar got built, downtown started to boom, the arts blossomed, the sports teams finally started winning and the local economy improved.

“Best of all, we gave our psyche a boost,” James said. “Kansas City is reawakening unlike any time in recent memory.”

As a 21st century mayor, James didn’t just deliver remarks from a lectern. His narrative was punctuated by videos featuring Kansas Citians engaged in some of the city’s most promising initiatives, from mentoring kids to combating the homicide rate.

And as is appropriate for a mayor with a good singing voice, James wrapped up the event by serenading the crowd — crooning Bob Dylan’s “Kansas City” and accompanied by the Naughty Pines band.

In his speech, James pledged to continue working as hard as possible for the city he loves.

“The state of our city is full of momentum and pride,” he said, “and I refuse to let it slow down.”

The mayor isn’t taking credit for all the city’s progress, of course. In fact, he said the city is gaining momentum in part because of leaders making tough decisions a generation ago. One of those decisions was to begin imposing an earnings tax in the 1960s.

“Those leaders 50 years ago weren’t just focused on day-to-day problems,” the mayor said. “They were building a city for the future, just as we are obliged to do for our children and grandchildren.”

With that setup, the mayor once again urged voter renewal of that tax in the April 5 election, noting, “The entire Kansas City area loses without the earnings tax.”

The mayor also touted growth and economic development since 2011 from north to south, including $2 billion in public and private investment east of Troost Avenue, where many critics say he has not focused enough attention.

The mayor also pushed back at persistent critics of tax increment financing, arguing these economic incentives have “allowed us to make needed public infrastructure improvements and create hundreds of construction and other jobs to redevelop these properties.”

James said the city will thrive if leaders focus on the long term. And he decried interference from Missouri lawmakers that is making the short term very difficult. Notably, he joined a chorus of business leaders hoping to defeat Senate Joint Resolution 39, the proposed “religious freedom” constitutional amendment.

James said it could be a tremendous loss, with a mass exodus of major sporting events.

Despite ongoing public skepticism about changing Kansas City International Airport, the mayor urged support for a huge modernization project. While he stopped short of calling for a new airport terminal, he indicated support for what the airlines will recommend, and they are pushing for that new terminal.

The mayor’s speech drew praise from supporters, but some of his positions, including on the airport, still face headwinds.

Councilwoman Teresa Loar, who lives in the district that includes the airport, said she thinks the public is far from making a decision.

“My gut feeling is they would much rather have a renovation than a new airport,” she said.

Councilwoman Heather Hall acknowledged she too is undecided about the airport and still is ambivalent about the earnings tax.

“I still believe that we have to do what’s right for the city, and I don’t have a better option right now (besides the earnings tax), so I’m not campaigning for it or against it,” Hall said.

James’ leadership and effectiveness got high marks from Joe Reardon, former Wyandotte County Unified Government mayor and now president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

“For a second-term mayor, I think you’re seeing a lot of his vision coming to fruition and laying a foundation,” Reardon said.

This was the mayor’s fifth State of the City speech since he was elected in 2011. He has departed from the tradition of speaking at City Hall and has addressed audiences at Bartle Hall, Park Hill High School and Starlight Theatre. This year’s event cost $2,000 to put on.

His most memorable speech was in 2013 at the Gem Theater, but not for what the mayor said. Instead a disgruntled man interrupted the talk with a profanity-laced diatribe, approached the mayor on the stage and was tackled by the mayor’s bodyguards.

In last year’s speech, James listed other key goals that remain elusive and unfulfilled.

They included completion of a partnership between Academie Lafayette and Kansas City Public Schools on a premier high school, more money for infrastructure, a boost in the city’s minimum wage and increased neighborhood revitalization from Troost to Prospect.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Mayor Sly James touts progress throughout Kansas City and takes aim at naysayers."