Jason Kander for KC mayor? Here are the questions he'll need to answer
Jason Kander's likely entry into the Kansas City mayor's race stunned politicians across the city Thursday. It will upend local politics.
Announced mayoral candidates may reconsider their chances and withdraw from what was already a crowded field. Council candidates will rethink their strategies, observers said Thursday after The Star broke the story. Pending policy decisions will be viewed through the lens of a Kander candidacy.
Conversations about political winners and losers will be important. For now, though, Kansas Citians should put the political scuttlebutt on the back burner and continue to focus on important issues facing the city's next mayor, whoever it might be.
The challenges facing Kansas City during the next five years are extraordinary.
The next mayor and council will oversee construction of a new airport terminal, one of the largest public works projects in the city's history.
The project is already behind schedule. Thursday, we learned it could cost as much as $1.4 billion to build the new terminal - a 40 percent increase over what voters were told last year. The next City Council will play a critical role in making sure the traveling public is protected as the old terminal is torn down and a new one is built.
Kansas City must consider and adopt a more comprehensive policy on housing. The condition of the rental market is a concern. The use of financial incentives — for businesses and for apartments for the wealthy — will be an issue in 2019.
Crime remains a massive problem, and the mayoral candidates will need to have detailed plans for addressing this crisis. Do we spend enough on the police department, or too much? Should the city wrest control of the department away from Jefferson City? Is the 9-1-1 system adequate?
What about the fire department's overuse of overtime? Public safety now consumes 76 percent of the general fund operating budget. Does that need to change?
The mayor and council also will need to continue the effort to expand the streetcar system, fully implement the $800 million bond program, reach a potential new agreement on pollution control and lower water rates, and recruit new companies to the area. Troy Schulte's performance as city manager will be a consideration.
Taxes are high and too unfair. As always, minority communities feel left out of Kansas City's development boom, with substandard jobs and prospects. How can that be fixed?
The candidates for mayor and the City Council must address these issues and others.
That's true for all of the candidates, of course. But Kander will have a special responsibility to outline his agenda in specific terms. While he will claim a Kansas City residence, the fact is most residents don't know him as a local political figure.
They know Kander as a former state representative and the secretary of state. They likely know he lost his U.S. Senate race against Roy Blunt and perhaps that he appeared to be laying the groundwork for a future White House bid. They won't know his views on crumbling bridges, development incentives or how best to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
They may also know him as the guy who put a gun together on TV while wearing a blindfold. That Senate ad brought Kander national notice. In Kansas City, though, guns are a more complicated and important issue. Kander will need to keep that in mind.
He'll be asked to commit to fully serving Kansas City if he's elected. Kansas Citians will not object if Kander wants to maintain a national profile, but they'll need to know the city's interests always come first.
The mayor's office should not be merely a stepping-stone to another job.
Political pros know Kander will be able to out-raise his opponents — that's why some will leave the race. But the Kansas City mayor's race should not be about money, and the office should not be for sale. Issues and competence should guide voters' decisions.
We welcome Jason Kander to the campaign. In the weeks and months ahead, Kansas Citians should hold him to the same standard as every other contender in the race. And Kansas City's next mayor should be the candidate who is best equipped, through experience, intelligence, temperament and approach, to make the city a better place for everyone who lives here.
This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Jason Kander for KC mayor? Here are the questions he'll need to answer."