Surprise: Measure to rename The Paseo for MLK was quietly slipped into East Side plan

The Kansas City Council is poised to vote on a much-needed plan to revitalize the city’s distressed East Side.

The proposal, introduced by Councilman Scott Taylor, calls for a $13 million investment, a mix of new spending and tax incentives to stimulate economic growth in East Side neighborhoods and portions of the Ruskin neighborhood in south Kansas City.

The plan would provide a boost to areas that have gotten short shrift for too long.

But also included in this economic development plan is a provision that would rename The Paseo in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

After an extended public debate about how to honor the civil rights icon in Kansas City yielded no consensus and no clear path forward this summer, the reemergence of this proposal comes as a rather curious surprise.

Previously, three different options for memorializing King had been on the table. And while renaming The Paseo was the best choice in our view, quietly slipping this measure into what should be a separate proposal with little fanfare or notice isn’t the best way to resolve what has been a contentious issue.

Some members of an an advisory group formed by Mayor Sly James to study the issue say they support the latest plan for The Paseo. But others said it should the renaming measure should have been introduced as a separate ordinance with plenty of opportunity for a public discussion.

Why the proposal was attached to the East Side plan remains an unanswered question.

City Councilman Quinton Lucas, who proposed adding the MLK amendment to the East Side plan, defended the strategy.

“I don’t know what is more public than a televised meeting in an open chamber session where everybody knows what the heck we are talking about and what we’re doing,” he said.

Lucas has a point. But after an intense, months-long community-wide debate about this issue, the proposals to honor King had disappeared from public view. Why did a renaming proposal suddenly reappear in the East Side package?

This appears to be an effort to skip past the hard work of forging a consensus and simply fast-track implementation.

“Why not move the conversation forward instead of another resolution at City Hall basically saying we might do something later?” Lucas said.

This summer, the mayor forwarded the advisory group’s recommendations to the City Council. The panel concluded that renaming the Kansas City International Airport terminal, 63rd Street or The Paseo were the best options.

The council was tasked with selecting one. It’s not clear how city leaders reached this decision, but it appears that they’ve concluded that The Paseo is the best choice.

East Side ministers have long favored the original proposal to rename The Paseo. Dr. Vernon Howard Jr., president of the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference, helped lead a petition drive to get the renaming measure on the ballot. The effort failed, but talks continued, Howard said.

“This is a good thing,” he said. “This is why we were marching in the streets in April.”

Ultimately, changing the name of The Paseo to honor King will be good for Kansas City. So will the East Side economic development package.

But process matters. And this approach has left something to be desired.