Does KC need an army of lobbyists in Jefferson City? And how much does this cost us?
As long as Missouri voters continue to reelect lawmakers whose highest priority is undoing the will of the people — and reversing ethics reforms passed with widespread public support — what Kansas City can expect out of Jefferson City is: not much.
We question whether we really need a small army of publicly-funded lobbyists working for us there — on behalf of our city, public schools, zoo, police board, streetcar, train station, port and more.
Good for Mayor Quinton Lucas, though, for planning to introduce a resolution this week that would at least make more transparent how much we’re paying those who lobby for the city itself, and for what exactly.
“There is no current reporting system in place in Kansas City, Missouri requiring lobbyists to report the amount paid under their lobbying contract or the subject matter the lobbyist has been hired to advocate for on behalf of Kansas City,” the resolution says. Nor, it notes, is there any “current list of lobbyists on any City website available to members of the public.’’
How can we know if we’re getting our money’s worth if we don’t know what we’re even paying, or for what?
The resolution is extremely simple: It would require the city manager to post on the city clerk’s website a list of all lobbyists, the amount each is being paid, and all issues each has been hired to promote or oppose.
When the new legislative session starts on Wednesday, Kansas City will be represented by the Giddens Group, which includes founder Nancy Giddens and former Republican lawmaker Shannon Cooper, who became a lobbyist 11 years ago.
“We’re proud that after an open, fair and competitive process — for the first time in decades — Kansas City has retained the Giddens Group,” Lucas said in a statement. “Having represented several organizations in our community for many years with a proven track record of success, this well-respected, woman-owned firm will help advocate for and advance Kansas City’s priorities in Jefferson City — chief among them, more state funding for public safety initiatives and mental health resources.”
Unfortunately, despite the fact that St. Louis and Kansas City are among the five most dangerous cities in the country per capita — and that the suicide rate across the U.S. is at its highest since World War II — there is no perceptible interest among Missouri’s Republican legislators for gun reform measures so basic and so badly needed that even Gov. Mike Parson has said that what Kansas City is trying to do on that front makes sense.
Since Lucas was sworn in August, the City Council has passed ordinances that attempt to keep guns out of the hands of minors and those with a history of domestic and other violence.
Yet in private meetings with lawmakers, Parson has reportedly talked up not these modest limits, but the importance of upholding the Second Amendment.
State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville, said that “the root cause of the problem for the increases in violent crime in St. Louis and Kansas City” is that more violent criminals should be kept off the street — incarcerated longer.
And as long as yet more guns and yet more mass incarceration are seen as the solution rather than the problem, what we’ll need more than new and better lobbyists is new and better lawmakers.