If KC’s stimulus funds have to come through Jackson County executive Frank White, uh-oh

Thanks for nothing, Chuck Schumer. In the senator’s eagerness to make sure that every borough in New York City got its share of the $2 trillion federal stimulus quickly, without having to go through any middlemen, he pushed through language in the bill that says only cities and counties with a population of more than 500,000 will get their COVID-19 containment money directly from the Treasury Department.

For Kansas City, with a population of around 492,000, as estimated in 2018 by the U.S. Census Bureau, this means that unless we get a waiver, we’ll have to get our share of coronavirus-fighting funds through Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Jackson County Executive Frank White, since the county does meet the population threshold.

Oh no and oh no, again, in other words.

Frank White, are you up to this? Based on your record so far, we’d have to cock an eyebrow and say no.

White is a baseball legend, of course, and beloved by Royals fans, but has struggled financially in the years since 2011, when he lost his job as a baseball commentator and left his last job with the team.

In 2016, he falsely swore — unintentionally, he later said — that he owed no back state or local taxes when he filed to run in that year’s election. The more than $5,000 in delinquent state income taxes dating back to 2013 that he did owe would have disqualified him from even making that race, which he won.

In 2017, The Star reported on allegations of a potential conflict of interest, a last-minute loan that appeared to have kept White’s family home, which the bank was about to put into foreclosure, from being sold on the courthouse steps.

Last September, we wrote that White was “nowhere to be found after the results of an audit released by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker’s office detailed the misuse of millions of dollars from the county’s 30-year-old voter-approved Community Backed Anti-Crime Tax program … White apparently sees no reason to be constrained by the intended purpose of the tax — he’s been spending surplus funds as he sees fit, sometimes without seeking approval from the county legislature.”

And has anything changed since then?

Just last week, Jackson County legislators said they would pass a coronavirus aid plan that would fund less than half of the $10 million package White had originally proposed. Jackson County Legislator Theresa Galvin said that’s because White had announced his plan without ever saying where the money would come from.

Naturally, none of the above inspires confidence.

White has said he’s tired of being a “punching bag.” Of course he is.

In times of crisis, we’ve all seen in our own lives how some of those we expect to step up and meet the moment don’t come through, while some of those we never thought had it in them exceed all expectations. In public life, the same is true.

This moment is as serious as it gets. So Mr. White, if you’ve hated the impression that you’re a good guy — and one helluva second baseman — but are an ineffective leader in this role, well, there is no time like now to prove your critics wrong.

Meanwhile, we’re going to hope that the city does get a waiver, based on new projections that our current population is just above 500,000. And we hope, too, that you do take a few minutes to fill out that 2020 census form, which so much depends on.