Mayor Lucas reflects on 2025: ‘Kansas City needs to make sure it’s ready’ | Opinion

Earlier this month, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas invited The Star Editorial Board to meet with him for a wide-ranging year-end conversation. Walking to City Hall from the parking garage across the street, signs marked the closure and renovation of the south entry to the building. One couldn’t help but compare this to the significant changes that have happened in Kansas City’s administration in 2025: Firing of the old city manager in March, appointment of a new one in May, and continued remedying of crime and affordable housing.

And, three days after our conversation, we would see the announcement of the Kansas City Chiefs moving to Kansas. (We shared the mayor’s thoughts on the teams last week).

What a year this city has seen.

Lucas, 41, was sworn in as mayor of Kansas City in August 2019, was reelected in 2023 and will end his tenure in 2027. He greeted us, and we sat down around a conference table in his office overlooking downtown Kansas City. Over the next 90 minutes, the mayor didn’t shy away from questions about redistricting, housing, City Hall administration, the Country Club Plaza and his future. This conversation, all on the record, is edited for length and clarity.

Missouri redistricting

Mayor Quinton Lucas: Gov. Mike Kehoe and I get along, but we do have material disagreements. … it’s important to articulate that the redistricting was a slap in the face to Kansas City, full stop. And, if you ran a poll tomorrow, particularly of people in the Missouri 5th District (if you could remove partisanship) and asked, “Was this necessary?” probably 90-10, people would say, “No, that’s not, needed.”

Kansas City Star Editorial Board: You have said publicly that if the map is enacted, that you, will vie for representative in the 4th Congressional District.

Lucas: It was not on my bingo card to run for Congress in 2026. However, I think our community deserves a voice. The first time I ran for mayor, I was one of 12 candidates. Probably the odds weren’t there. And so I understand that any Democrat running in what would be the new 4th District, which we would sit in now, and on the other side of Troost, it’s a different one, which is shameful in its own right. I think that any Democrat faces steep odds, but I’ve spent a few years, gained a lot of name ID, can raise money, can present a real challenge, and I think could build a real voice … for not just Kansas City, by the way, Lee’s Summit, northern Cass County, and frankly, any working class folks who care about things like health care, the hospitals closing in rural Missouri, all of that.

I don’t think on my last day as mayor, I’m just going home to sit with the family, although I love my family. Instead, you know, I think I’ll continue to try to find a way to engage in public life here in Kansas City and western Missouri.

Housing, transit

Editorial Board: You’ve said you are proud of what the city has been able to do with housing in KC. How can Kansas City lead other cities in affordable housing?

Lucas: Look at our Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which, working with other city fund sources, is on the way to developing 10,000 units of housing. Our Parade Park opening — which Parade Park isn’t perfect in every way — we’re looking to build 1,000+ units of housing for Kansas Citians. I think that our Housing Trust Fund Bond was vital. We would look to probably a renewal in November 2026. I think that’s going to be an important part of what comes ahead. We’ve had developments on Prospect, Brooklyn, Independence Avenue, Hardesty Street, that you didn’t hear anything about before. So that’s one step.

I think the other thing that we need to do — I’ll be specific: We need to stop villainizing poor people. I’ll just bring up zero-fare transit, kind of a cause célèbre this year in Kansas City, and turned up nationally in the New York mayor’s race. We do have a zero-fare streetcar, which, by all descriptions, has been very successful, right? People who go through social services can still ride the bus for free. We need to, I think, stop stigmatizing poverty in the way that I hear we often do. We absolutely need to avoid efforts around this region to criminalize poverty and homelessness. And I think that, ultimately, we need to try to build more jobs and bring them to the core of the city.

Editorial Board: Transit affects accessible housing. Some people have said that if the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City doesn’t fix regional transit, nothing will. Why can’t we get this right, in your opinion?

Lucas: I went to college in St. Louis, where the infamous discussion always is, “How far you can extend the Metro Link?” And how many counties like St Charles County don’t really want it, and their reason why, really, being the people that will come. … I think if we said, “Tomorrow, we’re going to extend it to the heart of — I don’t want to pick on a community — but let’s say to a baseball stadium at 119th,” … I think with respect, somebody might have some issues — particularly if they were stopping everywhere along the way, Mission Road, everything else. And so Kansas City needs to have a real chat about what we want, right? Do you want to actually make sure and care for the workers who are filling all these different spots all around the region, or not, on World Cup?

One may ask the question, “Why didn’t we just do this in a collaboration with KCATA instead? Why don’t we build up the sustained roots?” But I get it: For six weeks, it’s cool, right? To get from Liberty to Lenexa, get downtown, all of that. Maybe now it is a show-and-tell sort of thing, which is, if we show everybody during the summer that folks can catch the bus from this place into the city and the world doesn’t end, you don’t have all these different problems. And let me just be real: The problems already live among you.

The Country Club Plaza

Editorial Board: Recently Jennifer Collier, the Kansas City public school district superintendent, came out against the potential $300-plus-million-dollar tax incentive for the Plaza. What are your thoughts about the Plaza and its needs versus the taxpayers’ needs here in the school district?

Lucas: The biggest part of her letter, the first half, was the lack of meetings. That’s a real problem. That’s why that day — and the superintendent doesn’t call me every day — but she actually texted me and just said, “This is an issue.” And whenever she does that, whenever her predecessor did that, I say, “All right.” And so, convened a virtual meeting that afternoon where everybody got on. We got down to three issue points of disagreement. So I then rolled out a process where on Monday, KCPS submitted the information they wanted. Wednesday, the Plaza people had to respond. The parties are negotiating. Now, that’s progress. On the merits of the incentive itself, I think KCPS is right in the position that they need to be able to grow as the development itself grows. … I think we need to try to get to a deal with the schools, with the Plaza, and that’s what I’m going to be engaged in, probably in conversation this afternoon.

Editorial Board: What do you think needs to happen?

Lucas: Kansas City needs to stay vibrant. We need to keep office buildings full. We need to keep a workforce here. That is a key part of what you have to do. We can’t just be the social welfare location for an entire region. We can’t just be the playground for an entire region. And so I do think that this is going to be an important part of the city’s future. I think the Plaza has to be an important part of it.

City Hall

Editorial Board: You have a new city manager. Tell us how City Hall is doing, what you’re what you’re pleased with, and what plans are coming.

Lucas: My goal my entire time as mayor has been to be as drama-free as possible. I don’t like meetings where everybody’s shouting at each other. I don’t like the fractured nature that I think we’ve seen in some governments around us, and most City Council meetings reflect that, pretending we always together on everything. I think when you look at moving on from, for example, the past city manager, it was a unanimous vote of City Council after some time, both given to our former employee and others, to come up with a process for separation. And so I think the other thing that we saw coming out of that is largely stability for the city, right? You have not seen, you know, mass firings, mass layoffs, anything of that sort. What you saw was Kansas City continue to do the work that the people expect.

Editorial Board: Understanding that when you’re dealing with personnel, there are privacy issues, but could the situation with former City Manager Brian Platt have been dealt with faster? There were complaints about him … and obviously, there was a lawsuit. Looking forward, will you be able to look at internal concerns and try to address those things more quickly?

Lucas: You can always, I think, do a faster review. There is a balance with employees, of deference process, even the system, and the reality that we do face a share of litigation in this institution. … I’m not saying that that’s an excuse for any conduct. I’d say even within the institution, understanding you can’t share everything with the public, but even on the council level, having a better understanding of a lot of the things that may be rising. … But I would hope we would see a trend of, “OK, enough employees have said this thing is a thing. What can we do?” And that’s not just with departments. That’s also if there is an employee, even a high-ranking one, where if enough people start to say, “I got an issue,” maybe there’s some more you can look to.

Editorial Board: What other issues are you keeping tabs on?

Lucas: (News reports) about the Kansas City Fire Department does not go unnoticed by those of us at City Hall. That has not gone unasked in my queries to the city manager, and I hope that that is a very material part of the search for next the fire chief, somebody who’s committed to addressing those true, long-term concerns. So look, I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t some challenges. I think we have brave firefighters. They do good work. This mayor has got them very well paid. However, I think if you sexually assault somebody, if you have DUIs, God help us, there are things that suggest perhaps you aren’t worthy of the uniform any longer, and City Council has taken those steps on one in connection with a firefighter who pleaded guilty following a driving into a building and three persons dying. You saw the City Council reject an ordinance on a settlement on that issue. So I think the political side of the body is saying “Enough” in more situations, and I hope we continue to do that.

Big wins, World Cup

Editorial Board: What is Kansas City’s big win in 2025 that’s underreported?

Lucas: I go back to our progress on housing development, compared to where we were. I think the strength that we have had on housing is probably one of our clearest steps. I think it is such a key change in Kansas City.

Editorial Board: Infrastructure-wise, do you think Kansas City as a whole, as a city and the metro area, is ready for World Cup 2026?

Lucas: You know? I think we are. We need to be realistic about this. I think that where Kansas City needs to make sure it’s ready, that all of the different parts of it work together. We need to make sure that we’re prepared for large crowds in some unpredictable places. People filling up the streets of Westport, for example, without it being Fan Fest. I think that we need to be ready, really, from a public safety point. I think the other thing that I would say is being ready for the different cultures. You know, you have a lot of countries and folks from the Western Hemisphere interested in this, and we don’t have a lot of Latinos in either positions of power, on our government seats or in our case, the 2026 management. I think there’s work we need to do. … I think we need to do better on this. I want to see Spanish posted in more places.

Police and detention

Editorial Board: Any progress on a temporary jail?

Lucas: I think that’s still slated to open June 1. You know, the thing that we’re going to have to figure out is there’s a cost to staffing that jail, too. I’m hearing variations of that cost. Some people are saying it’s going to be $40 million a year, which is a lot of public safety money. I hope then, in short order, after that, we’re able to get to a quick solution on our permanent detention facility too. And there’s been a lot of talk about just expanding the modular jail using the footprint of the toll lot, which is where that’s being built, just expanding there, rather than building on a flood plain off of 40 Highway, where we’ve heard there’s a $25 million cost for site preparation work just to raise the ground.

Editorial Board: As a police commissioner, what do you think of the job Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson has done this year?

Lucas: If I were giving a “Leader of the Year” award in this region, I would give it to Melesa Johnson in a second. And you know what is most impressive to me? Her office is everywhere and engaged. And this is no knock on anyone who was in these positions before. But you know, she showed up to the job. She is bringing institutions together that have not been. Some of it’s the fortune of being new. But I’m glad that she’s showing up to the police commissioner meeting every month. She’s saying, “These are the numbers. This is what we are getting out of it.” I think that she is doing an exceptional job. If you compare the 2023 homicides to this year in East Patrol, Central Patrol and Metro Patrol — our most violent districts— it’s down. I give a lot of credit to Melesa.

Editorial Board: Can we get to under 100 homicides in Kansas City?

Lucas: Probably not during my time. But I hope that we’ve been able to build a trend in the downward direction.

Hopes, concerns

Editorial Board: What are you looking forward To? What are you concerned about?

Lucas: I look forward to the World Cup. I think that the opportunity for Kansas Citians is going to be special. I’m excited with what this can mean for us. I also see 2026 as a jumping-off for a future for Kansas City. I hear comparisons to Atlanta, 1996 Olympics. That’s precisely what I want Kansas City 2026 World Cup to be. I also say this for the Country Club Plaza, I’m going to be happy that in 2026 we get past the naval-gazing of, ”What’s the Plaza’s future? What’s its identity?” And we actually just start doing stuff.

On worries, I have a few: the president of the United States, and federal policy, continue to be a challenge for Kansas City. Infrastructure money is something not actually spoken of that much right now, but I think you can see a dramatic reduction in that long-term, which I think will have a negative effect on communities.

Although it won’t happen till 2027, I’ll put it on the 2026 list: I think the loss of Emanuel Cleaver, … the loss of a voice that understands Kansas City, will be devastating. The loss of a Democratic governor in Kansas will threaten the same thing, frankly. I’m concerned what conservative political growth and what gerrymandering can mean for us here.

This story was originally published December 28, 2025 at 5:08 AM.