Charging $10 to park at Kansas City’s River Market would just spoil everybody’s fun

Parking pains

To Downtown Neighborhood Association board chair Josh Boehm, Mayor Quinton Lucas, the City Council and my fellow Kansas Citians:

It is with dismay that I read about a plan to charge $10 for weekend parking in the River Market, an area where parking was previously free or affordable. (April 4, 1A, “City: River Market changes are 1st step in parking reform”) People are not going there to tailgate and spend the day partying, but to procure fresh food for their families, support local farmers and street musicians, eat freshly cooked treats of different ethnicities and enjoy a fun environment.

If you want quick parking, get out of bed and get there before all the spots are taken, or hold off until the mid-morning rush is gone. Yes, the parking situation is challenged. Raising prices astronomically is not the answer. Paying an outside company half a million annually to decrease traffic is short-sighted and would hurt all parties involved. Unlike paying a cover charge to see a band, I’m not sure most city market shoppers want to lay out $10 so they can enjoy this environment.

A better plan would be to highlight bus service to the area, which is already in place. Please get input from a significant portion of those shopping at the market and reconsider your plan.

- Suzann Meyer, Kansas City

Shameful show

If you watched any of the Senate confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court, you were probably astonished by what you saw.

For three full days, you saw a brilliant nominee demonstrate her intelligence, patience, perseverance and understanding of the law beyond any reasonable doubt.

You also saw, for three full days, Republican Sens. Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn, Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton embarrass themselves with their blatantly racist attempts to tarnish the nominee with innuendo and ties to right-wing conspiracy theories.

It was a disgusting display of just how far we still have to go in America to be able to say that we treat all men and women as equals.

- Scott D. Roby, Lenexa

Lake City truth

Recently, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves condemned proposed cuts to the Lake City Ammunition Plant in Independence. While there seems a grain of truth in his statement, it is also very misleading.

The Lake City Plant is indeed government owned, but it is contractor operated, currently by the Olin Corporation, the parent company of Winchester Ammunition since 2019. Although the loss of any jobs is devastating for the area, perhaps the gradual force reduction there could help fill the many open jobs in our area.

One should know that the plant has been a very serious environmental problem area since its opening in 1941, something the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has long been addressing. Also, it should be pointed out that our military’s need for ammo has been greatly reduced since our withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Scare tactics by Graves seem to be the go-to method of his leadership, not solution solving.

- Greg Kunkle, St. Joseph

They’re all animals

I absolutely love horses, but unless you are a vegan, it’s hypocritical to say we shouldn’t eat horsemeat, as the author of a Thursday letter to the editor suggested. (8A)

Instead of banning the export of horses for slaughter, we should slaughter them humanely and export the meat, or allow it to be eaten here. No one is trying to pass laws that prevent cattle from being slaughtered for food, and those animals feel pain, too.

- Nicolette Miller, Hannibal, Missouri

Who ‘we’ are

I congratulate the University of Kansas basketball players, coaches, staff, student body and faculty, both current and former, on the NCAA championship. But I’d like to remind those other KU fans that there is no “we” when it comes to the subject. Do not say, “We won.” If you have zero connection to the university other than liking the team, you are not “we” — you bought a T-shirt.

- Toby D. Freeland, Lee’s Summit

This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 9:59 AM.