On The Vine: What’s the state of KC’s 3rd District and what’s next for residents | Opinion
A little over a week after President Donald Trump addressed the nation with the longest State of the Union in modern history, filled with hyperbole that presented a misleading and exaggerated economic state, and ignoring what Americans care most about — high prices — Kansas City’s 3rd District Councilwoman Melissa Patterson Hazley gave her own State of the District speech.
You’ll be happy to know, like I was, that Patterson Hazley was far more down-to-earth and in touch with her constituency than our national leader is with his.
Patterson Hazley spoke to a packed house at the Zhou B. Arts Center in the historic 18th and Vine Jazz District, ultimately saying, “The State of the 3rd District is historic. It is strong.”
She didn’t just proclaim that to be so, though.
I listened while Patterson Hazley walked her audience through district challenges, what efforts are being made to address them and why. I found that transparency refreshing from an elected community leader. Also in attendance were U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri state Reps. Pattie Mansur and Michael Johnson, Jackson County Legislator Venessa Huskey and Kansas City school board Chair Rita Cortéz, among others.
While Patterson Hazley celebrated the work being done to improve the affordable housing stock, including her vacant land initiative in the Washington-Wheatley and Northeast neighborhoods, she also mentioned how much more work and money are needed to keep the effort going to clean up contaminated land, and to rebuild and restore housing throughout the district.
“We need to build a community of diversity, because a concentration of poverty is just as bad as a concentration of wealth, and vice versa.”
Patterson addressed education and highlighted training-to-work programs at the school district’s Manual Career Technical Center, which gives high school students real-life experience and prepares them to enter the construction industry after graduation.
She spoke from a four-point speaker’s outline to address housing and economic development, public safety, basic services, youth and education.
The councilwoman said her mission — as well as that of Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, who delivered the first official State of the 3rd District address last year — is not only to update the city on key initiatives going on in the district, but also to “make sure development in the 3rd District is not an afterthought. Building the 3rd District builds Kansas City. ”
She raved about work happening in the Jazz District: a new hotel, a Black Movie Hall of Fame, expansion of the Negro League Baseball Museum, redesign of the Parade Park housing complex and turning 18th Street into a pedestrian-friendly entertainment plaza. She thanked voters for overwhelmingly supporting the Kansas City Public School District’s first capital improvement bond in decades. As a result, nearly every school in the district can be refurbished in some way, Patterson Hazley said.
She didn’t stop there. I was happy to hear Patterson Hazley question whether young people in her district have enough activities available outside school to keep them active and engaged. The audience sighed in response to her question, and a few audible nos were tossed out.
She mentioned efforts to increase meaningful community opportunities for young people, including a new youth sports task force made up of coaches, plans for a new skating rink in the 3rd District, the KC Youth Commission and the first-ever KC Futures Youth Summit, set to convene from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 13 at the KC Convention Center.
My overall assessment of what the councilwoman had to say is that her 3rd District is doing all right, and is preparing to do a lot better in the future.
Off The Vine
Below are stories about culture and identity from communities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Go here to find more stories on culture and identity from Star reporter J.M. Banks.
- This was a cool food and cultural event: a 160-pound tuna cutting at an Overland Park restaurant. Banks and Star photographer Emily Curiel were there and put together a great account in words and photos. It’s bound to have you anticipating the next one.
- Here’s a local hip hop lover’s treat: Kansas City’s own Tech N9ne is returning to the stage, setting out on a tour he promises will end big back on his home turf in KC. Banks has all the details — when and where, and with whom — in his story about the rapper’s collaborative North American tour.
Around The Vine
- KCRep for All is back! A free community tour of plays is bringing “One of the Good Ones“ to Kansas City public libraries and nonprofit organization spaces. This initiative seeks to break down economic and geographic barriers, and makes theater more accessible. Performances run through March 21. Check the KCRep website for more details.
- Music lover and Kansas City philanthropist Benny Lee has a book out about his journey to Kansas City. On Saturday, March 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. he is presenting a lecture and concert presented by The Museum of Kansas City, 3218 Gladstone Blvd. Tickets are available here.
- It’s a family affair. The Black Family Wellness Expo, presented by the Jackson County chapter of The Links Incorporated, takes place from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 21 at Morning Star Youth & Family Life Center at 2525 E. 27th St.
Vine Picks
- “It’s absurd, and really unfair.” Murder charges against the man accused of firing the shot that killed beloved Kansas City DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan at the 2024 Chiefs Super Bowl rally have been dropped. Victims react.
- Quiet as it’s kept, while it may cost less to live in Kansas City than in some larger East Coast and West Coast cities, it’s not what some would call all that cheap. Reporter Eleanor Nash breaks down how out of whack the state minimum wage is versus how much one needs to earn to support themselves and a family in the city, according to experts.
- Some Star readers really got heated discussing this column of mine comparing Charlie Kirk Day with Kansas Republicans’ call for parental permission for students to protest.
Your voice matters to us. What local issues do you want to hear discussed in On The Vine? Let me, Mará Rose Williams, The Star’s senior opinion columnist, know directly at mdwilliams@kcstar.com. Thank you for reading.
