In lieu of giving prepared remarks, Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, spent an hour taking questions last week from attendees at the monthly luncheon hosted by KC Downtowners. Some of those questions and Lucas’ responses are below.
Q: Where do you see the streetcar going after the current extension project is completed?
Lucas: “I think naturally there will be an eastward expansion to the streetcar system.
KCMO MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS
I think east-west is essential for Kansas City’s future. It’s rather easy to get to north-south points in Kansas City.It’s very challenging sometimes to get efficiently from west to east or east to west in Kansas City. And in many ways, I think that helps perpetuate our segregation patterns and it helps perpetuate many of the lack of connectivity that we have for people who live relatively close.”
Q: Are there plans in place to do some historic preservation of the City Hall exterior?
Lucas: “We do need to do some work to continue to preserve the building beyond perhaps what we are funding now. Currently, in City Hall, we have funds to renovate floors, which our departments tend to greatly appreciate. We have funds to address parking garages and other spaces. I think really looking at how we keep our historic character there, and frankly, its interface with the areas surrounding it, is something that could be discussed a little bit more once again.”
Q Any comment on what’s going on with the regional jail?
Lucas: “It is the view of many of us who serve at the city that opportunities to collaborate with Jackson County would make a good deal of sense financially for the taxpayers. For whatever reason, sometimes it hasn’t been as efficient of a process or negotiation as we would like. I think this is the sort of thing that would require most likely a public vote to authorize bonds for that. I do think there is clearly a need.”
Q: Any comment on what’s going on with the Kansas City, Missouri police?
Lucas: “I have great confidence in Chief Stacey Graves. I have been heartened by some improvements that I think we’ve seen made. One of those was just discussed yesterday in the media which is the restoration of the missing persons unit. I always like when things are fixed in a short time (and) you are seeing from this chief. While not always unanimous agreement, she’s collaborating with, for example, the Jackson County prosecutor and city hall. A few things I think remain issues. I am not a fan of the state's control of our police department. If it were a wonderful idea, then almost every city in the country would have it. Almost none do. In fact, largely, none do our size. I think it frustrates our ability to be as creative as we could be in terms of tools to try to fight violent crime long-term. But, I live within the context in which we exist.”
Q: Can you comment on the proposed covering over I-670 in downtown Kansas City?
Lucas: “I think south loop has very strong legs, and I actually think that it will be accomplished. You have seen very strong and robust fundraising from the private sector, and the receipt of federal grants. I’m very bullish on the fact that the south loop will actually happen. I’m excited about the gap that we need to close seems to get smaller and smaller. And, frankly, that is something that I think we will see in the next 5 years. On the north loop, I think it’s a longer conversation, one which may not be solved during my mayoral administration if I’m lucky enough to prevail in late June.”
Q: Can you comment on a downtown ballpark?
Lucas: “I’ve said this to everybody that’s asked. I think the Kansas City Royals will be playing downtown in 10 years. I just do. I think you have a dedicated enough idea. I think there’s been a sufficient conversation. The tough question is - What is the public asking and which public are you asking? I think that the easiest public ask is the Jackson County sales tax question. That would be an extension question that generates, depending upon who you’re asking, between $350 or $450 million that could be dedicated to a project for the Royals, and the Kansas City Chiefs getting the same amount for whatever it is they look to do. I think the public ask is a little more than that though. And so the question is - Are you going to Kansas City taxpayers and saying can you just find another $150 or $200 million? Does Kansas City take on that type of debt? But, note we just talked about a jail at $200 million. We’re talking about $90 million or so if we actually did City Hall improvements right and any other number of infrastructure asks. There’s going to be a substantial debt burden on the city side.”
Q: With regard to downtown residential development, how are you going to continue to address the affordability component, especially for new developments?
Lucas: ‘I think that we need to, when we talk about housing production, move beyond just a debate about incentives. I think that you cannot generate accurately the number of units necessary downtown or city-wide by just going with a percentage set aside in say luxury apartment development. I think the broader answer is how you actually stimulate some investment, and that is what the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is all about. And so to me, the Housing Trust Fund’s goal is to be a gap filler in some projects, but a gap filler that looks at housing at different affordability levels too.
But right now, I think it’s fair to say Kansas City doesn’t have enough broadly accessible spaces, both for those to just get off the streets and those who are in the intermediate situation of trying to get from the shelter to actual housing. We have roughly 15,000 people on our housing authority waitlist, which is just astonishing when you think about it, and so that’s why to the housing question you need a lot more housing creation.”
Q: How do you identify Kansas City when you’re out at conferences or out and about?
Lucas: “I still try to share and sell what I think is actually the most interesting part about us—our love of the arts, our appreciation of it, our very diverse communities and the many contributions that they all make to making this city special and how candidly, and I guess I can be biased — I like what we have here. I think what we can do a better job of is amplifying that. The story has to be more than we win at sports sometimes because as we know, that’s fleeting.”
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FEATURE IMAGE CREDIT: MARCIA CHARNEY | MWM KC