Will They Stay or Will They Go?

The big election is only a week away, though many of you have probably already voted. If you’re still trying to make up your mind whether or not to succumb to blackmail, I urge you to read this article from Strong Towns.

While it’s kind of a long article, it is certainly worth the read. I’ll just point out a couple of items:

The current stadium is “consistently listed among the top ten most beautiful, most fan-friendly parks”.

The cost of the 2006 renovations was $250 million and we, the taxpayers, picked up $225 million of that tab. John Shermans’ net worth has been reported to be between $1 to $1.5 billion.

If you decide the article is too long for the time you have to read yet more about a downtown stadium, at least consider these two quotes:

Research from groups across the political spectrum have shown that the promised economic benefits generally don’t materialize, especially when a stadium is only going to be used periodically.

…

If building a new stadium is going to generate a profit, the teams can pay for it themselves. I can only assume the reason they don’t want to pick up the full bill is because new stadiums often aren’t a great investment.

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2021/9/28/should-kansas-city-taxpayers-foot-the-bill-for-a-new-downtown-stadium

You might also find it fun to recall that the mayor said in 2019 “We need a new downtown baseball stadium like I need a new Maserati. It’d be cool to have, but I don’t have the money.”

No Food Desert Here

I started to write this last week, but decided I was just too upset. After a couple of days, I’ve cooled down a bit – but just a bit. First, someone needs to explain exactly what a food desert is to Mayor Lucas and John Sharp, who could also use a map with stores selling grocery items marked on it in the entirety of South Kansas City.

As some may have read, the Red Bridge Shopping Center is getting a new grocery store to replace the one that somewhat recently closed. Here’s the headlines from KCTV5: New grocery store at the Red Bridge Shopping Center could solve south Kansas City’s food desert. There are a couple of problems with that. First, there was never a food desert in this area. Second, there is a food desert in South Kansas City, but it’s in the Hickman Mills Community, NOT the Red Bridge area.

Everyone cheered when a Price Chopper moved from Bannister and Blue Ridge to just down the street on Bannister. Neighbors had been asking the owner for years to update and clean up his store. He finally did by building a very nice new store in an area where he could get tax breaks. That left the entire eastern section of Hickman Mills in a food desert. I didn’t hear anyone moaning about those people or the mayor pledging to get another grocery store. In fact, he wasn’t even at the Grand Opening of this one.

Back to Red Bridge. According to KCTV5, “South KC Alliance President John Sharp said then that nobody wants to live in a neighborhood where they have to make a 20-minute drive to get basic needs for their household.” That’s true. Nobody wants to have to do that, but it’s a daily occurrence for those living in Hickman Mills. The problem is, nobody in the Red Bridge area of town had to do that and Mr. Sharp knows it. Why isn’t he doing something for the Hickman Mills Community which is where he lives, though no one would guess that.

The real kicker, though, is the funding. “Lucas said the market will be funded through a $1.375 million tax redirection over 10 years through the city of Kansas City.” Seriously!!!? Hickman Mills can’t even get the City to tear down dilapidated and dangerous buildings because they simply “don’t have the funds”. Typical again. If the City – or the mayor – want something done, even if it’s purely political, the funds will be found.

Another blog-worthy topic might be the mayor’s continual use of the word equity, but I’ll just make a comment on that here. He uses that term a lot, yet you never see him doing something or moving this fast to rectify an issue if it lies east of Troost, or in the case of Hickman Mills, east of 71 Highway. Where is the equity? He’s getting a pat on the back for bringing relief to a food desert which didn’t really exist; yet people east of 71 Highway are in an actual food desert and no one cares.

The latest proposal to help Hickman Mills bring in developers was presented by Councilwoman Parks-Shaw with an assist from Councilwoman Andrea Bough, who was also at this great announcement. That solution is to make the entire Hickman Mills Community an Urban Redevelopment Area, thereby abating any taxes the school district would receive for quite a number of years. Really? Where’s the equity there?