Funk's Front Porch

Black Heritage District

Last week, the Mayor introduced a resolution expressing the city's intention to support  a tax-free zone within the city's Black Heritage District. To learn more about the proposal, click the link below:

Download BlackHeritageDistrictSummary.pdf

Newsletter

Dear Folks,

This Week’s City News:

The Mayor continues to meet with the leaders of our metropolitan community. So far, he has met with many of the current regional Mayors, Legislators, Civic and Business Leaders, Chamber Members and City Managers. It has been a time-consuming task, but well worth the time. Now, he is working his way through meetings with past regional City Council Members, Mayors and City Managers, as there is a lot of wisdom to be gained from those who have served before him.

Crispin Rea of the Mayor’s staff graduated with honors last week from Park University. Funk and I are encouraging him to continue with his schooling until he earns his Ph.D. Crispin is considering this but has decided to sit out the next semester to focus on his mama’s recovery. As you can see, he is not only a great staff member, but a wonderful son as well. There are lots of great staff members in the Mayor’s office. This was brought to the forefront of Funk’s mind again last week when his office pulled off a major undertaking, the New Tools Symposium, even while being severely short-staffed that day. You’d be surprised at how much work gets done in the Mayor’s office on a very tight budget – there are only nine staff members, but the office is doing the work of at least 20 people.

Light rail, light rail, light rail. This is what the office has been living and breathing this month, as it is getting down to the wire to have something ready to put on the ballot by August for the November election. The polling results and a draft transit plan will be ready by May 23rd. On May 30th, the Transit Conference with regional mayors and county officials will be held in Raytown, co-hosted by Raytown Mayor David Bower, Riverside Mayor Kathleen Rose and Funk. The conference will be a work session to determine the needs of each community with regards to transit and how to incorporate those needs into a workable regional transit plan. Funk is still very confident that given a regional plan, voters will approve it in a heartbeat. This confidence is reinforced each day, including today at Union Station, when a couple from Olathe came up to him asking him to run a train out to their city. Of course, Funk told them that he is working hard to do just that, but that they’d have to ask their mayor to embrace that idea as well.

On a More Personal Note:

We are greatly enjoying having our son home from college and are looking forward to his sister’s arrival any day now. Funk and I are acutely aware of the waning moments of having our children all to ourselves. Because of this, our “home by 5:30 for dinner” rule will kick back into effect on most nights throughout the summer.

The next Town Hall Meeting: Wednesday, June TBA, at 6 p.m. TBA Host: TBA

In faith,
Gloria & Mark

Mayor's Daily Schedule 5-15

11:00 am Councilman Sharp

11:30 am Press Conference: Black Heritage District

1:30 pm Council Business Session

3:00 pm Council Legislative Session

Funkhouser and Gates to Announce City’s Commitment to Black Heritage District

Mayor Mark Funkhouser will hold a press conference on the corner of 27th and Troost at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 15, to announce a resolution expressing the city’s intention to support a tax free zone within the city’s Black Heritage District. He will be joined by Kansas City businessman and civic leader Ollie Gates, Black Economic Union President Chester Thompson, Jr., Black Chamber Director A. Marie Young, City Council members and other supporters of the District.

“This is a vital step in bringing more good, viable businesses back to the urban core,” Mayor Funkhouser said. “I can’t think of a single challenge that’s more important for our city to overcome.”

The Black Heritage District is a proposed economic development designation for the area of Kansas City from 9th Street south to 29th and Troost east to Prospect in which the city and state would cease collecting sales taxes.

“We believe this is an incentive package that will work in the urban area,” said Chester Thompson, Jr. of the Black Economic Union. “It’s a little bit different than anything that’s been done before. It will provide a stimulus for building an economic base in the urban area.”

Mayor Funkhouser will introduce the resolution for the Black Heritage District at the City Council legislative session at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 15, in the City Council Chamber on the 26th floor of City Hall, 414 E. 12th St.

For more information contact Kendrick Blackwood in Mayor Funkhouser’s office: 816-513-3513.

Mayor's Daily Schedule 5-13

8:00 am Chamber Light Rail Task Force

10:30 am Mayor Pro Tem and Committee Chairs

2:30 pm Gary Forsee at the University of Missouri

Mayor to Attend Public Meeting on Education Reform

Mayor Mark Funkhouser will attend a public hearing hosted by the Kansas City School District’s Education Reform Task Force tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Trailwoods Elementary, 6201 E. 17th Street. The meeting is scheduled to last 90 minutes. Mayor Funkhouser is a member of the Task Force.

For more information, please contact Kendrick Blackwood at 816-513-3513.

Mayor to hold town hall meeting

Mayor Mark Funkhouser will hold a town hall meeting beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, at Briarcliff Elementary School, 4100 Briarcliff Road. The event will be hosted by the Northland Community Alliance and North Kansas City School District. It will begin with a 15-minute introductory address followed by 45 minutes of questions and comments from the audience.

 

If you are interested in hosting a Town Hall Meeting, please contact Crispin Rea in the Mayor's office: 816-513-3503, or crispin_rea@kcmo.org.

Mayor's Daily Schedule

7:30 p.m. - Light Rail Breakfast Meeting, Intercontinental Hotel
11:30 a.m. True Light Family Resource Center, presentation of proclamation honoring Women's Health Week
Noon - Roundtable discussion on Downtown, Kansas City Star
3 p.m. Clay County Commissioners Legislative Meeting
6:30 p.m. Public Hearing for Education Reform Task Force, Trailwoods Elementary, 6201 E. 17th Ave

Dear Folks,

This Week’s City News:

The New Tools Symposium was held last Monday, with about 25 participants and four presenters actively participating in the event. The goal was to get people from all walks of life into a room to discuss creative ways to aid the distressed areas of our city and to come up with “New Tools” for economic development to spur growth and development in those areas. The all-day session will spawn a report in a few weeks with recommendations on how to creatively bring back the neglected areas of our city. This will be the first of many such discussions.

To celebrate the development of the New Tools, a citywide BBQ will be held on Reverend Miles’ property at 27th and Prospect on June 21. The party will include music by the Mayor’s favorite band from North Carolina and music by a local artist as well. Before the party begins, we’ll have a bus tour of the area and a presentation of the ways the prospective New Tools can be used to revive some of our neglected neighborhoods. The party will be open to the public, in much the same way that the Inauguration was carried out last year; with tickets available at select Community Centers throughout the city. The tickets will be very low cost and will go toward funding the next New Tools event. The Mayor is co-hosting the tour and party with Marie Young from the Black Chamber of Commerce and Ollie Gates from, well, we all know where Mr. Gates is from. You may not know, but it has been my personal mission to insure that Mr. Gate’s New Years resolutions come to fruition this year. More information on the party will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.

It was a very difficult week for several staff members in the Mayor’s office this week. Crispin Rea’s Mama was diagnosed with lung cancer. After an excruciating week of tests and waiting, the news was as good as we could have hoped for – I know Mrs. Rea will have a full and complete recovery. If you are so inclined, please keep this beautiful family in your thoughts and prayers, as they need extra strength and comfort right now. Also needing extra prayers is new mayoral staff member Briana Denzer, as her home suffered a grease fire last weekend. Both staffers are not only competent, but are delightful people to be around. Thank you for your attention to them in their time of need.

On a More Personal Note:

It has been a year now that Funk has been in office. While the year has been as rocky as can be expected with a close election, Funk has been able to stand strong and make great strides in turning the city around for the better. And with the help of your prayers, our family has been able to stand strong amidst the many changes as well. My family will continue to serve our beloved guy so that he may continue to serve the city in the big way that he promised to do. Thank you again for all your prayers. Please know that we feel the power and the protection of them each and every day and are humbled by your efforts on our behalf. Thank you.

The next Town Hall Meeting: Wednesday, May 14, 6 p.m., Briarcliff Elementary School, 4100 Briarcliff Road - Host: Northland Community Alliance and NKC School District

Monthly Update

Finance
When the City Council and I adopted the budget we took a big step toward getting the City s finances in order. But there is still a lot of work to do. We have to make sure that the budget is properly implemented. To accomplish this, Deb Hermann and Jan Marcason, chairwoman and vice chairwoman of the Finance and Audit committee have been holding weekly work sessions with City staff. Last month they received a matrix from City staff that outlines the steps that will be taken to implement the budget.    

In addition to this, the Finance and Audit Committee also received from City staff a plan for the implementation of the City s new Economic Development and Incentive Policy. This will allow us to have greater control over our use of incentives, such as tax breaks. As a result, we will be able to use these tools more strategically and in the best interest of the city.

 

Council
Last month, I met with each member of the City Council to discuss our first year in office together. After having those conversations, I decided to make a couple of changes to their committee assignments. I named Russ Johnson as chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee. I also added Terry Riley to that committee and named Councilman Riley as vice chairman of the Legislative Committee. I believe that Russ and Terry can provide the extra leadership that we as a Council need in order to realize our shared vision for the city. I am excited about bringing their leadership to the issues of regional light rail and regional cooperation to create an agenda for Jefferson City and Washington, D.C. that will benefit Kansas City.

 

Neighborhoods
On May 5, I convened a symposium to generate ideas for economic development in the urban core. I invited a wide range of community, business and political leaders to participate in the day-long symposium, out of which I hope to develop policies and plans that will revitalize neighborhoods in the most distressed areas of the city. The tools we currently have, such as tax-increment financing, don t work very well in these areas. Our tools are geared toward big projects in wealthier areas. So we need to create New Tools for economic development.

 

I want Kansas City to take a national lead on this issue. I want to be a model for other cities to look to for solutions to the problem of disinvestment in the urban core.

 

Crime
While the City Council and I were working together to adopt a budget earlier this year, there was a lot of news about the cuts we made. However, there is one area where we did not make cuts: public safety. The City s adopted budget increased general fund support for the Police Department by about $1.3 million. This represents a budgetary increase of approximately 6 percent one of the largest increases of any department in the City. I would have liked to have devoted more resources to the department specifically by hiring 20 additional police officers. I will push to do so next year.

 

Housing
On May 15, there will be a court hearing on the city s housing program, which is in receivership. Councilmember Cindy Circo will testify at the hearing, with a goal of demonstrating to the judge that the City has an action plan for its housing program. We are making some progress in this area, particularly with regards to our compliance with the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department. Shirley Winn, the City s housing administrator, has been working very hard to strengthen that relationship.

 

Also, the Housing Committee reached a concensus on the redesign of the Minor Home Repair Program. It is now called the Emergency Home Repair Program. Services will be limited to roof repair, furnace replacment, electrical service replacement and general plumbing. It will also be limited to a one-time opportunity for residents. The purpose of this redesign is to offer the service to more people and to deliver the service more quickly. City officials are projecting June or July for an announcement that applications will be accepted.

 

Transit
On May 30, Raytown Mayor David Bower, Riverside Mayor Kathleen Rose and I will convene a meeting of local elected officials to discuss a regional light rail plan that will be released later this month. I understand that the devil is in the details. Based on the input of local elected officials and the ongoing analysis and transit work done to date by MARC, the KCATA and others, Councilman Russ Johnson and I will release the regional proposal in advance of the May 30 meeting. Then we will sit down with the region s elected officials to listen to their feedback on the plan. I expect there will be some issues raised, and we will quickly adapt this plan to best address those issues.

 

The goal is to bring us together as one region to give the voters the opportunity to decide whether we have a regional light rail system. While it s an aggressive timeline, I believe we can be ready to bring ballot language to the counties this summer. It s important that we move quickly. In 2009, Congress will reauthorize the federal transportation bill, the most likely method through which the federal government would fund a light rail effort.  Therefore, it is important to pursue a public vote on light rail in November, as any delay would risk these crucial federal funds. Moreover, with ever-increasing gas prices and the threat of climate change, metro communities are ready to make an investment in transportation alternatives.

 

Downtown
The Cordish Company, which is developing the Power and Light Entertainment District has threatened to file a lawsuit against the City in hopes of stopping a plan to allow other entertainment districts to have open container liquor privileges. Obviously, this is not an ideal situation. However, the City has a strong relationship with Cordish and we will continue to have one far into the future. We will work together to ensure that the new entertainment district is a success and that other areas of the city will be able to prosper as well.

 

Sewers
On May 8, the City Council will have an update of the City's Overflow Control Plan at Business Session. The elements of the proposed plan will be presented and the City Council will have the opportunity to make suggestions regarding the final presentation to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Wet Weather Citizens' Advisory Panel will also weigh in on the plan. There will be public meetings regarding the plan on May 15 and May 22. The City Council will approve a final submission to EPA in June. The Water Utility Task Force continues to meet to strategize about ways to finance the plan, encourage water conservation and ensure that low-income water customers can receive some assistance.

 

Citizen satisfaction
During my State of the City Address, I named as our biggest challenge repopulating the urban core. In order to do this, we will have to pay close attention to citizen satisfaction scores. These are key to our ability to attract more residents. Recently, we ve had some great progress in this area, as evidenced by the city s selection as a finalist U.S. Conference of Mayors City Livability Awards. The program for which we are being honored is the Customer Service Week Initiative, which City staff launched last year.

 

Education
Last month, the Kansas City School District had a board election. There are several new members and a new board president, Marilyn Simmons. I want to thank outgoing president David Smith for his leadership, as well as Marilyn for stepping up to assume leadership. The school district is in an important transition phase, and I am pleased to know that one of Simmons first priorities is to build unity around the school district. Nothing could be more important than for this city to come together in support of our schools and our children. I am looking forward to working with Marilyn and all the members of the board.

 

Please check my official weblog for daily updates on the work of my office. If you've been forwarded this update or know someone who might be interested in subscribing, please sign up for "News from the Mayor's Office."

 

      Sincerely,

Mayor Mark Funkhouser