Crime
In August, 21 murders occurred in our city. On Aug. 30, I joined Police Chief James Corwin, Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar, City Councilmembers, Board of Police Commissioners, staff from the Police Department and community leaders to inform the public about what the city is doing to address this situation.
Chief Corwin announced that he would direct more resources to the Police Department’s Homicide Unit. This will allow them to more effectively work unsolved cases from 2007 and 2008. He also announced that he would be placing more tactical and community police officers in the neighborhoods where the homicides have occurred.
Corwin stressed that ensuring public safety requires more than just good policing. It takes a “holistic approach” – one that involves community members, business owners, schools, churches and all facets of the government.
I couldn’t agree more.
That’s why I created a City Council committee called Public Safety and Neighborhoods, so that my colleagues could look at ways in which community conditions impact public safety. It’s clear that public safety is something we need to consider in all our work at City Hall, whether it’s a zoning matter, or a plan to fund public infrastructure, or policies to stimulate economic development. All of these efforts can contribute to a safer city.
Neighborhoods
One of the things I talked about at the event on Aug. 30 was our “New Tools” initiative, which is aimed at finding ways to stimulate economic development in distressed areas of the city. This is a vital component of our city’s holistic approach to fighting crime because it’s about creating jobs and opportunities. Both common sense and economic indicators show that crime goes down dramatically when the economy is good.
We’re making great progress on New Tools. My office has hosted two symposiums where more than two dozen elected officials, economists, business and community leaders gathered to brainstorm ideas about how to promote economic development in distressed areas. Now it’s time to start turning those ideas into policies and plans.
The next step is the formation of a task force, which will, within six months, present a list of formal recommendations to the City Council. This city has seen many task forces come and go. Some have been very successful – such as the one to provide more streetlights to neighborhoods and another to improve the way infrastructure funds are distributed – others have been less so. I’m confident this one will be among the success stories, primarily because of the people who will be leading it.
I’ve asked Ajamu Webster and Mike Chesser to be chair and vice chair, respectively.
Ajamu is a business owner and a longtime activist and community leader. I appointed him to the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, and he has served well in that capacity. What makes him a strong leader for this effort is his perspective and the level of respect he has in the community.
Mike is CEO of Great Plains Energy, better known around here as Kansas City Power and Light. He grew up in Baltimore, in a neighborhood that could easily be described as distressed. As one of our top business leaders, he now enjoys a prominent position in the city’s larger power structure.
This is a powerful combination. With the strength and expertise that’ll be brought by 20 or so other task force members – including elected officials such as Sharon Sanders Brooks, Terry Riley and Deb Hermann – this group will have a mighty impact.
Transit
This November, voters will have an opportunity to vote on a 3/8-cent sales tax to fund a 14-mile light rail line. I support this because I am confident that it will not be a stand-alone light rail line, but will be part of a larger regional system.
As you’re probably aware, I have worked since the day I took office to put before voters a regional transit ballot measure. Unfortunately, we were unable to pull that together in time for the November ballot, when my fellow members of the City Council and I promised we would have something for residents to vote on.
However, we made a lot of progress. Work toward a regional system has continued. As a result, I believe we will have a multi-county measure before voters next year. If approved, some of that system – such as the commuter rail lines from suburban communities – might be completed before completion of the light rail line voters will decide on in November. So this so-called starter line could actually become a capstone for the larger system.
Housing
When I meet with community leaders, particularly those from the 3rd and 5th Districts, the one issue I’ve been hearing the most about lately is housing. Folks are frustrated with the lack of progress that is being made in this important area.
As you probably know, the city manager chose several years ago to put the City’s housing program into federal receivership. This was supposed to be a short-term solution, but we continue to operate under this problematic arrangement in which an out-of-town agent is essentially calling the shots for us. Meantime, our city has not added a single unit of affordable housing.
This summer, we were supposed to have been ready to be released from the receivership arrangement. However, at the scheduled hearing that could have made that happen, the City asked for an extension so that more information could be gathered.
I am currently meeting with elected officials, community leaders and government staff, and weighing our options. This is far too important a service for us to lag behind on, and I will be giving it a lot more of my attention in the coming weeks and months.
Citizen Satisfaction
On Aug. 29, I was joined by Julie Floyd and other representatives of the Community Coalition to Fix Barry Road and Mayor Jerry Boss of Weatherby Lake in pushing for the City to take action on an unfinished project at Barry Road and Rush Creek. The coalition was formed after a deadly accident that occurred on April 10, 2004. Since then, they have gathered 10,000 signatures from residents urging action to be taken on this unsafe section of Barry Road.
That is more than four years ago, and the bridge remains unrepaired. I have been told this will take another two years to fix. That is unacceptable. It took about that long to build the Sprint Center. Surely we can do better.
I pledge to work with City staff, the City of Weatherby Lake and residents to make the repairs in a timely manner.
We are continuing to expose our residents to unsafe conditions and making life much harder for the residents of Weatherby Lake. We need to be a better regional neighbor.
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