Kansas City Gets Attention for Vacant Arena

(photo by neal1960)
There's an article this month in Atlantic Monthly about the Sprint Center here in KC (and an accompanying entertaining illustration!) Mayor Funkhouser says of the arena created by the previous mayor ' “I tell people it’s a shotgun wedding, but I have to make the marriage work. And if you look at it just in terms of the performance of the facility itself, it has exceeded expectations. It’s shiny and new. People like it.” '
Click here for the article

Additional Money to go to Kansas City Free Health Clinic

The City approved an additional $201,926.84 Thursday to go to the Kansas City Free Health Clinic. It provide additional primary care services to those that qualify in the Kansas City Transitional Grant Area, which is a city program whose mission is HIV prevention and care.
Find out more-090296

City to Restore Jarboe Pool

City Council passed an ordinance Thursday during its legislative session allowing Director of Parks and Recreation to use $123,374.22 in PIAC money to repair and open the Jarboe Pool this summer. The repairs should keep the pool operational for 5-10 years.

Find out more! Ordinance- 090311

Black Heritage District Plan To Be Explored

The KC City council authorizes the city to enter into a $175,000 contract with Collins Noteis and Associates to create a master plan and economic development study for a Black Heritage District. The Black Heritage District Economic Development Plan is an area bounded by 9th and 29th streets to the north and south and Troost and Prospect Streets to the west and east.
Councilmember Beth Gottstein stated that this had been a forgotten area in terms of economic development and said that the district “deserves the best of the best”.
The Black Heritage District idea is spearheaded by Ollie Gates, president of Gates BBQ, and the Intra Urban Economic Council. In the district, the council hopes, the city sales tax of %7.725 will be removed to draw business.


Read the ordinance- 090293

Unspent CHDO Money To Go To Low Income Building Projects

After a heated debate during the legislative session, KC City Council passed an ordinance authorizing the use of past unspent Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) money for two community housing development projects. The ordinance allows $774,914.83 to be spent on building two single-family houses and to rehab nine others in the Westside, Scarritt Renaissance and Blue Hills Neighborhoods for low income residents. These projects are facilitated through the Blue Hills Community Services and Westside Housing Organizations. These organizations are non-profits that aim to create solutions for low-income housing.
Read the entire ordinance- 090292

New recycling contract negotiated

The city negotiated a new 3-year recycling contract with Town and Country Disposal that would allow for weekly pickup of recyclables. It was forecast that the pickup would be halted to every other week because of this year’s budget cuts. Recyclables were picked up in the past by the Deffenbaugh company, but the company increased their price by 25% this year, and the city just couldn’t afford to do curbside recycling pickup every week at that price. So they negotiated with another company with a lower bid. The city will continue to pickup recycling and trash in the city’s core, with the north and south now using Town and Country Disposal. Not much will change, the new company will still pick up plastic items with labels 1 through 7, but still will not accept glass. Read the ordinance in full 090309
Stay tuned for a complete post about recycling, where and how to do it in KC, even if you do not have curbside pickup. Exciting!

KC City Council Approves Legislation for Homesless Prevention

The City Council on Thursday passed the resolution (090282) accepting money from HUD for homeless prevention and re-housing those currently homeless. Read the past post about it

KC City Council Votes Down Airport Privatization

City Council Thursday voted down a plan to submit for an application to privatize Kansas City’s airports through the FAA’s Airport Privatization Pilot Program. Several councilmembers stated their concern for jobs that might be lost and many doubted that anyone would actually buy the airport during such dire economic times.


“Wrong move, wrong time, wrong for Kansas City,” Councilman Terry Riley said during a lively debate about the privatization plan. Mayor Funkhouser and councilmembers Ford, Skaggs, and Johnson voted for the resolution, while the remaining members in attendance voted against it. Read the entire ordinance- 090167

Homeless Prevention and Re-Housing Money

On the agenda for the Housing Committee this week is a resolution (090282) accepting money from HUD for homeless prevention and re-housing those currently homeless. The city has made some unfortunate choices with the budget, but they are trying to get money from the Recovery Act to fill in the gaps. Here's an info-graphic about the resolution!

Fixing Kansas City’s Business License Code

A November referendum in is the works to fix Kansas City's outdated business licensing system. Some businesses are being overly taxed and some not taxed at all, and as a result the city has been loosing an unknown amount of money. KCs old-timey regulations are yet again pandering to coal peddlers and horse drawn candy wagons! Well, no longer! The KC Star says...

What is the City Council up to this week?

Passed a resolution recognizing the program Aim4Peace and supports their efforts to look for grant funding for the program. Unfortunately, this year's budget cut the program, and so this resolution is only recognizing the sticktoitiveness of Aim4Peace, and not funding the program.
Read the resolution! 090280


Passed an ordinance that would stop a supplemental retirement program for some of the city's high level administrators. The program cost the city $260,000 annually.
Read the resolution! 090270