Northeast News
April 6, 2016
This news-dog has long advanced that the Kansas City Public School’s re-purposing committee is nothing more than a shell game that ultimately leads to demolition. Recent experiences bear this out with the outcome of Thacher Elementary School at Independence and Brighton. Now the district wants to pawn off abandoned school properties on the city for use as park land, recreational purposes or future housing development. Five sites are currently under consideration for this transfer including the old McCoy School site at 16th and White. The ordinance recognizes that KCPS has expended over $500,000 on demolition costs at the McCoy and the J.S. Chick and is looking to the city to help shoulder some of the additional costs for demolition and site development.

This dog is confused. The city, if this ordinance is approved is now going to shoulder the maintenance costs for these sites even though they can’t seem to find sufficient staff for the Neighborhood Preservation Department to properly inspect and keep up with an ever expanding caseload? The ordinance also mentions the Parks Department as being a partner for this ill thought out ordinance. This would be the same Parks Department that can’t seem to find in its budget the money to replace the stolen plaques from the Benton and Kennedy Memorials in Concourse Park? Note: These were stolen almost five years ago.

So, following this logic, the city can find money for this kind of shell game, a toy train streetcar, and a downtown hotel but we can’t find money for basic infrastructure needs like sidewalks, streets and streetlight improvements? And people wonder why the E-Tax is questioned.