Election winners already planning for future

By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
July 1, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Some voters went to the polls last week to elect the mayor and 12 other Kansas City Council members.

Although Mayor Sly James retained his seat, voter turnout was low. According to unofficial results, only 13 percent of registered voters in Jackson County cast a vote, with even lower results in both Clay and Platte Counties, under nine percent in both counties.

James won with 87 percent of the vote. The 13 member city council will undergo significant turnover. Six council members are term-limited out of their seats, another is serving an interim term and a couple incumbents are now on their way out. Among the winners of city council races were Heather Hall ousting incumbent Dick Davis for First District In-district seat, Katheryn Shields narrowly getting by incumbent Jim Glover for the Fourth District At-large seat and Alissia Canady closely avoiding Ken Bacchus for the Fifth District In-District seat. Canady replaces Cokethia Hill, an interim council member who replaced Michael Brooks earlier this year.

Other winners include: Scott Taylor, Kevin McManus, Lee Barnes Jr., Teresa Loar, Scott Wagner, and Dan Fowler.

Third District

Incumbent Jermaine Reed easily defeated his opponent Jamekia Kendrix, with roughly 72 percent voting to keep Reed in office. Reed said he was humbled by the results and looks forward to his next four years in office.

“Voters spoke overwhelmingly for us to continue the progress we’ve started in the community and communities throughout the Third District,” Reed said.

Some of the issues Reed looks forward to tackling include city-wide projects like the possibility of a new Kansas City International Airport or finding a solution for the Kemper Arena. He’s also concerned about issues facing the Third District, such as blight and transportation.

“I look forward to working on eliminating the blight that plagues many areas of the Third District,” Reed said. “I’m excited about getting to work with a laser focus on all of those issues.”

Replacing Melba Curls, who is term-limited out, Quinton Lucas defeated his opponent Stephan Gordon with roughly 74 percent of the vote. Lucas said he’s excited to get to work on several items that affect the Third District, such as retaining its core population, especially in older communities and “long deferred infrastructure” issues within the district and city.

“I’m looking forward to talking to people,” Lucas said. “There’s a fear within the community that your voice won’t be heard unless you’re connected to a big business. But I want everyone to know my door will always be open.”

Fourth District

Former Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields narrowly defeated incumbent Jim Glover by just over 100 votes.

“I knew it was going to be close, but I was hoping not that close,” Shields quipped.

After she gets her feet wet and establishes relationships with city officials and staff, she hopes to work on issues involving historic preservation in Kansas City, as well as infrastructure.

“I want to focus on maintaining roads and bridges within the city and if we do it right, we’ll save the city millions in the long run,” Shields said.

Replacing Jan Marcason, who is term-limited out this August, Jolie Justus defeated opponent John Fierro with roughly 77 percent of the vote. The former state senator said she looks forward to working with the neighborhoods in the Fourth District. Justus also noted that one of her immediate goals is to make sure her office establishes good constituent services.

“That’s the first thing I want to do is make sure when someone contacts our office, we’re responsive and available to whatever folks need,” Justus said, adding when she was a state senator, she held weekly neighborhood coffee meetings with residents. She plans to continue that as a city council member.

After that, Justus said she’s interested to see what Kansas City is doing in regards to public safety and, where, if any, improvements can be made. She also noted she’s an advocate for transit and infrastructure issues and wants to tackle issues like crumbling sidewalks and more reliable transit.

“Housing is key, too,” Justus said. “I want to make sure abandoned homes are dealt with in a smart and controlled way.”

Voter Turn out

One thing all new and returning members of the city council agreed upon was the city needs to figure out how to get the public more engaged in municipal elections. Justus said it’s depressing to see such low turn out, especially when new democracies around the world are churning out in record numbers.

Reed noted his campaign team probably knocked on over 10,000 doors, but added the city must remain engaged with its residents in order to get them to the polling stations.

“We need to remember that folks fought long and hard for us to have the ability to vote and we shouldn’t take it for granted,” Reed said. “We should vote in every election, not just federal elections when we have to vote for president.”

Shields believed there were multiple factors running against the election, but at the top of the list was the fact that it was the first June election ever held in Kansas City.

“A lot of people weren’t able to get focused on it because kids are just getting out of school and families are planning vacations,” Shields said. “I came across people who said they would’ve voted for me but were on vacation.”

By the numbers

Mayor

Sylvester “Sly” James — 29,774

Vincent Lee — 4,312

Council Member at Large 1st District

Scott Wagner — 23,947

Jeff Roberts — 6,110

Council Member at Large 2nd District

Teresa Loar — 20,810

Jay Hodges — 10,525

Council Member at Large 3rd District

Quinton D. Lucas — 22,636