Nikki Lansford
Editorial Assistant

Residents will have an opportunity to meet Kansas City’s new city manager Brian Platt in a virtual event hosted by the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Independence Avenue Community Improvement District (CID), Northeast News, Northeast Alliance Together (NEAT), and Mattie Rhodes Center on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

The event, which will be held via Zoom, will be an hour-long discussion from 6 to 7 p.m., where Platt will share his thoughts on the growth and success of Kansas City. During the first 30 minutes of the talk Platt will speak, while the second half is held for questions to be asked by the audience.

“Having the opportunity to meet and greet Brian Platt is something that should be really important to our community,” said Bobbi Baker-Hughes, President and CEO of the chamber and manager of the CID. “Our city manager is the person that, ultimately, your project is presented to. He is the man with the ability to direct the dollars to successful projects.”

Baker-Hughes said some topics that might be brought up during the meet and greet may be Platt’s thoughts on funding community events, affordable housing and Tax Increment Financing (TIF), among others. Baker-Hughes said she also hopes the discussion might also bring to light how exactly Platt will be involved with the city and what forms of communication he will have with the neighborhood.

“I hope that what people are going to get out of this is a level of comfort with the city manager, so that they have the same opportunity to ask him and his staff questions about moving our city forward,” Baker-Hughes said.

Platt began his position as city manager back in December of 2020 after being chosen out of four final candidates following a 13-month long process to find the 16th city manager which began in the fall of 2019.

Before coming to Kansas City, Platt had worked as a business administrator of Jersey City, N.J., since 2018. He also previously served as Jersey City’s first Chief Innovation Officer and established the City’s Office of Innovation in 2015. He consulted on management with McKinsey & Company and served as a kindergarten teacher with Teach for America.

Baker-Hughes said she hopes everyone will take the advantage to meet with Platt from the comfort of their own home. Those interested can tune into the event via Zoom through the link provided by the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.