Northeast News
April 12, 2017
1st District Councilman Scott Wagner, speaking on the Northeast Newscast, on the importance of approving the G.O. Bonds:
“I mean, we’ve cut 600 positions in this city over the course of eight years, so it’s not like there’s much more staff to cut. What it really boils down to is, could you do these projects any other way? Really, the only way you could begin to do any project is you would have to simply cut something else. And frankly, there isn’t much to cut,” said Wagner. “As I mentioned many times to folks while I was out speaking, if you look at the city like a house, and you say ‘I want to replace a door and a couple of windows’, well I can kind of reach into my pocket, or save up a month, and write that check. If my foundation is busted, or if I have to replace my roof, I don’t necessarily have that sitting in my wallet. In which case, either I have to take out some major loan to do it, i.e. a General Obligation Bond, or I don’t do it at all.”
Kansas City Museum Executive Director Anna Marie Tutera on the approval of Question 3, which will commit public funds to the restoration and renovation of Corinthian Hall:
“I am completely thrilled, and we are just continuing to be full steam ahead. Our architects are finishing up construction documents. We’ll be breaking ground in the next few months,” said Tutera. “We have done a lot of planning over the past two years. Institutional planning, and also all of the architectural design planning. That comes on top of all of the planning that was done at the museum before Parks and Recreation took over.”
3rd District Councilman Quinton Lucas on the approval of Question 4 and Question 5:
Question 4: “It’s going to be successful by having some good administrative oversight. I would encourage the Mayor to appoint people who make sure the money goes to a good use,” Lucas said. “I think it could be a very good thing. I think it’s essential that we match our public dollars with private investment. If we just build a bunch of public entities along, say, Prospect Avenue, then we haven’t gotten anywhere.”
Question 5: “I don’t actually have a concern with what the voters elected to do. I don’t think that this will have some calamitous affect on criminal enforcement in Kansas City,” said Lucas. “The City has the potential to save a good deal of money, because we won’t have to represent these people anymore. I want us to perhaps fund the ability of someone to retain some sort of counsel to fight the ticket. I just want us to prioritize funding for that in addition to this changing of the law.”