Councilman Scott Wagner (right) cuts the ribbon at the Independence and Benton groundbreaking ceremony in December 2016.

By Paul Thompson

Northeast News

June 1, 2017

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Another Kansas City, Missouri Councilman has thrown his hat into the ring for the 2019 mayoral race.

First District Councilman, Mayor Pro Tem, and former Indian Mound Neighborhood Association President Scott Wagner confirmed to the Northeast News on Thursday, June 1 that he will be making a run for Mayor in 2019. Wagner joins fellow City Councilmen Scott Taylor and Jermaine Reed in the race, which will begin with a primary election in April 2019. Current Mayor Sly James is current serving in his second term and is ineligible to run again.

Wagner, the Chairman of the Council’s Finance and Governance Committee, said that his decision comes after first consulting with his family.

“With two boys who are pre-teens, obviously taking a plunge like this is something that the whole family has to be okay with,” Wagner said.

Having obtained the support of his family, Wagner felt secure to move forward with the decision. But before doing so, he thought long and hard about what was driving him into the race.

“What is it that you would like to do that you can’t do simply in the Council person’s role?” Wagner asked himself. “How do you put yourself in position to do what you want to do with what you’re doing now? How do we spend our money better now?”

Wagner noted that neighborhood revitalization, job development, and combating homelessness will be some of his key goals if elected by area voters. He added that his dogged work on sidewalks – including his support for the $150 million sidewalk repair program that anchored the recently-passed $800 million General Obligation Bond issue – is one area where he’s seen progress during his two terms on the City Council. He’d like to see even more successes moving forward.

“If you’re going to run for Mayor, presumably you want to do more stuff. It’s not just because you want an office further up in the building,” he said. “There’s nothing like being Mayor to move those things forward.”

Though his candidacy is now official, Wagner noted that he isn’t about to get too caught up in campaigning with two years still remaining on his present term. The first-year G.O. Bond projects need to be approved; bidding is underway for a potential billion-dollar, single terminal modernization of Kansas City International airport; the community is still dealing with a rash of violent crime.

But when the mayoral race does kick off in earnest, Wagner believes that he’ll be able to proudly point to a voting record on the Council that includes support for the G.O. Bonds, the Buck O’Neil Bridge, the Choice Neighborhoods project, the Hardesty Renaissance, and more.

“I can point back to votes and point back to efforts that I started, and I can say, ‘here they are,'” Wagner said. “I look forward to pointing to my time on the Council.”

Of course, Wagner knows that he will have to rely on more than his voting record to secure the coveted position as the next Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. He’ll eventually need to start ramping up fundraising efforts, and he’ll have to rely on those in the community who can vouch for his track record to offer support. That support doesn’t necessarily have to come in the form of a financial donation, Wagner added. It can be as simple as placing a yard sign in front of your home.

“Clearly, others have been out there for quite some time raising money. I, along with anyone else who jumps in, am going to have to do the same,” Wagner said. “If I’ve done my job well, and I feel like I have, then there are a number of people out there, when I ask for help, who will respond.”

After six years working alongside James, Wagner says that he’s learned a lot from the two-term Mayor.

“I think it starts with a vision. You also then have to communicate that,” Wagner said of James’s strengths. “What he has proven is that if you have a vision of what you want to do, and you have the ability to clearly communicate that, then you can do a lot of things.”