By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
Jan. 26, 2011

Former state Rep. John Burnett felt unfulfilled.

“I had been feeling like some part of my life was lacking,” said Burnett, who grew up in Historic Northeast. “I have been involved in public service for pretty much my whole life and not having some sort of advocation left me feeling vaguely unfulfilled.”

However, that changed when Burnett was appointed recently to the Port Authority of Kansas City as a board member. Burnett will serve a four-year term.

Burnett’s previous experience has included serving on the bi-state board that restored Union Station, the City Market Oversight Committee, Goodwill Industries Board, among others.

Asked what his goals for the Port Authority are, Burnett said he wants to “restore public confidence” in the entity.

“Most people don’t even know what the Port Authority is, and that’s a problem,” he said. “It’s important, but it’s not high visibility.”

The Port Authority’s role, he explained, is to oversee riverfront development and the international trade zone at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base.

“I would hope that we can just get back to doing things efficiently and quietly, and have the trains run on time and no one even considers who laid the tracks,” he said. “There’s been a lot of controversy about the contracts that were let for the development of Richards-Gebaur. I hope we can make decisions that don’t cause all this public controversy.”

Asked what makes a quality Port Authority, Burnett said there are two key items.

The Port Authority must have a vision for the development on the riverfront and other areas its responsible for overseeing, he said. Secondly, it must be fiscally responsible.

“If you have those two things, you’ve got a good Port Authority,” Burnett said.

Is the Port Authority living up to those standards?

“I don’t know,” he said. “Judging by the media, they have some challenges. That was something I was looking for was a challenging public service role. I think I may have hit upon it.”