Right now, take a quick look at the cash being generated in the Midtown Kansas City Toy Train Streetcar slapfight . . .
KC Biz Journal reports since their last count: "Supporters of the streetcar have raised $60,000, opponents of the streetcar have raised $37,000 and supporters of the transportation sales tax have raised $463,250."
Here's a quick look at the totals . . .
SmartKC, the political action committee against creating the TDD, has raised $126,000
Connect KC, the political action committee supporting creation of the new transportation development district, has raised a total of $202,000 for this election.
Meanwhile, we're still expecting this election contest to host single-digit voter turnout which kinda means that Kansas City Democracy is mostly a cottage industry for consultants, lawyers and people who make yard signs.
Developing . . .
Bet turnout is higher inside the district
ReplyDeleteAll right. Bet we prevail now.
ReplyDelete82% of the residents of the metro ALREADY don't live in KCMO and are not very likely to move there.
ReplyDeleteThey're all watching in fascination and disbelief as Sly and the gang take the largest municipality in the metro right over a cliff, stampeded by 20-something millenials and hipsters, and the grandiose promises of the urban futurist industrial trolley car complex. If the plan still is making downtown financially sustainable as a taxpayer-subsidized amusement park for 20-something year olds, it will certainly be an interesting experiment to watch. As long as you don't have to pay for it.
Just FYI:
ReplyDeleteThe higher the voter turnout, the more likely the TDD is to pass.
PS 2:50 has been in broken record mode for 3 months. "Urban futurist industrial complex" only sounds like a take down to other fucking lunatic on the political fringe. Lots of regular people disagree with you, and if you think it's just young people, you guys should get your polls broken down by age...because people over 50 overwhelmingly support the TDD. Most of them understand how critical different mode of transit are to living, and how the "cars only" crusaders have looted the tax base and crippled the ability of residents to get around town using the very practical and very common methods that almost very other comparable city provides.
In a world where North American streetcars have been obsolescent since the days of Brylcreem, nostalgia can be the only reason why City Hall would stick so aggressively to a 19th century technology that is literally the most inefficient option available.
ReplyDeleteJust give everyone in the proposed TDD a property tax cut - like the $250,000 downtown condo owners who pays $350 to $500 a year property tax and you may have a winner.
ReplyDelete@2:57
ReplyDeleteWhat's odd about the streetcar proposal is where it came from.
The residents of KCMO repeatedly voted against having their tax dollars pay for rail projects, so this wasn't the council bowing to public concerns. And you can argue that the public is stupid or old-fashioned or not keeping up with the fads sweeping the country, but that's how the votes have gone.
So WHERE did the multi-hundred million streetcar idea come from?
And anyone knows how polling works and how results are manipulated by the way the questions are worded.
If the TDD expansion actually passes, it will be a tremendous financial disaster for KCMO. All expense as far as the eye can see and a practical lesson that because a concept has certain results in some places, mindless extrapolation can also bring failure.
Facts don't matter to true believers, but the bills are sure going to be real for KCMO residents.
Kansas City is a small City, 460,000, only 60,000 more than Wichita, and 100,000 less than Oklahoma City. The median income in the City is a whopping $47,000,
ReplyDeleteAll those folks in Kansas City get to pay for a billion dollar sewers and water and another billion dollars streetcar. Good luck with that.
Vote NO on EVERYTHING
ReplyDelete