TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! INTERCEPTED!!! CALVIN FROM JACKSON COUNTY CONDUCTS INTERNETS SLAPFIGHT WITH KITE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH TAX!!!

Behind the scenes, there's a great deal of maneuvering to garner support for an upcoming vote on a Jackson County Medical Research Tax which hopes to spark increased investment and economic growth.

Even better . . .

AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS HAVE INTERCEPTED A RECENT E-MAIL BATTLE BETWIXT CALVIN FROM THE COUNTY AND KANSAS CITY TRANSIT DUDE KITE SINGLETON!!!

Thanks to the AWESOME TKC TIPSTER who sent this message along with the intercepted communiqué:

"An interesting debate between Jackson County and the Transit Alliance. The Chief of Staff vs Kite Singleton"

Now, close watchers of Kansas City news remember that earlier this week Kite sent out an e-mail blast that took aim at the Jackson County Medical Research Tax and would rather have all of our local cash dedicated to transit.

And so . . .

READ CALVIN FROM JACKSON COUNTY SMACKING DOWN KITE IN SUPPORT OF THE TAX IN THIS EPIC E-MAIL BATTLE!!!

Check the response . . .

Subject: Re: Jackson County Health Care Tax

What?

Kite, you don't believe we can walk and talk at the same time? Maybe we shouldn't have fought to bring Google here because that was a distraction from building a better Zoo or hosting the All Star Game.

A vibrant community like Portland or Charlotte or Dallas or... you name one is able to grow and thrive because they understand that sustainability and vibrancy comes from doing more not less. Investing and believing in the future not engaging in endless border wars OR pitting one great idea against another holds the hope for a great Jackson County. We can continue to spend millions upon millions doing the same thing or we can try a different path, make different choices and invest in our future.

We are an amazing community that has the opportunity to transform itself for this new century. Let's not pit one idea over another and engage in some form of "Oppression Olympics" wherein each side claims their need is greater. The simple truth is that we are falling behind but we can make the leap forward if we are willing. We can generate jobs and build our future by investing in both transit and medical research.

Everyday, as individuals and policy makers we have to make hard choices about which priority is the right one for us, our family, our community and some days the answer is we need to rebuild the urban core AND the Historic Truman Courthouse AND work hard to bring the Republican Convention here AND help Cerner bring those jobs to Three Trails AND invest in transit that truly connects our community AND turn Jackson County into a leader in medical research. I believe we can do this without spending more money. We just need to spend our money differently. I believe we can reverse the trend that has seen Jackson County lose 27,000 jobs over the last decade.

Sometimes the answer is despite limited resources we need to rollup our sleeves and fight to do whatever we can to help make tomorrow better.

My two cents...

Your friend always,

Calvin
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