Country Club Plaza Now Priority For Mayor Q Ahead Of Election Year

For the most part, we're willing to forgive Mayor Q for most of his political blunders.

Pandemic shut downs merely mimicked the hysteria around the nation at the time. 

Free bus rides were a trend that hipsters have pushed from Portland to Austin. 

For all of the tough talk betwixt police & the Mayor's office . . . This year they mostly agreed about the budget and it was actually Council Lady Katheryn Shields who nearly busted the deal. 

We'll see if the Mayor is just flexing about another lawsuit against police over a Missouri funding dispute. 

However . . . 

YELLING 'NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE' IN THE MIDDLE OF PLAZA BLM RIOTS IS ONE OF THE MOST UNFORGIVABLE POLITICAL STUNTS EVER COMMITTED BY MAYOR Q!!!

He has never apologized and never reconsidered his rhetoric that made the situation far worse amid a wave of historically violent protest that was not, in fact, mostly peaceful.

Now, of course, he's attempting to fix the hot mess he helped to create . . . Again, without acknowledging his complicity in chasing away biz & customers from one of Kansas City's most iconic locations . . .

Mayor Quinton Lucas said officials have not always made the Plaza a priority in terms of an economic development strategy amid ongoing efforts to stimulate investment in other, more overlooked areas.

That's beginning to change. Lucas and City Manager Brian Platt have held meetings with Plaza co-owner Taubman Centers to address concerns with — and explore future opportunities for — the iconic shopping center.

"Our constituents have invested mightily in the Country Club Plaza both through prior tax incentives and other infrastructure support, so we have a long-term interest in its success, and I think it's from that position that I take many of my steps," Lucas said. "We are all ears on good ideas for the future of Kansas City, and I think we want to make sure the Plaza is part of those chats, which it has not always been."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Lucas, Platt: 'We have much work to do' in preparing Plaza for successful future - Kansas City Business Journal

From its roughly two dozen present vacant storefronts to consternation about proposed new building heights, the Country Club Plaza so far this year has occupied significant civic mental bandwidth compared with most other Kansas City neighborhoods.