Old School Kansas City Mayors Kick-off EPIC Low Turnout April Primary

Not so fun fact . . .

THEY are billing this as the return of the Citizens Association. It is not.

Instead, it's a nicer conversation amongst friends so that the last remnants of Kansas City boomer political scene can continue to feel relevant amid what is the greatest wealth transfer in human history.

Don't get it twisted . . . This sounds like a fun time for people who remember when KCMO had a political scene that was more interesting than social media slap fights with nobodies, bots and professional shut-in keyboard warriors. 

Here's a peek . . .

As current Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas nears a run for a second term – the April primary is a little more than two months away – four of his predecessors gather for the first time in an extraordinary forum co-presented by the Citizens Association of Kansas City and Kansas City PBS. They take stock of our city today while looking back at what their administrations were able to achieve over the past three decades and what they’d hoped to accomplish but couldn’t.

They look, too, at why some perennially promised things are so hard to deliver. Street repairs. Upgraded water and sewer lines. Development on the East Side.

Joining the conversation are Emanuel Cleaver (mayor from 1991-99), Kay Barnes (1999-2007), Mark Funkhouser (2007-11), and Sly James (2011-19). Nick Haines of Kansas City PBS moderates. Audience members can get involved, submitting their own questions.

That last line is a bit of a problem for many denizens of this discourse. Nowadays, it's much easier and far more satisfying to write something nasty on the Internets than to craft a thoughtful question designed intrigue an audience and/or slightly embarrass your neighbors/mortal enemies.  

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

Hindsight, Insight: Four Former Mayors Appraise KC

Four former Kansas City mayors gather for the first time in an extraordinary forum co-presented by the Citizens Association of Kansas City and Kansas City PBS. They take stock of our city today while looking back at what their administrations were able to achieve, what they'd hoped to accomplish but couldn't, and why some perennially promised things are so hard to deliver.