EXCLUSIVE: Mayor Q Answers TKC On Public Safety Task Force Small Biz Crackdown

A worthwhile exchange with Mayor Q offered a glimpse at our bloggy frustration with this week's news cycle and then a thoughtful reply from the city hall leader . . . 

Proving his critics wrong, we want to THANK MAYOR Q for his willingness to answer a basement-dwelling blogger.  

The exchange starts with this note from Mayor Q: 

"Two years ago today, I was awakened by a call of a mass shooting at a business licensed to conduct auto repairs, but that ran an after-hours nightclub, selling alcohol at all hours and receiving more than 40 calls to 911 and numerous neighborhood complaints over years.  The business was not closed by the City until after nine people were shot and three killed at the establishment during an after-hours party.  

"I went to the scene that day along with our police chief. Talked to victims’ families. I believe we owed them better. 

"The City will not tolerate the same behavior again.  The City reviews businesses based only on complaints, repeated Code of Ordinances violations, and numerous police calls for service on property.  The City supports all businesses that follow the laws.  Those rare businesses that break laws and harm Kansas Citians in the process will be held accountable. 

"Law enforcement and prosecutors will charge assailants and the state will lock them up, but we’ll make sure we listen to our community, our responding officers, our neighbors, and you about how we can address chronic nuisances from owner negligence as based on formal reports.  We owe it to all in our community.
  
"My condolences still to the families of Jasity Strong, Camden Brown, and Nikko Manning."

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AND HERE'S OUR TKC CRITICISM & RESPONSE . . . 

"Vaguely, it seems to me you're taking the side of the "activists" against the BP on Prospect and THIS IS A GARBAGE TAKE. If you are referring to the situation on Prospect, what you're doing is joining a mob that has consistently advocated against almost every immigrant small biz on the East side and the undercurrent is outright HATRED and bias coming from a very smallish section of Black community activists. Again, if we're talking about BP on Prospect, they've called the police and had no help. Instead, they're getting blamed for a shooting and string of violence that had nothing to do with them. Actually, that kind of applies to so many other business on the East side of Troost as well. The message here is that the politically connected & racially-charged mob wins and, tragically, the East side of KCMO remains an exceptionally unfriendly place for local merchant investment."

Again . . .

THANKS TO MAYOR Q FOR THIS REPLY . . . 

"Tony's Kansas City -- I'm defending the work and explaining the existence of the Public Safety Task Force, which as my example shows, has no basis in bias against business owners of any background and has been applied to owners of varying backgrounds. It is based on the reports received and the official actions taken, no matter the part of the city. 

"The group looks to code violations against the business itself, which are typically numerous, neighborhood complaints, and 911 activity. As in the example above, officers repeatedly responded to calls relating to incidents at an unlicensed club. The City heard complaints about it, and we remained too friendly, in my opinion, to a business violating the law repeatedly. The shooter was primarily responsible at the after-hours night club, but the auto shop/unlicensed club flouted rules, brought hundreds together without Fire inspection, security, or following the rules every other business in this city follows." 

"In the 35/Prospect situation, the City task force has visited with business owners, brings formal information such as code concerns, and works to come to a good solution, as early indications suggest are occurring here. For what it's worth as well, the work extends outside of east Kansas City. I hear from business owners regularly, including recently Manny's on Southwest Blvd., who share concerns about neighboring businesses that follow no rules, don't follow codes, and harbor lots of criminal activity, which impacts their neighbors. We should listen to their concerns and provide a fair investigation rather than continuing to ignore them at our community's peril."

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

Mayor Quinton Lucas: "Why do we investigate businesses that violate our laws repeatedly?"