What Should Kansas City Metro Learn From Lee Summit Days Downfall?!?

More than anything . . . The story of a longtime suburban fair cancelled speaks to our current public safety predicament throughout the Kansas City metro. 

Here's one of the smarter things we heard on the topic from KCUR Senior News Analyst Brian Ellison: 

"Don't you think that part of the problem is not just the fear, the public safety risk that's perceived, but it's the way it attacks sort of the self-image that a suburban community like Lee's Summit has of itself.

"Same thing would be true in a lot of Johnson County communities. A lot of the Northland.

"It's not that there isn't crime in those places or that there aren't public disturbances, but they have this image of themselves that 'this isn't the kind of place where this happens' and when it has now happened so publicly and prominently, they feel like they have to respond. And here community leaders said, 'we're just not going to do it.' " 

Additionally . . .

A recent KCMC editorial offers more insight and encourages local leaders not to back away from community gatherings but rather to come together and devise better ways to ensure safety . . . 

"We should also recognize the larger costs when thoughtless behavior drives away the events that connect our communities. This isn't just a Lee's Summit story, communities everywhere are facing similar challenges. We need more opportunities to come together, not fewer."

Take a look via www.TonysKansasCity.com embed . . .