Finance
It’s budget time at City Hall. If you’ve been following the process in the newspaper, you know that much of the discussion has been about cuts. But while it’s true my fellow members of the City Council and I are going to have to make some difficult choices, I prefer to look at the situation as a tremendous opportunity. The budget is the single most powerful tool we have to accomplish our priorities as elected officials.

I campaigned on the idea of being smart with the money. The best way to do that, from my perspective, is to have a budget that reflects the reality of the City’s financial obligations while paying for the services that are most important to Kansas Citians. In other words, it’s not about making cuts. It’s about spending wisely on the stuff that’ll have the most impact. It’s about budgeting for results.

So yes, there are going to be cuts this year. But there ought to also be increases – more money for streets, codes, cops and kids. More money for the things that will make Kansas City the community of choice for the entire region.

Council
As I work with my fellow members of the City Council through the budget process, I remain ever mindful of the vision statement we came up with at our retreat last August. We agreed that we want to work together to make Kansas City “a thriving and diverse city where people choose to live, work and play,” with communities that are “safe, well-maintained and environmentally responsible,” where “people, neighborhoods, businesses, the arts and education prosper,” and where “leadership inspires confidence and promotes unity.”

Again, the budget is the most powerful tool we have to achieve this vision. That’s why I’ve opened up the budget process more than it’s been in the past. I want my colleagues to have a chance to dig into the numbers and see for themselves where we can find ways to fund the services and programs that matter most.

And they’ve really stepped up – especially Deb Hermann and Jan Marcason, who have been working closely together and with City staff to find ways to bring the budget in balance. That’s exactly the kind of result I wanted when I named them chairwoman and vice chairwoman of the Finance and Audit Committee.

Neighborhoods
There’s a reason why I want more money to go toward codes enforcement. More than anything, folks want to live in neighborhoods that are clean and safe. When it comes to urban neighborhoods, cleanliness and safety go hand in hand. I’m a firm believer in the “broken windows theory.” That’s the notion that even just one run-down property can bring down an entire block because it sends a message that codes violations are tolerated. And if code violations are tolerated, the reasoning goes, other illegal behavior will be tolerated, as well. And pretty soon criminals start hanging around.

Little things add up. So if we can keep on top of the small stuff, we’ll make a lot of progress on the bigger challenge of reducing crime.

Crime
Of course, we’re going to need to do a lot more than crack down on code violations in order to cut crime. We need more cops on the street. In fact, we’ve promised citizens that we would put them there.

In 2001, when voters approved a public safety sales tax, they were promised that the City would add 20 new cops each year. And the mayor and City Council passed a resolution affirming this promise. However, in his first budget proposal, the city manager chose not to fund the 20 additional officers. I believe it is imperative that we not break this promise.

Housing
The national mortgage crisis and the foreclosures it’s created are affecting our neighborhoods through the empty houses they leave behind. Housing Committee Chairwoman Cindy Circo is working hard to bring together local, state and federal officials in hopes of mitigating the impact on both homeowners and our neighborhoods.

Transit
I was disappointed to learn that a regional light rail bill will not be introduced in the Kansas legislature this year. On the other hand, there are encouraging developments on the Missouri side. Missouri Rep. Jason Holsman convened a meeting this week to explore the possibility of a Missouri-side system that would involve Jackson, Clay and Platte counties. It’s not as extensive as a true regional system, but I think the idea has potential. Rep. Holsman understands the need for a regional system and, like me, wants to have a clear picture of how the starter line being discussed will lead to a regional system. I thank him for his interest and believe he will be an important voice as we move this forward.

Downtown
This is a big week for Downtown’s renaissance.  The Kansas City Power & Light District will stage its first concert on the Live! Stage with a free show by acoustic rocker Pat McGee. I can’t say much about it yet, but I hear they’re going to be making a huge announcement. I can say there will be a laser light show and fireworks – a suitably festive beginning for what will be many, many years of exciting nightlife in the new entertainment district. 

Sewers
The Water Services Utility Funding Task Force that I appointed continues to meet every other week to look at options for funding the $3 billion sewer project. Last week, participants brainstormed about funding strategies in small groups. They weighed the pros and cons of each, and came up with a few more innovative ideas for how to pay for the improvements the city needs to make. They will meet again on Wednesday, March 5th, at 6 p.m. at the Doolin Education Center at 2000 NE 46th St. to hear from the task force members and consultants and to offer their suggestions about the sewer project.

Also, members of the City Council went to Portland recently to look at ways that city tackled a similar sewer replacement project using “green solutions.” They came back with some valuable knowledge. One of the most important lessons learned was the need for City departments to work cooperatively to incorporate green solutions into all aspects of city planning and development. Portland has been addressing its sewer infrastructure for the past 20 years. Kansas City will benefit from Portland's experience as we go forward with the Combined Sewer Overflow plan that will be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency this summer.

Citizen Satisfaction
The Kansas City Star recently ran a story called “Happy Town,” in which they compared the happiness indices – basically, citizen satisfaction data – of a number of cities in the metro area. Kansas City was conspicuously absent from that list.  But later, the Star shared the info on their blog.  This update revealed that Kansas City ranks quite low. 

We need to improve Kansas City’s rankings – and we are, most notably with the efforts we are making around the budget.  Progress is already being made.  The City Auditor will soon release his annual survey report, and I expect that it will show an increase in satisfaction with the way the City communicates with residents because we have made great efforts in the last year to engage folks with town hall meetings and public forums.

Education
Kansas City School Board President David Smith has asked me to serve on a task force to consider ideas about how to reform our education system. I am happy to serve, and I’m sure we’ll have productive meetings. However, I continue to push to for a citywide education summit. Given the recent developments in the school district, and current rise in interest in looking at new forms of governance, I believe that the need for such a summit is more urgent than ever. Over the years, there’ve been many blue ribbon task forces created, but the problems persist. It seems to me that we ought to now try the opposite approach. We ought to develop our reform ideas from the bottom up, so to speak, by engaging the people for whom the school system serves.

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Sincerely,