PANEL OF RECOMMENDED APPOINTEES IGNORED BY KC MAYOR
Presiding commissioners for Platte and Clay counties say their residents are not being properly represented on the board of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) due to appointment decisions made by the mayor of Kansas City.
As a result, the county commissioners in each county are urging their county’s voters to “consider whether or not to support this taxation without legitimate representation” on the Nov. 7 ballot question that proposes to continue the sales supporting the bus system.
According to the Platte County Board of Elections, there are 31,604 active voters in Platte County who are residents of Kansas City and are therefore eligible to vote in the upcoming Kansas City election.
The KCATA’s public bus system is supported by a 3/8th cent sales tax within the city limits of Kansas City.
Last week, Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker and Clay County Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte issued a joint letter outlining their concerns.
The commissioners say Clay and Platte are authorized to each have one set on the KCATA Board of Commissioners. Clay and Platte County Commissions each submitted a panel of three persons to the mayor of Kansas City, who, Nolte and Fricker say, according to state statute shall appoint, with the approval of his city council, one person from each county’s list.
However, the commissioners say Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has instead ignored recommendations from both counties and has seated commissioners of his choosing.
In fact, according to Nolte and Fricker, one of the appointments made by the mayor is a city employee, which “raises concerns about the independence of the KCATA board and the undue influence of the Kansas City mayor.”
Nolte and Fricker says as a result of the mayor’s actions, their counties do not have proper representation on the board.
“And more importantly, by not following the lawful procedure under state statute, Clay and Platte County citizens are being taxed without proper representation as required by law,” the letter from the commissioners states.
The commissioners go on to say that “without proper representation, will Northland taxpayers get their fair share of tax revenue and KCATA services?”
Kansas City citizens, including those residents of Kansas City who reside within Clay and Platte counties, will be asked to vote on question No. 1 on the Nov. 7 ballot to approve continuation of the 3/8 cent sales tax for the bus service. The projected $421 million raised over 10 years will go to the KCATA, which is governed by a 10-member board of commissioners who are tasked with spending those funds on area transportation needs, including buses.
“The KCATA is a pretty big dog. They have a lot of power,” Fricker told The Landmark this week.
Fricker said the Platte County Commission has in the past recommended a panel of three appointees and the Kansas City mayor never responded, selecting someone of his own choosing instead of a name from the panel submitted by the county.
The Landmark reached out to the Kansas City mayor’s office last Friday for comment on the situation but has not received a response as of deadline.
See the legal notices section of this edition of The Landmark for the ballot question to be presented at the Nov. 7 election by the City of Kansas City. There is also a parks system vacant property question on the Kansas City ballot that day.