Folks…he’s running.
Recently, Mayor Quinton Lucas announced he will be running for re-election in 2023.
He’s racked up an impressive $370,000 in cash on hand so far for that effort.
And despite what you might read in the comment section, Lucas is extremely popular. He is extremely popular even with the a unique ability to an equal opportunity pain to every highly involved group in the city but not enough to cause an open revolt. I’d argue that despite the political skirmishes among him and the Highly Engaged groups on the issues, he has grown his popularity among the larger voting public.
So, it makes sense that barring a complete political implosion, a scandal, or a comet heading toward the earth, Lucas will more than likely win re-election…fairly easily.
But what does he need to do with his next year or so left in this term?
And what is his vision for his next term?
Obviously, there is plenty to be done. Some of it is urgent as we continue to deal with the worst COVID surge since the beginning of the pandemic.
But I’m going to propose 3 buckets, two of which Lucas has focused on in the past and made priorities, and a few specific focuses underneath those big buckets.
Basic Services
Hiring City Manager Brian Platt was controversial in some circles but a renewed emphasis on basic services has been a theme during his short time in Kansas City. Platt has revamped snow plow operations, managed the budget during COVID’s upheaval, and improved street paving and pothole programs.
Lucas has had a hand in these changes since a “return to good basic services” was a theme of his mayoral campaign.
The mayor has a responsibility to continue on this path and to get better. Sidewalks must be improved throughout the city. He must make the most of his limited power in shaping policing and the police department’s budget. And, with his city manager and council, find innovative ways to improve services like water, sewer, and neighborhood improvements without dramatically raising rates and taxes.
I argue that effective basic services will not only keep residents in Kansas City but actually grow our population and our city’s opportunities.
Lucas and his colleagues have an opportunity to repair the city’s foundation.
Policy
A lot of Lucas’ critics point to the fact that he is ambitious. And to say he isn’t ambitious would be a lie. But at his core, he believes in government and making incremental improvements much to the dismay of the activist community and frankly me sometimes.
I’ll never forget, though, watching Channel 2 and his highly accomplished chief legal counsel Jane Brown was presenting changes to the city code to bring it in alignment with state statute. It was painstakingly detailed, tedious, in the weeds, and probably necessary clean-up work.
It wasn’t work you would associate with an ambitious politician “more focused on comms” and his future.
Lucas needs to continue to make this a focus of his and take on more leadership in this area as he has relied heavily on his council colleagues on some issues.
Some policy areas that need continual work and focus include: housing policy, incentive policy to ensure our school districts are better funded and development is aligned with city goals, and labor policy and protections for those not in unions…yet.
Regional leadership
The running joke is that the Kansas City region should create its own state or separate political entity from Missouri and Kansas. While that is a pipe dream, the values embedded in that jokes represent an infinite list of opportunities to collaborate with our regional partners and make live better for everyone.
Lucas and Kansas City has noted how much the city contributes to regional challenges from owning and operating the new airport terminal to houseless issues to even hosting regional law enforcement resources.
Lucas, hopefully with Mike Kelly as Johnson County’s presiding county commissioner, can and should become a more powerful and focused regional leader.
The three areas I think he and Kansas City can lead and convene are:
Climate Change—Climate Change and the myriad of challenges and opportunities that go along with it represent a regional problem. Lucas, his future fellow city council people, city manager Brian Platt, and the city as a whole should be reaching across state line and to our fellow Missouri municipalities to create regional resources, funding, and policy to make critical headway on mitigating climate change.
This shouldn’t just be a punitive and hippie environmental approach but an leveraged an opportunity for jobs and economic development. The problem needs a lot of people, ideas, and frankly stuff to fix.
It’s a big problem but a huge chance to dramatically alter the region for the better.
Housing and Transportation—The region is interconnected. There is no doubt about that. Some of us including my family is a “bistate household” with jobs, daycare, and other critical needs crisscrossing state line.
The availability of housing, affordable housing, and public transportation are no different.
Lucas, with a lot of pressure from interest groups and activists, has made housing and transportation a city focus with zero-fare transit, affordable housing requirements for projects seeking incentives, increased housing funding, and with a ton of help from councilwoman Ryana Parks-Shaw more planning and strategies to support the houseless population.
As always there is still more work to done. But Lucas can expand that focus to include our region. From helping RideKC pass a region-wide, more equitable tax for transportation to collaborating on housing policies and funding, there are several places where Lucas can make the region more interconnected and support Kansas City residents at the same time.
Public Banks and Public Financing—Lastly, all of this takes money.
For a long time, we’ve relied on taxation policies, incentives, and government funding to support initiatives and project above and beyond what are considered basic governmental services.
There needs to be a reimagining on how to fund these priorities.
I’ve often proposed a public bank that can leverage the city’s resources in a way that can finance or give grants with terms that make many of these goals possible rather than relying primarily on the private sector and federal cash to make things happen.
I have been trying to figure out how to push this idea but by the time I’m off work and get my kid to bed…I’m really tired. No excuse but still we need some of our leaders to explore this new option that has been used in North Dakota and is starting up in California.
The old financing tools are looking more and more like shoving a square peg in a round hole.
And Lucas can make this idea and even more powerful if it includes regional partners who can benefit from it and help to fund affordable housing, infrastructure improvements, and many other important local and regional needs.
It’s been refreshing despite Lucas’ failures or shortcomings that the city and his fellow council people have been more focused on the fundamentals of good governance and government rather than buildings, projects, or stuff.
Those things need people and jobs first and foremost and improving the basics helps to get us there.
A renewed focus in the next year and potentially his second term on basic services and policy will cement his legacy in shifting more permanently the city and the region’s course in several areas even if it’s ever so slightly.
But the biggest opportunity is to build on the growing regional alignment and its pressing needs.
More and better regional collaboration and sharing will be of tremendous benefit to everyday Kansas Citians.
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