This Week at City Hall March 21-25

Finance, Governance, and Public Safety

Ordinance #220099, sponsored by Councilmember Ellington, seeks to create the Eastside Neighborhoods Organization (ENO). This ordinance was held.

Ordinance #220197 – sets water rate, increase on water rate 5%,

Ordinance #220198 – sets sewer rate, increase in sewer rate will be 6%

Ordinance #220199 – This ordinance outlined final spending amounts for the upcoming 2022-2023 budget. There were three amendments to the ordinance. The first, A, is considered administrative. These are correction that were found after the proposed budget was submitted. Amendment B includes changes submitted by council or the City Manager. In this amendment, UNESCO was recommended to by funded by the NTDF (Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund) and the ReBuild KC Grant was allocated $5 million additional dollars to bring the total amout in that fund to $15 million. Amendment C, which was the amendment that most people showed up for, was the proposal by Councilmember Shields. This amendment sought to place oversight of the $33 million community policing fund in the hands of council. It also would have brought the police budget back to the minimum required by the state. There was a great deal of testimony, from the gallery, via Zoom, and from council members. The vote to adopt this amendment failed by a vote of 3-3.

Legislative Session

The 2022-2023 budget was passed by a vote of 12-1, with Councilmember Ellington being the only council person to vote no. The budget by the numbers:

• $1.9 billion total
• $269 million for the police—this includes a hotly contested $33 million fund that will be used to hire 911 operators, at least 88 new officers, increase salaries, and open two new community action network (CAN) centers at East and Metro patrol stations
• An additional $100,000 to Parks and Recreation for pool operations
• An additional $100,000 to the KC Film Commission and $50,000 to ArtsKC

The Office of Environmental Quality will remain in the City Manager’s Office. The proposed budget had this office moving to the Neighborhoods Department.

In case you missed it:

KCPD Police Chief Rick Smith officially announced his retirement and Deputy Chief Joe Mabin, a 22-year veteran of the force.

Upcoming this week:

Click links below for docket information. You can join some of these meetings via zoom (information provided on docket) or view on Channel 2, which can be found on the City’s YouTube page.

Transportation, Infrastructure and Operations Committee – Wednesday, March 30 @ 9:00am

Finance, Governance, and Public Safety – Wednesday, March 30 @ 10:30am

20272 RESOLUTION – Directing the City Manager, in collaboration with the City’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (“LGBTQ”) Commission, to develop a plan that addresses the housing and shelter concerns, needs and options for persons who are houseless and LGBTQ in Kansas City, with the goal of promoting equality for such persons and all unhoused persons in Kansas City.

220273 RESOLUTION – Directing the City Manager to study the feasibility of establishing hygiene facilities in the City for people experiencing homelessness and report back to the Council in 60 days.

Ordinance #220276 – Amending Chapter 50, Code of Ordinances, by repealing Section 50-107, Tenting without consent of landowner, and Section 50-161, Loitering, and enacting in lieu thereof new sections of like number and subject matter, which will limit to private property the prohibition on tenting without consent of landowner, and, for a loitering in traffic violation, require that a person willfully obstruct, impede, interfere with, hinder or delay the reasonable movement of vehicular or pedestrian traffic, and prevent a person from being guilty of loitering unless such person has been given a reasonable opportunity to comply with an order from law enforcement to move on or disperse, after receiving actual notice or where notice was directed to them and was reasonably likely to come to such person’s attention.

Ordinance #220099 — Ordinance Authorizing the creation of the Eastside Neighborhoods Organization; directing the City Manager to file Articles of Incorporation of a Nonprofit Corporation for said Organization with the Missouri Secretary of State; and Organization shall be composed of thirteen members.

Neighborhood Planning and Development – Wednesday, March 30 @ 1:30pm

Special Committee of Housing Policy – Wednesday, March 30 @ 3:00pm

City Council Legislative Session – Thursday, March 31 @ 3:00pm (docket not available at time of publication)