KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. Share your story idea with Charlie.
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UPDATE, 4:40 p.m. | The group of voters in Kansas City, Missouri, has submitted the thousands of signatures to the city clerk’s office.
Courtesy of Missouri Workers Power
EARLIER REPORT | A group of Kansas City, Missouri, voters announced Friday they plan to submit more than 4,500 signatures to the city clerk’s office in an attempt to secure a public vote on the city’s support for Kansas City Royals ballpark district in Crown Center.
Signatories of the petition hope to enact a new section of the City’s Code of Ordinances that would prohibit “city officers, agents, and employees from implementing, advancing, furthering, or fostering any plan to design or construct, with material support from the City, a stadium, arena, or similar venue, with a seating capacity of 2,500 or more, for use by a for-profit business, or ancillary development or certain necessary infrastructure support for that stadium, arena, or similar venue, except by ordinance submitted to and approved by the voters, and recognizing an accerlerated effective date, and including a severability clause.
LINK | Read the petition
In late April, the Royals, along with local and state officials and Hallmark Cards, announced a partnership to develop a new baseball stadium, a surrounding mixed-use development, and “reimagined” headquarters for the Royals and Hallmark at Crown Center.
During the announcement, the Royals announced they would cover roughly 66 percent of the project’s $3 billion cost. Additional funding would come from the Missouri Show-Me Sports Investment Act and from Kansas City, Missouri.
KSHB 41 News’ Charlie Keegan reported in early April that the KCMO City Council passed a financing framework to support the Royals ballpark plan that included up to $600 million from city. The city would use bonds and other financing sources to reach that figure.
Mayor Quinton Lucas said during the passage of the financing framework, and during the ballpark district announcement, that no new taxes would be required from Kansas City voters.
In a statement Friday, Lucas said that, “Kansas City will continue to operate respectfully, but swiftly to ensure it remains competitive in bringing new jobs and opportunities to our City.”
“As we have shared previously, we expect construction to start on the transformational new stadium and Crown Center redevelopment later this year or in the first quarter of next year,” Lucas said. “The combined projects will retain Hallmark’s corporate headquarters in the heart of our city and will welcome millions more visitors to the Greater Downtown and Midtown areas.”
Lucas continued, “While the Royals and Crown Center redevelopment, including necessary binding agreements, are already well underway, we will continue to look forward to engagement with all members of our community to ensure good-paying jobs are a key part of the project.”
Terrence Wise, a leader with Missouri Workers Power, one of the organizations that sponsored the petition, was opposed to the city’s April vote on the financing framework.
He remains opposed to the plan without residents getting a chance to vote on the proposal.
“No matter how hard I work, I can still see all the way to the back of my freezer,” Wise said in a press release Friday. “At the same time, I’m seeing our elected leaders make decisions about our city without ever asking us what we need.”
Wise continued that, “public funding should strengthen our communities,” and not “private fortunes.”
“We collected these signatures because Kansas City workers deserve a voice in this decision like we had in 2024 when voters rejected a new stadium deal,” Wise said.
If the signatures are verified, the petitioners say the City Council would then have 60 days to act to place the proposed ordinance on the ballot.
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kshb.com ’
