{"id":2376988,"date":"2026-04-17T03:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2376988"},"modified":"2026-04-17T03:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:29:12","slug":"a-royals-stadium-ordinance-just-steamrolled-through-city-government-the-public-has-a-few-small-critiques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/a-royals-stadium-ordinance-just-steamrolled-through-city-government-the-public-has-a-few-small-critiques\/","title":{"rendered":"A Royals stadium ordinance just steamrolled through city government. The public has a few small critiques."},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Missouri Workers Center brings an anti-stadium protest to the city council meeting \/\/ Photo by Kylie Volavongsa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At the beginning of Kansas City\u2019s April 26 city council meeting, Pastor David McDaniel\u2019s opening prayer seemed to foreshadow a foregone yet historic decision in the minutes to come.<\/p>\n

He called for attendees to \u201cembrace curiosity\u201d rather than oppose the historic decision. Ultimately, this would be to the dismay of a near majority of the meeting\u2019s audience. \"Screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

In a continued effort to bring a Kansas City Royals ballpark downtown, the city council passed Ordinance 260339<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It authorizes the council and City Manager Mario Vasquez to begin negotiations with Royals ownership on a proposed stadium in Washington Square Park, near Crown Center and Union Station. Meanwhile, the City will arrange appropriations for a $600 million bill, which will total $1.9 billion in tandem with Royals ownership and the State of Missouri\u2019s Show-Me Sports Investment Act\u2014should the proposal qualify for the latter.<\/p>\n

According to a press release from Mayor Quinton Lucas\u2019 office, Kansas City\u2019s contribution is structured to draw \u201cfrom revenues generated at and around the stadium, not from the general fund.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Livestream screenshot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Lucas\u00a0introduced the ordinance one week ago at the April 9 city council meeting.<\/p>\n

Since then, it cleared a unanimous vote on April 14 by the City\u2019s Governance and Public Safety Committee and Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners (the latter would own the lease of the proposed stadium\u2019s property).<\/p>\n

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Organizer Terrance Wise speaks after the stadium negotiation ordinance passes \/\/ Photo by Kylie Volavongsa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While there were efforts in 2024 to build a Royals stadium in the nearby Crossroads, public voters shut that vote down with a resounding 16-point margin.<\/p>\n

This time around, the city council meeting seemed to proceed with confidence that this 2026 proposal would succeed. Which, also, is to say that their priorities were already beyond constituent input.<\/p>\n

Before the vote on the ordinance, the council held a decision for the immediate adoption of another ordinance proposed by 1st District\u00a0<\/strong>council member Nathan Willett. This<\/em> called to relocate Washington Square Park\u2019s existing Korean War veterans memorial while prioritizing its visibility. Additionally, before the real vote, a passed amendment to the stadium ordinance itself also guaranteed that further developments would go to city council for approval. This had the support of council member Johnathan Duncan, who previously opposed the Washington Square Park proposal.<\/p>\n

Less salient to the council were the audience\u2019s many protestors. Supporters and representatives of the Missouri Workers Center filled the seats with red shirts and paper signs that displayed the overwhelming percentage of previous Jackson County district votes against a 3\/8th sales tax extension as part of the 2024 proposal for a downtown Royals stadium in the Crossroads.<\/p>\n

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Seats emptied after a large attendance of protestors \/\/ Photo by Kylie Volavongsa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Unlike the 2024 public vote, this year\u2019s was limited to the city government, and the result was almost unanimous. There were only two exceptions: a \u2018No\u2019 from Willett, while 1st district council member-at-large Crispin Rea presently abstained. All that\u2019s left for the proposal is for the City Council and Royals to agree on final arrangements.<\/p>\n

In the crowd: a laugh, shaking heads, and complaints that rose to a roar just outside of the chamber. Rather than a stadium, they believed, the City should put more funds towards improvements to public transportation, roads, and affordable housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, they seem focused on billionaires\u2019 playgrounds and economic development over our people, and that ain\u2019t right,\u201d says organizer Terrance Wise. \u201cIf you leave this space, you have the right to be angry. You have the right to be frustrated. But you don\u2019t have the right to give up and quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wise declared another action to take place on May 1, on the grounds of Washington Square Park.<\/p>\n

Missouri House candidate Hartzell Gray also showed in support of the Missouri Workers Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a country with the greatest disparity of wealth in human history, and a city that is corrupt\u2014a city hall that is incestuous and corrupt\u2014you mean to tell me that you\u2019re going to have the leverage to give out a $600 million bailout as we\u2019ve got bus fares that are now being reinstated and routes cancelled?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to give these billionaire clowns $600 million. Where\u2019s our bailout? Where\u2019s the working class bailout? Where\u2019s the urgency? It\u2019s a damn shame.\u201d\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n