Interesting article from the Star:
https://local.newsbreak.com/jackson-cou ... b2_fromweb
"Emails obtained by the Star between the county and the team reveal what was said behind the scenes, and ultimately how the talks broke down.
Did Jackson County botch the deal? Whether Platt meant to imply that, his remarks re-enforced the narrative that Mayor Quinton Lucas and the teams had pushed since the fall: that White had bargained in bad faith and could have done more to secure public financing for a downtown baseball park and a renovated Arrowhead Stadium.
Some county legislators chastised the county’s top elected official and former Royals second baseman, coach and broadcaster for not being more accommodating to the teams. Eventually, they wrested the issue away from him and put what White considered unfinished business on the April ballot — only to see it fail miserably.
Is Frank White to blame for failed tax question?
In the final weeks leading up to the stadium sales tax vote, the teams cast White as a villain. They claimed he had slow-rolled the negotiations, setting them up for criticism for not having important agreements completed until well after advance voting had started.
“For two and a half years, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals attempted to directly engage in constructive conversation with County Executive Frank White about the future of our teams in Jackson County, and for two and a half years, we have been met repeatedly with barriers to progress,” the post began.
“If there’s concern the proposed leases are ‘late,’ then the County Executive has only himself to blame.”
White says what the teams call barriers were his attempts to negotiate a better deal for the taxpayers than the Royals and Chiefs were seeking.
He and others say the teams have only themselves to blame for the ballot measure’s failure. The Royals didn’t announce their site for a new ballpark until after the election was set. Neither team identified how much they expected local and state taxpayers to spend on their projects."
Yes one side wants to blame Frank White and IMO he does have some fault in what one may say a fiasco but a large majority of the blame falls on the Royals. Blame for rushing the vote without a more detailed plan of what the voter would get with a downtown stadium. Blame for not realizing the resistance to moving the team from TSC and how to overcome that sentiment. Blame for announcing a Crossroads site at the very last minute in place of the EV site which created more opposition. And the list can go on.
