Is Cauthen for real or just more hot air?
Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2003 12:27 am
I realize city manager Wayne Cauthen has only been here 6 months, but it seems he gets his name in the paper for doing literally nothing. He just talks about things like landing a hub at KCI, how he lives downtown, and building an arena and a downtown stadium and gets press for it. All I'm really hearing is talk....where are the plans? Oh wait, his first plan is to pass a $300 million sales tax for basic infrastructure (streets and pavement). I may be stupid, but shouldn't basic infrastructure be paid for by existing taxes? When people need to pay an extra $300 million tax for street maintanence and repair...some heads need to role at city hall.
Posted on Tue, Oct. 28, 2003
DEVELOPMENT: Cauthen sees pieces falling in place downtown
By KEVIN COLLISON
Columnist
City Manager Wayne Cauthen believes prospects for a new downtown arena at 14th Street and Grand Boulevard depend on how successful Kansas City is revitalizing the nearby South Loop.
Stabilizing downtown and landing a couple of key office tenants are the keys in building momentum for an arena, Cauthen said in a recent interview about his first six months on the job.
"We need to say, `This is happening and this is happening and now this (arena) is going to happen,' " Cauthen said.
It is an open secret that the major tenants being pursued for downtown are H&R Block and Waddell & Reed. The city, with the help of DST Realty, would like to have a new headquarters for H&R Block as the anchor of an entertainment district in the South Loop. Developer Larry Bridges is trying to bring Waddell & Reed to the nearby One Kansas City Place office tower.
In the meantime, the Cordish Co., a big Baltimore-based developer, has a $500,000 city contract to plan the entertainment district and line up prospective tenants.
Right now, the South Loop is the poster child of downtown blight.
"Having major companies commit to downtown would be a significant step in the right direction," Cauthen said. "That would go ahead and let the Cordish group start outlining what that (entertainment district) is going to be. The third step would be looking at how that arena would be financed."
Cauthen said he thinks a new arena would work without a major sports franchise, but it should be designed to accommodate that possibility down the road.
"Once you build it, the probability of a franchise coming is greater," he said. "We have to make certain the venue has the standards to meet NHL or NBA requirements."
How confident is Cauthen that the city will be able to land H&R Block, which is expected to decide from among Missouri-side and Kansas-side options this fall?
"I think we have a real good chance," he said. "The problem is the waiting game. The more we wait for a decision, the less momentum we get."
Cauthen, 48, came to Kansas City after 10 years as an executive in Denver government, based his optimism on his feeling the planets finally are aligning downtown.
"I just think that since I've been here, everybody is talking the same about how downtown needs to be addressed," he said. "People are sensing it has to happen. The fact I live downtown and actually see it -- I can see things occurring.
"I've attended a few First Fridays (the monthly Crossroads district art event), and I see people wanting to be downtown. The situation is they've got to have an excuse to do it more frequently."
That firsthand experience living downtown also shocked Cauthen about how far Kansas City has allowed its basic infrastructure -- streets, sidewalks, water lines and such -- to deteriorate. Not just downtown, but in many other areas, as well. That is why Cauthen is pushing for a $300 million bond issue to be put before city voters next spring.
"The situation here in Kansas City didn't happen overnight," he said. "There's been neglect for at least 20 or 30 years of the basic infrastructure. I can't really put a hand print on what happened. I just know it happened. It'll be my job to rectify it."
Cauthen also has picked up on the complaint that City Hall, despite a propensity to offer tax breaks, is a tough place for developers to do business. He has gotten a sneak peek at an upcoming report by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce that he said is very critical of the city's performance in administering the development process.
"The mind-set needs to be changed that the developer is the enemy," he said. "The developer is providing an opportunity for the city to prosper. There are requirements the developer has to follow and we need to be consistent about telling developers what the requirements are. That's some of the knock people have. They go to one department and have it approved, and the next person says no."
For Cauthen, that means the buck will stop in his office.
"I don't want decisions made at a department level when they should be decisions that I need to broker....That's going to be a fundamental change many department heads are going to have to adjust to."
The city interacts with developers primarily through the Economic Development Corp., a city-supported outside agency, and the City Planning and Development Department. Here is Cauthen's take on both:
The EDC may be getting too far out in front of the city when it comes to pursuing development deals.
"A project that's going to happen needs to be presented an earlier stage so the city and EDC can walk along together," Cauthen said.
A recent critical audit of how the agency has managed the tax-increment financing program indicates a need for much better financial controls.
"I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but some of the things the auditor brought up were serious," he said.
As to whether the EDC should be brought within the fold of City Hall, Cauthen said he was more comfortable with Denver's approach, which had all economic development services within city government. But, he added, "I don't want to come in my first year and try to deal with power plays. I want to make sure agencies are performing at maximum level."
Planning Director Vicki Noteis, who has not always been a favorite with developers, will continue her job in Cauthen's administration, but she will not be as close as she was to former City Manager Bob Collins.
"Vicki is one of those people I think still adds value," Cauthen said. "The planning department has the ability to shape the city. But I would tell you this, decisions that were made at the planning department level will be elevated to the city manager level when it comes to development."
Cauthen said that the chamber's upcoming review of development did give the planning department a better grade than other city departments, "but there's room for improvement."
A quick tour of the rest of the urban core of Kansas City constantly comes back to the topic of improving mass transit. Denver built a light-rail system while Cauthen was an official there, but Cauthen said he think the planned bus rapid-transit line can achieve similar goals here.
"Our biggest problem is connecting the dots and making certain we've got flow," he said. "That has been our Achilles heel in the past.
"I think the rapid bus is going to be something that heads us in the right direction. It will take us from the river to the Plaza. That will show the connectivity we really need to have."
To reach Kevin Collison, development reporter, call (816) 234-4289 or send e-mail to kcollison@kcstar.com.
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