Who for new KCK UG Mayor/CEO?

[moderne]

Who will be best to carry on Carol's legacy?

[staubio]

or NOT carry Carol's legacy, preferably. How about something for urban KCK, eh?

[dangerboy]

KCK has seen more downtown housing under Carol's tenure than under any of her predecessors. I know a lot of people trash Carol for everything in the Speedway area, but if you add up all of the small projects around downtown and Rosedale there is a significant amount redevelopment going on. It's not as big as KCMO, but the city is only a fourth of the size. If it wasn't for the development out west, KCK's property taxes would still be rising and its public services would still be declining.

As for the mayor's race, there are two leading candidates are...

Rick Rehorn, state legislator endorsed by Carol herself. http://www.rehornformayor.com

Joe Reardon, Unified Gov. Commissioner and son of the late Mayor Jack Reardon. http://www.reardonformayor.com/

[staubio]

I'll readily admit that I am not fully aware of everything that has happened that Carol has had her hand in. It just seems that the urban stuff was more organic and all of the energy was out at the speedway. Still, it is better that this new big time development went into KC and not into other Kansas 'burbs. Any political leader is always going to get too much credit and too much blame for everything.

[dangerboy]

She also has the legacy of being one of the primary proponents of the city/county consolidation, an event that helped the community set aside decades of corruption and turn around its death spiral. However she still has some bitter enemies who opposed the consolidation because it wiped out their little fiefdoms of patronage.

[ComandanteCero]

it does seem like the Speedway gets a lot of press and is much more high profile than anything going on in the core, but apparently Carol got an award from Community Housing Wyandotte County Inc. as the Urban Core Champion of 2004. They're even renaming it after her, so apparently she's been doing a pretty good job in the core, as to whether the work they've done is urban or not that's another question......

[phxcat]

as to whether the work they've done is urban or not that's another question......

That's the question- whoever becomes the next mayor needs to have the vision to make KCK the St. Paul of KC. They need to work to bring urban development to the inner core, and they need to look to the minority community to try to draw more business to town. The Speedway development is a great thing for the city, and that area nees to continue to grow- but it should be seen as the seed development that will allow the inner core to become what it should become. Get the backwards thinking people whose only goal for the city is survival ot of there, and get some KCK visionaries in! Where are you DMW?

[tat2kc]

She was the first mayor in a long long time that was not a part of the traditional political machine of Wyco. She's made some very important changes, and for the first time in a generation, population is increasing in Wyco. That is just amazing. Not, it was not all in the core, but she had to work with the hand she was dealt.

Its very easy to say she needed to focus all her energy on the core, but very hard to show how she could have done that given the environment she inherited. My fear is that the old line "good old boy" network will get back their power and the progress will halt and reverse. We can't let that happen.

[staubio]

Rick Rehorn, state legislator endorsed by Carol herself. http://www.rehornformayor.com

Joe Reardon, Unified Gov. Commissioner and son of the late Mayor Jack Reardon. http://www.reardonformayor.com/

There was a lengthy feature on Carol this morning on KCUR. They said (correctly or not, I'm not sure) that Carol has not formally endorsed either of the two candidates but has said positive words about Rehorn.

[dangerboy]

A few newspaper articles have said that Carol has endorsed Rehorn, however unofficial that may be.

Wasn't Jack Reardon part of the old political machine? That would make me hesitant to vote for his son, even if that's an unfair judgement.

[thedream]

I am for Reardon. not counting the speedway KCK has not see the light of day since his father was in office. Also if Reardon uncle is supporting him then great he just retired from the kansas house after 30 years. I might add he was one the few people in Topeka that could reach across the isle and settle matters to everyones cotent.

[KCK]

Where are you DMW?

I just wanted to see what other people thought about the whole issue.

[KCK]

Terry Harvey

[quote]
Terry L. Harvey refuses to set the bar low for Wyandotte County.

Making his second stab at the county's highest office in four years, Harvey is dreaming big on the county's behalf.

How big? Like some other candidates, he puts a premium on revitalizing the urban core, including downtown. But the downtown he envisions is one that would rival that other downtown across the state line. Harvey wants skyscrapers as “tall as you can get 'em. Major-city tall.â€

[Tosspot]

Well as long as he doesn't steal them from KCMO-- otherwise he'd just be another Ed Eilert.

[ComandanteCero]

does Mr. Harvey have a good track record? I mean anyone can have big dreams like that and say they'd want it to happen, but it takes someone with exceptional vision and ability to actually figure out what has to happen to make it happen, and then go through with it.

[Tosspot]

I just reread that, and really do not like the sound of it one bit. Of course we know Harvey, to fulfill his grandiose vision, will leach off the resources of KCMO, adding KCK to the list of parasitic suburbs.

And his hackneyed plan for towering skyscrapers begs one question: What will be on street level around all of those skyscrapers? Will it be an interesting and continuous streetscape of mixed uses, or will it all be parking lots? Something tells me it's the latter.

If Terry Harvey gave a shit, he would concentrate on building urbanity in KCK, not necessarily skyscrapers-- which do ZERO for the state of the urban environment if built out of context to the street, are cut off from the street, or are surrounded by surface chasms of parking.

I don't like this, not one bit.

[KCK]

I just reread that, and really do not like the sound of it one bit. Of course we know Harvey, to fulfill his grandiose vision, will leach off the resources of KCMO, adding KCK to the list of parasitic suburbs.

And his hackneyed plan for towering skyscrapers begs one question: What will be on street level around all of those skyscrapers? Will it be an interesting and continuous streetscape of mixed uses, or will it all be parking lots? Something tells me it's the latter.

If Terry Harvey gave a shit, he would concentrate on building urbanity in KCK, not necessarily skyscrapers-- which do ZERO for the state of the urban environment if built out of context to the street, are cut off from the street, or are surrounded by surface chasms of parking.

I don't like this, not one bit.

Where the hell did you get all that from. I have read the article several times and I didn't see anything about leeching off of KCMO, in fact it says in the article

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascit ... 848230.htm

To get the skyscrapers, Harvey said he would search worldwide, with incentives in hand, for corporations planning to relocate.

Did you read the article Tosspot? This guy isn't trying to be a leech, he just wants KCK to step up and rather than try to live in the shadow of KCMO, he wants it to make a name for itself. I am so sick of everyone thinking small, I want to think big. You, like so many others here, are obsessed with the whole "Nothing can be anywhere else but KCMO" type thinking. I hear enough of that from Devin.

Read the whole article, this guy isn't half as evil as all your assumptions suggest.

[staubio]

I don't think toss is being unrealistic. With a fistfull of incentives, I think they'd take whoever they could get. Obviously, KCK benefits whether they get a company from KCMO or from somewhere else in the world. If the mayor is comitted to both the city and the region, they'll do what is best for everyone and get outsiders to come in.

I also don't think there is a "everything in KCMO" conspiracy afoot. I love KCK. I would love to see it become a major urban city to complement KCMO. This feeling is what makes me agree with Tosspot. This guy is touting big dreams to make KCK look tough. He wants skyscrapers -- big old symbols of success, but who cares? The streetlife in KCK needs the help. There are TONS of areas that need infilling. Make KCK an awesome urban area first. Attract smaller companies that will renovate existing structures for office space. Attract investment from small businesses. Build residential. Keep the positive downward trend in crime going.

Skyscrapers don't mean much when surrounded by poverty and a crumbling, lifeless downtown.

[KCforumer]

It be nice to see Minnesota Av bustling with shops, restaurants, bars, and clubs. Maybe one 15-20 story signature-ish tower where the Huron Building was, and a few 5 or so story buildings to fill in some vacant lots...like the area across Minnesota Av from the new hotel and BPU office building, and that surface lot across Minnesota Av from the EPA HQ. Let's keep it realistic. It is KCK. No skyscrapers.

But if KCK were to convince a couple of KCMO companies to move there, isn't that for the better of the region. We have an unhealthy area and could make a sacrifice from another part of town to help. It sure would be a shot in the arm for KCK and the gain for KCK would outweigh the loss for KCMO when thinking regionally, don't ya think? Probably wouldn't work because KCK would probably get greedy like JoCo.

[GRID]

But if KCK were to convince a couple of KCMO companies to move there, isn't that for the better of the region.

I think it makes more sence for KCK to take companies from JoCo.