Kansas City Council Business Session: November 10, 2021
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Kansas City Council Business Session: November 10, 2021
The Kansas City Council held a business session on November 10, 2021, addressing transit service challenges, climate action planning, UNESCO Creative City of Music updates, and procedural matters regarding an upcoming bond election and a staff position classification.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of minutes from a previous business session was moved, seconded, and passed unanimously by voice vote.
Discussion Items
KCATA Update on Service Levels and Staffing
Dick Gerald (KCATA) and David Johnson (Vice President of Planning and Strategy) presented on transit service reductions. They reported that bus service is currently at approximately 75% of pre-COVID levels due to staffing shortages, with an attrition rate exceeding training capacity. A 20-person training class is underway, but full restoration is not expected until April 2022. Gerald noted that the authority received approximately $109 million in federal coronavirus relief funds (CARES, CRRSAA, ARP) to be used over 3–5 years. Council members Robinson, Ellington, Fowler, Park-Shaw, and others expressed concern about reduced routes on the east side (e.g., Prospect Local service) and questioned the lack of direct correlation between infrastructure funding and service restoration. Gerald emphasized that the staffing shortage, not funding, is the primary barrier. Councilman Ellington requested itemized restoration timelines, which he said were not honored.
Climate Action KC and City Climate Plan Update
Mayor Mike Kelly (Roeland Park) and Tom Jacobs (MARC) presented the regional Climate Action KC plan, which aims for net-zero emissions by 2050 through strategies in energy efficiency, renewable energy, transportation, waste management, and carbon sequestration. They noted that a third of regional emissions come from transportation and over 60% from building energy use. Laura Ish (Sustainability Manager) updated on the city’s local climate plan, which targets climate neutrality by 2040 community-wide and 2030 for municipal operations. She reported a 24% reduction in emissions since 2005, with transportation now the largest source. The city is in the "Prioritize and Align" phase, with draft plan expected early 2022. Council members asked no questions but thanked presenters.
UNESCO Creative City of Music Update
Anita Dixon Brown and a professor (unnamed) presented on Kansas City’s status as the only UNESCO Creative City of Music in the United States. They highlighted achievements over the past four years, including participation in global meetings, Voyage of the Drum project with 17 cities, and partnerships for equitable tourism. They requested continued council support for the next four years. Councilman Barnes commended their work. No questions from other members.
Discussion of February Bond Election Date
Mayor Lucas shared a letter from the Kansas City Election Board requesting to move the $750 million water bond election from February 2022 to April 2022, citing a projected $600,000 cost for a low-turnout (6%) election. Finance Director Tammy Queen explained that the water department preferred February to start projects earlier in the construction season, but bond anticipation notes could allow April passage. Councilman Park-Shaw raised concerns about potential additional costs (up to $8 million over 20 years) if projects were delayed. Mayor Lucas indicated he would introduce a floor ordinance to move the election to April, pending further analysis from the finance department.
Office of Citizen Engagement Position Classification
Councilman Ellington introduced a technical fix to change the classification of the Office of Citizen Engagement position from a classified ME-E to unclassified, aligning with the original intent of the ordinance. He argued the current classification was a bureaucratic error. Councilwoman Shields suggested sending it to committee, but after city manager indicated no objection, Mayor Lucas noted the issue would be discussed on the floor. No final decision was made.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes approved unanimously.
- KCATA will provide detailed route restoration timelines and metrics to council members.
- Climate Action KC and the city’s plan were presented; no formal action taken.
- UNESCO presentation acknowledged; no vote.
- Bond election: Mayor Lucas plans to bring a floor ordinance to move the election to April, contingent on receiving cost analysis from finance.
- Position classification: Deferred to floor discussion; no vote taken.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to business session. Our first item is approval of minutes, which I'm told we have to do. Approval of minutes for business session. So move. They move to second. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All opposed. The motion passes. Next is an update from the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council members, Mr. City Manager. Dick Gerald, KCATA with me today is David Johnson. I'll let David Johnson also introduce himself. Hi, Dave. Uh David Johnson, Vice President of Planning and Strategy, Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. Good afternoon. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, we can proceed with some remarks, or we could sit here and uh respond to questions. First thing I do want to do is send regrets from our CEO, Robbie Mackinen. Robbie was invited by the American Public Transit Association to speak at their conference, and that's where he is today. Prior to that, he was in Washington, D.C. meeting with the head of the Federal Transit Administration and our congressional delegation. Robbie is available to come meet with you in business session or other means as well for anything that we cannot address today for you. All right. We'll start with a few questions. And the genesis of this came from the Transportation Infrastructure and Operations Committee. We're councilwoman Robinson. Thank you. We're there, Mr. Gerald had a number of questions relating to routes and changes and reasons. And so I'll start with her questions, and I might have some of my own. Her foe, her first, and she's in transit today as well. She would like to know all of the KC ATA routes that are not running at pre-pandemic levels and when the routes will be restored. I don't know if that's an easy answer, but I'll just give you that to start. Let me take a high-level stab and let David do some specifics. So I think all of our routes are running that below pre-COVID levels. We are back today to approximately 75% of pre-COVID levels, but we are not at 100%. And there are lots of reasons to that we can get into. And if you want specifics on route, David can talk to that. Our biggest challenge right now is getting our staffing back up to where we were pre-COVID. We are taking steps right now in terms of training and recruiting. We have a training class now for the first time in a year. Twenty people being trained to be a bus operator. As you can imagine, during the pandemic, we could not do online training for our bus operators. So we're behind in that regard.
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