Just Say Anything

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post I was surprised yesterday when an early morning press release from the Mayor's Office arrived announcing a press conference at 11AM regarding light rail. I say surprised because I have not seen the mayor nor any representative from his office involved in any of the Citizens Task Force on Light Rail meetings. I was curious to find out what the mayor was going to say since he's obviously been working in a vacuum with regards to transit. Apparently when you're the mayor you can call a press conference and just say anything you want. Using the restored streetcar at Union Station as a backdrop, the mayor began his comments. There was no earth shattering proclamation. There was no plan. There were no specifics. The mayor stood with six mayors from Platte County municipalities and announced that way back on August 17, these northland leaders had sent him a very nice letter saying they supported a regional transit solution. After the rest of the mayor's remarks which consisted of saying we need to think regionally about a regional transit system involving some sort of rail and maybe some buses and the whole thing should be regional, the six other mayors stepped the microphone one by one and added their individual interpretations of "Yeah, what he said..." In the end the press conference degenerated into the usual exchange between our mayor and the media. The press was asking specific questions about the topic at hand and Mayor Funkhouser was becoming visibly irritated that he was being asked specific questions. What is your plan? He had no plan. His only answer was that we need a plan. Does he think the existing light rail initiative should be repealed? Definitely. By a vote of the council or a ballot intitiative? He didn't care. Would he vote for its repeal? He couldn't say. Did he think the council should vote for its repeal? He couldn't say. What are the specifics for this regional transit vision? There are none. How are you going to pay for this plan, if it really were a plan? He didn't know. It became almost comical watching an already jaded Kansas City media attempt to get the mayor to answer one question with a specific answer. If the mayor is really serious about spearheading a regional transit plan, perhaps he should consider revamping the Kansas City Area Transit Authority. I realize the KCATA is not completely under the control of the mayor of Kansas City. It exists under a complicated bi-state cooperation between the Missouri and Kansas state governments, but it is obvious from the presence of the bright blue "Jo" buses in downtown that Kansas City has no real bi-state cooperation with regards to transit. Why can't Mayor Funkhouser use his bully pulpit to foster regional cooperation right now? How can any of us in the metro area believe in a regional transit plan when our regional transit authority isn't really regional? Why do we have directors on the board of the KCATA from Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas when those very same counties choose to opt out of funding the ATA in favor or running their own transit organizations? How is it the mayors of the municipalities in Platte County, Missouri can send letters and attend press conferences supporting regional transit when their own municipalities do not currently fund the KCATA? It's common sense that you take care of what you have before you take on new responsibilities. You don't propose regional light rail until you show you can at least manage a regional bus system. And finally, you don't hold a press conference about a plan unless you have a plan.