Kansas City Light Rail Citizen’s Task Force

I was asked to publicize this. Please forward to anyone you think might be interested. The more quality applicants the better! Download the PDF application by clicking here. Download a Microsoft Word version of the application by clicking here. Thanks to Commenter Doc and Cindy Baker at the ATA. KANSAS CITY, MO – JULY 25, 2007 – The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) and the City of Kansas City, MO, are seeking representatives for a Kansas City Light Rail Citizen’s Task Force. The open application process will allow anyone who lives or works in Kansas City an opportunity to participate substantively in the light rail development process. Approximately 30 members of the community, representing a broad spectrum of interests and backgrounds, will be selected for the Task Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to provide input from various perspectives and assist with community outreach during Phase I of the Light Rail Alternatives Analysis (LRT AA). The Alternatives Analysis will support local decision-making by the KCATA and City of Kansas City, MO, related to the voter-approved light rail route, cost for the route, funding sources for the route, and other information required to satisfy potential federal funding requirements. “We hope that our citizens and others with an interest in this project recognize this as an opportunity to help lead the charge for light rail,” said Kansas City Councilman Ed Ford, Chairman of the council’s Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. “This will be the start of the Kansas City area’s light rail system and we want Kansas Citians of all walks of life to help guide its development.” Applications are available online (PDF file) and in local newspapers over the next week. The one-page application needs to be filled out and sent via mail, e-mail or fax to: KCATA – Light Rail Citizen’s Task Force 1200 E. 18th St. Kansas City, MO 64108 E-mail: cbaker@kcata.org Fax: 816-346-0263 Both residents and those who work in Kansas City, MO are encouraged to apply. If selected, applicants should expect to attend a meeting to be held on Wednesday, Aug. 15, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Applications must be received by no later than 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 6. A panel made up of members of the KCATA, Kansas City Mayor’s Office and the Light Rail Alternatives Analysis team will select and notify the applicants selected. “There is a lot of hard work ahead for all of us to achieve our regional vision,” said Mark Huffer, General Manager of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. “We look forward to working with the Citizen’s Task Force to make the voters’ dream for light rail a reality.”

Acceleration At The Station

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Instead of boring you all with my usual wonkish blather about tax increment financing or environmental issues, I thought I'd take a summer break and throw out another one of my crazy ideas. Something frivolous and fun. Definitely not environmentally friendly, but hey, even I can loosen up once in a while. This was a concept I had in the back of my mind when I was running for office. I was hoping to bring a little excitement and enthusiasm to town. Partner with private industry, and do a little something to elevate Kansas City's profile. Aside from the occasional visit of the Big XII Men's Basketball Tournament the only significant tourist events occur all the way out at the Kansas Speedway. I think we've already established that people probably won't come from miles around for the purpose of eating St. Louis Style Ribs in downtown Kansas City. So what to do? How do we attract the kind of crowds that will come to Kansas City, stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants and otherwise pump up the local economy? How about The American Le Mans Series? Fast cars. Big dollars. National television. Thousands of fans. Granted we have one major obstacle. A temporary race course through city streets requires a very smooth surface. Right now Kansas City is not known for its quality of streets, but maybe with a little extra work we could manage to prepare a course that wouldn't shake the bolts out of a Sherman Tank. Established in 1999, the American Le Mans Series is relatively young. It's still fleshing out its season, adding three new cities in 2007 for a total of 23 different venues. Eight of those venues are temporary street circuits including St. Petersburg, FL, Long Beach, CA and Detroit’s Belle Isle. The other five temporary street circuits are Adelaide, Australia; Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada, Washington, DC, Miami, FL and Houston, TX. I ran this idea past my brother Steve, who is a major fan of anything involving more than two vehicles trying to outrun each other to a finish line. Originally he thought the Downtown Airport would be a good place. I told him I was thinking of something that actually ran in the streets of Kansas City. Maybe down Pershing in front of Union Station? That's when he really saw my "vision." Here was part of his excited email to me. OK! How about around Union Station, the old Post Office, Crown Center and Liberty Memorial Mall? It's just that wherever the course is, it would have to be locked down for about two days before the event for practice and qualifying. The Union Station parking lots would be a great staging, paddock and pit area. And a great back drop for TV and Kansas City. I was thinking somehow if they could get into the Liberty Memorial, around the Mall, and down and around Union Station somehow. Lot's of elevation changes, wide streets, long straights, sweeping turns and tight turns. I just think the area around Crown Center, Union Station, Liberty Memorial lends itself to a great course and a great back drop for those type high performance machines. Plus the sound of a tightly wound 800 + HP engine bouncing off high rises would be worth paying for. Lot's of grassy areas to erect temporary grandstands, porta johns, concession areas, etc. Too bad you wouldn't be able to close off Hospital Hill because that would be a blast too. It can be done. It would take a little "vision" and the right people to be willing to help make it happen. You would need an event sponsor to guarantee the purse and cough up promo $$$'s to Speed TV to carry the event. The Boulevard 250 at Union Station, presented by _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _? Whoever would be the primary sponsor or anyone of the presenting sponsors could not be in competitive conflict with any of the series sponsors. Rolex, Crown Royal, Coca Cola, Sun Trust Bank and so on. So how about it Kansas City? Ready to go racin'?

"When costs are reduced, there are headcount reductions"

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Years ago Kansas City threw millions of dollars at Gateway Computers as economic development officials were dazzled by claims of hundreds of new employees and the always promised but rarely delivered "Phase II" of a project in the West Bottoms. If you're interested in the gory details you can read about them here, here, and finally here. The short story is Gateway left town and Kansas City never realized the dividends of our investment. Now flash forward to 2005. The city of Lenexa and the state of Kansas granted millions of dollars in tax incentives to lure Applebee's headquarters away from the city of Overland Park and the state of Kansas. The governor of Kansas released a self-congratulatory statement about what a significant victory the state of Kansas had just won over... uh, itself. Now enter Breeden Capital Management. BCM's principal, Richard Breeden is a former SEC chairman and specializes in buying a significant portion of a company's stock that he considers to be under performing. He then pressures the company's management into policy changes, compensation adjustments, or in the case of Applebee's accepting an outright purchase by IHOP Inc. IHOP's business model is a complete 180 from Applebee's. Rather than own and operate hundreds of restaurants (known as corporate stores), IHOP sells its franchises to private owners. Let the individual owners deal with the day to day headaches of purchasing, maintenance, staffing and every other detail involved in running a restaurant. IHOP sets policy and provides modest levels of administrative support for a periodic franchise fee. IHOP has wasted no time in expressing its intent to sell off Applebee's corporate stores to franchisees. This of course means Glendale, California based IHOP will probably have little need for two corporate headquarters. Even Applebee's CEO Dave Goebel could not hide the impending doom for the Overland Park/Lenexa based employees in a letter to the associates. After the usual vague pronunciations of "reductions in head count" and promising to "share info as soon as we're allowed" he goes on to make a very chilling, yet candid statement. "First and foremost, you will be focused on making the best decision for continuing to support yourself and your loved ones over the long-term. I encourage you to spend the time and energy necessary on this." That's about the most nicely worded "look for another job" statement I've ever read, and believe me, working in the technology sector in the 80's and 90's I've read a few. Now a not yet completed $44 million headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas is in jeopardy of not even opening its doors. The promise of all that economic activity that officials were so excited about is fading on the horizon. Yet all the new streets, sewers, utilities and reams of procedural red tape involved with any new development must still be paid for. So I've asked and answered before, why should we on the Missouri side care about a potential financial catastrophe in Kansas? First and foremost because the repercussions of unemployment in the Kansas suburbs will be felt on both sides of the state line. Because the city of Kansas City, Missouri cannot thrive if its surrounding municipalities are floundering. And finally, because it can happen here too. Richard Breeden, the man who buys his way into companies and for better or worse forces a turnaround or an outright sale, has a new project. He owns 6 million shares in H&R Block.

Boley Building TIF. Deal or Steal?

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post It's easy to see how TIF deals pass so easily in Kansas City. There doesn't seem to be a critical voice in the room whenever developers approach the TIF Commission looking for a handout. Yesterday's presentation by Andrews McMeel Universal for the Boley Building project was no exception. What most people don't know about the process is that the deals are already cut before the public hearing takes place. The Economic Development Corporation (EDC) does all the due diligence and then makes a "recommendation" to the TIF Commission, who in turn makes a recommendation to the City Council. Sure there's a little posturing along the way, but for the most part it's just a rubber stamp process. I would very much like to see AMU locate their operation in the Boley Building. I think a creative organization with a long history is a good fit for one of Kansas City's most historic pieces of architecture. What I don't think is a good fit is the business as usual attempt at bilking the taxpayers out of millions of dollars. I don't fault AMU. They're not in the development business so they've hired one of Kansas City's most prominent development attorneys, Jerry Riffel of Lathrop & Gage. Mr. Riffel is an expert at convincing TIF Commissioners that his clients need tax subsidies. Not that it takes that much convincing. The AMU plan estimates redevelopment costs at $19,066,037. My first question would have been how did they arrive at such a specific figure for an estimate? Considering the Boley Building hasn't even been subdivided and re-platted, I get curious when estimates are so specific. Are they sure it's not going to cost $19,066,038? Of those costs, AMU estimates that $4,800,000 needs to be reimbursed. $1,776,961 of that is for acquisition costs. My question here is doesn't that mean that AMU feels the purchase price being asked by Copaken, White and Blitt is $1.7 million too high? That of course is a rhetorical question. The answer is "yes." Finally it was mentioned that a consultant had "run the numbers" and determined that the developer could only make a reasonable profit with TIF assistance. But isn't AMU the developer? (once again, rhetorical) How is it a company makes a profit for renovating their own headquarters? But as always, there are no hard questions at a TIF Commission meeting, only flashy PowerPoint presentations leading to millions of dollars changing hands. In the case of the Boley Building, the decision is postponed for one month while the school board representatives get answers to meaningless questions. What bothered me most of all was the TIF Commission's apparent lack of knowledge about the entire deal. One commissioner had a hard time understanding that the Boley Building is platted as one parcel with the entire block on which the Town Pavilion sits. The very location on which he happened to be sitting. So I'm led to believe that certain TIF Commissioners don't even research agenda items ahead of time? Is it too much to ask for a TIF Commissioner to pick up a newspaper or click on a link every now and then? The details of this deal have been in the news for weeks. Chairman Peter Yelorda chose to be the toughest critic, declaring the entire plan a "good deal." Once more, I had another question. Good deal for whom? Update: The Kansas City Business Journal's Jim Davis cuts right to the heart of the matter. No innuendo, no dancing around, just the facts. The Boley Building's proposed purchase price is $5.2 million, almost $90 a square foot. This price is nearly twice what larger downtown buildings such as the Commerce Tower have sold for on a square-foot basis but as much as 40 percent less than comparable figures for sales along College Boulevard in Overland Park.

What's $4 Million Among Friends?

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Kevin Collison reports in the Kansas City Star that Andrews McMeel Universal is seeking around $4 million in TIF to move from their posh digs on the Country Club Plaza to the Boley Building at 12th & Walnut. Those of you familiar with downtown might remember the Boley Building was at one time being prepared to house Aquila's doomed energy trading business. The interior of the building had been stripped to its concrete superstructure in preparation for its modernization. The Star article quotes Bill Dietrich, president and CEO of the Downtown Council as saying that TIF "would be a very wise investment." This is not news that Mr. Dietrich would take such a definitive position before a business justification has even been presented. The Downtown Council has a rich history of advocating "development at any cost" regardless of the consequences. Has the DTC ever met a TIF deal they didn't like? The article then goes on to point out some very interesting facts. Andrews McMeel is being represented by none other than Jerry Riffel, elite development attorney and chairman of the Downtown Council's Business Retention and Attraction Committee. The owner of the Boley Building is Copaken, White & Blitt, whose principal Jon Copaken is a DTC executive director as well as chairman of the Downtown Council's Downtown Marketing Group. It seems like this deal was hatched at the coffee machine during a break of a DTC meeting. Andrews McMeel's argument is they need the taxpayers' money to pay for renovations to the historic building. That's an interesting argument but it doesn't hold much water in my opinion. AMU does not own the building. They are going to purchase it from Copaken, White & Blitt. How can you ask for subsidies to "make the numbers work" on a property you do not own? Easy. The seller jacks up the purchase price by the amount of the subsidy. The handout is whatever the amount the seller decides to overcharge by. In this case, it's obvious that AMU feels the building purchase price is too high, by about $4 million. The last time I checked, we still live in a market economy. If the Boley Building is not viable at the asking price, then the asking price needs to be lowered. This is not graduate level finance. A property is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay, not what a buyer is willing to pay plus $4 million from the taxpayers. This situation has all the markings of a classic TIF deal. Inflated prices, friends and associates on both sides of the deal, and what the principals hope is a City Council beholden to the large amounts of campaign contributions coming from DTC members. Even if the TIF Commission denies this request, I have no doubts it will be appealed to the full Council. Then and only then will we get our first indication of what we have elected. A new era of leadership at City Hall, or business as usual.