Buyer's remorse doesn't pay the bills

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Most of us have had the experience. You find out after the fact that you've paid too much for something. Maybe it was something as small as an MP3 player. Maybe it was something bigger, like a car. You haggled as best you could until you agreed on a price you thought was fair, but as you left the dealership you glanced over your shoulder in time to see your salesman high-fiving and doing mid-air chest bumps with his co-workers. That should have been your first clue. It's no secret the subsidies provided to Cordish & Co. to develop the Power & Light District were way too generous. That's the danger when you're dealing with an entity that competes with an almost monopolistic advantage. I mean really, how many companies out there specialize in developing entertainment districts in struggling mid-major urban centers? Other than Cordish, only McCaffery Interests comes to mind. McCaffery partnered with Graves Hospitality Corp. to develop Block E in Minneapolis, another oft-criticized deal but at least on the surface the financials look much more favorable for the taxpayers. With only one competitor that we probably didn't even contact, it's no wonder how Cordish & Co. was able to secure such favorable terms. Kansas City is in a terrible position. The ink on the contracts is dry, the Big XII basketball tournament arrives in less than a month and Cordish is in no hurry to open any businesses. "Read the fine print on the contract you signed" seems to be the slogan for our new entertainment district. Not very catchy but at least it's honest. Should we be angry? Of course. Vindictive? Not against the businesses in the P&L District. That would be counter-productive. There's nothing left for us to do but patronize the establishments whenever possible, try and find every positive attribute of the district and tout them to visitors, and quietly, very quietly learn from our mistakes.

The best transit plans start in the streets

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post The mayor and council are badly in need of a win. Nobody seems to be capable of performing the actual work they were elected to do. Forming citizen committees to make decisions for them is the only thing our leadership does well. Economic Development Policy? Form a citizen committee. Light Rail? Form a citizen committee. Sewer Infrastructure? Citizen committee. Park Land usage? Committee. Perhaps we should appoint a citizen committee to form a policy on forming citizen committees. Maybe we should start with something simple? We should demonstrate that we can maintain a network of streets before we try and convince voters we can maintain a rail system. Why won't somebody work on the metal plates? Steel plates in our roadways are not just an annoyance, they are a hazard when not properly installed or marked. In Kansas City, steel plates become permanent fixtures instead of the temporary safety measure they are intended to be. We need to create a strict, enforceable policy when it comes to plating and decking of our streets. The policy must be clear, and above all else it must successfully keep our streets safe for vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians. The policy must have guidelines for proper installation, maintenance and even length of time temporary steel plates or decking is allowed to remain in place. Additionally or City inspectors need to pay particular attention to these requirements and issue fines for failing to cover a street cut, displaced plates, failure to apply a non-skid resistant surface, failing to post proper signage or failure to finish the work and remove the plates in an allotted time period. There is no need to appoint a citizen committee "to look into alternatives." I have used the magic of Google to track down characteristics of successful policies already in use. Most of what I have here is shamelessly stolen borrowed from New York City, a town that knows a thing or two about steel plates on busy streets. (1) All plating and decking installed by the permittee shall be made safe for vehicles and/or pedestrians and shall be adequate to carry the load. (2) The size of the plate or decking shall be large enough to span the opening, be firmly placed to prevent rocking and shall overlap the edges of trenches and openings and be sufficiently ramped to provide smooth riding and safe condition. (3) All plating and decking shall be fastened by splicing, countersinking or otherwise protected to prevent movement. (4) Where deflections are more than 3/4", heavier sections of plates or decking or intermediate supports shall be installed. (5) All permittees will clearly mark each plate with a project number that corresponds to the permit for that application. (6) A database shall be made available through the City website that will allow citizens to look up projects by their project number and obtain relevant information such as permitted project completion dates and a plain language explanation of the work being performed. (7) All permittees who install plating and decking during the winter months shall either post signs at the site indicating "Steel Plates Ahead Raise Plow" or shall countersink said plates flush to the level of the roadway. All signs shall be of the size and type specified in the Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. These signs shall be placed on the sidewalk, adjacent to the curb, facing vehicle traffic five feet prior to the plates. On two-way streets, signs shall be placed on both sides of the street five feet prior to the plates. (8) All plating and decking shall have a skid-resistant surface equal to or greater than the adjacent existing street or roadway surface. This should be an easy one for the mayor and council. A layup. Save some tires and rattled teeth and maybe those citizen satisfaction surveys might improve. I realize policy isn't fun. It's boring, tedious work and there aren't any golden shovels to break ground with or giant scissors to cut ribbons, but maybe a little bit of policy work will pay some dividends down the road... So to speak.