‘Making some change’: Candidates for city council vie for KC Tenants endorsement in forum

Twenty-four-year-old Erica Flores had Saturday’s affordable housing panel between Kansas City Council candidates marked on her calendar weeks in advance.

For her, the 2 p.m. political forum at Robert J. Mohart Center was different from any other in Kansas City. Here, she could press candidates on whether they considered housing a human right and show her approval of a candidate’s answer by holding up either a green or red sheet of paper from the audience.

“When we don’t have these forums, the candidates don’t have to commit to anything and they don’t have to answer to the people,” she said.

The event was hosted by KC Tenant Power, a politically-minded sibling organization to KC Tenants. The renters’ rights group has gained considerable influence at City Hall over the last year, giving every candidate running in the April 4 city council primary a reason to vie for their endorsement.

Many attended the forum, including Mayor Quinton Lucas, who participated in a brief Q&A halfway through the event. Organizers estimated that more than 270 community members and activists were in the audience, each eager to provide feedback to candidates and hear solutions to the metro’s growing affordable housing crisis.

Twenty-nine-year-old Jacquada Gray II of Kansas City’s 4th district could be heard cheering from the back of the auditorium. She happily supported 2nd District candidate Jenay Manley’s proposed tax on vacant buildings and then let out a loud groan when some other candidates repeatedly changed their position on supporting a new downtown stadium.

“If the city takes the time to take in the community’s input and actually implement some of these ideas, I think we have a chance at really making some change out here,” she said.

A conversation with the mayor

Lucas walked into the auditorium at 3:15 p.m. and was met on stage by KC Tenant Power organizer Val Brookes Davis.

Davis kicked off the Q&A by sharing her personal experience with housing insecurity. She told the mayor her Waldo apartment complex had added new charges onto her rent during the pandemic, leading to her eviction.

“I felt so destabilized,” she said, before turning the conversation over to the mayor and addressing how he and the organization have butted heads.

She discussed the city ordinance referring to affordable Kansas City housing as around $1,200 and asked him to answer for the claim that he would be the “housing mayor” during his last election run, when there’s still a serious need to improve access to housing.

“There absolutely were missed opportunities,” Lucas said, while acknowledging the lack of support for unhoused community members.

He went on to say he hoped to produce more housing units in workforce neighborhoods, including building more affordable housing in South Kansas City and the Northland.

Lucas also pushed back on criticism over the housing ordinance, assuring the audience that many receiving housing support had rents far below $1,200.

“But I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” he said.

He told the audience that his administration has worked hard to make sure the city council does not jump at every opportunity to build new housing developments, but instead assesses how housing can hit affordability standards and reach low income residents.

Lucas also promised to work toward creating more municipal social housing, which many KC Tenants Power activists pushed for in conversations with other candidates.

He repeatedly thanked KC Tenants Power for helping get the KC housing trust fund passed and tout the positive relationship between his administration and the advocacy group.

City council candidates

Candidates running for in-district and at-large city council seats faced a variety of questions from the crowd and a KC Tenant Power moderator.

In-district candidates discussed ways to make public meetings more inclusive of non-English speaking constituents and people unable to miss out on a day of work.

“We have to ask who is in this room and who is not,” said Johnathan Duncan, who is running for the 6th District seat.

He also called for the meetings to be more transparent in the way they provide people looking to make a public comment with information. His fellow candidate for the 6th District, Michael Schuckman, also agreed to support adding translators to the meetings.

The candidates also expressed support for prioritizing local housing developers in the building of new units.

“We have the talent to change things here in Kansas City,” said 4th District candidate Crissy Dastrup.

All the candidates, including those running for at-large council seats, agreed that more needed to be done to increase affordable housing and the city’s current attempts to improve access have not been good enough.

But 6th District council member Andrea Bough was more optimistic. She touted the council’s decision to secure funding and pass legislation on tenants rights.

Still, a number of candidates accused the current council members of focusing more on friendships with developers than constituents. Few candidates wanted to be seen as a part of the establishment or supporting “business as usual.”

The crowd frequently applauded 2nd District candidate Jenay Manley, an organizer at KC Tenants. She suggested making the housing trust fund more accessible to communities and preventing city owned property from being taken over by out-of-state developers. She also proposed a tax on vacant buildings, which would contribute to the city-wide housing trust fund.

5th District candidate Michael Kelley similarly received approval from the audience. He focused on discussing ways to prevent residents from being displaced and rejected the suggestion of his opponent, candidate Darrell Curls, to use low interest loans to help low income community members.

As the forum winded down, Kelley went on to underscore his intention to listen to the neighborhoods in his community when making housing policy: A proposal that many people wearing KC Tenants shirts cheered.

“We should be listening to the tenants,” he said.

This story was updated to correct event details and include the correct spellings for candidates Darrell Curls. and Johnathan Duncan