KCMO councilmember ‘neutral’ on 2 Missouri Royals sites
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Monday, a councilman in the city made it clear he wants the Royals to stay in Missouri. FOX4 talked to Councilman Nathan Willett and Wes Rogers that afternoon.
In late March, Royals CEO John Sherman told reporters he wanted to talk more about the stadium in June or July. In a nearly 15-minute interview with FOX4 Monday, Willett said he was ‘Team Missouri’ a number of times. He added that he wants whatever works for the Royals.
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Willett said he believes Washington Square Park, just east of Union Station, is an option for the team.
FOX4 asked him if he wanted the ballpark in Washington Square Park over a once proposed ballpark for the Royals in North Kansas City at 18th and Fayette.
North Kansas City is a separate city from Kansas City, Mo.
“I think it’s fair to say I want it in Missouri,” Willett said in response. “I am neutral between the two sites. I think it’s whatever works for the Royals and works for the taxpayers who are going to be asked to help out.”
Willett is running for Republican State Senator Tony Luetkemeyer’s seat in the Missouri state legislature, so right now, he’s not running for re-election on KCMO’s city council.
FOX4 asked Willett if he’s concerned that being ‘neutral’ to two Missouri stadium locations would make Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas or other Kansas City council members upset with him.
“I think it’s Team Missouri,” he responded. “You don’t know what’s a legit option or not a legit option. Right now, you have two Missouri options, and I think you have one or two Kansas options.
“At the end of the day, the deal has to make sense for both the taxpayers. You have to have that benefit to it, but we cannot let Kansas continue to grow and Missouri just to sit back. You’re seeing a lot of growth happening, more and more south on the other side of state line. I think if a stadium went down there versus whether it be downtown or north of the river, you’re going to see the continued concentration of economic development around there.”
Late in June, fellow KCMO Councilman Kevin O’Neill told FOX4 that Kansas City’s parks department board needed to quickly approve moving rights over to Port KC or the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDCKC). Three weeks later, that special meeting hasn’t happened yet.
New Port KC Board of Commissioner and fellow KCMO Councilman Wes Rogers was with Willett Monday at Northland Neighborhoods Inc.
“This is a years long project,” Rogers said when asked if he was concerned that that the parks department special meeting hasn’t happened yet.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the city will figure out how to do this.”
Willett added that if the Royals chose to play in KCMO’s city limits, the taxpayers should be able to weigh in on it.
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Mayor Quinton Lucas has said the opposite though, that if the Royals built at Washington Square Park, the city’s taxpayers may not have to weigh in on it.
If the Royals chose Clay County and North Kansas City, that would require a vote of the people of that county to tax themselves via a sales tax. A Kansas ballpark for the Royals would take advantage of Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bonds. That would not require a vote of taxpayers.
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