Published in The Call, Kansas City’s Community Newspaper, week of February 16–23, 2024

Kansas City's Blood-Stained Valentine: A Call to Arms Against Gun Violence

February 14, 2024, Valentine’s Day, is now etched in the memory of Kansas Citians, not for love but for the bloodshed that stained our Super Bowl Victory Celebration. On that fateful day, Kansas City experienced its first mass shooting, leaving 22 wounded and claiming the life of Lisa Lopez-Galvan. What should have been a day of celebration morphed into one of sorrow, tragedy, and loss. As the nation reels from this and countless other mass shootings, we offer prayers for the victims and their families. We beseech lawmakers to enact sensible gun legislation. We implore the perpetrators of these crimes to cease their senseless violence.

Yet, as the wounds begin to heal and the pain dulls, we are likely to fall back into our business-as-usual routines until the next tragedy strikes or the homicide rate spikes once more.

Enough is enough. We cannot continue down this futile path of pleading with the Missouri legislature for sensible gun laws. Instead, let us invest in evidence-based violence interruption and prevention initiatives. Let us divert funds from reactionary law enforcement strategies toward proactive measures that address the root causes of violence.

But alas, the mayor and city manager have failed us. Their proposed 2024-25 budget allocates a staggering 31% ($317,258,928) of the city’s general operating fund to the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD), well above the mandated 25%. Meanwhile, a mere $6 million is earmarked for crime prevention and intervention strategies. This disparity is unconscionable.

The more we pour into law enforcement, the less we receive in return. Despite increasing funding to the KCPD year after year, our homicide rate continues to climb while the department’s violent crime clearance rate fluctuates between 33% and 49%.  In FY 2022-23, $264,880,215 was allocated to KCPD. In FY 2023-24, that number rose to $284,526,863. And yet, our city witnessed a record-breaking 182 homicides in 2023. Obviously, the status quo is not working.

The tragedy at Union Station must serve as a wake-up call. We cannot afford to perpetuate failed policies. We must reject the mayor’s budget proposal and demand a budget that prioritizes evidence-based crime prevention and intervention strategies. Take St. Louis, for example, where such strategies resulted in 42 fewer homicides, a 24% reduction in shootings, and a 50% decrease in juvenile victims in 2023 alone.

St. Louis's success lies in its comprehensive Community Violence Intervention Strategy, encompassing everything from violence mediation to restorative justice. We must emulate this model and address the root causes of violence head-on.

Gun violence in Kansas City is a public health crisis, and it cannot be solved with more police and more jails. We must acknowledge the systemic inequities that perpetuate violence in our communities and commit to real, lasting change. It is time to invest in our neighborhoods, our people, and our future. We have the power to make a difference. Let us rise to the occasion with unwavering resolve and true determination.  KC Strong!

Published in The Call, Kansas City’s Community Newspaper, week of January 26–February 2, 2024

It is Time to Demand that Disloyal, Duplicitous, Deceptive Democrats be Dishonorably Discharged from the Democratic Party

Democrats Megan Marshall, Jalen Anderson, and Charlie Franklin voted against fellow Democrat Donna Peyton to elect Jeanie Lauer, a Trump-loving MAGA Republican, as Chair of the Jackson County Legislature. It is time for us to stop being hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, and run amuck by duplicitous, ambitious politicians who place their personal political vendettas above the best interests of our community. When they deceive us, we must hold them to account. Jalen, Megan, and Charlie betrayed the Democratic Party and slapped the Black community in the face when they, for reasons based solely on petty political retribution, failed to see the bigger and more important picture. For this betrayal, they should be discharged from the Democratic party. Had they opted to vote on the right side of history, they would have voted for Donna Peyton to become the first Black woman to Chair the Jackson County Legislature. She is competent and capable of leading the Jackson County Legislature, and she is committed to advancing the principles of good government, economic mobility, equity, and inclusion.

The community is both perplexed and outraged by this betrayal. We are sick and tired of those we elect to represent us playing political games that have everything to do with themselves and nothing to do with acting in the best interests of our community.

There is no justification for this chicanery. If history is prologue, our community has nothing to gain and everything to lose with Lauer at the helm of the predominately Democratic and majority-minority Jackson County Legislature. She voted against efforts to renew and increase funding to community-based health and social services organizations. Moreover, Jeanie Lauer is a conservative MAGA Republican. She is anti-abortion rights and opposes a woman’s right to choose and make decisions with respect to her body.  When serving in the Missouri Legislature, she voted to repeal prevailing wage; she voted to pass a bill that prohibits local governments from requiring employers to provide a minimum wage or benefits exceeding state law requirements. She voted for expanded Voter ID requirements, making it harder for minorities to vote. She voted for concealed carry without a permit, contributing to the proliferation of guns in the hands of young people in our community. And she voted to allow police officers unlimited discretion in the use of deadly force.

I am not surprised by Jalen’s and Charlie’s misguided support of Trumpism. They have a history of aligning themselves with Republicans in the legislature. However, it is incomprehensible that Megan Marshall, a Black female, would choose a conservative Republican with an horrendous anti-Black, anti-working-class, anti-middle-class, and anti-women record to lead the Jackson County Legislature over her Black female colleague and fellow Democrat Donna Peyton.

The next time you see Megan Marshall, Jalen Anderson, or Charlie Franklin on any ballot to hold any office, remember their betrayal. Hold them to account. They do not deserve your vote.