The Reardon Report

Let’s Get Back to Common Sense

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:26:29 -0600

It’s been quite discouraging for us here in Wyandotte County to see the pure partisan politics of Topeka play out with respect to Congressional redistricting.

The latest map to emerge is one that Senator Hensley and others warned us about months ago: To move Wyandotte County out of the 3rd Congressional District and into the 1st Congressional District.

Wyandotte County, more than ever, is intimately connected to the Kansas City Region. Our economy is tied to the region. Our citizens dwell within the region. Our entire County is physically located within and around the 435 corridor, the loop highway that encircles the Kansas City Region.

It makes good common sense to be represented by a member of Congress whose district encompasses the Kansas side of the Kansas City Region. That’s the way it is now as the 3rd Congressional District encompasses all of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties.

However, a move is underfoot to not only remove Wyandotte County from the 3rd District but to place it in the 1st District which primarily represents the most Western stretches of Kansas. Worse than that, the latest map splits Wyandotte County in two, with part of the County remaining in the 3rd and the other part off to the 1st. Such a move would dilute the voice of one of the state’s most populous counties. Instead, this move is a bold faced one to support political desires at the expense of good representation.

It simply defies any good government logic to make such a move. Worse, it feeds into the skepticism so many people have about government operating not for the people but for the politicians. It is my hope that the Kansas Legislature will use logic and common sense and keep Wyandotte County in the 3rd Congressional District.

Day of Remembrance 9/11/2011

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:06:16 -0500

Trinity Community Church held a wonderful service today. It was a moving tribute to the victims of 9/11 as well as a call to all of us to be more supportive of one another. My whole family enjoyed it and I was honored to be able to present a Proclamation declaring today as a Day of Remembrance in Kansas City, Kansas/Wyandotte County.

A Great Evening at Rockhurst University

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:50:25 -0500

It was great to be back on the campus of Rockhurst University and to join with Mayor Sly James in a dialogue about the region and how to move forward collectively. The turnout was fantastic and I enjoyed seeing Rockhurst friends.

Sly and I also announced our co-chairs for the By-State Innovation Team. Dr. Ray Daniels will served as co-chair along with Mike Burke. Dr. Daniels brings a great depth of experience in education from his service as superintendent of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools and his current board position at Kansas City, Kansas Community College. I will be selecting 5 team members from Kansas City, Kansas and Sly will be identifying 5 team members from Kansas City, Missouri. We expect to make those announcements later this month.

An Exciting Week in KCK

Fri, 13 May 2011 16:51:00 -0500

It’s been an exciting week. Governor Sam Brownback was in attendance at Livestrong Sporting Park on Wednesday for the Farm Aid concert announcement. Farm Aid will take place on August 13th at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas. Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews will headline the event. The stadium looks fantastic. The opening game takes place on June 9th when Sporting KC plays the Chicago Fire.

KU Endowment opened a new building on the University of Kansas Medical Center campus in KCK this week. The three story building not only houses the endowment offices but also clinical and research offices for the medical center as well. It is a great new soon to be LEED certified building right on Rainbow Boulevard.

The first Junior Police Academy Graduation took place at Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools on Wednesday. Students from Fairfax School who participated were able to learn in depth the workings of the police department and police officers. I was honored to join with Dr. Cindy Lane and Police Chief Rick Armstrong in congratulating the graduating students.

I also participated in the senior project event at Piper High School this week. For the third year seniors at Piper picked topics they were passionate about or interested in and prepared research papers and immersed themselves in the topic. This culminated in the presentations they made to panels at the school on Thursday. I have to tell you I was blown away by the talent, preparation and enthusiasm of the students. It was a proud moment for our community and I am certain they will go on to achieve much in their lives. My hope is that our city has the benefit of their future endeavors.

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed making a presentation to the KCKCC Economics Club,...

Wed, 11 May 2011 09:34:56 -0500

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed making a presentation to the KCKCC Economics Club, Campus Forum and Intercultural Center last week. We talked about economic development, the potential for more business development and learning with Google Fiber and the new jobs coming on line at Sporting KC, the Hollywood Casino and Cerner Corp.

I also had a chance to make a presentation the the Association of Government Accountants at Johnson County Community College in the afternoon. A great conversation about the region ensued. There is a lot of interest in working on making the Kansas City Region a great place.

Finally, yesterday, Site Selection Magazine, an economic development magazine named the Sporting KC, Cerner project as one of the Top 10 Economic Development Deals in North America. Here is an excerpt from the article: Cerner Corp./OnGoal

Kansas City, Kan.

$414 million, 4,000 jobs

The “other” Kansas City, which found out just last month that it had beat out 1,100 others to become the first recipient of Google’s ultra-fast broadband program, continues to make a bid to become “the” Kansas City when it comes to economic development. This deal with healthcare information management systems company Cerner, Major League Soccer’s Kansas City Wizards ownership group OnGoal and developer Lane4 will create thousands of jobs (at an average salary of $54,000) by 2016, a new stadium for the Wizards and an athletics complex with up to two dozen new fields. In January 2010 the Unified Government Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., approved the deal, 10 months after the idea was first broached. Revenues attached to successful retail growth in KCK helped make the deal, in the process pulling it from its original destination at a former mall site in Missouri, even as Kansas Secretary of Commerce David Kerr jumped ship to Missouri while negotiations were still unfolding in late 2009.

Remarks on Google Fiber Announcement in Kansas City, Kansas

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:44:41 -0500

I wanted to take a minute to share the remarks I gave today at the Google Fiber Announcement.

I want to thank everyone for attending today. March 30, 2011 is a momentous day for Kansas City, Kansas and our entire region. We are entering into a transformative partnership that will allow Kansas City, Kansas to deploy a next generation fiber optic system throughout our community – one that will benefit both our residents and businesses.

We in the Midwest understand the importance of infrastructure to the building of cities. Our region has benefited greatly from the rail infrastructure that was laid here and the westward expansion that forever ensured our destiny as a crossroads – a region tied to access and connectivity.

The infrastructure of tomorrow is likewise tied to access and connectivity. Technology leads to opportunity and new frontiers, and in this age it is essential that we build a robust connection to information and ideas on the world wide web — so that our connections today can span the globe while at the same time benefiting us locally.

So today, we are proud to announce our partnership with Google: To create those robust connections with a 1 Gig fiber backbone straight through to businesses and homes. An exciting partnership that will help Kansas City, Kansas realize the full potential of the new economy in a world that is becoming more connected every day.

The selection of Kansas City, Kansas as the site for Google Fiber speaks to our community’s commitment to be enterprising, and is the latest example of what we can accomplish when we work together. Google Fiber joins a long list of important milestones and accomplishments in our community – including the development of Kansas Speedway, Village West, the Hollywood Casino, the new Livestrong Sporting Park and our growing partnership with Cerner Corporation. As a result, we are achieving national rankings in job growth during this challenging economy.

The wonderful diversity of our community, neighborhoods and industry make Kansas City, Kansas a microcosm for the rest of the country. When you combine these assets with our well-established track record of development partnerships, we feel Kansas City, Kansas is the perfect location for Google to launch its Fiber Project.

This successful initiative is the result of strong partnerships with our public utility, our business community, and our school districts. I’m excited today to announce that in partnership with Google, our students will benefit from this new opportunity as free high speed access will be provided at schools throughout the city — allowing students to use this ultra high speed network to fully realize their potential in a global economy.

Our government will also benefit by receiving free broadband access at key facilities, allowing us to strengthen public safety and services to our citizens. In addition, the deployment of high speed broadband internet access into our neighborhoods will undoubtedly further advance the academic vision and goals of our local schools, universities, and learning consortiums.

While Google Fiber may be starting out in Kansas City, Kansas, I know that for an opportunity like this to be truly successful, it must expand beyond a single community. It is my hope that cities throughout ourregion will become part of this initiative. It is this regional focus and opportunity that will provide lasting benefit to all of our citizens as we compete around the globe. Today’s announcement will further regional growth efforts in life sciences, technology, manufacturing and entrepreneurialism.

Finally, I want to thank all those that have worked so hard to make this project a reality. It has been a long process but one that will lead to significant benefit. This truly was a team effort and we worked seamlessly with Board of Public Utilities staff to make it successful. Our negotiating team has been fantastic and I appreciate the dedication to this historic project.

To the Google Team, we have enjoyed working with you to successfully bring us to today. Milo, Kevin, Kris and Joe, and everyone on the Google Team, we have developed a strong relationship that I know will carry us to success as we deploy this new technology – right here in Kansas City, Kansas.

We now begin a community dialogue about the details of this project and its benefits to our citizens. We will be working in partnership with Google to implement this technology. I am proud that Kansas City, Kansas will be part of this effort to bring next generation high-speed broadband to cities throughout the US.

Today's big news: Google Selects Kansas City, Kansas for Fiber Project!

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:27:38 -0500

I wanted to take a minute to share the official press release for today’s big announcement with all of you. This is a very exciting opportunity for our community!

Google announced today its selection of Kansas City, Kansas, as the location for its ultra high-speed fiber project.

“The wonderful diversity of our community, neighborhoods and industry make Kansas City, Kansas a microcosm for the rest of the country,” said Mayor/CEO of the Unified Government Joe Reardon. “When you combine these assets with our well-established track record of development partnerships, we feel Kansas City, Kansas is the perfect location for Google to launch its fiber project.”

Google unveiled their plan a year ago to build and study the use of ultra-high speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the country. As part of this process, the company asked interested communities to submit an application. Like more than 1,100 cities across the nation, the Unified Government (UG) submitted an application for this unique and innovative partnership.

“This project represents the future of how we connect to the web, and we want it to start in Kansas City,” said Milo Medin, Vice President for Access Services at Google. “It is a real honor for Google to be here, and we will work hard to deliver a service that will delight and empower this community to lead the nation forward in broadband.”

Google plans to offer service to the citizens of Kansas City beginning in 2012. In addition, as part of the agreement, Google will be providing free access to schools and city facilities as the fiber network is deployed.

“The deployment of this high speed Internet service into our neighborhoods will undoubtedly further advance the academic vision and goals of our local schools and universities. Our students will benefit from this new opportunity allowing them to use this next generation fiber optic system to fully realize their potential in a global economy,” said Reardon.

Google has committed to providing 1 gigabit per second fiber straight to homes and businesses at a competitive price. This is 100 times faster than most broadband connections speeds. One of the company’s goals is to improve Internet access by observing how communities transition from traditional broadband to ultra high-speed fiber optic connections.

“Over the past decade, the jump from dial-up to broadband has led to streaming online video, digital music sales, video conferencing over the web, and countless other innovations that have transformed communication and commerce,” Medin said.

Additional information on the Google Fiber project in Kansas City, Kansas is available at www.google.com/fiber/kansascityks.

A moment with our City's youth

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:50:00 -0500

This winter, I had the privilege of speaking to four of our high schools about public service as we celebrated the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy giving his inaugural speech in Washington, DC. More than anything, Kennedy’s speech was an inspirational call to public service as he challenged us:

“Ask not what your country can do for you —- ask what you can do for your country.”

That call is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.

In my conversations with our high school students, I asked them to try to find a role in positively impacting our community. I emphasized how important it was for all of us to make commitments to the betterment of the place we call home. Commitments to improving the human condition of our neighbors.

I can tell you many of our students have already become deeply involved in community life. But opportunities abound and the stories of our collective efforts often go untold.

One institution that has consistently promoted collaboration as a key to moving our community forward is Leadership 2000… a program that fully engages leaders and future leaders in the community and in purposeful impact. Class 24 has opened up a contest asking students in the community to record the ways they or others are making a positive impact on the community.

The contest is open until April 29, 2011 and the full details can be found at www.impactdotte.org. I encourage our students to participate and share the great stories in our community. I applaud Leadership 2000 Class 24 for coming up with this great project.

State of the UG reflection

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:19:23 -0600

I gave the state of the Unified Government speech on Tuesday, Feb. 8. We had wonderful turn out. About 350 people attended the speech and among other things we showcased the new Sporting KC soccer stadium and the opening of the Sara Lee deli meat processing facility in KCK.

There never seems to be enough time to share all of what is happening in our community. So I thought this space would be the perfect place to present some finer details. We continue to make impressive progress in making our community safer. I noted in the speech that violent crime went down 15.7% in 2010 in KCK. This marks the third year in a row that we have reported less than 1,000 violent crimes in the city. We are at a 25 year low in both violent crime and overall crime.

There were other impressive statistics about the progress our police department has made during 2010 that I didn’t get to mention in the speech. Our police department responded to over 211,000 calls for service last year. Thanks to an increase emphasis on traffic enforcement we saw nearly 1,000 less traffic accidents then in 2009; a 25% reduction. And our animal control unit in cooperation with the Humane Society of Kansas City saw the lowest rates of euthanasia on record in 2010. In 2008 animal control euthanized 2,199 animals, in 2010 a total of only 20 animals were euthanized; over 2,400 pets were saved. We should do everything we can to ensure this cooperative venture remains in the place going forward.

And while those statistics are impressive I know that we must continue to bolster our efforts to make neighborhoods safe. Our police department continues to be responsive to our communities needs. For instance, the department has created a Gang Intelligence Officer position who tracks gang members, gang activity, and graffiti issues throughout the city. This reflects a hallmark of the department; its positive connections and responsiveness to our citizens and neighborhood groups.

As I said in the speech, I applaud the great work of Police Chief Rick Armstrong and the hundreds of men and women of our police department that honorably serve our community on a day to day basis.

State of the economy (part 2)

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:37:00 -0500

For this post I am continuing my discussion of the economy. As we approach our 2011 budget sessions this month the commission and administration will continue to struggle with declining revenue attributable to the recession and another year of falling property values and reduced retail sales. I will post more about our budget in future posts.

Today, however, I want to focus on another piece of our long term economic dynamic. In the midst of the immediate economic challenges, our community is breaking records for commercial growth.

Through the end of June, we have issued construction permits for commercial projects totalling nearly $255,000,000. This figure is at a three year high. Commercial construction value for all of 2009 totaled $58,460,406 and $104,606,834 in 2008.

Importantly, we have several projects that are likely to move to construction still this year. This includes the first phase of the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. And of course construction continues on the Wizard stadium. Somewhat conservative estimates show expected additional commercial construction of $125,000,000. This would bring us to approximately $380,000,000 in commercial construction in 2010!

And while much of that activity is in the tourism district, as I noted in my previous post we are seeing commercial activity in various parts of the community from KU Medical Center and Hospital to Prescott Plaza with the new Jack in the Box restaurant to the new CVS pharmacy at 43rd and Rainbow to the Legends Toyota dealership at Parallel Parkway and I-435.

Construction activity today employs thousands in the building and trades and ultimately will lead to the creation of thousands of new permanent jobs for our citizens. Sustained job creation over the course of the next several years is the surest way in my estimation to recover from the recession and this commercial construction report is a solid indicator of our job creation prospects for the next several years.

State of the economy

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:58:00 -0500

This is the start of a blog that I will update periodically with factual information about what is going on in our city and my take on current topics. I have wanted to start a blog for some time as the outlets for specific information concerning Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County are limited. As a result, I generally believe that we suffer from a lack of good information about what is going on in the community.

That is not to take away from The Kansan or Dotte websites or the Wyandotte Daily News. I believe they do a good job. My goal is to provide an unique perspective and a level of detail that might not be suited for a traditional news gathering source.

With that said, my intent is to update this blog on a regular basis and to personally pen the entries frequently. So here we go…

My first entry is about the state of the economy. Like you, I am often dismayed with the latest news concerning the economy. At times it feels like a roller coaster as you read news stories. One reporting a some good news. Another inferring that a double dip recession is imminent. My report will not attempt to prognosticate about the national economy. Rather, I want to share several factual nuggets of information that I have found encouraging for our community.

Let me share my frame of reference concerning the economy and our community first. I believe that economic recovery will not fully realize itself in Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County until we are adding jobs over time and we see a reduction of unemployment in a sustained way. For our community economic recovery means that our citizens are working. Period. With that in mind, there were three reports that offer some encouragement.

Unemployment Begins to Trend Downward in KCK/WYCO

Wyandotte County’s unemployment rate for May fell to 7.6%. The Kansas City, Kansas rate also dropped to 7.8% in May. These numbers reflect a two month downward trend. In March, the city unemployment stood at 10.5%. I am hopeful that two months turn into a long lasting trend of reduced unemployment.

To give you some context, our unemployment rate has not been below 8% since May of 2008. We averaged unemployment of 10.6% in 2009 in Kansas City, Kansas. Our highest month of unemployment was January of 2009 when the Kansas City, Kansas rate was 13.9%.

It is also interesting to note that historically our unemployment rate has exceeded that of the US. During this recession we have been somewhat closer to the national rate then in the past but have trended at a slightly higher rate that the country as a whole. For the last three months, however, our unemployment rate fell below the national rate. For instance, in May the US unemployment rate was 9.7% compared again to the WYCO rate of 7.6% and the KCK rate of 7.8%.

Note that the metro unemployment data for May has not been released. The April unemployment rate for the KC metro area was 8.3%.

Finally, it is important to note our historical unemployment rate. Over the last 10 years our unemployment rate has averaged about 9.7%.

Again, my hope is that this unemployment data is an encouraging sign of things to come for our community.

Construction Jobs are Growing in Kansas Thanks to KCK and Wyandotte County

The Kansas City Star reported last week that Kansas lead all states in construction job growth from May 2009 to May 2010. Only 4 other states had construction employment growth and Missouri was not one of them. Kansas had a net gain of about 3,600 construction jobs representing a 6.2% gain. Good news for us: much of the growth is being attributed to the construction activity happening in Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County.

As the Star reported:

“…a flurry of commercial construction projects in western Wyandotte County has sparked some regional recovery.”Kansas City Star, June 22, 2010

As is widely known, construction is underway at the KC Wizards stadium and the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. Both of those projects are valued at approximately $500 million dollars.

Not widely reported is ongoing construction of two office buildings at the University of Kansas Hospital and Medical Center campus. One being a 183,000 square foot clinical office building valued at $73 million and the other a 40,000 square foot medical center office building on Rainbow Boulevard valued at $6 million.

Other construction activity includes ongoing work at the new Sara Lee meat processing plant near Kansas Avenue and I-635. This project is valued at approximately $130 million.

Again, our goal must be to continue to build a robust pipeline of new commercial development to sustain not only construction activity but create permanent new jobs. More on that in an upcoming post.

And finally…

Kansas City, Kansas Gains Residents for Third Straight Year in a Row

Despite some popular media reporting, there is good news in the latest census estimates for Kansas City, Kansas. For the third year in a row Kansas City, Kansas has posted a net gain in population. This is a significant reversal of a long standing trend of the city losing population overtime. Over the last three years KCK has gained 1,936 persons or an approximate 1.3% gain. In fact, according to census estimates the city has not seen population growth of this sort in over 20 years.

This news also is an encouraging reminder that our city is on the grow. Not just in commercial activity but in population, too. It again gives us evidence that our community is one that many are finding to be a great place to call home.

Become a fan on Facebook today for community events, news and post updates!

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:10:27 -0500

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