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Kansas City, Missouri, Election Board Moves into The Shops on Blue Parkway
The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners moved into Community Builders of Kansas City’s The Shops on Blue Parkway, located at 4407 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri, in September. The 26-person staff occupies 20,000 square feet of space in the office directly east of KC Sun Fresh on the Boulevard.
The Board of Elections had been looking for new space for its polling, training and other operations when its lease came up for renewal in July of this year.
“The Shops on Blue Parkway appealed to us for several reasons,” explained Lauri Ealom, director of Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners. “The space is centrally located, putting us 15 minutes from every poll which is more convenient for voters. It’s right on the bus line, accessible for differently abled voters and there’s plenty of free parking.”
In person absentee voting for all elections will now take place at the new office, including for the upcoming Nov. 7, 2023, election. In person absentee voting for this Nov.’s election began Tuesday, Sept 26, and runs through Monday, Nov. 6.
The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners is a bipartisan board appointed by the Missouri governor and charged with control of elections and voting procedures. It is responsible for maintaining current and accurate voter rolls, maximizing voter registration and voter turnout efforts, educating the voting public and conducting efficient, fair, honest and impartial elections at a minimum cost to the electorate.
In addition to Ealom, current board members are Sharon Turner Buie, secretary; Sarah (Sally) Miller, chair; Aimee Gromowsky, commissioner; Ralph F. Munyan II, commissioner; Shawn Kieffer, director; Charles Renner, attorney and David Raymond, attorney.
The Shops on Blue Parkway development was built in 2005 to provide missing services and products to the area. It provides residents with valuable services like KC Sun Fresh grocery store, H&R Block and Vivent Health as well as national brand retail stores and restaurants such as Hibbett, T-Mobile, Subway and Wingstop. Comprising 155,000 square feet of Class A retail/office space, the development represents an investment of more than $35 million dollars.
The Shops on Blue Parkway, which are at 97 percent occupancy, have been recognized with a Cornerstone Award from the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri. The shopping center serves an estimated 74,000 residents and more than 3,000 employees within a three-mile radius.
“We look forward to growing our new partnership with CBKC and the surrounding community and are excited to be able to draw some of the 300,000 people we serve to The Shops on Blue Parkway,” said Ealom.
Disney’s “Encanto” Enchants at CBKC’s Community Movie Night at Starlight Theater
For the fourth year in a row, Community Builders of Kansas City partnered with Starlight Theater to present a community movie night under the stars. This year’s event on September 8, featured a free, outdoor screening of Disney’s hit film “Encanto”. Before the movie, guests were invited to join the Urban Bucket Brigade which uses recycled buckets for an interactive drumming workshop focused on eye to hand coordination, rhythm and fun. Movie-goers also enjoyed free water and soda, a resource fair and live music from Pablo Sanhueza and the Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra. The group is the first and only tuition-free cultural immersion education and performance non-profit orchestra in the Midwest that is dedicated to Jazz and Latin American music and dance.
“Encanto”, a Disney movie released in November 2021, tells the story of a multigenerational Colombian family, the Madrigals, who – except for Mirabel Madrigal – possess magical powers that help them serve the people in their rural community called the “Encanto”. When Mirabel learns that the family is losing their magic, she embarks on a journey to discover what is happening and save her family and their magical house. The film includes original music by Emmy®, GRAMMY® and Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”).
After being postponed twice due to summer storms, more than 1,000 people took part in the CBKC community movie night.
CBKC and IFF Explore How KC Urban Development Can Improve
On Thursday, June 15, Community Builders of Kansas City President and CEO Emmet Pierson joined IFF Executive Director for the Southern Region Stephen Westbrooks at Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City for a conversation about what community development can look like in Kansas City.
At “What IFF… we did development differently in Kansas City?” Pierson talked about the obstacles to developing in under-resourced areas and ideas for improving community development.
The conversation began with Pierson being asked how he defines community development.
“To me, community development is building assets to support a community,” he said. “There’s a tendency to boil that down to affordable housing but at CBKC, it’s about meeting the needs for all goods and services. For example, a community needs mixed-income housing to bring in more taxes and commercial space for burgeoning entrepreneurs. It needs cultural assets to educate residents and education and assistance navigating city hall and charities, just to name a few.”
Next Pierson was asked for suggestions and solutions on how to do community development in Kansas City differently.
“We need to support nonprofit developers and Black and brown developers and contractors and look at how resources are deployed,” he said. “Banks are still using appraisal-based underwriting. If you’re trying to reinvest in underserved and under-resourced areas, there’s an inherent conflict between the cost to do it and the value it will generate. So a developer ends up putting in its own money up front, which takes money away from not just that project, but future projects as well.”
Pierson gave the example of CBKC’s The Rochester residential development, saying the project was done as a proof-of-concept, to help banks begin to consider a different approach to lending. He complimented IFF on its non-appraisal-based lending approach.
Another obstacle to community development according to Pierson is local government and philanthropic participation.
“Other more progressive cities will dip into their general fund, whereas Kansas City tends to rely on federal money for urban development,” he said. “City and state government should be leading community development. We also need local philanthropists to be more engaged with brick and mortar development. Sunderland is doing a great job of committing to the cause but other foundations in town and it’d be great to see other foundations follow their lead.”
He named the Ford Foundation as an example of a philanthropic organization that goes into its corpus (original assets) to support address needs.
In addition, Pierson noted the need for additional minority-owned large contractors.
“In Kansas City, it’s the same contractors on all the large jobs,” he said. “We need to support and grow minority contractors. One way to do that is to eliminate a big barrier to entry – the cost of bonding. We could set up a pool to fund a true bonding program for construction companies run by people of color.”
Additionally, Pierson observed that smaller minority contractors should be willing to partner with larger contractors that can take on more of the debt, referencing CBKC’s partnership with Edgemoor.
“Edgemoor has been a great partner for us,” said Pierson. “They have a culture of seeking out partners of color.”
Cultivating the next generation is another way to improve community development according to Pierson.
“In the past, Kansas City urban development was led by dynamic titans of industry and dominated by non-profits,” he said. “About 17 local community development corporations were organizing and developing housing and the city was building single, for-sale housing. Today there are only four nonprofits doing this type of work and they all have older CEOs and a thin bench with no succession plan.”
Pierson also talked about the need to expand circles and rethink how we engage with each other.
“We can’t do development differently if we stay in our silos,” he said. “If I work and live on the East Side, I’m not going to have the opportunity to know who to approach at a major downtown bank or how to talk to local business leaders about what I do. We need to expand our circles of conversations, get out of our comfort zone and have the difficult conversations.”
The tendency to over plan and under implement is another barrier to good urban development in Kansas City, Pierson said.
When asked what makes him hopeful for the future, Pierson cited banks beginning to entertain conversations about non-appraisal-based lending, Kansas City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund (city-wide fund to promote, preserve and create long-term affordable housing for extremely low-, very low- and moderate-income households), local charities starting to consider place-based investment, the recent improvements at Kansas City Public Schools and the optimism of the younger generation.
To watch the complete conversation, visit https://vimeo.com/838044744.
1 According to GivingCompass.org, the “payout rule” refers to the fact that, by law, private nonoperating foundations must distribute five percent of the value of their net investment assets annually in the form of grants or eligible administrative expenses, with certain exceptions. The rule was created to prevent foundations from receiving assets but never actually making charitable distributions with them.
FiredUp Studios Entertains, Educates on Entrepreneurship and Local Issues
Local company FiredUp Studios, founded by Zik Nwanganga, hosts a podcast that highlights local entrepreneurs, change-makers and influencers who are making a positive impact in Kansas City. He gets them to talk about purpose, leadership and principles to help his audience succeed in life.
FiredUp Studios originally started as a UMKC campus organization that Nwanganga, then a student, founded. The group met weekly to talk about how graduating students could bring value to the marketplace. Later that year after hearing from several entrepreneur guest speakers, the organization evolved into a campus radio show focused on entrepreneurship called “FiredUp UMKC.”
In December 2019, Nwanganga launched the “FiredUpKC” podcast with its first episode, “Defining the Purpose of Man” with guest Dylan Dilworth.
“At that time, it was just me and my iPhone, chronicling Kansas City trailblazers one at a time,” he said.
By early 2022, Nwanganga had over 100 podcasts under his belt and wanted to expand his capabilities. He founded the FiredUp Studios production company and added five to the team. Alex French is videographer, Gwen Gillette handles marketing, Bing Low is event organizer, Eric Mulondayi serves as videographer and drone pilot and Aljon Torres is editor.
In addition to its own podcast, FiredUp Studios produces other podcasts and events and marketing materials such as head shots, video testimonials and documentaries. Next spring, the studio will produce a networking event to connect local entrepreneurs with investors.
Since its inception, FiredUp Studios’ podcast has hosted spiritual leaders, local entrepreneurs, elected officials like Mayor Quinton Lucas and community leaders like Community Builders of Kansas City’s CEO Emmet Pierson, Jr., and GIFT’s Brandon Calloway. Topics have ranged from advice on starting a business or networking to racism and local politics. The podcast has produced 120 episodes.
“I think there is nothing more important than learning about people,” Nwanganga said. “I love telling stories of who they are, their journey and how their successes and failures have led to where they are today. I’ve learned so much, and the two recurring themes are that there is struggle in every situation, and that to become confident you need to upgrade your skills to be the expert in your particular field.”
Learn more about FiredUp Studios at https://www.firedupstudiosfilm.com/ or listen to the podcast on Anchor, Apple Podcast, Kim Young TV on Roku, Spotify or YouTube.
How Will New City Council Members Shape KC?
On June 20, more than half of Kansas City’s city council seats were won by newcomers, with only five incumbents winning re-election. The result? A council that is, according to Mayor Quinton Lucas, “… the most progressive in years.” Add to that the changing landscape of local development, shifting from an era defined by momentum to build a vibrant downtown and worldclass airport, to one in which advocacy groups have increasingly brought forth the pressing need for affordable housing for all. The situation has set the stage for what will likely be an interesting four years at city hall.
New members to the KC council include Darrell Curls of the 5th District at large, Jonathon Duncan of the 6th District, Lindsay French of the 2nd District at-Large, Melissa Patterson Hazley of the 3rd District at-Large, Crispin Rea of the 4th District at-Large, Wes Rogers of the 2nd District and Nathan Willett of the 1st District.
Curls previously served as a state representative and as a Ford Motor Company union steward. His priorities include crime reduction, better city services, more affordable housing choice, good paying jobs and infrastructure investment.
Duncan was a KC Tenants Power (KCTP)-backed candidate. He is a vocal supporter of tenant protections and municipal social housing as well as policing/incarceration alternatives, more transit and worker protections.
French prioritizes safe and healthy communities, affordable and workforce housing, basic city services and equitable development that balances the need for incentives with fair treatment of taxing jurisdictions.
Patterson Hazley advocates for diverse housing for all, good paying jobs with benefits, improved basic services, enhanced public safety and youth advocacy. A former LCRA commissioner, she has deep relationships in development community. At a KCTP meeting, she committed to co-govern with the organization and shared her plan to use multiple tools, including tax incentives and philanthropic funding, to create and revamp truly affordable housing.
Rea states his top priority as safe neighborhoods and supports strong basic services, small business development and job creation. Having grown up in the urban core and worked as a prosecuting attorney in the Special Victims Unit, he says he has seen the impact of crime firsthand and wants to make Kansas City the safest city in America.
A former state representative, Rogers seeks to make Kansas City the best city in the country to start or grow a business. He has said in media interviews that the city needs more housing options which require easier permitting and use of incentives. He also agreed, at a KCTP meeting, that, “… $1,200 for a one-bedroom apartment is not affordable.” He also committed to, “… co-govern with our sibling organization, KC Tenants.”
Willet is a third generation Northlander whose priorities are public safety, neighborhood improvements, youth needs and supporting teachers.
Among incumbents returning for another four years are council members endorsed or supported by KCPT.
Andrea Bough states that her number one priority will be to, “… increase the stock of truly affordable housing in Kansas City.”
Melissa Robinson is a former Kansas City Public Schools board president and crisis intervention director at Ad Hoc Group Against Crime. She has said crime prevention, poverty and redirection of housing and infrastructure funds from her district are among her biggest issues.
Eric Bunch sponsored legislation to overhaul short-term rentals and advocates for municipal social housing and public transit.
The remaining two council members are incumbents who were not officially supported by KCTP but have backed affordable housing/tenant solutions and crime prevention efforts.
Kevin O’Neill lives north of the river and his platform is safe neighborhoods, good-paying jobs/ work environment and the city’s efficient use of tax dollars. He supports the Tenant Bill of Rights, Right to Counsel and is in favor of penalties for bad-actor landlords.
Lastly, Ryana Parks-Shaw in her first term sponsored multiple initiatives around affordable housing, neighborhood services/access, infrastructure bond packages, violence prevention and economic development/small business.
Kansas City has both big events or developments underway or anticipated such as the 2026 World Cup, the new women’s soccer stadium, the streetcar extension, the possibility of a new baseball stadium and the downtown South Loop park.
At the same time, demands for solutions to affordable housing, crime and infrastructure issues are getting more attention.
Time will tell how the newly elected Kansas City council members will integrate the new voices and competing priorities to successfully manage the many opportunities and challenges awaiting it. Congratulations and good luck to all.
Veteran Property Management Leader Takes the Helm of EastPointe Realty
Robert Allen, longtime property management authority, joined Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC) subsidiary EastPointe Realty (EPR). While he is new to EPR, he previously managed properties for the organization. Allen joined the team in March to lead asset management services for the organization’s growing portfolio of residential properties.
“CBKC is one of the best community developers in the country and I couldn’t be more honored to join this team of passionate and talented individuals,” said Allen.
Allen, who co-founded Leawood-based property management firm The Dalmark Group, has more than 30 years of experience in the industry. With substantial influence and credibility within the sector, he has extensive proficiency with real estate investment trusts (REIT)s, optimizing value and market position, leading disposition and refinancing efforts and marketing/leasing properties.
An alumna of Central Missouri State University, Allen has been awarded numerous accolades including the Apartment Association of Kansas City’s Management Company of the Year and Management Executive of the Year, the Crystal Merit Grand Achievement Award for Management Company and was partner/owner of an apartment complex that received the 2007 Missouri Governors Award for Housing.
“Allen’s depth of experience, recognized influence and solid leadership will secure successful management of EastPointe’s 990 units in Kansas City and St. Louis and position it for future growth and expansion into additional markets,” said Emmet Pierson, Jr., CBKC president and CEO.