Neighborhoods

Funk’s View

People don’t actually live in cities , they live in neighborhoods. If you ask someone from Kansas City where they’re from, they’ll say “Brookside,” “Briarcliff” or “Ivanhoe” – not “Kansas City.”  Neighborhoods bring a special flavor to each area of our city.

Our neighborhoods used to be the center of the community, the center of attention, the center of commerce, and the center of learning.  We have strayed too far from that ideal.

Residents judge their city government by its delivery of services in their particular neighborhoods. As Mayor, I’ve done town hall meetings in every corner of our city. And I can tell you that every neighborhood feels neglected, like they are the stepchild of Kansas City.

In some ways, they all are right. For almost a generation, Kansas City’s government has forgotten its responsibility to its neighborhoods.

Funk on the Job

As Mayor, my focus has been on pushing to assure that your city government realizes its responsibility – first and foremost – is to its citizens and protecting, and enhancing, the neighborhoods they live in.  I have stuck up for the regular folks who live in our neighborhoods each and every time a government decision was to be made.  After all, it is their government.

I’ve pushed to add more cops to patrol our neighborhoods. I’ve directed the city’s budget toward basic services like snow removal, street and sidewalk repair, particularly around schools.

When Wells Fargo threatened to auction off more than 250 foreclosed houses in inner-city neighborhoods to out-of-town speculators with no interests in our city, I called foul. As a result, more than 70 of those homes have been donated to non-profit groups for rehabilitation or reconstruction, or to the city. The rest are being sold – but this time to buyers with an interest in the community, not to out-of-town speculators who would let them sit empty and become an eyesore to the community.

Neighborhoods need businesses, stores, and retail services just as much as they need residents. I continue to nurture small, homegrown businesses, and help them grow into the Hallmarks of the next generation.

Funk’s Action Plan

I’m not done.

As a city, we need to do more to build strong, stable neighborhoods.

We need more neighborhoods in which families live for generations, people know each other, and residents develop a deep emotional attachment to the neighborhood as a unique and special place. 

                                     

Kansas City has many neighborhoods like that already. But we also have far too many neighborhoods that are all-but-ignored by City Hall, by residents in other parts of the city, and sometimes by residents of those neighborhoods themselves.

I will continue to be a champion for our neighborhoods, first by keeping well-functioning neighborhoods from falling into decay.  And then by helping our decaying neighborhoods by continuing to work for a City Hall structure that will assist neighborhood residents and small urban redevelopment businesses to build and renovate homes in the urban core of the city.  It’s a big job. We need to stand aside and let these people get the job done, while supporting them when we can.

Part of my New Tools economic initiative calls for a community development credit union that will help these potential homeowners and developers to finance these vital urban projects.

At the same time, I plan to push for an office inside City Hall that will be there to help businesses work their way through the permits and other paperwork necessary to do business in the city. This will help spark new small businesses in our neighborhoods.

With this approach, I know our neighborhoods will be stronger and more successful, and so will our city.