Originally Posted by 4th and Long
I'm going to go off the rails here so try and indulge me for a moment, if you would.
Who we're leaving out of this conversation is just as important as Mayor Q and the Royals. Frank Friggin' White.
He still has in roads with the organization, albeit not as many as he used to. You know, Frank Friggin' White, the county executive for Jackson County? The county executive who vetoed an ordinance that would have created a ballot measure on renewing a 3/8th-cent sales tax to subsidize sports stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals? THAT Frank Friggin' White. So where is Frank Friggin' White in all of this?
I'll tell you where he is. He's trying to screw the cities in Jackson County out of nearly $58,000,000 in ARPA funds. Money he's been sitting on for years instead of getting it out to the towns and cities, as it was intended to be used.
For those of you unfamiliar, ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds were specifically earmarked for the following things.
Responding to the pandemic: Supporting the health of communities and helping households, businesses, and industries recover from the pandemic's economic impacts. This is clearly not needed now.
Covering payroll and benefits: Covering the full payroll and covered benefits costs for employees or operating units primarily dedicated to the COVID-19 response. Also no longer needed.
Maintaining public services: Providing government services to the extent of revenue lost due to the pandemic. Again, no longer needed.
Providing premium pay: Offering additional support to essential workers. COVID related and no longer needed.
Providing emergency relief: Providing emergency relief from natural disasters or their negative economic impacts. Not a whole lot of those happening in Jackson County.
Supporting surface transportation projects: This program supports projects that improve surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas. Eligible applicants include states, regional transportation planning organizations, local governments, tribal governments, and multijurisdictional groups of entities. A noble cause which I gladly support, but the last one is what would really help the communities in Jackson County.
Investing in infrastructure: This is what the vast majority of cities want to use the money for. Things like: Improving access to clean drinking water, wastewater and storm water infrastructure, expanding broadband internet, roads and bridges, electric grid upgrades, public transportation, freight rail and passenger rail, climate change protection, airports, public transport, environmental cleanup, electric vehicles, transportation safety, and reconnecting communities.
There are a ton of cities and towns that could use a slice of that 58 million dollar pie to better their communities. This ARPA money has to be earmarked for projects by Dec. 31st, 2024. If not, it has to be returned, unused, to the Federal Government.
Frank Friggin' White is fighting tooth and nail to hang on to that money and not disperse it among the cities as it was intended. Do you know what Frank Friggin' White wants to do with that money?
He wants to use it to pretty up the Jackson County Courthouse!
You wont find "redecorating a courthouse" as a legal use for those funds, anywhere.
What's worse, he has the "If I can't have it, nobody is getting it!" mentality and he probably has the votes to get away with it. He'll stonewall this until Jan.1, then return the funds to the Federal Government and give every city in Jackson County the middle finger, just to spite everyone.
Frank Friggin' White lives to give Jackson County and the sports community the middle finger.
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