What issues are important in the city council races?

Transportation, reinvestment in the urban core, schools, traffic and a clean city are the most important issues to Midtowners planning to vote in the upcoming city council elections.

That’s the input we’ve gotten from Midtown KC Post readers and folks over at the mySidewalk site, where we asked people what issues they would like to hear council candidates address.

The Midtown KC Post and five neighborhood groups want to know what you would like to hear candidates for the city council elections talk about at a March 31 forum.

All of the 4^th district candidates and many of the at-large candidates in other districts had confirmed they will attend the forum.

The results so far

Here are the topics Midtown residents say they want to see the next council address:

• Transportation: Several residents mention they’d like to see Midtown become more bike and pedestrian friendly. They’d like to see more bike lanes and continued improvements in bike facilities. One resident also wants to hear candidates talk about how to get voters, particularly those on the east side, to vote for mass transit improvements.
• Reinvestment in the urban core: One Hyde Park residents asked candidates how they might help redevelopment of Troost between 31^st and 47^th Streets in order to strengthen the surrounding neighborhood. Another said the city council should explore ways to encourage home ownership.
• Schools: While several residents pointed out that the city council has no authority over the school district, others say the biggest priority for Midtown is schools.
• A clean city: A few residents mentioned the general appearance of Midtown as an important issue. “As much as I love KC the song, “dirty ole town” always comes to mind. We need to do better on recycling and trash as well as the overall look of the city,” one said. Another mentioned more green space and getting rid of vacant houses as important issues.
• Traffic: Several people mentioned specific traffic problems including the need for turn signals at 39^th and Southwest Trafficway, traffic on 39^th Street, and traffic around the Westport Road/Southwest Trafficway triangle.

We want to make sure residents of Midtown get a chance to weigh in on which issues are most important to them. If you haven’t responded, you still have time.

• Post your comments here by adding them in the comments section
• Post to mySidewalk by clicking on the link below

Details

Candidate forum for 4^th District and at-large candidates

When: March 31 7-8:30 p.m.

Where: The Writer’s Place, 3607 Pennsylvania

Sponsored by: The Midtown KC Post and the Valentine, Coleman Highlands,  Volker, Hyde Park, Old Hyde Park  Neighborhood Associations

Before the April 7 primary, Midtown voters will have a chance to hear from the city council candidates about issues affecting urban neighborhoods. The Midtown KC Post, a daily online news site, will offer readers an opportunity to shape the discussion by asking questions they would like the candidates to answer. At the forum, each candidate will be able to give a three-minute statement which should address what issues the candidates feels are the most important to the Midtown area and how he/she would address those issues. They will then be asked questions based upon the input from residents. The moderator will ask questions based on online input and questions submitted at the forum on index cards.