LWVKC Observer Corps: We’re 👁👁Watching 

Quarterly Report: April-June 2024

Observer Corps members attend public meetings in person or online and alert LWVKC leadership of any issues that may require action on the part of the League. We do not speak for the League, we observe on behalf of the League. The elected and appointed officials we watch know we’re there.

Committee Chair:Teri Lane ; Chair Emeritus: Donna Hoch

Editor: Jo Holt

We observe public meetings and events and report on the following issues of particular interest to the LWVKC:

• ELECTIONS, ELECTION INTEGRITY & VOTING RIGHTS
• Meetings of election authorities (KCEB, JCEB, Clay County, Platte County, Cass County).
• PUBLIC SCHOOLS & LIBRARIES
• TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT 
• All meetings of elected officials or their appointees. Have significant rules or legislation been voted on without discussion? Includes application and/or analysis of the MO Sunshine Law.
• JUSTICE, LAW ENFORCEMENT & COMMUNITY POLICING  
• Meetings of the KCMO Board of Police Commissioners, city councils (KCMO, Independence, Raymore, Parkville, Liberty, etc), and county commissions. 
• HEALTHCARE 
• Meetings of the KCMO Health Commission and health departments overseen by cities and counties. Includes measures that impact public health and veteran’s care. 
• HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT  
• Meetings of the KCMO Land Bank, cities, and counties. Includes property tax assessments, affordable housing, evictions, homelessness, TIFs, and controlled growth. 
• HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
• Meetings of the KC Human Rights Commission, the KCMO Police Board, and cities and counties. Includes all DEI issues in awarding city and county contracts and in hiring practices.
• GREEN ENERGY IMPACTS, INITIATIVES & INFRASTRUCTURE   

2024 Goals

The Observer Corps is focusing on monitoring local governmental meetings in 2024 while covering all four election cycles (Feb, Apr, Aug, and Nov). We are attending meetings of the election boards as well as public tests of election equipment and audits. We welcome new volunteers! 

2024 Quarter 2

MISSOURI SUNSHINE LAW

The MO Sunshine Law is of immediate significance to our Observer Corps with regard to when and how public meetings are posted and how open and transparent these meetings are. Meetings where decisions have been made in advance are clearly and dramatically different from those filled with open discussion and new ideas. Local newspapers in Missouri have reported several ongoing Sunshine-related issues during this quarter alone: The Board of Aldermen of Willard, MO; the Kansas City Police Department; Platte City Board of Aldermen; and the MO Department of Corrections. Reports like these are useful in planning next year’s Sunshine Law event.

ELECTIONS, ELECTION INTEGRITY & VOTING RIGHTS

This quarter began with the April 2 election, which included a number of municipal races and the tax question for a new Royals stadium and a rebuilt Chiefs stadium. Election authorities conduct a number of tests after each election which are required by state law prior to certification of the election. These are tests of equipment as well as a manual recount of 5% of the vote in each jurisdiction. All of these tests and the recount are open to the public, and Observer Corps members are frequently in attendance. This quarter has been very active also in preparation for the August 6 and November 5 elections.

An important issue on the August ballot is a re-vote on Kansas City’s police department budget. The MO Supreme Court found the 2022 question “misled voters”. The Court rewrote the ballot language which now specifically states that the measure (which is a statewide ballot question) is only relevant to Kansas City and that costs of implementing the measure are nonzero. The new ballot language informs all Missouri voters that Kansas City does not control its own police department.

Only 26 states plus Washington DC allow citizen-initiated ballot measures, and MO is one that allows both initiatives (new laws) and referenda (challenging existing laws). This year the Secretary of State’s office received 174 initiative petitions (from 19 sources) and no referendum petitions. A total of 141 petitions were approved to circulate, and signed petitions were received for 4 initiatives by the May 5 deadline. Hundreds of thousands of petition signatures are being verified by Election Authorities throughout the state. The LWVMO has endorsed two of these initiative petitions: Missourians for Constitutional Freedom (reproductive rights) and Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages (minimum wage & paid sick leave). Both initiatives are constitutional amendments, requiring 8% of registered voters in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts to sign. It is not just the total number of signatures that is important, it is the distribution of those signatures. The failure of one district to collect sufficient signatures will prevent the initiative from being on the November ballot.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS & LIBRARIES

Across the country core functions and responsibilities of many public schools and libraries have been challenged in the past few years from those elected (school boards) and appointed (library boards) to oversee their operations. The Observer Corps has found that this holds true in the Kansas City metro area as well. The Cass County Public Library is currently involved in two lawsuits that date back two years to a controversy over a children’s book. At that time the Library Board refused much of the local tax levy approved by voters, and the director of the library resigned and left town after being harassed and threatened. The Mid- Continent Public Library also chose in 2022 not to utilize all of the levy voters approved in 2016. However, the most recent budget proposal required a restoration of the levy and was approved by the Board of Trustees. The Kansas City Public Library has not been subject to this type of activity from its own board.

The school board for Hickman Mills public school continues to work on a decades-long effort to regain full accreditation with a school board that was very combative and did not work well. The April election saw new members join the board, with hope that improvement will continue. The North Kansas City School Board functions very well. Board meetings highlight many of the district’s advanced programs. In contrast, the Raytown Public School Board, which appears to be working well together, is focused on security as much as on advanced programs. Three members of the Blue Springs School Board were also on the board of the EPIC Foundation of Epic Church KC prior to allegations against one of them for inappropriate behavior with minors.

HEALTHCARE

The KC Health Commission has returned to meeting regularly. The 18-member commission advises the Mayor and City Council on matters related to the KC Community Health Improvement Plan (KC-CHIP) and other public health policies. The Commission is developing an RFP for the $400,000 Health Innovation Fund which comes from the KC health levy. The health levy originated in 2005, was renewed by voters in 2013 and again in 2022 and funds University Health and other nonprofit health centers and ambulance services.

TRANSPARENCY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Jackson County Legislature entertained a proposal for a ballot question for the November 5 general election. The proposed ordinance would impose a countywide capital improvement sales tax of three- sixteenths of one percent for a period of twenty-five years for the purpose of retaining the Kansas City Chiefs sports team in Jackson County. It was agreed that this item requires further research/discussion before the ballot deadline of August 27. As typically observed, there was little open discussion on issues at this meeting. In Raymore, a special City Council meeting approved a financial settlement which effectively ended the threatof development of a nearby landfill. This process was conducted in an open and transparent manner. The MO Legislature then passed a bill needed to support the agreement.