By Don Bradley
Phil LeVota brought his “100 Days” tour to south Kansas City on February 9th to give an update on the start of his time as Jackson County Executive.
“It’s been like drinking water from a firehose,” he told a mostly filled meeting of the South Kansas City Alliance.
LeVota, a former prosecutor, was appointed in October to serve the remainder of Frank White’s term. White was removed from the county executive’s office by public referendum after a long and bitter fight about property taxes.
LeVota was accompanied by Jackson County Legislature chair Manny Abarca and the two talked about fixes to tax assessment, an ICE detention facility, Blue River Road, old Covid money and even the Chiefs and the Royals.
But first off, they both slammed White without mentioning his name. Uncooperative, stubborn, unwilling to compromise and wrong about a lot of things.
“It was dysfunction and that’s why I’m here,” LeVota told the crowd at KCPD’s south patrol campus.
“We have a new day.”
Abarca said the county is in a much better place because now the legislature and the county executive actually talk and work together.
Abarca told the crowd about his recent encounter with federal agents at a planned site for the detention facility for those rounded up in the ongoing immigration roundup.
The 7,600 bed facility is planned for a building near the old Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base. Agents boxed in Abarca’s car at the site, ordered him to leave and threatened to have him arrested.
“They said I was trespassing at a building they don’t own or have legal access to,” Abarca said.
He said it will be an uphill fight to stop the project, but “This is not what Kansas City wants.”
Most of the talk at the Monday meeting concerned property taxes. LeVota said White’s way of conducting that part of the job was over and new steps were being taken to achieve fairness for taxpayers.
He talked about the homeowners and businesses who saw tax bills go up by as much as a thousand percent.
Now, there are caps in place to limit increases and for those who overpaid under White will receive a tax credit.
“It’s not money in your pocket but it is money you won’t have to pay,” LeVota said.
Responding to a question, LeVota said that if someone had protested a tax amount then agreed to a certain amount, their tax bill would drop automatically if the new assessment landed below that amount.
He told the meeting he understood the level of skepticism.
“People don’t trust the county because they were lied to for years,” he said. “We’re trying to rebuild that trust.”
LeVota also talked about federal money for non-profits the county had received during Covid but was still sitting there when he took office.
He said he told staffers to “Get it on the street.”
At least two non-profit heads were present, including one who waved a new $20,000 check to the room.
LeVota put a positive spin on most everything he talked about. Except for the deal that has the Kansas City Chiefs moving to Kansas.
“I’m hoping it blows up,” he said. “And it’s not a done deal and it’s not as rosy as it seemed at first.”
He said he was confident the Royals will stay in Jackson County.
“I’m hoping the Royals will find a location they want and will come to us and ask what we can do to help.”
As for Blue River Road, which was closed years ago due to ground shift, the issue of what to do with the scenic stretch has always fallen to Kansas City.
But Abarca said that because the county owns land on both sides of Blue River, it should have a say on what to do with it.
He talked about the abandoned soccer and baseball fields along the route.
“These are county assets that we are just letting rot.”