The latest note from Kansas City's most prolific transit activist has garnered more early and overall support than anything he has worked on in years. Here's an update:
Clay Chastain's open letter to (Mayor) James and the city council concerning vote on new streetcar petition initiative
If Mayor Sly James and the city council want to act in good faith, with transparency and uphold the public trust they will vote (Jan.12th or 19th) to place before CITYWIDE voters (on April 4, 2017) the people's valid petition to transform the city's limited downtown streetcar line into a more rapid, useful and citywide rail system.
It will be viewed as an act of malfeasance ("wrongful act by a public official that causes harm and violates the public trust") if, for no valid reason, any council member acts to delay, disrupt or sabotage an April streetcar election.
Mayor James, the city attorney and council have had ample time to examine the streetcar initiative and observe it is structured identically to the light rail initiative the council placed before voters last November. Thus, there is no valid reason to hold the streetcar petition for 60-days and keep it off the "next regularly scheduled election date" (April 4, 2017) as mandated on the face of the petition signed in support of by 2,600 Kansas City voters.
And yes, the April ballot looks to be crowded with initiatives from the people as well as a city-sponsored $800 million bond issue. Good. That means voters will have choices.
In our case, all we want is a fair shot to present this city-changing streetcar initiative to the community and CITYWIDE voters.
Not a fair shot would be doing what the city has previously done to past light rail and Union Station initiatives including...
(1) Delaying an election, or making an election moot, by tying them up in court;
(2) Sabotaging an election by deliberately placing confusing, empty and meaningless ballot language before voters that did not reflect the intent of the initiative; and
(3) Undermining an election by trotting out the city attorney to falsely claim them "unworkable," "unconstitutional,' or "illegal" without presenting proof from transit experts or federal transit officials.
If we get a fair shot and still lose, I will cease fighting for this cause in Kansas City.
If we win, then the city must do its best to put in place this missing piece of infrastructure that once made Kansas City great in the past...a first-class, rail-based public transportation system of benefit to everybody, the environment and the city itself.
Clay Chastain...leader of the streetcar initiative.
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