TKC TOLD YOU SO!!! KANSAS CITY 18TH & VINE JAZZ DISTRICT DEMANDS ANOTHER 7 MILLION BUCKS DESPITE LATEST HOMICIDE & MORE THAN $100 MILLION WASTED!!!

At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, insiders told our blog community that it was just a matter of time before the Jazz District demanded money that could be better spent in many other places. Similarly, some of our most thoughtful readers mentioned the sordid topic of coin and the fate of this district over the weekend in the midst of more gunfire.

To wit and because the newspaper is downplaying THIS EPIC CASH ASK in order to focus on continued corporate welfare . . .

FOLLOWING THE DEADLY DOUBLE SHOOTING OVER JUNETEENTH WEEKEND, EAST SIDE LEADERS DEMAND MILLIONS MORE FOR THE FAILED JAZZ DISTRICT!!!

Reference and a tweet from 3rd District council lady Melissa Robinson . . .

"On Wednesday we will have a hearing on the City’s commitment to investing $7Million in the Historical 18th and Vine Jazz District."

A peek at the legislation . . .

#200424 - Affirming the City Council’s commitment to fund subsequent phases of the 18th and Vine Historic District Improvements by identifying funding sources from 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget; and directing the City Manager to include a funding request in the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year budget in conformance with this resolution.

Now, to be fair, every year Kansas City taxpayers fund the P&L District to the tune of at least $15-MILLION.

However, the P&L District has created hundreds of jobs, transformed the image of Downtown KCMO across the nation and hosted a solid line-up of C-list entertainers for cheap or free admission — Thereby attracting a great many chubby 30-something-recently-divorced ladies into the loop in order to entertain us all and make life worth living.



Meanwhile, there's a somewhat cool daiquiri bar around 18th & Vine but overall it has been one of the biggest economic disasters in KCMO history.

For those who might be tempted to forget about KCMO basically burning money . . .

The 18th & Vine Jazz District has garnered over 100 MILLION BUCKS worth of KCMO taxpayer investment since the 1990s yet without developing a profit model or curb constant violence near venues after dark.

It's highly unlikely that seven million more worth of street improvements will make any difference for businesses that haven't helped KCMO revenues for a period of time far longer than the American jazz age.



Sadly, the district can't be viewed merely as a FAILED investment in tourism and business development . . . Instead, social justice activists believe they're entitled to taxpayer cash to support a biz model that doesn't work.

Example and a savvy guilt trip that could be worth millions to those lucky few on the receiving end of KCMO cash .  . 

18th and Vine business owner calls rash of violence a symptom of racial inequality

Deets:

Henry Service, who also is an attorney, said he believes the recent rash of violence is a symptom of the racial inequalities that he and others have vocalized in recent weeks of protests on the Country Club Plaza.

"And nowhere else do they have to invest and try to make a living where the city's got their knee on the necks of the people who are investing," Service said. "They don't help. They won't give any kind of financial incentives for people to develop this area. They won't develop their own property. All they do is hinder the businesses down here."

Clearly, Mr. Service lost track of that $100 MILLION along with any misguided politico who would dare vote for throwing away good money after bad.

And so, whilst social justice and election season debate continues among activists, we advise persistent readers to pay attention to local politicos spinning the "momentum" of protesters into even more cash for a FAILED idea that has unfairly siphoned funds away from other urban core solutions which might have garnered greater success than a doomed district wherein gunfire echos through the streets far more loudly than jazz.

You decide . . .