RIP: Mike Burke Ripped Off Kansas City Better Than Most

Don't get me wrong. I liked the guy and he even bought TKC a great deal of coffee and muffins when he was kind enough to offer a behind the scenes peek at his campaign.

However . . .

Mike Burke pretty much made the mold for the lawyer shark, developer political power player caste who have earned BILLIONS in tax benefits for Kansas City.

But here was his greatest trick that even fooled TKC . . .

Somewhere during his final run for Mayor Mike Burke changed course and realized that there was a bigger opportunity at play. 

Real talk . . . The Burke bid for Mayor turned into a scam for suckers who don't know how local politics really works. 

Instead . . . Burke's happy-go-lucky tour with Sly James during the 2011 mayoral campaign would provide a pathway to an even bigger prize.

What started out as a clever gambit to oust former Mayor Funkhouser turned into KC's own "uni-party" moment.

Burke was cozy with Sly and developed such a great "relationship" that just a few short years later a group led by the local power player EASILY won approval for the downtown convention hotel and 30 MILLION worth of tax free up front financing courtesy of KCMO. 

Now that Mike Burke is dead he'll never have to pay that cash back . . . But there was never any danger of that anyhoo. 

Even worse . . . 

The hotel is now losing cash hand over fist and despite petitions and outrage . . . KC voters were NEVER allowed a vote on it. 

A bit of Karma . . . The grand opening was ruined by COVID and now a sketchy park to cover the traffic noise outside is the only hope of survival for the deplorable scheme that KC taxpayers were forced to finance.

Sadly . . . All of that detail is more than listeners will learn in this schmaltzy reporting from UMKC Journalism Professor Kraske . . .

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Remembering former Kansas City Councilman Mike Burke, the 'epitome of patience'

Former 1st District Councilman Mike Burke passed away on Sunday, March 5. Burke was a leader when it came to economic development in Kansas City - involving himself with the Port Authority, the Economic Development Corporation, Planned Industrial Expansion Authority and several other committees.