This half hour.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is with us as he reveals his top highs and lows of the year.

He spills the beans on his biggest disappointment and officers predictions for 2025.

Plus, our reporter panel tracks the week's other top stories on this bumper eve of Christmas edition of Week in Review.

Week in Review is made possible through the generous support of Dave and Jamie Cummings, Bob and Marlese Gourley, the Courtney STurner Charitable Trust, John H. Mize and Bank of America, N.A.

Co Trustees.

The Francis family Foundation through the Discretionary Fund of David and Janice Francis and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Nick Haines.

Great to be back with you on this busy weekend before the Christmas and Hanukkah holiday.

We're in a festive mood around here with special newsmaker guests Quinton Lucas, who's just wrapped up the city's business for the year and is still fresh off making his movie debut in the new Hallmark Chiefs themed rom com holiday touchdown.

By the way, if you missed it, here he is in action.

Oh, hey, Mary Lucas.

Oh, hey.

Hi, folks.

How you doing?

Did you miss it?

Oh, hey, Merry Lucas.

Oh, hey.

Hi, folks.

How you doing?

Good.

All.

I mean, you're on camera there for about 3 seconds.

Did you have to?

How long did it take?

I'm curious.

I mean, were you there all day just to do that?

You know, it took three takes, probably about 25 minutes to get that amazing hit.

I don't know if my royalties will be that huge, but it was a fun experience.

The highest rated cable television movie of the year, really holiday touchdown film right here in Kansas City, an independent.

You know, when we do big events like the NFL Draft, for instance, we're always told, oh my God, this has amazing impact on Kansas City exposure, all of this.

What did this do to us?

I mean, do we get major corporations around the country saying we're leaving California and Boston and coming to Kansas City, The Olympic Committee seeing the ice terrace at Crown Center saying, we'd like to put the Olympics on here?

Well, you know, something that I do love about it is that we are trying to grow movie production in Kansas City.

Part of this was a pitch that I and others have made to want to Wal-Mart, to Hallmark in the past to say, bring more production to Kansas City.

We have wonderful film incentives.

I think the Missouri legislature for passing them Kansas City has its own incentives.

So it employed a lot of actors and actresses.

It employed a lot of folks who work and film and any other set of things.

And more than anything, it allowed us to show our brand for a week.

So you really were at Crown Center.

We're not in Atlanta, Georgia, or another state with better film credits.

That's exactly right.

You know, everyone talks about how embarrassing it was that Ozark was filmed in Georgia rather than the Ozarks.

Kansas City is doing its part to make sure that our film industry thrives.

And you know what?

That was my first Hallmark movie in a little while.

It was a cute one, and it was great to see Kansas City celebrate.

It was that the most blissful, joyful, best experience for you in the year 2024?

You know, I had a new child this year, so that was number one.

That was number one.

And mid-June I had my second son.

So that was very exciting.

In terms of the public profile things, that was pretty much a high point, although I mean, how could you not have loved also coming later in the year, the National Women's Soccer League Championship being here in Kansas City, the only thing that could have been better was if our team, the Kansas City Current, were in it.

I was actually on an English soccer program.

And I know right.

It was such a treat.

And I email mailbox from family and friends and Britain have been lighting up.

So it has been a great year to celebrate Kansas City, not just in sports, but also in economic development.

And I think we're going to have more wins ahead in the year ahead between you and I as we come to the end of the year.

What was your biggest disappointment this year?

You know, I think everyone has to say the Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting was something that was a tragedy that many of us will remember for a lifetime.

I was there.

I was there with my wife and my mother and hundreds of thousands of other people from Missouri and Kansas and ran from the sound of gunfire, saw law enforcement personnel and others running towards it.

I thanked them greatly for it.

I think in some ways it showed more than anything has in years past the high highs we have in Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl Parade, a renovated Union Station, everyone downtown, the city truly working in a way, and our low, low public safety challenges, shootings, homicides, something that we've continued to grapple with for generations.

I did see a missouri lawmaker this week filing a bill in the Jefferson City to have gun checkpoints at any parade that takes place that is sponsored by the state, all by the city.

Would that make it incredibly challenging to put another parade together if the chiefs really do get it?

I repeat next, you know, we're hoping the Chiefs have another I do have a three peat this time around, another Super Bowl victory.

What I'll say is this.

I appreciate the legislators interest in making sure that persons aren't allowed to carry guns at parades.

That was another part of this bill.

The metal detectors and all those sorts of things around a parade and rally that may have 800,000 people, a million people starts to get very challenging.

I think that's why we need to continue to push for our legislators in Jefferson City to give police tools to apprehend those who are carrying firearms.

A lot of those people carrying firearms, the Chiefs parade were lawfully carrying them in backpacks and any number of things.

And so I think there are other solutions other than just eliminating our ways of life.

I will note in that same area, we had celebration at the station televised here on Kansas City, PBS.

We've had a lot of other events.

So I believe that we can be safe in Kansas City.

But frankly, the specter of gun violence challenges us all, not just in Kansas City, but everywhere in America.

As we end the year, the homicide rate is down on last year, but we still over 100, 140 actually, as we start this program today, you talked about when you first got elected, that first press conference, you know, we're going to get homicides down to less than 100.

It has never happened during your term in office.

Well, you know, first of all, I believe hope springs eternal.

I think a 20% reduction this year, our lowest rate in five years, shows that there is real progress being made in a few different areas.

I think the relationship between Casey PD, the Jackson County prosecutor's office and our new prosecutor elect, Liza Johnson and City Hall is likely to be the strongest that it has ever been.

I am proud of the women I have the fortune of serving with in all of those positions.

I will also note that I think our violence prevention efforts are bearing real fruit, getting people not to retaliate.

So we recognize that there is much needed for improvement.

That being said, I think that we are going in the right trend and I stand by the fact that I think we will get below 100 homicides at some point in Kansas City.

What I was asking you about, your biggest disappointment.

I half expected you to say Kamala Harris losing the presidential election and all the talk particularly about the show for months was, oh, Quinto.

Lucas needs this because he wants a cabinet level position.

Did you privately dream of being the next Housing secretary?

Were the conversations like that?

You know, look, I was blessed to be a part of what was an exceptional campaign apparatus.

I think Kamala Harris would have been an exceptional president of the United States.

And would have stood for the principles of the values of a majority of Kansas City and a super majority of Kansas City and voted for her life went a different way.

I will work closely as closely as possible with the Trump administration and Governor Cato's administration to get what we need to get done here in Kansas City and the surrounding areas.

And but in terms of, you know, what comes next for me, I've got a really good job for about three years.

I have a young family and so I look forward to doing a lot of good work here in Kansas City.

Next week on this program, we'll be doing our year in review edition of the program where all the reporters will talk about their picks for all of the different categories of most overreported underreported stories, most impactful.

I want to go to a few of those with you.

One of them is Time magazine, just named President elect Donald Trump.

It's 2024 Person of the Year.

Complete the sentence for me.

If I was picking Kansas City's Person of the Year, I would choose Blank.

Bobby Witt.

Bobby Witt Jr.

The resurgence of the Kansas City Royals this year was nothing short of exhilarate, and you got to see that classic Kansas City based on Ball Town celebration.

And frankly, in a year where we spent so much time talking about stadiums and anybody who can draw on chicken scratch a stadium in a parking lot anywhere was getting television time.

I was excited to see us focusing on what was happening on the field.

Bobby Witt Junior was a real star as a very good person.

Speaking of Donald Trump, what would you, in your judgment, is going to be the biggest impact on Kansas City?

Because that's going to be happening in just a few weeks.

He will be taking office.

You know, I was mayor previously during the Trump administration, and I got about 15 months or 18 months or so of President Trump the first time around.

I think there will be some changes.

I hope they are as additive as they possibly can be.

I think Kansas City did very well with infrastructure investment towards the streetcar during the last Trump administration, and I hope that continues now.

But this is what I will not be doing.

I'm not running to be the leader of the resistance.

There are many good people in Washington, many good people in Jefferson City and Topeka who can fight those fights.

We're trying to make sure that Kansas City is building roads, that is building health care opportunities, more jobs, making our city safer.

That's what my focus is, that the Trump administration wants to align with us on that.

We'll work well together.

If not, we will not.

You're not going be like the mayor of Denver who said, I'm willing to be jail to help people who are undocumented in my community if there were any deportations.

You know, I know the mayor of Denver well, he's a good man.

And I think he's got a unique challenge in connection with the immigration issue in the city of Denver.

We will make sure that anyone who is present in Kansas City can feel safe.

And, you know, sometimes when we talk about immigration policy, I know President Trump has had others talk about it all the time.

My goal is this I want to make sure that kids who are here can get educated, which is the law according to the Supreme Court, regardless of status.

I want to make sure that people get health care.

We can keep them alive and that they can be safe if there is a criminal incident happening in their neighborhood.

I don't want them scared to talk to the police.

So if that makes me uber progressive on immigration issues, then so be it.

But I'm just here to make sure that human beings can be treated in a way that they deserve to be humanely and with decency and respect.

President elect Trump wasn't the only one attacking the media this week.

You are demanding apologies and retractions from members of the media after a story surfaced about you using a nonprofit allegedly in a park to skirt the city's city gift ban so you could snag, according to the stories here, a primo Super Bowl tickets and pay for a poll to sink North Kansas City's chances of a new Royals basement baseball stadium.

Knowing what you now know, would you have done anything differently?

Absolutely not.

I mean, I think at all times and frankly, I have shared with you and many others, it's not hidden that as a mayor, I have attended Super Bowls.

I'm the only mayor in the history of the city who was at the Chiefs.

B in this many Super Bowls.

They are opportunities for business promotion, marketing for Kansas City.

We have run it by more lawyers than you might imagine, all of whom get paid handsomely to sign off on things.

Some of the items referenced in the stories that I think did have a number of inaccuracies noted at least the fact that we had lawyers who reviewed it before, reviewed it shortly after, reviewed it long after and have reviewed these things in a number of times.

I think there is this general view from some to try to find controversy where there is none.

As a mayor, I think it's good to not bill the taxpayers for things like going to L.A. to pitch Hallmark on a movie which was very successful, going to an NWSL championship to pitch them on the NWSL championship.

Being in Kansas City, which was successful and bringing more economic development to Kansas City.

I'm proud of it.

I stand by it and we have followed every rule along the way.

I look forward to hopefully getting a chance to support the Chiefs again in our Year in review show next week with reporters.

One of the questions we'll ask is complete this sentence The most under-reported story in Kansas City in 2024 was blank.

I think our economic development renaissance in Kansas City, there are a lot of people who talk about all the negatives.

That may happen all the time.

But if you look at redevelopment in the West Bottoms, a half billion dollar redevelopment, the West Bottoms, the biggest one there in 100 years.

If you look at redevelopment on the riverfront, which is exciting, former dumping grounds Redevelopment Parade Park at 18th and Woodland.

The list goes on.

We are building thousands of new affordable housing units in Kansas City, something that does not get a lot of attention.

We are rebuilding our city in a smart way.

This is a great time in renaissance for Kansas City.

And I will note there are some who critique us on sports because sports just get a lot of attention.

You know, Patrick Mahomes gets a big story more than us opening an affordable housing apartment.

But nonetheless, we are doing a lot of that.

And that's great for Kansas City.

Before we end, I'd like to get your take if it's okay with you on some predictions, because we're going to be heading to a brand spanking New York for 2025, just around the corner.

We know the extension of the streetcar line down to the plaza is going to be a 2025 project.

But what else?

Here are some quick to folks.

Questions for you to or false in 2025 voters finally approve a new downtown ballpark.

Oh, the silence silence on this.

I'll say false, but it's.

You don't think it's more of a technicality, in my view.

Okay.

So it's not going to be downtown.

It can be said, Oh, no, no, no.

I think the stadium will be downtown.

I don't know if we have to I don't know if we have a ballot issue on it.

Okay.

That's interesting.

How about true or false?

The Chiefs announced they're moving to Kansas.

False, you don't they?

Okay.

Well, did you vote if the Chiefs Arrowhead the Chiefs will be at Arrowhead is one of the best venues in all of football.

The Chiefs will be they were going.

I think that's false.

True or false.

Kansas City secures a new WNBA franchise.

True.

And that's going to happen in 2025.

We always sit here in the media, always like, Oh, look at Kansas City's got this, that and the other.

And I look at newspapers all around the country.

They all have front page story say they're going to be the next place.

Well, that's fair.

That's fair.

And I saw lots of that attention, too.

I think when you look at the group that is bidding on it led by the long family of the Kansas City current T-Mobile Center, being an outstanding venue that would love to have an anchor tenant of a women's professional sports team.

I think that that is true, even if they don't start playing in 25.

Okay, True or false?

Quinton Lucas announces he's running for Jackson County Executive.

Categorically false.

Okay.

Erik Larson said, I watch your show regularly.

I saw that my eyebrows raised.

My wife said you would never.

So I thought with respect to everybody who does that work.

Okay.

Well, Matt Quintal, Lucas, thank you so much for being with us on this.

Almost the end of the show.

Really appreciate you all.

Have a merry Christmas.

Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa.

And thank you so much for what you've done throughout the course of the year.

Up next, by the way, we have our reporters tackle the rest of the week's news.

You're watching Kansas City.

We can review bringing with them the mirth and merriment of the festive season, The Channel Nine News anchor Chris Ketz and Kansas City News icon and former star journalist Dave Helling.

I want to dispense with something quickly as we just had the mayor on.

He's been under attack this week for allegedly using a nonprofit and a PAC to skirt the city's gift ban so he can get primo Super Bowl tickets, apparently, and pay for a poll that sank North Kansas City's chances of landing a new Royals baseball stadium, a claim voters wouldn't pay for it.

Now mayor is ordering retractions and apologies from the media this week for running what he says is a bunch of lies.

Is it a nothing bogus story or a worrying headline for Matt Lucas?

I don't think it's it it isn't a nothing burger.

It's not the scandal of the century.

I mean, I think first of all, everyone knew that the mayor had actually gone to the Super Bowl.

It wasn't a surprise, frankly.

He could have solved a lot of his problems if he just said I wanted to see the game.

I think people most most people in Kansas City would understand that and B, approve of it.

And then the mayor going down for the chiefs in a game like that, you know, but but the mayor, as all mayors do, enjoy sort of answering questions only to the extent they feel they need to.

And then when it all blows up, they complain about the media and Quinton Lucas is no exception.

In the scale of political sins.

Does the public really care about this?

This isn't Watergate, okay?

It's not even close, but it is one of those things and I and I agree with Dave, I don't think it's a nothing burger, but I think it's one of those things that I think people deserve to know what their elected officials are up to and and how it is that he ended up at the Super Bowl and who was paying the tab.

I don't think that's I don't think that's out of bounds at all.

You know, speaking of the Super Bowl, if the Chiefs win another Super Bowl, will fans have to go through gun checkpoints to attend the $0.03 to victory parade?

The Missouri lawmaker has filed a bill that will require metal detectors and scanners for attendees of any parade hosted by the state or cities.

But how could that possibly even work?

I'm having a hard time even figuring out how we would even do that.

Well, there are mechanisms to search some people.

For example, when when Barack Obama came to Kansas City to campaign back in 22,008, there were metal detectors and he had a big rally on the Liberty Memorial campus.

So is it possible this old route, though?

Yes.

And now used busses are quite accustomed to it, you know, and people are more accustomed to it.

This seems a bit more difficult to me and arguably not effective.

I mean, you would guess that given all the entrances for people, that if someone really wants to get a gun in, they're going to do it.

But we did manage to do it for the NFL draft where they had a gated area in front of Union Station.

You had to go you had an app on your phone and you had to go through these security gun checkpoints.

And apparently that will be the similar thing that going to happen to the World Cup with a fan fest experience we're going to have in 2026.

But as we all know, there's this is a different dynamic when you're talking about a rally for the Chiefs and maybe the royals again some day at Union Station.

Could you do it?

Yeah.

Would it be 100% effective?

Probably not.

And then there's this whole question of convenience for people who are attending this event.

It's going to be a hassle.

It's going to be a nightmare.

And it remains to be seen whether something I mean, how effective and also it adds to the expense.

I mean, you have to find the machines, rent them, have people operate them.

So it makes those parades which are already a cost more expensive.

I think people would put up with it if the Chiefs win or the Royals win.

But but it would not be convenient for most parade goers.

Now, this is an interesting story we've heard a lot about from our viewers.

Last month, voters in Clark County approved a new sales tax to fund kids mental health programs, but now county leaders are killing it.

The Park County Commission voted this week not to implement the quarter cents children's tax.

What was so terrible, Chris, about giving money for programs to help depression and suicide among teens?

Interesting is this kind of boils down to one word and the word may can can Platte County in this case, it would would Clark County be able to to levy a tax like this?

And the language is Clark County may levy that tax.

And so the interpretation is, well, maybe they can, maybe they can't.

But we're seeing this all over the country.

It's not just Missouri, but we're seeing statehouses everywhere taking a vote, the will of the people and then trying to massage and amend what that message that was sent in the first place.

And I think there's terrible implications.

Yeah, you bring it up because that's what we heard from you.

This is a slap in the face of voters.

But get Kansas City did this, too.

I remember Clay Chastain very early on was that 2006 he had a petition that would put a light rail line from Union Station all the way over to Kachia, put it passed, and then city Hall and a sly James said, No, we're not going to even enact.

And that was argued out in court as many of the Clay Chastain efforts were.

He had approved.

He had submitted signatures for an ordinance it passed.

The council is allowed to repeal ordinances that passed by petition under the city charter, and that's eventually how that one was killed.

But but I want to emphasize something that Chris talked about in terms of overturning the will of the people.

The presiding commissioner, Scott Fricker, said, in essence, we need to represent all 112,000 people, not the 30 in Clark County, not the 30,000 people who voted for this.

That totally misunderstands how elections work.

It isn't a no vote.

If you don't vote yes, it's just it doesn't count.

And so I went back and look, do you know how many votes Scott Fricker got for presiding commissioner?

22,000.

So that means that apparently 90,000 people don't have to follow the ordinances that he votes for or signs off on in Clark County.

So so it's clearly a majority vote in this country.

That's a lesson maybe that Republicans need to start learning now, walking back is the will of the voters, as Chris Katz pointed out, has been a big trend this year.

Business groups even have filed a lawsuit to block Missouri's new minimum wage law from taking effect.

And 11 bills have been filed in Jefferson City to dilute or repeal Missouri's new abortion rights amendment.

Now, the Missouri wage measure wasn't an amendment.

It was a proposition so couldn't Missouri lawmakers just kill it when they get back to Jefferson City at the first of the year?

We're going to give it a try, that's for sure.

And they might be successful, given the political makeup of Jefferson City in 2025.

But again, I go back to to what we talked about.

You're reversing the will of the people.

And that's a it's not a good look.

And B, it's something that I think as it continues to happen, not just around here but across the country, this is going to be a thing.

It happened in Missouri with puppy mills, as you recall, that that the voters approved restrictions on puppy mills that were later amended by the legislature.

So they could certainly on prop a change or repeal the entire thing going forward if this trend continues of trying to change the will of the voters, then Missouri should just take the step of ending petition, initiative petitions and referenda.

You know, what they want is the fiction that voters get a say.

But if the voters decide something we don't like, we're going to go ahead and change it.

But they think people will.

But they did try to do that last year with multiple bills.

Nothing happened in making changes to that.

Is it going to be different this time?

Because Republicans did rather well in November?

They did, but but if you went to the voters now, Nick, and said you need a super majority, for example, to pass a constitutional amendment in Missouri, then repealing Amendment three would become more difficult.

And so my guess is the enthusiasm for raising the voter threshold will be quite diminished in the General Assembly this year because I think there will be an attempt simply to put a repeal of Amendment three.

And by the way, the abortion amendment was actually went into effect on December 5th.

And we were told the Planned Parenthood was going to open up three abortion clinics on that day, including one in midtown Kansas City.

Did that happen?

No.

I think that everyone is waiting for a Jackson County judge to decide.

A suit has been filed.

It is a complicated procedure, Nick, because there are so many statutes in Missouri law that restrict abortion and how the amendment then applies to those restrictions, as we all talked about on this show and in other places, all of those changes would have to be adjudicated because no one knows for sure what Amendment three precisely would do.

And that's what the process We're in the north and we're talking about north of 20 individual statutes in this particular case.

And so this is going to be in the courts for a while.

Sorry, Charlie, Kansas City is dropping your name from the airport.

It was a big deal when Kansas City decided to rename its downtown airport after former Mayor Charles B Wheeler.

But apparently there's a statute of limitations on such honors.

Kansas City is now decided to rename the facility Kansas City Downtown Airport.

The former mayor is relegated to a subheading.

They say the name Wheeler was just too plain confusing.

Do people say the same thing, Chris Katz, when they go to O'Hare Airport in Chicago?

Do they say, Warren, with all my or if I'm at LaGuardia, do I say, Am I in Iowa?

What's in a name?

Right.

The aviation department argue they were going to these these trade aviation shows and they would trot out the name Wheeler Downtown Airport.

And people were people who were in the aviation business who were looking to use this airport for business and pleasure and whatever.

But they would see that name and say, what, where, where is that?

Kansas?

That's where the confusion came in.

And so this was an attempt to try to simplify that.

I think there's some question as to whether the Wheeler family, they were told about it and there seems to be some discrepancy as to when I don't know that they were necessarily in on the bottom floor on this.

But there's also a little bit of perhaps friction there as well.

You know, Dave, many times on this program I've asked why hasn't there been an owner in this city, something named for former Mayor Mark Funkhouser?

There has been nothing whatsoever.

But is this story proof that even if you have something named after you, it could be a very fleeting experience?

I mean, that's a little although what's confusing about Wheeler downtown Airport.

I don't understand.

You wonder about the mentality of pilots who can't figure out that that airport is downtown town.

And it is a bit of a slap in the face to face to Charlie Wheeler, who was a an important name in the history of this community.

So I'm not sure why they wanted to pursue it.

But you're right, by the way, I don't think there's anything named for Sly James, who was mayor for eight years.

We could have at least they were talking about the Sly James Airport again.

That we couldn't do that now.

Right?

Right.

So what?

And then, you know, Kay Barnes has a plaza.

The naming convention is seems to be honored and Emanuel Cleaver has a boulevard.

Perhaps we need to change that you city hall of on the aviation department.

It is it is Kansas City downtown airport Wheeler Field.

So the name is still there.

All right.

Let me ask just at the very end of the show, it looks like we're going to end this year with no stadium deal.

Is it surprising to you that more than eight months after voters rejected a tax to fund a New Orleans ballpark and improvements at Arrowhead Stadium, no viable alternative plan has been offered up since.

Dave, Very surprising to me that both teams have not taken the opportunity after the April vote to communicate more directly and clearly with the public about what they want to do and how it might be paid for.

Instead, despite what appears to be all the negotiations behind the scenes, the general public, which one assumes will be a part of this, Nic, remains completely in the dark.

That is a failure of both the clubs and the local politicians.

And if there is any sort of public vote that is going to be involved in either of these efforts, the fact that voters are so in the dark about particulars about this, that's not surprising.

That's not a good sign.

Absolutely.

Chris Ketz and Dave Helling, thanks for finding time to swing by.

We can review and many of us, of course, are busy wrapping up presence or, if you like me, still have to do most of my holiday shopping.

I'm Nick Haynes from all of us here at Kansas City, PBS.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.

And by the way, Chris and Dave will be joining us for our year in review next week, where we'll be tracking all of the magic moments, the biggest disappointments and the persons of the year in Kansas City and predictions for the future, of course.

Be well, keep calm and carry on.