KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After being voted down by a super-majority vote in December, a second and final vote on the memo of understanding (MOU) for the Kansas City International Airport between Kansas City and Maryland-headquartered Edgemoor approaches, the opposition against the proposed developer has gained momentum and a major ally.
Wednesday, Councilman Scott Wagner, the mayor pro tem, is the latest member of the City Council to voice his opposition and concerns with further doing business with Edgemoor, posting on Facebook details of concerns he had ahead of a vote on the MOU.
“I hope to see a thoughtfulness and a willingness to see what we’re saying yes to,” Wagner told the Missouri Times. “I focus in the post solely on the experience of other airports because you do not put that in a memorandum of understanding. There has not been, to date, any real discussion of what that is. I was making those calls to help me understand what is going on and help me understand how I should vote on this MOU. What I was concerned the most with was this rhetoric that everybody was out there to obstruct something, but the point that I’ve been trying to make is that we’re trying to do our due diligence. We’re trying to understand what we’re walking into here.”
Earlier this week, the Kansas City Black Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas City Hispanic Contractors Association and other civic leaders have issued statements in opposition to entering into an agreement with Edgemoor.
Edgemoor is the lead on a team comprised of its parent company, Washington D.C.-based Clark Construction, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) from Chicago, Egyptian-owned Weitz Construction, and Clarkson Construction from Kansas City.
I’ve always found Scott to be thoughtful and forthright. I wish more elected officials explained their positions as thoroughly. KC needs to get this right, not add to the list of debacles. #NewKCI https://t.co/no8bRWr3mb
— Ryan Silvey (@RyanSilvey) February 7, 2018
In a thorough and detailed statement, Councilman Wagner laid out his opposition to Edgemoor. Councilman Wagner’s opposition is a major blow to the Edgemoor effort as he is one of the more respected members of the council and one of Mayor Sly James staunchest allies.
Councilman Wagner’s opposition is the most detailed opposition to date. Wagner cites significant cost overruns, delays and other problems with Clark and Skidmore Owings and Merrill team at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport project.
“The people want to see a project that is smooth, where they see that they see all the various stakeholders coming together and being part of the project,” Wagner told the Missouri Times. “There has been an assumption of speed over anything else, but I think that becomes an issue because speed is no substitute for a good process and people thinking through what they’re doing. My hope in calling some of these things to light that are going on in Seattle, that there’s a price for speed and that’s not doing the due diligence that we have a good partner and a good deal.”
In a partner, Wagner said that he hoped to see understanding and demonstration of understanding, which he believes has been lacking to the people of Kansas City.
“They’ll say whatever they need to say to satisfy me,” Wagner said, pointing to a labor agreement that he was told the Edgemoor team was ready to sign, but hasn’t come to fruition almost a month and a half later.
But, the last straw for Wagner in pulling his support was emerging patterns similar to the Seattle airport project.
“I was told, ‘if you have these guys, you need to run away as fast as you can.’ That’s kind of a curious statement to hear,” Wagner said. “The last straw for me was looking for patterns and taking what I’ve been told, taking what has been suggested either based on the desire to work in Kansas City, and just kind of answering what isn’t going well in Seattle. Is the experience that they’ve been having in Seattle similar to the experiences we’ve been having in Kansas City in the conversations I’m having here.”
The Kansas City City Council will take up the Edgemoor on Thursday at their regularly scheduled City Council hearing.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.
