Patrick Smith

I have largely kept to myself regarding the stadium vote on April 2, but anything other than a YES vote in two weeks will be a slap in the face to the two decades of progress downtown KC has made. The Crossroads owes its existence in large part to the public money investments of T-Mobile Center and Power & Light. While those initial investments have yet to deliver on the promise of NHL/NBA, they were critical in pushing downtown over the edge in 2007. Progress comes at a cost. Unfortunately, that cost will be a tract of small businesses, an abandoned newspaper press and a U-Haul rental facility. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and the hard truth is that a ballpark investment in that area will make a much larger impact than those businesses ever could. I hope that the Royals will be assisting those businesses in finding new homes. The 3/8 cent sales tax has existed since 1971 and without it, KC would not be the international destination it has become today. It’s the price Kansas City pays to be a big league city, and it’s a bargain. You have two of the most famous athletes in the world currently playing football at Arrowhead Stadium. You have a next generation superstar headlining your MLB team and an ownership group who just committed $300 million to him. To stand in the face of that and vote no in the name of “sticking it to billionaires” after what the Royals and Chiefs have accomplished since the last tax extension vote in 2007? It’s about as close to civic suicide as you can get. Both teams would have every right to leave should taxpayers rebuke an extension.