Jackson County executive office apologizes for Royals’ letter comments
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This past Monday, Democratic Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca asked Democratic County Executive Frank White where the county was in starting up negotiations again between the Chiefs and the Royals.
“We did email a letter over to both teams. I’d say a week ago Friday, somewhere,” White responded to Abarca during the public meeting.
“I did get a response back from the Chiefs. I haven’t heard back from the Royals yet.”
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Tuesday, FOX4 found out that wasn’t true though. White’s chief of staff, Caleb Clifford, showed us a copy of the letter Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman sent back to White, Republican Legislative Chairwoman Jeanie Lauer, and Democratic Vice Chairwoman Megan Marshall.
The letter did come from a MLP Holdings email, but it was sent from Debbie Medina, an assistant of Sherman’s. It was also dated Monday, May the 6th, a full week after White made his comment to Abarca.
“I can’t speak to the county executive’s remarks,” Lauer said in an interview with FOX4 Wednesday when asked why White would have said what he said Monday.
The contents of the letter from Sherman back to White, Lauer, and Marshall were rather vague. It did say that Sherman appreciated the county executive saying that he was committed to keeping the Royals in Jackson County.
“We are committed to a confidential and respectful process. If you have a proposal, inclusive of a detailed plan, that you believe will work for Jackson County and the Royals, please provide that to us,” Sherman continued.
“As you are aware, we have a great sense of urgency as it relates to finding a long-term solution as to where we play baseball for our great fans and this great community.”
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White’s public information officer, Marshanna Smith, would not make White’s original letter to either of the teams public. Wednesday, we asked if we could speak to White. We were denied.
Tuesday though, Clifford sent us a statement.
“We understand there has been some confusion regarding the Kansas City Royals’ response letter to County Executive Frank White Jr. The letter was sent to a publicly available email address on May 6, which is managed by staff due to the high volume of incoming messages,” Clifford said. “Unfortunately, the email was not opened until today. We apologize for this oversight and any inconvenience it may have caused. We are reaching out directly to Mr. Sherman and the Royals to convey our apologies and to ensure this does not happen again.”
The letter or email FOX4 obtained from Clifford Tuesday was not sent to Clifford or Smith’s email, just White’s.
“I would certainly hope so,” Lauer said when asked if she thought there was any chance the Royals and the county would negotiate later this year.
“The opportunity that we have submitted conversation, and there has been a response for the Royals to ask for a plan I think certainly at least opens the door to say that there’s room for consideration.”
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