After Oak Street pivot, Mayor Lucas says he’s voting yes on Royals, Chiefs stadiums tax

Approaching the climax of a contested campaign to approve a 40-year, 3/8th-cent sales tax to help pay for a new Kansas City Royals Stadium in the Crossroads and renovations at Arrowhead, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas gave his official endorsement of the measure Saturday.

In the weeks and months leading up to the vote, Lucas had been conspicuously quiet about exactly where he stood on the tax. Earlier this week, he said he liked the Crossroads stadium location for the Royals, but was opposed to the team closing and developing over Oak Street.

The mayor’s vocal support follows the team’s decision to change their plans for Oak on Wednesday, less than a week before Election Day. It’s still unclear exactly how their plans would change and what that would mean for the footprint of the proposed stadium or the surrounding ballpark district the Royals had planned on.

Lucas accompanied Royals CEO and Chairman John Sherman and Kansas City Chiefs president Mark Donovan at a press conference before the Kansas City Royals game against the Minnesota Twins to announce his support of Question 1.

The endorsement comes just three days before voters in Jackson County will decide whether to approve the stadium sales tax. The teams’ leaders repeated much of the same rhetoric voters heard throughout the campaign — appeals to the city’s economic prosperity, promises of more jobs and the uncertainty of whether the teams would stay if the ballot initiative fails.

Then Lucas made an appeal to voters.

“You can do both, it’s not either-or,” he said. “We can have a city that is looking out for affordable housing, investing in small businesses, fixing our roads ... but we can also have a city that hosts Super Bowl champions.”

Lucas mentioned the city’s approval of a $2.3 billion budget this week, which includes pay raises for city workers and funding for affordable housing. He said the budget is a testament to how the city can “do both.”

Tara Raghuveer, founding director of the citywide tenant union KC Tenants, has been knocking doors ahead of Tuesday’s vote as an opponent of the sales tax.

“The process has not been transparent and we still don’t know how much money they will be asking for in total,” Raghuveer said.

She said voters she spoke with are not convinced that the teams will leave if the measure doesn’t pass. Lucas’ comments at the press conference Saturday didn’t convince her, either, she said.

“They’re hiding a bad deal behind good players,” she said.

The city has not yet made a financial commitment to the proposed new stadium project. It’s still unclear what other taxpayer money the project will need or what its total budget will be, but the Royals lease and development agreement say that the new stadium would rely on unspecified support from city, county and state governments.

Sherman followed up Lucas’ endorsement of Question 1 with an ambiguous outline of what the leaders called “phase 2,” when, according to Lucas and Sherman, the organization would “have conversations” about what, exactly, Crossroads baseball would look like and what the commitment from the city would be.

That kind of planning would only come after the vote, if the sales tax is approved.

Phase 2, they said, would work to answer questions voters already have heading into the first phase — what businesses will be displaced? How much in total will the new stadium cost? What will be Jackson County’s total commitment?

“John (Sherman) and I have had outstanding conversations about how we make sure we protect and preserve local businesses and small businesses throughout downtown,” Lucas said. “We’re going to have more conversations about how we can represent even more workers.”

Ongoing negotiations

The Royals are working into the eleventh hour heading into Election Day beyond securing Lucas’ support.

The team has also reportedly reached an agreement with Resurrection Downtown, a church in the team’s proposed stadium footprint that recently started a $2.8-million expansion project on the site, according to an email obtained by The Star from Pastor Adam Hamilton to the congregation. The church’s buildings are at 1522 McGee Street and 1601 Grand Boulevard.

”Today, Resurrection’s Trustees have signed an agreement with the Kansas City Royals that will ensure Resurrection will continue in ministry in the heart of our city for generations to come,” the email read. “We believe the agreement is fair, that it recognizes the sacrifices our people have made to build Resurrection Downtown, the important ministry that currently happens in our buildings, and the hopes and dreams we have for the future of our congregation in the heart of the city.”

Last week, the Royals and the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority agreed to lease and development agreements for a new ballpark in the East Crossroads district of Kansas City. The Chiefs and sports authority also made lease agreements for a renovated Arrowhead Stadium, and both teams signed documents agreeing to provide certain benefits to the community if the 3/8th-cent sales tax is approved Tuesday.

But those documents are not legally binding and still await approval from the Jackson County Legislature.

Leading up to the vote, the total cost of the projects, how much the Royals would contribute toward the new stadium, how much Jackson County would pay and how many additional funds the team would seek from the city or state is still unknown.

The Star spoke to Jackson County voters this week ahead of Tuesday’s momentous vote. Some voters are divided between support and opposition of Crossroads baseball. Many are fearful of losing their hometown teams.

A poll from mid-March by Remington Research Group found yes and no effectively tied, local TV stations reported last week. The Royals and Chiefs have spent at least $3.2 million on the campaign – roughly 20 times more than opponents have spent.

The Star’s Mike Hendricks and Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.