Kansas City’s troubled political past (see: Pendergast, “Boss Tom”) underscores the need for public oversight of city affairs, but residents are harder pressed than ever to engage in key issues. The flow of credible information has slowed as newspapers, a longtime source of in-depth coverage, have downsized – or in the case of the afternoon Kansas City Times, disappeared altogether. Broadcast outlets favor sound bites. Public forums can fill the void, but they’ve tended in Kansas City to be the offerings of advocacy groups. There remain true, citizen-based organizations such as the nonpartisan Citizens Association of Kansas City. But a joint evaluation by the Library and the Citizens Association, itself, determined that their relevance and effectiveness diminished as the populace grew less informed. Meanwhile, a number of local issues begged examination: – Kansas City’s population grew 4% in 10 years, but municipal expenses soared by 58% and the city’s debt load more than tripled to $1.6 billion. What was its long-range financial plan? – Should Kansas City assume control its police department, now uniquely overseen by the state of Missouri? – Does an arguably outdated airport need a proposed, $1.2 billion makeover or more modest upgrading? – What’s the sense of a Missouri-Kansas economic border war that employs costly tax breaks on both sides of the line to poach businesses and jobs – with little to no net in new jobs?

The president of the Kansas City Public Library’s board of trustees, Jonathan Kemper, also serves as a vice chair of the Citizens Association, the city’s oldest nonpartisan political organization. He and Citizens Association chairman Dan Cofran conceived the idea of addressing pressing city issues through a round of public forums at the Library. It was a logical Library initiative. KCPL has made civic engagement part of its mission, interspersing its broad menu of speaking and other special events with informative, interactive civic programming. The Library’s 12-person public affairs staff is steeped in the effective development, promotion and delivery of such events. Plans were drawn up for a quarterly series of discussions, targeting the afore-mentioned issues. To enhance the sessions’ informational value, two-page fact sheets on each topic were prepared and posted on the Library’s and Citizens Association’s websites. Cofran, an attorney and former city councilman, huddled with panelists in advance of each presentation to review the information and insure that essential points and perspectives were addressed. The panels featured city officials and other authorities. Leading local journalists moderated. Kansas City’s city manager, Troy Shulte, headlined the session on financial planning (view video at: http://bit.ly/1hHoIKx). Karl Zobrist, who served as president of the state-appointed Board of Police commissioners, and former Police Chief Jim Corwin were among those addressing control of the city’s police department (http://bit.ly/1jyWKVO). The panel on airport improvements – broadcast on public television station KCPT – included Nick Davis, the vice chairman of the city council’s Aviation Committee (video link below). Pete Fullerton, head of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, helped guide the examination of the economic border war (http://bit.ly/1qJkS9j). Lengthy question-and-answer sessions followed each presentation.

The four hourlong forums were held January 17, April 4, July 11, and October 17. A crowd of 340 took in the discussion of the airport’s future; attendance for the other three averaged almost 180. A more important measure of success, Cofran says, was the extent to which elected officials tuned in and based decisions on information and feedback the sessions provided. -- Financial planning became a significant city agenda item, culminating in a ballot measure requiring Kansas City to have a five-year, annually updated financial plan and set aside at least 1% of its general fund for contingencies. It passed in April. -- On the issue of control of the city’s police department, a special commission appointed by Mayor Sly James ultimately came to a conclusion espoused by the Citizens Association – keeping the existing system while strengthening accountability to Kansas City. The commission voted in favor of maintaining state control but expanding the state-appointed police board from four members to six to accommodate greater local representation. -- Wariness of the cost of a new airport, evident among the large Library turnout in July, appears to have slowed the $1.5 billion plan. What looked to be a fast-track approval process had stretched by spring 2014 to a year of study and debate. -- Those directly involved in the cannibalistic, Missouri-Kansas tussle over businesses and jobs – legislators, lawyers, and the like – had been tuned into the issue but not so much the public. The Library’s October discussion broadened awareness and concern.