Kansas City Mayor Warns Against Amendment 4 on Police Funding

Missouri Amendment 4 affects local funding and state oversight of the Kansas City Police Department.

Supporters say “adequate funding is needed” to keep the community safe, but Quinton Lucas, who has been the city’s mayor since 2019, opposes the proposed amendment because it “takes power away” from local leaders.

This interview has been shortened and clarified.

GREGORY HOLMAN, KSMU NEWS: Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri, welcome to Ozarks Public Radio.

QUINTON LUCAS, MAYOR OF KANSAS CITY: It’s nice to be with you.

KSMU: Let’s get right to it. We’re here to talk about voting on Amendment 4 to the Missouri Constitution. This is a proposed amendment that would affect the Kansas City Police Department and its minimal funding. Every eligible voter in Missouri will have the opportunity to vote on this amendment on August 6th.

Now, before we ask any questions, Mayor Lucas, I would like to begin by reading the ballots for our listeners. I will quote from sample ballots.

“Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to authorize laws passed before December 31, 2026, that increase the minimum funding for a police department established by a state board of police chiefs to ensure that such police department has additional resources to serve its communities?

“This would authorize a law passed in 2022 that increases the City of Kansas City’s required funding for police requests from 20% of general revenues to 25%, an increase of $38,743,646, even though the city previously provided that level of funding voluntarily. No other state or local government agency estimates the cost or savings.”

That’s the question all Missouri voters will get on their August 6 ballot.
Mayor Lucas, tell us about your positions on Amendment 4. Why should people in the Ozarks and across Missouri be concerned about this issue?

LUCAS: Well, you know, it’s on the ballot in the Ozarks and all over Missouri. So it’s important to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. And I think the biggest threat to anyone in the Ozarks or anywhere else outside of Kansas City is that the state could do the same thing to you.

This is a ballot question that asks in a non-obvious way for, basically, control over the budget of Kansas City Missouri. It asks voters across the state to say Kansas City needs to spend more on this one area of ​​its budget, not spend more on certain areas that we always fund, like health care, paying for firefighters, paying to fix our roads, paying to address basic, fundamental problems. And it takes that power away from the city council and the mayor’s office and the ability to do that.

So I think the real reason anyone should be concerned is that if you’re concerned about Jefferson City, bureaucrats, bureaucrats anywhere telling you what to do, this is exactly the type of question that does that. And that’s why I’m voting no.

KSMU: I want to ask you about the perspective on Amendment 4 from people who disagree with you. One of the leading proponents of Amendment 4 is Senator Tony Leutkemeyer. As many of our listeners know, the senator is a Republican, you are a Democrat, but the senator is a Republican from the 34th district near Kansas City.

And Senator Leutkemeyer wrote an op-ed about Amendment 4 in the Kansas City Star on July 2. He wants Missourians to vote for the amendment. He accused your administration of trying to deprive the Kansas City Police Department of tens of millions of dollars in 2021 and wrote that Amendment 4 would “stabilize the KCPD budget.” What is your response to these kinds of arguments?

LUCAS: Yeah, I mean, Tony is just woefully wrong. First of all, when I became mayor, the KCPD budget, our Kansas City police budget, was $261 million. Now it’s $317 million. That’s a substantial percentage increase from where it was before. I also, just last year, raised police salaries by 30%. And so this is not a police funding issue. I have, Kansas City has, consistently supported defunding the police.

We just want to be able to be like every other city in Missouri, and make these decisions based on our own budget, our own negotiations, and frankly, some accountability. In what world do you say you’re going to get a blank check and we’re not allowed to ask questions about how you spend your money? That’s exactly what this ballot question is about.

You know, right now in Kansas City we have a 911 call taker crisis where there are people — it happened to my own family — who call 911 and have to wait on hold for five minutes. Some people have been on hold for ten minutes. And that has happened to thousands of Kansas City residents. Under our current system, the city council, the mayor and others can’t force the police to do anything about it.

While I want to say, hell, I want to give you money specifically targeted at that problem so that you can hire more call takers so that you can operate more efficiently there. This question precludes us from doing that. That’s why it’s a bad idea. And that’s just one example. And so I would respectfully disagree with the senator. We’ve spent a lot of money supporting our police.

We’ve raised it every year I’ve been in office, and I’ve been in office for nine years now (Editor’s note: This also applies to Lucas’ time as a city councilor and mayor.) And I think we’ll continue to do that — we just want to be able to have good conversations, good accountability. And unlike the senator, who was running for reelection when this last came up — and I think that was a big part of why this was introduced — I’m a term-limited person, and I’m just saying this for the best interest of Kansas Cityers in the long run.

KSMU: I think it’s fair to say that many people who live in rural Missouri feel that Kansas City — and St. Louis, for that matter — have pretty serious crime problems and need more state oversight and police spending. What’s your response to that kind of Back the Blue position?

LUCAS: You know, I guess I’m of the opinion that if you can absolutely support the Blue, you can absolutely support them, but also believe in local oversight. Think about this: You want the mayor of Kansas City—? I’m Quinton Lucas, I’m a leftist and all that, but you want me to run your local police department?

If I ever run for governor and I get elected, do you want me to tell a bunch of friends, a bunch of bureaucrats in Jefferson City, you and your community what to do? What is the priority? How many people should get paid? Should you put more money in this category or another category? That is my concern.

I think about my children, I think about the people in this community who deserve that voice. So it’s not just saying Kansas City will be safer, because frankly, under the current state control of the police department, it’s not. We’re breaking murder records under the control of a board, four of which are appointed by the governor of Missouri, only one comes from the people of Kansas City, and that’s the mayor. And I think, frankly, in the long run, we’re going to be in a better position if there’s a closer connection between law enforcement and the people of Kansas City.

So I think it’s kind of a sheep in wolf’s clothing that, you know, you’re dealing with this thing, wolf in sheep’s clothing, rather, where you’re dealing with this thing, that seems kind of nice, right? We’re just going to pay more for the police. But instead, what it’s really doing is saying you have no control. The state has control over how you’re going to spend your money. And if you want to change that — too bad.

KSMU: Now, you alluded to some of the history and context here, and I want to ask you about that. In 2022, Missouri voters voted for Amendment 4, but in April of this year, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned those results — I quote from KCUR’s reporting in Kansas City that the state high court “ruled that the original ballot measure was so inaccurate that it ‘actually misled voters.'” What’s your take on that?

LUCAS: You know, I think that was a very wise decision. And I was sad that we had to get there. I’m someone who doesn’t like to file lawsuits against the state. I don’t like to get into these kinds of fights. But it’s about fundamental fairness to our voters. They tried to get an issue on the ballot, they tried to get an issue by making it look like it was just free. And I think a lot of people understandably said, ‘Wait, we can get more good things for free.’

That’s really cool.’ At least this time, and I think it was rushed to the ballot again, after the Supreme Court decision. The — at least this time — people are going to see that there’s going to be a fiscal impact on Kansas City, we’re going to lose our ability to spend $40 million a year on almost everything else. And I think that’s something that, to me, is fundamentally challenging with these kinds of provisions. And don’t get me wrong — we might choose to spend $100 million more on police services. But Kansas City residents go to the polls, they vote for people. That’s how we should do things in a representative democracy. What we shouldn’t have is state bureaucrats telling us what to do.

KSMU: If you spend another $100 million, we might invite you for another interview. (Mayor Lucas laughs.) But this is the last question for this one. Can you briefly compare and contrast — if Amendment 4 passes, what can people expect from the police in Kansas City? Or if voters reject it this time, what will happen?

LUCAS: Well, here’s the thing, if Amendment 4 passes, you’re going to see a status quo, and to some people it sounds good if everything stays the same, status quo. To the people of Kansas City, it doesn’t. And in the last four years, we’ve broken our city’s murder record twice — twice.

We have more murders than ever in the history of this city. In the last four years, we have had a homicide unit, a 911 call taker crisis, where people are on hold. Status quo, no accountability, is not good for the people of Kansas City. And I would submit to you, is not good for the people of Missouri. As you may have seen after the shooting at the Chiefs Super Bowl parade, a great event, there were many dignitaries from Missouri, including the governor of Missouri.

The state legislature canceled the session that day. We had a mass shooting that injured 24 people and killed one woman. That is not a status quo that I want in Kansas City, and it is not a status quo that I want in the state of Missouri. So I think a vote against it is the right one to break that kind of status quo around us right now.