Voters Deliver Royals' Biggest Loss Of The Year
KC's new stadium proposal shot down
Last night in Baltimore, the Kansas City Royals were taking care of business on the diamond while heading to a 4-1 victory over the Orioles. Back in Missouri, Jackson County voters were determining the future of Royals baseball in the city by voting on allocating public money to help the team build a new $1.3 billion stadium in downtown KC. (This proposal was different than most in that it extended an already-existing tax instead of creating a new one.)
Voters handily rejected the proposal. Good.
The Royals have played in Kaufmann Stadium since the park’s grand opening in 1973. (Back then it was simply Royals Stadium - the park was renamed for owner Ewing Kauffman in 1993.) Between 2007 and 2009, the park underwent major renovations to extend its life, and it remains a great place to watch a baseball game:
Of course, ownership is looking toward the future, and replacing Kaufmann Stadium has been a top priority for a few years. Discussions of various fixes ultimately led to the now-rejected Question 1, which asked taxpayers to pony up for the Royals’ new digs. But before the vote itself, the Royals airwaves were full of “Yes On 1” advertisements, in-booth ownership interviews explaining why the measure was important to pass, and rambling stories about how downtown ballparks have reinvigorated Baltimore and Seattle.
The basic message was — “WE CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO!”
And that message is BS.
I love the Royals, and watch so many games it’s probably not good for my mental well-being. But the general public should not be on the hook to help pay for a stadium that only a small percentage of the public actually enjoys. If ownership wants a funding boost to help build a new stadium, it’s their job to put a product on the field that people will pay to watch. (Royals fans know exactly what I’m talking about.)
This goes far beyond public funding of stadiums. Generally speaking, it’s unfair for regular members of the public to finance the projects of billionaires —but especially when those projects involve grown men playing a kids’ game. Yet this type of financing is increasingly commonplace, and I find that extremely worrying.
These giant “infrastructure” projects involve hundreds of millions of dollars, and typically the powerful people who want the project to get the green light ALSO control the media apparatus surrounding the vote. In the case of the new Royals stadium, fans were subjected to a media blitz that rivaled (and reminded me of) the height of covid hysteria.
BAD STUFF WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DON’T DO WHAT WE SAY!
And perhaps I’ve become jaded watching election results on the West Coast, because I expected a repeat of California’s Proposition 1, which was failing for like two weeks after election day, but “somehow” squeaked out the votes in the end:
Now California has a new and incredibly expensive homeless program to replace the new and incredibly expensive homeless program that failed to work previously. And nearly the entire project — from inception to advertising to vote curation to implementation — is handled by people who have a vested outcome in the project’s approval.
This is literally insane.
Despite what government may believe, the public does not exist as a piggy bank to fund pet projects of pinheaded politicians. While we’re on the subject of California, bringing up the state’s high-speed rail project seems like a no-brainer:
First approved in 2008, the high-speed rail project is already wildly over budget, behind schedule, and isn’t even expected to actually transport passengers for another 6-9 years!
I frequently talk about incentives and how they nudge behavior. If your giant project is being funded by taxpayers and not your own money, incentives dictate the project is likely to be wildly over budget, behind schedule, and of poor quality. (The West Coast doesn’t have a monopoly on this — remember The Big Dig?)
The only solution to this problem is eliminating public funding from projects whenever possible. (This is especially true during a time in which people are having trouble making ends meet!) By now it seems obvious that government and their billionaire buddies will continue to milk the public dry until we finally stand up and say NO.
Last night, KC voters made the right call.
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This applies to spending on public projects, even schools. We just voted again on replacing an expiring local school levy with a new, more expensive levy. In the first recent vote, the pricier expensive levy lost by 134 votes. So it was decided that the voters needed to revote so they could come around to passing the new levy, perhaps in private hopes that some people who voted no last time will neglect or forget to vote this time.
This proposed levy increase will significantly increase each year from 2025 to 2027, supposedly to fund "educational programs and operations not funded by the state." There were two long paragraphs in the voting literature listing all the things lost if the (increased) levy fails to pass, such as: middle school sports eliminated; number of bus stops reduced; larger class sizes; funding for after-school clubs, drama, music and art eliminated.... and on and on.
There were apparently over 500 comments in the county community meetings regarding concerns with the levy before it was voted on the first time, including how past levy funds were used unwisely; competency test scores are low; "controversial" agendas are being pushed; $200K salary staff being added; lack of transparency/accountability, etc.
No matter----because as the levy literature claims, "our students succeed when we fund our schools." God forbid that the school make do with its already high levy, in a blue state that has one of the country's higher property taxes. Schools need MORE MORE MORE to continue their downward spiral.
I was very proud to vote 'NO' on that question yesterday. The Royals threatened us locals with leaving the county if it didn't pass, so many of us are ready to supply moving boxes whenever. Way to treat your fan base. Bye-bye.