September 17, 2004
K.C. at the bat
Voters in the Kansas City region will go to the polls this November to decide on "Bistate 2," a plan to raise sales taxes by 0.25% for 15 years, with the proceeds going half for a $380 million renovation of the Royals and Chiefs stadiums, half for local arts programs. (If you haven't noticed, this is a trend: Presumably sports team owners have discovered that it's easier to get a stadium bill passed if it's sold as "money for stadiums and fluffy puppies.") Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt answered "cynics" - the K.C. Star's word - who think the Chiefs should pay for their own renovations to Arrowhead Stadium, saying, "The fact is, this is a public facility. The Chiefs only play 10 games a year here," while the rest of the year it's used by such events as Wizards soccer games and the Billy Graham crusade. Billy Graham needs new locker rooms?
In the official kickoff of the Bistate 2 campaign this week, meanwhile, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce President Pete Levi insisted that "this campaign is just as tough" as that faced by Lewis and Clark when the passed through the area 200 years ago. Why, just last week Royals vice-president Mark Gorris was eaten by a b'ar!
