Broken Promises over Kc Crime Lab? - Kansas city week in review

KANSAS CITY WENT TO OF COURSERS IN 2010 TO RENEW A PUBLIC SAFETY TAX TO FUND A NEW 40 MILLION-DOLLAR STATE-OF-THE-ART CRIME LABORATORY. NOW, THREE YEARS ON, HUGE COST OVERRUNS HAVE BALLOONED THE PRICE TAG TO ALMOST TWICE THAT. EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE NOW SPENDING 7 $4 MILLION, CITY OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGE THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DRAMATICALLY SCALE BACK THE SCOPE AND SIZE OF THE LAB. THE 74 MILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION IS HOW COULD OFFICIALS HAVE GOT THIS SO WRONG? BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS GET IT WRONG. I'M NOT BEING TOO EXAGGERATED. THE COST OVERRUNS FOR PUBLIC PROJECTS ARE JUST -- IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE A MAJOR -- OR REMEMBER A MAJOR PROJECT, NICK, IN WHICH COST WAS NOT EXCEEDED. NOW, WHAT THEY OFTEN DO IN KANSAS CITY --. IS THAT TRUE ALL ACROSS THE METRO? WELL, OF COURSE, KANSAS CITY IS MORE INVOLVED IN MAJOR PROJECTS THAN OTHER COMMUNITIES, LIKE BARTLE HALL, FOR EXAMPLE, OR THE POWER AND LIGHT DISTRICT, BOTH OF WHICH WENT OVERBUDGET. WHAT THEY OFTEN DO IN KANSAS CITY AND WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO ON THE CRIME LAB IS SQUEEZE DOWN THE AMENITIES, DOWNSIZE THE FACILITY, AND THEN CLAIM IT CAME IN UNDER BUDGET. WE SPENT EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO. YEAH, AND IT WAS HALF OF WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. THIS IS A VERY, VERY FAMILIAR STORY. BUT DOES THIS BREAK FATE, THOUGH, WITH WHAT THE VOTERS APPROVE IN 2010. I THINK WHAT VOTERS WERE NOT TOLD WHEN THEY APPROVED THE 57 MILLION-DOLLAR PROJECT WAS THAT THAT $57 MILLION WAS AN ESTIMATE AND A VERY ROUGH ESTIMATE BASED ON THE SQUARE FOOTAGE. IT DIDN'T FACTOR IN A LOT OF MONEY FOR LAND OR DESIGN, AND ONLY LATER DID THEY THEN PICK THE SITE, WHICH ADMITTEDLY WAS A VERY DIFFICULT SITE. IT WAS FOUR SCARE -- SQUARE BLOCKS, REQUIRED RELOCATING PEOPLE AND NUMEROUS HOUSES. THEY WANTED TO TREAT THE PEOPLE FAIRLY, SO THEY PAID THEM MORE THAN THE MARKET VALUE OF THEIR HOMES. THE LAND COST WAS WAY MORE THAN ANTICIPATED. I THINK AT LEAST VOTERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD, FOLKS, THIS IS AN ESTIMATE. THEY'RE NEVER TOLD THAT, ARE THEY? AND THERE HAS BEEN MUCH CONTINGENCY. YOU WOULD THINK AFTER THIS HAPPENED REPEATEDLY YOU WOULD HAVE AN ESTIMATE AND YOU WOULD SAY WE NEED TO BUILD IN A 25% CONTINGENCY FOR ADDITIONAL LAND, INFLATION AND OTHER UNFORESEEN COSTS. IT IS A GOOD THING THAT THE FOLKS WHO WERE BEING DISPLACED AS A RESULT OF THIS PROJECT WERE BEING TREATED FAIRLY, ERIC? ABSOLUTELY. A LOT OF THAT MONEY FOR THE LAND ACQUISITION AND RELOCATION FROM PEOPLE CAME FROM HUD. THAT WASN'T CITY FUNDING. I THINK JERMAINE GOT A MILLION DOLLARS OR SOMETHING. THAT'S CITY COUNCILMAN JERMAINE REED. YEAH. SOME OF IT WAS FEDERAL FUNDING, BUT THAT BUILT IN FEDERAL RULES, WHICH ARE MORE COSTLY TO COMPLY WITH. WHAT YOU HAVE IS, IN 2008, WHEN THIS THING WAS DESIGNED, YOU HAD STILL A ONE COST NUTS AND BOLTS AT ANOTHER COST, AND THEN YOU COME BACK FIVE YEARS LATER. THE PRICE OF THOSE ITEMS HAVE GONE UP. SO YOUR COST AUTOMATICALLY GOES UP. SO I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THEY DID WRONG WAS PROJECTING THE COSTS AND HOW LONG IT TOOK TO GET VOTERS TO APPROVE IT AND GET IT TO THE TABLE FOR VOTERS TO APPROVE. THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY DIDN'T TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION. ONE OF THE BOARD MEMBERS ON THE POLICE BOARD IS INSISTING ON 70,000 SQUARE FOOT FOR THE CRIME LAB WHEN THEY WANT TO CUT IT DOWN TO 60,000, BECAUSE THEY REALLY DON'T NEED THE OTHER SPACE BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE PEOPLE TO WORK IN THAT SPACE. STACEY. HERE'S THE REAL PROBLEM. THINGS CALLED SOFT COSTS, PURCHASING LAND, THE DESIGN BUILDOUT AND THINGS LIKE FURNITURE. ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER PAT KLINE EVEN SAID AS MUCH, THAT WE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN INTO THESE DETAILS MUCH DEEPER, AND WE COULD HAVE IN 2011, BUT WE DIDN'T. AND THEN MAYOR SLY JAMES COMES OUT, AND LYNN HAD THE MONEY QUOTE OF THE WEEK, SAYING, I'M NOT GOING TO SECOND GUESS WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE DONE. WELL, THEN WHO WILL? IF IT'S NOT THE CITY MANAGER OR MAYOR SLY JAMES, WHO IS GOING TO SECOND GUESS WHY PEOPLE DIDN'T DO MORE DETAIL INTO THESE SOFT COSTS, WHICH ARE REALLY GOING TO COST THE OVERRUNS. IT'S NOT NECESSARILY INFLATION. THESE SOFT COURSE -- SOFT COSTS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY PEOPLE DON'T HAVE CONFIDENT IN THE AIRPORT OR BUILDING LIGHT RAIL? IT'S BECAUSE OF PROJECTS LIKE THE CRIME LAB. GOOD POINT. THE CITY SAYS WE'VE GOT A PLAN, AND WE WILL BUILD A VERY GOOD LAB. THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WANTS THE BIG BIGGER LAB EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT KNOWN HOW THEY WILL STAFF THAT LAB. IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SOMETHING THEY CAN USE FOR 20 TO 30 YEARS. THIS IS SETTING UP A BIG FIGHT BETWEEN THE POLICE BOARD AND CITY OFFICIALS. AND AS CONSUMERS, AS INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS OF THE CITY, ARE WE GOING TO BE LESS WELL SERVED BECAUSE OF THIS? YOU MIGHT END UP SPENDING MORE MONEY. THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT ISSUING ADDITIONAL BONDS. THEY SAY THE SALES TAX THAT WOULD PASS FOR THE LAB WILL BE ABLE TO SORT OF JUSTIFY THOSE EXTRA BONDS, AND WE'LL SEE WHEN THEY REFINANCE IT. BUT I MEAN, THAT'S REAL MONEY. WE'RE TALKING TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT SOMEONE IS GOING TO HAVE TO COME UP WITH. YOU EITHER HAVE A LESSER LAB OR TAXPAYERS HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR THIS FACILITY. AND COUNCILMAN SHARP IS FOUNDING THE ALARM THAT WE MAY NOT HAVE THE FACILITY WE NEED TO CATCH UP WITH THE BACKLOG OF EVIDENCE AS A RESULT OF THESE CUTBACKS THAT ARE GOING TO. WHEN KANSAS LAWMAKERS RECENTLY HANDED GOVERNOR SAM BROWNBACK THE POWER TO PICK APPEALS COURT JUDGES, THEY WANTED TO MAKE THE PROCESS MORE PUBLIC AND ACCOUNTABLE. BUT THE REPUBLICAN LEADER HAS RUN INTO A WHIRL OF CRITICISM FOR REFUSING TO DIVULGE THE NAMES OF THE CANDIDATES WHO HAVE APPLIED FOR A NEWLY CREATED SEAT ON THE KANSAS COURT OF APPEALS. WHAT ARE THEY SO UPSET ABOUT? WE KEEP HEARING ABOUT THIS STORY. WELL, BECAUSE TRADITIONALLY THOSE NAMES HAVE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE TO THE MISSOURI PLAN, THE SO-CALLED MISSOURI PLAN WHERE THERE IS A PANEL SELECTED AND YOU HAVE SOME SENSE OF IT, BUT IN THIS CASE, I THINK GOVERNOR BROWNBACK HAS AN ARGUMENT. WHEN AN EXECUTIVE APPOINTS JUDGES, FOR EXAMPLE, AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DOES, HE'S NOT REQUIRED TO PUBLISH A LIST OF THE POTENTIAL NOMINEES. I THINK GOVERNOR BROWNBACK IS APPROACHING IT IN THE SAME WAY. I THINK MAYBE SOME OF THE CONCERNS ARE OVERBLOWN. NOW, THE CONCERN ABOUT WHETHER THE GOVERNOR SHOULD BE APPOINTING JUDGES OR NOT IS ANOTHER ISSUE. BUT THE PUBLIC IS PROBABLY PILING ON A LITTLE BIT. BUT SAYING HE'S BEING VERY SECRETIVE BY NOT RELEASING THE NAMES, WHEN THAT WAS THE OLD SYSTEM WHERE THE PUBLIC WOULD KNOW EVERY NAME NOMINATED. RIGHT, AND ONE OF THE ARGUMENTS IN CHANGING THE PROCESS WAS TO MAKE THE PROCESS MORE APPARENT SO THERE WOULD BE MORE POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY, AND THERE IS SIMPLY NOT GOING TO BE IN THIS CASE DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE IN THE SENATE SAYS, THIS IS GOING TO MAKE SOMEONE POLITICALLY ACCOUNTABLE NOW. WHO? BECAUSE IF THE GOVERNOR DOESN'T HAVE TO SAY WHO THE CANDIDATES ARE THAT HE'S CONSIDERING AND THEN IT'S ON THE CONFIRMATION OF THE SENATE, THERE IS NO TRANSPARENCY IN THIS PROCESS. SO I THINK THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CRITICS ARE RIGHTLY FAIR TO SAY THAT THIS IS QUESTIONABLE BECAUSE THE GOVERNOR WAS THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED, LET'S MAKE THIS MORE OPEN, LET'S MAKE THIS MORE TRANSPARENT, LET'S HAVE THE PUBLIC'S INPUT. AND NOW THE PUBLIC AND NO ONE BUT THE GOVERNOR AND HIS CONSERVATIVE SENATE HAS ANY SAY WHATSOEVER. LATE LAST WEEK, SOME TALK RADIO STATION IN'S KANSAS CITY WERE REPAIRING THEIR VIEWERS FOR RIOTS IF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN WAS TO BE COMMITTED. THE POWDER KEG OF TENSION WAS CONSIDERED SO GREAT, KANSAS CITY POLICE CHIEF DARYL FORTE WAS CALLING FOR CALM IN ADVANCE OF THE JURY'S VERDICT. MAYOR SLY JAMES ALSO CALLED FOR PEACE. THE KCPT LOCKED DOWN THE PLAZA SATURDAY NIGHT AND THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND IN FEARS OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN. BUT AFTER ALL THE WARNINGS AND CONCERNS, WHAT WAS THE LOCAL REACTION, ERIC? REALLY NOTHING. THERE WAS A COUPLE OF RALLIES. THERE WAS A MARCH. I THINK THEY MARCHED FROM 31st 31st AND BENTON TO THE FREEDOM FOUNTAIN AND ON BRUSH CREEK, THERE WAS A RALLY THERE. THE ISSUES WERE CONFUSING, BECAUSE THE RALLY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT TRAYVON MARTIN. WHEN PEOPLE GOT THERE, THEY FLIPPED IT TO TALK ABOUT LOCAL HOMICIDES AND LOCAL ISSUES, BUT THERE WAS REALLY NO VIOLENT OUTBURST. I DON'T THINK ANYBODY REALLY EXPECTED IT. I THINK A LOT OF BLOGGING, A LOT OF INTERNET WAS ALL THESE KIDS ARE GOING TO RUN TO THE PLAZA, THEY'RE GOING TO TEAR THINGS UP. I DON'T THINK IT WAS EVER REALLY A CLIMATE FOR THAT IN KANSAS CITY. I THINK ERIC IS RIGHT ON. THIS CAME AS A RESULT OF SOME IRRESPONSIBLE BLOGGING AND JURNISM -- JOURNALISM. IT WAS ONE NARCISSISTIC SO-CALLED SELF-CRIME FIGHTER AND COMIC BOOK ARTIST WHO HAS A TWITTER FEED THAT STARTED TO SOUND THE ALARM. HE WAS PICKED UP BY A BLOGGER THAT THEN MADE LOCAL MEDIA TALK SHOWS AS WELL AS TELEVISION PICK UP THE STORY, AND THEN THE MAYOR AND THE CHIEF FELT OBLIGATED TO RESPOND. AND IT WAS ALL MORE OR LESS A POWDER KEG THAT I DON'T THINK REALLY EXISTED. IN A WAY, IT WAS VERY DEMEANING TO THE POPULATION THAT THEY SAID WOULD RUN OUT AND DO THESE THINGS. LOOK, RIOTING IS A CRIMINAL ACT. THERE'S ARSON, ASSAULT, BURGLARY, CRIMINAL MISCHIEF, AND FOR PEOPLE SUCH AS THESE BLOGGERS AND THIS CRIME FIGHTER TO SAY THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE GOING TO GO OUT AND COMMIT THOSE ACTS REALLY DEGRADES THEM. AND I -- IT WAS OFFENSIVE, AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE THAT IT WAS EVER EVEN A REAL ISSUE HERE. I AGREE TOTALLY, AND IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME, AND IT'S A SITUATION WHERE IF SOMETHING HAPPENS, OH, I TOLD YOU IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT IF IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AND I PREVENTED IT FROM HAPPENING BY LETTING PEOPLE KNOW, BUT THERE WAS NEVER A CLIMATE FOR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SOME SECOND GUESSING ABOUT THE MAYOR AND CHIEF BOTH PUTTING OUT PRESS RELEASES, SAYING, IN ESSENCE, DON'T DO ANYTHING WRONG THAT MAY BE POTENTIALLY EXACERBATING THE SITUATION. YOU DID HEAR FROM PEOPLE SAYING MAYBE THAT WASN'T THE BEST STRATEGY. BUT I'M NOT SURE THEY WEREN'T DOING THAT IN RESPONSE TO MEDIA INQUIRIES EITHER. WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT THIS? HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR THIS POTENTIAL EVENTUALITY? MY SENSE IS THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE DOING, NOT THAT THEY DID IT ON THEIR OWN. BECAUSE THE MAYOR WASN'T EVEN IN TOWN. WELL, HE WAS HERE MOST OF THE WEEK, BUT I DON'T -- LIKE I SAID, I BELIEVE THEY WERE RESPONDING TO REQUESTS. I'M NOT SAYING IT WAS RIGHT OR WRONG. I'M JUST SAYING YOU COULD HEAR THAT CHATTER LAST WEEK. SO THAT'S WHERE JOE REARDON IS HE HEADED. THIS WEEK THE FORMER MAYOR OF WYANDOTTE COUNTY ENDED A LONG SILENCE ABOUT HIS FUTURE BY ANNOUNCING HE'S JOINING ONE OF KANSAS CITY'S LARGEST LAW FIRMS, MCANANY, VAN CLEAVE AND PHILLIPS, WHERE HE WILL WORK IN THE AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY LAW, PUBLIC POLICY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. WHEN REARDON ANNOUNCED BACK IN JANUARY, HE WOULD NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION, THERE WAS SPECULATION HE WAS HEADING FOR A MUCH HIGHER PROFILE GIG, EVERYTHING FROM SUCCEEDING DAVID WARM AS THE HEAD OF THE MID AMERICA REGIONAL COUNCIL TO THE NEW HEAD OF THE HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION TO A TOP JOB AT THE GOOGLE IN KANSAS CITY. IS THIS JOB A SURPRISE? A LITTLE. THERE WAS A LITTLE CHATTER ABOUT HIM BEING IN THE RUNNING FOR SOME HIGHER OFFICE. THIS IS A GOOD PLACE TO PARK HIMSELF, EARN A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY IF HE STILL WANTS A POLITICAL CAREER. THAT MAY BE WHAT'S GOING ON. THAT IS OUR WEEK IN REVIEW. ERIC IS STILL LAUGHING LAUGHINGD MAKING ME LAUGH. FROM KANSAS CITY IT IS 5 STACEY CAMERON AND THE STAR'S CITY HALL REPORTER LYNN HORSLEY. FROM THE CALL, ERIC WESSON AND DAVE HELLING OF THE KANSAS CITY STAR. I'M NICK HAINES. FROM ALL OF US HERE AT KCPT, THANKS FOR SPENDING PART OF YOUR WEEKEND WITH US.   Captioning provided by Caption Associates, LLC www.captionassociates.com