It will be more than a year before Kansas Citians will find out who will replace Quinton Lucas as the next mayor of the city. But candidates are already lining up to seize that opportunity.
Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw, Councilman Wes Rogers, Oak Ridge Family Social Club co-owner P.J. Guastello and attorney Kenda Tomes McClain have all thrown their hats into the ring so far.
KCUR's Up To Date plans to conduct interviews with all of the mayoral candidates ahead of the election.
Just last week, 4th District at-large Council member Crispin Rea announced his own mayoral campaign.
He told KCUR's Up To Date on Wednesday that his top priority is making sure that the public is safe no matter where they are in the city.
"People want to feel safe in their neighborhoods, small business owners want to know they can open a business and that it will be safe, and folks want to visit and bring their families and know that their experience will be safe and secure," he said.
Rea believes that a robust public safety strategy includes a combination of a police presence alongside alternatives that don't require officer attention.
"That strategy needs to be balanced between enforcement and policing on one hand, and alternatives to incarceration and social services on the other," Rea said. "I think we have this awful dichotomy around public safety that we either open up the jails and let everyone out or we arrest everyone, and there's so much reasonable middle ground that's evidence-based that works between those two things."
- 4th District At-Large Kansas City Councilman Crispin Rea
