Coming up, a new twist in the stadium saga.

I wouldn't.

Be surprised if in a month or two Clay County.

Is picked.

To be the.

Site for the KC Royals.

Clay County ready to go to voters on a new home for the Royals this November.

Every conversation I've been a part.

Of.

November is the option that we've.

Been presenting.

Forget about our reporters this week.

We bring you the top decision makers in Clay and Jackson counties competing to win over Jon Sherman and the Metros First transgender restrictions now, in effect, a new bathroom law in Kansas is a week old.

We look at the impact with the head of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

It's all coming up on this newsmaker edition of Week in Review.

Week in Review is made possible through the generous support of AARP, Kansas City, RSM Dave and Jamie Cummings, Bob and Marlese Gourley, the Courtney S. Turner Charitable Trust.

John H. Mize and Bank of America and a co trustees.

The restaurant at 1900.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Nick Haines.

It is great to have you with us again.

I know for many Kansas City fans, Taylor Swift coming to town is the biggest news story of the week.

But if shelling out thousands of dollars for a seat at one of her back to back concerts at Arrowhead wasn't in your budget.

We want to tell you about some other big issues that could soon be hitting your pocketbook.

While most of us were celebrating America's birthday this week with fireworks, picnics and parades, there was news sparks flying in the ongoing stadium saga with news reports that Clay County may be ready to put a new ballpark to a public vote this November if you haven't been keeping score.

Royals owner John Sherman announced last week that the team is ready to leave.

Kauffman Stadium and relocate to one of just two sites, a plot of land just east of City Hall downtown called the East Village alter, the site of a former bowling alley surrounded by parking lots in north Kansas City.

As our good friend Dave Helling has repeatedly told us on this program, what happens is not a decision the city council will make.

But county leaders in both locations with us are the leaders from those two dueling counties vying for the right to call the royals their home team.

Jerry Nolte is the head of Clay County Government, where he serves as presiding commissioner and Manuel Abarca holds the purse strings in Jackson County.

He's the chair of the powerful Budget Committee in the Jackson County legislature.

He's also, by the way, the man who's trying to cap property assessments in Jackson County and are leading the new charge to remove the Andrew Jackson statue from outside the county's two courthouses.

More on that later.

But first, let's tackle the big issue, the stadium.

I could have you just respond.

I'm not kidding.

We get so many questions about this.

There's so much confusion, so much head scratching.

Let me can I just start with the question?

This one I love.

This is actually from Ray in Lenexa, who asks, What advantage would the Royals receive by locating in North Kansas City as opposed to where they are now?

I just don't get it.

Actually, I wish they didn't stole the rolling roof, which would benefit both the royals and the Chiefs.

Now, help us understand, Jerry, for those scratching their heads, why would moving the royals to Cloud County make sense for them?

There are several reasons.

One is we have a very large tract of land.

We're talking about 80 acres.

So we are able to do an actual 21st century sports facility with all of the amenities around it.

Secondarily, the Northland Clay County and Platte County together constitute two of the fastest growing economic entities in county governments.

And certainly John Sherman reinforced that at his news conference last week.

Has panic set in?

Marial Barker over at the Jackson County legislature hushed emergency meetings.

What are we going to do?

I think panic has set in with the royals.

The reality is that Jackson County has been footing the bill for a long time here for stadiums, and it's, I think, hurt more feelings than it set panic in.

We're talking about over $50 million of taxpayer revenues annually for the stadiums.

And now to go and get a sweetheart deal maybe from Clay County, I think that got a lot of folks attention in Jackson County, but not in a good way.

You know, we hear that John Sherman saying he's negotiating with the counties.

Does that mean you're in meetings with him every week in his team?

Do you get wined and dined in a suite at Royal Stadium to try and curry favor with you?

I think that is some of the plays, but not to my end here.

I think some of the discussion has been really about what the plan is.

What are we talking about?

The actual investment, the return on those investments.

Now that we have a potential location, we can talk about what it cost to the taxpayers, because I think that's the biggest discussion that folks can have.

And unfortunately, I think we can probably have more discussions about setting some boundaries to protect our taxpayers collectively.

Well, do you actually speak to John Sherman on a weekly basis?

Jerry Nulty, are you on the hotline with him every week?

I'm on a speed dial.

We talk when we need to talk.

But the thing is, I would agree that what we're looking at here is opportunity for the royals, for our citizens, first and foremost, when we're talking about whatever move we make, it has to be there has to be return on investment and absolute benefit for the citizens of Clay County in my particular case.

Is there anything you wouldn't do to lure the royals to look like county?

Well, I will.

I wasn't going to do a fan dance or anything like that by popular demand, actually.

But we are certainly willing to entertain all options.

But I can say at the end of the day, the prism that we are looking through is what is in the best interest of our citizens.

We did hear in that opening clip that's from one of your commissioners on the clay County Commission saying November is everything we've been talking about.

What would have to actually happen for you to put a sales tax on the voting Clay County this November?

Are you just waiting for John Sherman to give you the nod to get that colt, possibly even in this program?

I say let let's move on this.

Actually, we are prepared to go forward in November.

But the thing is, it is as long as the situation warrants it, once again, if we can put it together to where we feel confident that this is a package in the best interest of the citizens for Clay of Clay County, we can, in fact, move as quickly as a November ballot.

The deadline to put something on the November ballot is the end of August, I believe, the 29th.

If we were to go that particular route, then we would need to move along rather sharply here.

But we are prepared, and I think because we are a smaller government and more nimble, we have the ability to move more quickly on these items.

Here's another viewer question.

This is from Diana.

Why wasn't the land around the existing royals and cheap stadiums never fully funded and developed money?

Yeah, that's a good question.

I would push that over to the county executive, Frank White and say, why isn't that an investment strategy from our Sports authority?

A burnt out Denny's is by hardly an opportunity for full out development.

John Sherman said at his press conference last week that no one's waiting on the royals as if he's waiting for local elected leaders to weigh in.

I think the Royals would like us to put it on a ballot before telling us what we're putting on the ballot.

What are we talking about in the true financial package here?

We've not received that information.

I hope you will have, because we have not.

And so I think this is the Wal-Mart shell game of where the best tax incentives are is where we'll go.

And if that's the case, then we'll take our $50 million back.

What we've heard from many viewers puzzled that white Clay County would be chosen.

There are two assets in addition to the things you've talked about for a Clay County site.

One, would those people who get anxiety over parking, you'd have a whole a lot more parking.

And for those who like to tailgate before games, you would have more option for that in a Clay County site, too.

I think the the idea that we are talking about nearly four times the amount of space gives us the opportunity to really address a lot of needs.

Are the conversations happening in Jackson County about what happens if the Kauffman does move downtown?

All to Clay County?

What actually happens to that space now?

Yeah, So and that's part of the challenge here is we're not seeing leadership at the executive level to talk about this.

We're inquiring now from the legislative standpoint as to where are the attorneys that are going to talk through our contract that we currently have with them.

What is the obligation if the Royals decide to move next year or I think as early as 2026, there's going to be some refunding that's going to have to occur for Mr. Sherman's pocketbook.

So I think there's a lot of unanswered questions to push a ballot so fast this year.

Some people think it's totally ludicrous that John Sherman is even considering Clay County.

Jerry, that you are being played here.

This is just a maneuver to try and coax as many concessions as possible out of Kansas City and the Jackson County legislature to basically throw everything and the kitchen sink at them to keep them there.

Are you worried about that?

Not really, because not my first rodeo when I was in the legislature, but the Bombardier project.

So many years ago when we were doing a lot of expansion there.

And it was pretty clear early on that that was a that was a maneuver so that they could negotiate a better deal with their unions.

This is not that.

From my experience, this is this is a sincere negotiation and we are going to pursue it in a competitive manner.

Have you done any polling in Clay County about support for a sales tax there?

I think there has been some polling that I did not do it, so I don't have those numbers.

We did see John Sherman last week say there is support for this move to a downtown location and that it would actually pass on the ballot.

Do you buy that?

I mean, I think the team played there.

Any place they would go would be helpful.

But the real realistic point of view right now is we need to see the deal and we haven't seen the deal.

And I think no matter what the ballot is, when it is where it is, without understanding the true financial makeup of this decision, I don't think tax payers are going to buy into this.

Okay.

We have a date now because John Sherman said it in his news conference last week that by the end of the summer we will make our final decision, will end this purgatory on this issue.

And I was looking the last day of summer, according to the Farmer's Almanac, is Saturday, September 23rd.

So Saturday, September 23rd winds around.

And John Sherman says it's going to be in the East Village, not in Clay County.

How would that make you feel?

Well, I would certainly be disappointed.

But the thing is, when you look at Clay County and you look at the North and we are dynamic and a growing part of this community, in fact, we are one of the fastest growing parts of this of this metropolitan area.

We will certainly go forward.

We are competitively pursuing this, but we will expand.

We are on the upswing and we are going to be expanding regardless of what happens.

If indeed the East Village in Kansas City downtown is picked by Saturday, September 23rd.

What what information do you still need to know from the royals before you would feel comfortable about throwing your support on the Jackson County legislature plan?

Yeah, I mean, I think the financial package is a critical component, understanding the peripheral impacts as well.

Right.

Stand up.

Kansas City has talked about some demands they've made for workers and for affordable housing, and I firmly stand behind that as well.

If Clark County, though, is looking at a potentially a November ballot, you're still looking at potentially April.

Well, I don't think we made any.

Okay.

All right.

So that's interesting.

And I think this is the game that is being played, unfortunately, by the Royals.

And I hope and and I'd welcome further conversations with Clay County and North Kansas City and have had some, but trying to set the baseline of what we're willing to give here to kind of check the royals and that way and provide the best opportunity for all of our taxpayers no matter if it's across the river here.

Now, we have reporters around this program.

It's very seldom that we have the opportunity to have top county leaders with us.

I wanted to talk about a few other things with you.

And by the way, I mentioned at the beginning of the show that Taylor Swift seemed to get more news stories than anyone else in Kansas City this week.

We've heard over the years that local elected leaders get free tickets to chiefs and royals games.

Now, as you oversee the sports complex money, does that extend to free tickets to the Taylor Swift show?

I have not had received that phone call back.

I'm sure my daughter would love that.

That is not in my wheelhouse.

You don't get that.

I don't believe so.

What what is the biggest perk of being a Jackson County legislator?

We get a lot of phone calls, I think.

Right.

I think that's probably the biggest part to talk to as many constituents as possible.

But the reality is we get to make very hard decisions like the one with the royals or other stuff in relation to county government.

And so I think that is the joy of this part time role right now.

How about for you, what is the biggest perk for being the head of Clay County government?

You go into any restaurant, you get the best seat in the house, free appetizers and a complimentary drink.

That's the latest issue, I guess.

But no, the biggest thing that I enjoy about this and we talked about local government and local government is where the action is.

Being a lifelong Clay County resident and the fact that I can serve the community that I live in and I will continue to live in after I leave office is is wonderful, is great to see the development, very satisfying to understand how our community is growing.

Well, another big issue playing out this week that affects counties, of course, and it's happening in Jackson County.

Those residents taking up pitchforks to the courthouse amid widespread anger over property appraisals.

Time is now running out.

The appeal deadline is on Monday.

Mine went up 440%.

You know, I don't understand.

I guess everybody's got to sell their houses and leave.

I don't want to cry because I saw a lot of senior citizens on canes and they were coming in there, the walkers, because they are so afraid of losing their homes.

Just a snapshot of the anger.

Manny, you proposed a 15% cap on property valuations.

Do you have the votes or is that idea now being dismissed?

I think it's important to know that this is a resolution.

We have the lack of authority.

The state does not delegate that authority to us.

This is a method to promote Frank Wyatt and the county Assessor and the Board of Equalization to act and respond to all this response we're getting from constituents.

We hear also you could just lower your taxes.

Yeah, well, I guess that is something that Frank Frank White has suggested he's already done, but that's not enough.

We could also fix the assessment issues that we have so that we're not setting fair market values to something that people can't afford.

Why is it that we always just hear about this in Jackson County?

You're in Clay County right next door.

And what are you doing differently there?

Is it that nobody wants to move to Clay County?

So valuations haven't gone up or is it the media doesn't care to report what's happening in Clay County?

Actually, we are growing population wise, so we picked up a couple of state reps in the latest census.

So we are in fact growing.

You know, the thing is the taxes are never popular.

You've always got to keep in mind the fact that, you know, they have to be paid.

But we have done we've been lowering them.

The property, the property tax, that part of the library tax was lowered.

We did a property last year which lowered some property taxes.

So we've been working to mitigate some of that.

And in fact, what the county did in last year was to lower the general tax levy below the Hancock requirements.

So we've been trying to work within the law that we have in front of us to keep those prices down.

So for any of our viewers in Jackson County still incensed over this issue, can you provide any hope for that deadline on Monday?

Yeah.

So I've, in fact, filed another resolution to encourage them to move that back.

Some folks have not received their actual notice until a week and a half, two weeks ago, which is an atrocious, I guess, damnation for the assessment office and the executive staff.

Other than Taylor Swift, you perhaps been in the center of more local stories than any other over the last few weeks money.

And one of them involves those Jackson County statues.

Remember that issue?

There's a new push to remove two statues of the former president from outside both of the county's courthouses.

Yet after it was proposed last month, we've never heard anything more about it.

Is the issue now dead?

Oh, it's not dead.

I have conversations this morning about it.

In fact, we have an eight week window basically from when we introduced things to when they would otherwise die on the table.

But I thought in 2020, voters went to the polls.

59% of Jackson County residents said, no, we are in favor of keeping those statues.

What's changed?

Yeah, I mean, I think this is the politics game, right?

As I've gone back to my previous legislators and inquired what was the decision making behind that?

It was the gamesmanship of when you put what on the ballot, what authority, who had, and pulling the hot potato back and forth.

And so I think this is a I am inspired by the creativity of my colleagues to go back and have another shot at that, possibly.

But in 2021, it was a bronze plaque placed on the downtown Andrew Jackson statue acknowledging the role within slavery, the removal of Native Americans.

Why wasn't that sufficient?

I think we have to look towards those who here, Andrew Jackson, either enslaved or drug through the Trail of tears to say as a plaque enough.

I'm fascinated also, Jerry, why is that an issue we only hear about in Jackson County?

I know Clay County is named after Henry Clay.

He was a slave owner.

He inherited slaves as a child, was involved in the Colonization Society that would have removed free, free slaves to Africa.

Any movement there to change names in Clay County or to citizens don't care about it, that.

Right now that's not really necessarily on the radar.

It may be in the future, but our focus is not really looking backward, but looking forward.

What we're concentrating on is making sure that our citizens today have their full measure of equality with all other citizens.

The head of Clay County government, Jerry Nolte, and Jackson County legislator Manny Abarca, thank you so much for making us at least 3% smarter on the important issues affecting us all.

We really appreciate that.

Coming up next, after all the talk and protests, the metro's first transgender restrictions are now in place after a new Kansas bathroom law goes into effect over the weekend.

A week in what's happened.

We check in with the head of the LGBT chamber straight ahead on.

We can review for such a debated issue.

It was surprising to me this week to see so little about what happened in Kansas after the area's first transgender restrictions went into effect over the weekend.

It means transgender persons now have to use bathrooms, have locker rooms that match their gender assigned at birth.

A ban on trans athletes from competing in girls sports also went into effect.

Now almost a week old, Did we see businesses and local governments enact massive changes?

What police called out to retail stores with a read on all of these questions is Suzanne Wheeler, who leads the Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Thank you so much for being with us to tell us what happened.

Was there any evidence of any changes that took place over the last seven days together here in Kansas City?

Really, other than the news stories that ran?

Nothing significant.

There was no, you know, police being called to fitness centers in Johnson County, somebody being called a target because somebody was using the wrong restroom.

None of those stories.

None that I know of.

Did it change anything you personally did over the last week as a result of that law going into effect?

It's caused me to get going into a restroom.

Second thoughts I've talked to people who have said they have avoided going to the public restroom because of the loss, because they don't know what's happened.

Yeah, there's been some minor nuances, but nobody's been arrested yet for anything.

I notice that the city of Lawrence, they were activists.

They're trying to create what they call a safe haven for transgender residents.

Exactly what Kansas City, Missouri did and creating a safe haven to stop prosecutions on any laws that would go into effect in the state of Missouri.

Did we see people, you know, any of your members with the LGBT Chamber of Commerce depart Kansas to move to Missouri as a result of that?

Or was that just, you know, easy words to say we were going to be a safe haven?

It didn't mean that much.

I don't think it's easy words.

I didn't see anybody depart, but that's kind of jumping out, departing Kansas to go to Missouri's, kind of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

You are the head of the LGBT chamber here, but you've had a lot of national stories written about you for more than 30 years.

You actually you were a retired colonel, I should put it that way.

Yeah.

You were in the Army more than 30 years in the Army.

The National Guard.

You were the the highest ranking out transgender military member in 2016 at that time, the highest ranking.

You get all of that attention.

Are you happier today than you were then?

Absolutely.

Tell me.

Tell me why.

Just being able to live as myself.

It didn't change any of the problems in life transition and doesn't do that.

But what it did do is make it easier for me to handle the challenges of life as being authentic, being myself.

There is a spat going on over the changing of driver's licenses and birth certificates of transgender residents in Kansas, a spat between the attorney general, Kris Kobach, and Governor Laura Kelly.

Was that important to you to do that, first of all?

And how important is that to members of the transgender community?

Is that something that is a few people do, or does everyone want to be able to change their original documents?

It's it's something a few people do.

Everybody transitions.

And in a different way.

You know, my story only belongs to me.

It doesn't belong to the entire transgender community.

I always tell people I'm not a movement, I'm not an ideology.

I'm just another human being trying to live my life like everybody else.

But it is important when you're presenting as you're affirming gender in public, to be able to have the documentation behind you in case you are in case you are questioned.

Where do we go from here?

There is also obviously clearly anxiety still about transgender related issues, particularly when it comes to issues like bathrooms and locker rooms.

How do we create a space that is going to make transgender people safe at the same time respecting the privacy rights of everyone else?

I think the key is everybody just needs to to slow down a minute, take a breath and understand why we use the restroom, why we go use the locker room looking at, you know, we need to step back and look at some of the myths and lies and different tropes that have been used against trans people.

Is there any argument you hear from the opponents that you can see?

Huh?

I get why you would feel anxious about that.

That's an interesting question because the only argument that I know of at this point in time is the argument around safety.

And when you look at the number of folks in the state of Kansas who have been attacked by a transgender woman in a restroom, there's nobody I wish folks could just slow down a minute, walk in each other's shoes and understand.

I just wonder how we bridge that divide, though.

And, you know, many decades, of course, ago, there was the federal highway program that we built all of these federal interstates around the country.

Does it require this massive federal bathroom bill where all of a sudden we're going to put in many single bathrooms like we would see on airplanes?

We have to have single stall bathrooms everywhere that is completely private.

And that's the only way we're ever going to bridge this divide.

No, I don't think so.

I think the bulk of Americans don't worry about it.

I'll give you an example.

In our airport, our all gender restroom in the airport.

There was a lady who was walking in ahead of me, turned around and goes, Oh, I hate this liberal B.S., and walked into the restroom.

We both finished about the same time.

We were at the sink, washing our hands, fixing our makeup.

And she goes, This is the nicest restroom I've ever been.

And I wish all restrooms were like this.

AT Yeah, it's great.

When I travel with my kids, I can bring everybody in to the restroom with me at the same time.

It's just getting beyond that fear factor that has been built around the transgender community over the past couple of years.

As you're part of the business community, you know, businesses have been forced to take sides.

And after launching a campaign with a transgender influencer, we now know that that light has paid a price with a boycott and a massive drop in sales.

Can I get your take on that new Travis Kelce ad that was making a lot of news this week where he's now promoting the brew in an effort to claw back male drinkers?

Oh, oh, Oh, yeah.

Oh, oh.

Oh yeah.

All right.

This ad, though, has been panned and praised, but they're trying to reclaim their masculinity and that does not upset you or you.

Are you supportive of that ad?

No, it doesn't upset me.

What frustrates me more is Bud Light now wanting to step back and say, well, you know, we made a mistake with this.

So does that mean you don't drink Bud, light yourself Now, too?

Oh, no.

I still drink Bud Light.

Okay.

And quite frankly, because I'm here in Kansas City and I love the Chiefs, I love Travis Kelce.

I would love to see them do that marketing with different demographics and let everybody know, hey, Bud Light to brand for everybody, not just manly men, not just LGBTQ individuals.

It's for everybody.

Suzanne Wheeler is executive director of the Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Thank you for stopping by.

Weekend Review.

Next week, our reporters are back as we prod and poke the week's most impact ful, befuddling and confusing local news stories.

We'll see you then.

I'm Nick Haynes.

From all of us here at Kansas City, PBS, be well.

Keep calm and carry on.