Savannah Hawley-Bates

6 days ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Savannah Hawley-Bates

Mario Vasquez is Kansas City’s new city manager. He was appointed to the role Thursday following a 11-2 vote by the city council. The vote came a little more than two months after former City Manager Brian Platt was suspended and later fired when the city lost a whistleblower lawsuit that cost it nearly $1 million. The role of city manager is one of the most powerful jobs in Kansas City.

6 days ago | kcur.org | Savannah Hawley-Bates

Mario Vasquez is Kansas City’s new city manager. He was appointed to the role Thursday following a 11-2 vote by the city council. The vote came a little more than two months after former City Manager Brian Platt was suspended and later fired when the city lost a whistleblower lawsuit that cost it nearly $1 million. The role of city manager is one of the most powerful jobs in Kansas City. Vasquez will need to focus on repairing the city’s image and making it more transparent after Platt was fired.

1 week ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Savannah Hawley-Bates

Share Kansas City will continue to fund its rideshare program, IRIS, despite the service nearly ending earlier this week due to a lack of funding. A new ordinance would give the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority $3.25 million to make sure frequency stays the same on bus routes, including $500,000 to keep IRIS afloat for a month while the city continues to work out a long-term solution. It will be considered on May 6 by a council committee.

1 week ago | kcur.org | Savannah Hawley-Bates

Kansas City will continue to fund its rideshare program, IRIS, despite the service nearly ending earlier this week due to a lack of funding. A new ordinance would give the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority $3.25 million to make sure frequency stays the same on bus routes, including $500,000 to keep IRIS afloat for a month while the city continues to work out a long-term solution. It will be considered on May 6 by a council committee.

2 weeks ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Savannah Hawley-Bates

ending the IRIS rideshare program , a service it launched in 2023, by the end of the day April 30. Despite a stopgap solution meant to maintain transportation service for six months , the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority still needs more money to prevent route and frequency reductions in buses. City council members prioritized bus service when cutting IRIS, citing the need to protect bus lines before microtransit. Ricke said the city should offer IRIS alongside bolstered bus service.