The Argentine section of Kansas City, Kansas is one of the poorest communities in Wyandotte County, but a proposal to bring new jobs to the area is facing resistance.
Currently, there are no fast food restaurants in Argentine; for people like Latecia Posey, who relies on the bus for transportation, getting lunch can take more than an hour.
That’s a sharp contrast with the food options in western part of the county.
“Argentine definitely gets looked over,” said RJ Samuels Jr., who works hard to make sure his community doesn't go unnoticed.
For the past four years, Samuels has been mowing and cleaning up different lots around Argentine in his spare time.
“This is the gateway into Argentine," Samuels said. "I just like our city to look great, and so many great things are happening.”
Proposed project
During Monday’s Neighborhood and Community Development and Economic Development and Finance Meeting, county commissioners heard a plan to add three fast food restaurants to the Argentine area.
The Wendy’s, Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts would create an estimated 71 new jobs at a cost of $3.3 million.
The plans included $1.2 million already acquired from a federal grant for economic development, and non-profits offered to take out a matching loan.
Developers requested to take the remaining $550,000 needed from a new Wyandotte County gap funding grant.
During the meeting, though, commissioners questioned using public money without a set policy in place for how to use the funds. One voiced concern was that all future projects would request gap funding without a set guideline.
The commission decided not to move forward with the plan. It’s expected to be discussed again during the next committee meeting in June.
However, people like Samuels are worried the project will die in committee.
“It was real disappointing that those commissioners didn’t think that was a great idea for this neighborhood,” he said.
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Shannon Halligan can be reached at shannon.halligan@kshb.com.
