KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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Neighbors in Kansas City, Missouri's Midtown neighborhood are still reeling from Sunday's Family Dollar building collapse, raising questions about the city's response to dangerous building complaints.
The collapse killed one man and injured three others. The man's name has not been released.
Records show someone filed a complaint two days before the collapse, stating the building was "slowly tilting."
Kansas City Councilman Crispin Rea said he has questions about the city's handling of dangerous buildings.
"I have questions about staffing and if there is more support we need to be providing through the budget and through the decisions that we make," Rea said.
The Dangerous Buildings Division is responsible for handling these situations.
"If we get a call at 9 a.m. on Christmas morning, when everyone is opening their Christmas presents, that there is a dangerous building, I wanna know that we have someone available who can respond and make sure that the structure is safe," Rea said.
According to the most recent city of Kansas City, Missouri, budget, the Dangerous Buildings Division has a budget for nine full-time employees. This is up from the last budget cycle, with a budget of seven full-time employees.
For context, the Short Term Rentals Division has seven employees, and the Illegal Dumping Division also has nine employees.
Victor Scott, who lives near the Family Dollar store, spoke with KSHB 41 on Sunday at the scene of the collapse.
Scott expressed his concerns.
"I think about it because I was in there twice this morning before it happened," he said. "It could've been me."
Neighbors like Scott want whatever it takes to prevent something like Sunday's facade collapse from happening again.
KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig asked the spokesperson for the Dangerous Buildings Division staff for an on-camera interview.
Just before Tuesday's deadline, the spokesperson responded that no one was available for an interview and that Dangerous Buildings staff is investigating the incident with four other city departments.
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