KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Thursday, Kansas City, Missouri city council members passed two resolutions affecting the embattled American Jazz Museum.
One will halt any additional funding to the museum unless the full council approves it first. That resolution also allows City Manager Troy Schulte to provide an interim director from city staff until a permanent one can be found.
The other resolution removes the requirement that one of the AJM board members must be a 3rd District Councilman.
Both measures passed 11-1, with the sole dissent coming from Councilman Jermaine Reed. He made his concerns known in a scathing letter to members of the Finance and Governance Committee who unanimously approved the resolutions earlier in the week.
"I'm concerned that we're not acting in good faith," Reed said on Wednesday.
Reed penned and presented his own measure calling for the city manager to implement recommendations from a scathing audit of the museum and report back to the council in 45 days.
"I think that this is very clear and to the point in terms of how we move forward," he said.
In a gesture of goodwill, Mayor Pro Tem Scott Wagner offered to co-sponsor the resolution.
"I think what it does suggest is one can agree and disagree related to how this conversation has occurred, but there is very much agreement that we all want the jazz museum to move forward," Wagner explained.
The resolution failed to receive a second during the council meeting.
Interim AJM Board Chair Michael Gerken said it is ready to accept and implement the measures that passed Thursday.
