KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
—
A Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, commissioner under fire for "offensive" racial comments said he was speaking from a place of passion.
Phil Lopez, District 6 commissioner, was addressing a petitioner during the planning and zoning portion of Thursday’s full commission meeting when he said, “It's kinda funny at that planning and zoning meeting, you paraded a bunch of little Black girls all in front of everybody like you're trying to help us.”
Since Thursday, May 1, a clip of the meeting, posted on Facebook by Matthew Kleinmann, has garnered over 31,000 views.
The full meeting, posted on the Unified Government's YouTube page, has over 1,400 views.
The meeting was nearly six hours in when Lopez made the aforementioned remark.
This comment came after the petitioner, Byron Larson, spoke on behalf of a special use permit petition for Dynasty Volleyball, a volleyball club based in Lopez’s district.
Larson is the founder and club director of Dynasty Volleyball.
Before Lopez’s comment, Larson assured Lopez that Dynasty members and staff had been “good stewards of the neighborhood and community” after Lopez raised concerns over various issues, including bright lights from Dynasty’s facility shining into neighbors homes, how late Dynasty stays open, traffic from the facility crowding the street, cars speeding in the neighborhood and ADA-compliant parking availability.
Lopez shared pictures with KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson he said he received from residents and also took himself within the past year. The photos depicted crowded streets and bright lights.
"They’ve outgrown the place," Lopez said.
Larson said he believes some of the street images are from an isolated event years prior, right before staff told patrons to move their cars.
“I don’t want to talk to you ‘cause you don’t live here,” Lopez said a few moments earlier in reference to staff and members of the club not solely being from Wyandotte County and residing in neighboring counties like Johnson County.
Larson told Henderson that despite failed attempts to reach out to Commissioner Lopez seven times — two personally and five via an attorney — he was unable to get in contact with Lopez prior to Thursday’s meeting.
"This one-way dialogue could not be more fabricated," Larson said at the meeting.
Dozens of Dynasty members and supporters were in attendance Thursday, including players, something Lopez said he remembers from previous meetings involving Dynasty.
“They’re taking these kids of color door to door trying to get support,” Lopez said. “Why do they have to use little girls of color to say, ‘Hey, we’re helping the community?'"
Lopez said in his search on the National Sex Offender Public Website, he found three registered sex offenders within a three-mile radius of the facility, which sits in a residential area.
KSHB 41 used the same website and got the same results.
Larson confirmed coaches and team members did door-knock throughout the Morris neighborhood, where the club is located, at the end of 2024 and in early 2025 to garner support and address any lingering concerns.
He said players were always accompanied by adult men and not put in compromising situations.
“There were a lot of valid conversations and concerns about traffic, about light pollution, about the impact that this particular location is having on the neighborhood,” said Andrew Davis, UG commissioner for District 8.
Davis interjected after Lopez’s comment about "parading little Black girls" at Thursday’s meeting.
“Mayor, mayor, this is the time,” Davis said.
Mayor Tyrone Garner, the chair of the committee, responded, “The point of order starts with you," in reference to Davis’ input.
Garner then asked Lopez to refrain from using “racial epithets.”
“Unfortunately, the chair did not call out what I thought was some unprofessional and unruly comments,” Davis said. “I don’t mind being out of order if it means saying what needs to be said.”
Davis said commission meetings have a tendency to run “unnecessarily long,” largely due to what he considers poor planning.
“There comes a point in time where the rules and procedure and all those other things really go out the window,” Davis said. “When we’re talking about kids, when we’re talking about racial identity, when we’re talking about some low-blow comments that should have never been made.”
Davis said he and a select few commissioners are having discussions about what next steps could look like to address Lopez’s comments.
“We do have the ability to reprimand, we do have the ability to censure, but those are more ceremonial things that we can look at,” Davis said.
He also said options include introducing an item for the mayor to put on the agenda or calling a special meeting.
The next scheduled full commission meeting is Thursday, May 29.
“Decorum is not impossible, it’s very, very possible to have a professional conversation in which you disagree and not be disrespectful and not be unprofessional,” Davis said.
Steve Redmond II was also present at Thursday’s meeting, but not on the dais.
He was in the audience in support of Dynasty, along with his three daughters, who play on Dynasty teams.
“When you look at it on paper, what we were there to discuss, too often over those meetings did I hear tones of something else,” Redmond said. “‘You’re not from here, you people from there, the little Black girls.”
As a Black father to three Black daughters, Lopez’s comments were particularly disturbing.
“It got reeled back in, to some degree, but it was definitely appalling at best,” Redmond said.
He said at one point, he had his daughters leave the room because of how the tone of the meeting shifted in his eyes.
“Those kids are so impressionable,” Redmond said. “They’re there for what they love and want to show support, and they’re now faced with and feeling some ugly adult messiness.”
Lopez said his tone was indicative of his passion for his cause and was warranted.
“I have a deep passion for my community,” Lopez said. “A deep, deep passion. And sometimes my passion, I see how it could be interpreted as an ego trip, but it’s not. It wasn’t about me, it’s just that my passion’s so strong.”
That passion has to do with the number of calls he said he has received from concerned Morris residents, particularly senior citizens.
“I’ve had several, several calls from widowed ladies, elderly widows that are in tears just the way that they’re talked to,” Lopez said.
Lopez said he, too, was talked down to by Dynasty staff, something Larson also denied in the meeting and to Henderson.
Despite saying, “I don’t even want to hear an explanation,” on Thursday, Lopez said Monday he would be open to having a conversation with Larson and other Dynasty representatives.
The special use permit petition did pass Thursday, with Lopez as the only opposing vote.
The conditions of the passing include being mindful of parking and traffic and coming before the commission in two years with a plan to be accessible via Holliday Drive.
A Morris resident, who did not want to be named, said they still expect neighbors' concerns to be taken seriously, especially regarding traffic and speeding on the neighborhood’s narrow roads.
“As a community member, I will take Mr. Byron Larson at his word and believe he will stick to his promise he made to the Morris community," this resident said.
Redmond said he also felt Lopez was trying to reprimand members from outside Wyandotte County instead of embracing the diversity they bring.
“It is a widespread representation, from Johnson County to Platte County to Wyandotte County and everywhere in between,” Redmond said. “The 'little Black girls' weren’t the only ones showing support for Dynasty; they weren’t the only ones trying to knock on doors and meet neighbors and better the relationship.”
As for an apology, Lopez offered one Monday.
“I am very sorry if I offended anybody, and I didn’t mean to offend anybody,” Lopez said. "My family came here from Mexico on my mom and dad’s side."
He also condemned any claims of racism.
"I’m not a racist person at all," Lopez said. "I’ve dealt with some issues, too."
In a statement he made on Facebook, Lopez said he “will take accountability.”
That’s something Redmond said he appreciates from any leader.
“Be more mindful of how your words and your actions impact people because the impact is massive. Be better," Redmond said.
—