Unified Government Commission could vote to relinquish approval powers for Chiefs stadium Thursday

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.

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The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, Commission is set to vote on changes to its original Chiefs stadium ordinance Thursday that could potentially relinquish its approval powers.

The new proposal, which is set to go before the commission at a 5:30 p.m. special meeting, eliminates four of the previously voted-upon contingencies related to the UG’s pledged revenue.

Those eliminated contingencies include the boundaries of the STAR bond district being the same as the boundaries of the base revenue area, as well as three other items that would have given the UG final approval powers.

All four of these items were redlined in a document uploaded to the Thursday meeting agenda.

Several community members have been outspoken against the Chiefs deal, arguing that it already did not grant the UG enough authority.

If this revised ordinance passes, it would give the UG even less power.

KSHB 41’s Rachel Henderson spoke with Mayor Christal Watson about the deal after the ordinance passed in February, where she defended the vote, stating it was her aim for the UG to get a "seat at the table" through this deal.

"We did not give away Wyandotte County," Watson said during a nearly 30-minute interview with Henderson.

In June, Henderson spoke with Watson about the potential for the new STAR bond district boundary changing.

Watson said she expected the state to update her about this by the end of June or early July.

"The whole county, I think, would hurt Wyandotte County as a whole,” Watson said in June. “We want to be able to have other STAR bond districts within our community. I don't want to see us go down everywhere around the stadium. That's not the intent."

Watson said she was still awaiting the report in late July, even after the Chiefs released renderings for the new stadium.

On Friday, Henderson asked Watson about this at a community event, where she said she expected an answer to come "soon."

Wyandotte County commissioners voted 7-3 for the original ordinance to approve the STAR bond district, which means part of the county's sales tax will help fund the new Chiefs stadium.

Tonight’s meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. in the fifth-floor conference room at City Hall.

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