KEARNEY, Mo. — KSHB 41 News anchor Taylor Hemness reports on stories across Kansas City. He learned about this story during a recent Let's Talk event in Kearney. You can contact Taylor by email.
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When I met with Kearney residents earlier this summer at our Let’s Talk event at MoJo’s Coffeehouse, I heard from a parent who asked a good question: Why doesn’t Kearney have a city-owned pool?
For my family, summer means spending time at the pool, and for us, that means a city-owned pool.
While plenty of communities across the area have them, Kearney is among the cities that does not.
I asked the question to Kearney Mayor Randy Pogue.
“It’s been a topic of discussion in the community for many years,” Pogue told me. “So much that, three to four times in the last two decades, Kearney voters have had the opportunity to pass funding initiatives.”
The most recent vote came two years ago when city leaders put two questions on the ballot — to approve $30 million in bonds to build a pool and to approve a half-cent sales tax that would go to fund maintenance of the pool.
Voters overwhelmingly said no, with roughly 70% voting against the two measures.
“People want a pool, but we’re not seeing the same voter-supported initiatives to fund the operating cost of a pool, but to fund the construction and building of it as well,” Pogue said.
While Pogue is leaving office next year, he predicts the issue will likely come up again in the future.
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