KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, residents will decide the fate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr./Paseo Boulevard during a special election Tuesday.
Question 5 has been a contentious issue since the KCMO City Council voted in January to approve the name change (and a community group secured enough signatures to force a public vote).
That will be the most-watched election result, but it’s not the only ballot question before area voters.
[RELATED: Nov. 5 election updates]
For example, the city of Buckner is asking residents to pass a 1% sales tax, the proceeds of which will flow into the city’s general fund.
City Administrator/Clerk Joe Bobadilla said Buckner is “not operating at a deficit” yet, “but we’re close.”
Most of the money will be used to bolster a police department that has been plagued by hiring and retention issues.
The Bucker Police Department accounts for nearly 70% of the city’s $942,000 budget. The rest primarily pays the salaries of Buckner City Hall staff.
Raytown also has a sales tax on the ballot, but it's a renewal rather than a new tax.
The city is asking voters to extend the imposition of an 1/8-cent sales tax for another five years.
Seventy-five percent of the tax monies collected pays for parks, and the other 25% is used for stormwater control.
Voters in Missouri House of Representatives District 22 will elect Brandon Ellington’s successor after he vacated the position to become a city councilman in Kansas City, Missouri.
District 36 voters will elect DaRon McGee’s successor after he also left the position for another job.
Both are one-year terms as the seat will again be up for grabs in 2020.
Polls in Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri, are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In Clay County, Liberty voters will decide on tighter restrictions for payday loan outfits, including new zoning requirements and fees, and Lawson voters will decide whether to raise the age to buy tobacco products from 18 years old to 21.
Kansas City voters also will be asked about removing sections of four parks from the KC Parks system.
Question 1 would allow the North Kansas City School District to develop a 36-acre tract in Hodge Park as a public school.
Question 2 would eliminate Belvidere Park, a more than 15-acre park between Interstates 29/35 and Independence Avenue off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The ballot measure would pave the way for a developer to create a large project at the location, using additional federally owned land that currently houses the shuttered Chouteau Courts housing project.
Question 3, which impacts a 1.67-acre section of Van Brunt Park, would be converted into a playground for a neighboring school.
Finally, Question 4, which affects a 0.903-acre plat at 4114 E. 7th St., would free up a piece of property just north of Lykin Square Park for residential development.
Many Johnson County, Leavenworth County and Wyandotte County municipalities will elect various council and board positions.
The following cities have council elections: Basehor, De Soto, Easton, Edgerton, Edwardsville, Fairway, Gardner, Lake Quivira, Lansing, Leavenworth, Lenexa, Linwood, Merriam, Mission, Mission Hills, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Shawnee, Spring Hill, Tonganoxie, Westwood and Westwood Hills.
Easton, Lake Quivira, Linwood, Shawnee and Tonganoxie also have a mayoral election, along with Mission Woods and Bonner Springs.
The following school districts have board member elections: Basehor, Blue Valley, Bonner Springs/Edwardsville, De Soto, Easton, Gardner Edgerton, KCK, Lansing, Leavenworth, Olathe, Piper, Shawnee Mission, Spring Hill, Tonganoxie and Turner.
Contested spots also go before voters for the Johnson County Water District and Leavenworth Waterworks Board, and there are elections for the Johnson County and KCK community college’s respective boards of trustees
Finally, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, four Commissioners seats, the Register of Deeds and four Board of Public Utilities seats are up for election.
Aside from Kansas City residents in Platte and Cass counties, there are no elections in those locations Tuesday.
