A Tale of Two Cities, Well One City

 

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Transcription

David Martin: This is the good government show.

Tyrone Garner: One thing that we learned is government is a tool and a resource. But we can’t solve all these problems for our community by ourselves. It’s going to take a collective of a public private partnerships and community working in partnership with our city government to not only identify the problems, but come up with the real solutions. I love the people.

I love being out and engaged, but I can tell you I struggle with having to overcome the challenges that, that politics brings. So a lot of these issues, too often I see, you know, politicians get elected because of who they know, or they’re friends with so-and-so and I and I tell people that doesn’t work out very well.

Most of the time, a lot of our residents, or at least in Kansas City, Kansas, they don’t know how our government works. They don’t know how it functions. They don’t go to the meetings and really try to encourage them to get out, to get educated, to get involved so they can be more impactful in their neighborhoods and knowing what their elected officials are doing so they can hold a mayor, Tyrone Garner, accountable.

David Martin: Kansas City, Kansas just across the river from Kansas City, Missouri. Together they make up a strong interstate region. But there are two different cities. I got to sit down with Mayor Tyrone Garner of Kansas City, Kansas. Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m Dave Martin. On this episode, we’re heading north almost in the middle of the country to Kansas City, Kansas.

But first, help us share the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are on Facebook, Instagram and blue Sky. And always share this with your friends. And don’t forget to review us! Let’s get everyone excited about good government. So there are a lot of things that make these two Kansas City cities very similar, but there are differences.

And although everyone I talk to and I do mean everyone there, there are Chiefs and Royals fans. And yeah, we do talk sports. We recorded this show during last summers baseball season. Just a quick update this season. The Royals doing okay. When last I checked, they were just one game short of a winning record, and it’s early when we’re releasing this show.

But they’re a solid team in the Al central. So here’s another update. Since I spoke with Eric Garner, we talked about his future as mayor. At the time, he had not decided if he was going to run for reelection as mayor. He’d already retired from his previous career. He was the deputy chief of the Kansas City Police Department.

So he said the lure of a retirement to a warm beach somewhere was calling him at least a little. Well, I guess the beach one mayor Garner recently announced he will not be seeking reelection for mayor. He told a local paper he was going to, quote, continue to put people over power, privilege and politics. He said the work of improving the quality of life for all those that love and call why that county home is a work that remains undone.

He added that during his remaining time in office, he was going to continue to work towards that end, while in office, Mayor Garner did make some changes and work to improve opportunities in some of the least advantaged parts of the city. He also made history as the first African-American mayor of a unified government system, and this is a system that includes Kansas City and the county emerge.

That was completed in 1997. We talked about food deserts and about how local community gardens are helping get fresh produce to local folks. And we talked about the ways you wanted to help people who are at an economic disadvantage. We’re trying to do things a little differently, he said. So coming up, my conversation with the mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner.

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Welcome to the government show. We have Tyrone Garner who is the mayor of Kansas City, Kansas. Yes. And we are here at the Conference of Mayors in Kansas City, Missouri. Thanks for coming across the river.

Tyrone Garner: Thanks for having me.

David Martin: You’re welcome. Thanks for being here. Now we’re in Kansas. You’re the mayor of Kansas City, Kansas. What’s the difference between the two? Kansas City.

Tyrone Garner: You know, the Kansas City metro problem is pretty much regional. We, pretty much feed off each other. It’s a shared success model. The success of Kansas City, Missouri, has the success of Kansas City, Kansas, and vice versa. So, we share a lot of interest. We share a lot of, shopping, entertainment, things of those nature.

So, we’re proud just as one United, Kansas City metro area. And we try which really try and maximize that.

David Martin: Is there a rivalry between the two cities?

Tyrone Garner: You know, not that I know of. If there is, you know, I would hope not. So we’ve we’ve got, there shouldn’t be any conflicting interests other than doing what’s best, as a, as a united front for all those who love and call the Kansas City metropolitan area home.

David Martin: I did read something, this morning when I was sort of preparing a little bit, there is talk of the Royals and the Chiefs moving to Kansas City, Kansas, and some people are upset about that. Is that is that correct? Is that in the works? Is that, you know, where does that stand?

Tyrone Garner: I would hope they’re not upset at the at the great state of Kansas. Yes. There was a there was a huge debate on the Missouri side, Jackson County, Kansas City, Missouri, there’s a debate they had community meetings, roundtables. There was a huge campaign, for a bond issue, for sales tax initiative to, to keep the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs, on the Missouri side, of the state line.

And the voters rejected it. Oh, and so, the Missouri legislature, some of the leaders there said, you know what? We cannot, afford to lose these, championship franchises, and they can’t seem from an area again, it goes back to them being a valuable in the Kansas City region. And so, legislation, took place this last Tuesday, star bond legislation that really we hope will be a value, to at least, garner the interest, of one or both of these teams to see, Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County as a new location.

As opposed to, leaving, either state. And so, we’re excited about that opportunity. I’ve done what I can to roll out the red carpet and let them know that we’re open for business, and we like to have a real conversation about how best to keep them, in the Kansas City, metropolitan area. And we think, with the, what happened with the bond issue in Missouri, we think we have a good opportunity, to, at least have some interest from both teams in Kansas City, Kansas.

David Martin: And right now, but the Royals are doing very well. We’re talking in June in the middle of baseball season. They’re having a good season. And of course, a Super Bowl championship. Right?

Tyrone Garner: Right.

David Martin: Yeah. So how are you other sports teams doing?

Tyrone Garner: The sporting you know, they’re competitive. Okay. NASCAR is always, an exciting sport, that we get 2 to 3 race races a year in Kansas City, Kansas. We have a minor league team called the Kansas City Monarchs. They ran. They won, their, national championship last year. I mean, there’s a lot of good things going on in Kansas City, Kansas.

And so we we would really be honored and, delighted to have the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals add to that sport, that that sports success that, we’ve seen in Wyandotte.

David Martin: County and the monarchs go back to harking back to a Negro League baseball team right.

Tyrone Garner: On the on the Kansas City, Missouri side. Yes. If you talking about the Negro League Museum, and they keep in mind in Kansas, Missouri, that’s a partnership. And so we’re glad to have the the Kansas City Monarchs, in Kansas City, Kansas.

David Martin: Okay. And a good tradition. We talked a little bit about some of the challenges that you face. You know, you said, economic development is your sort of number one issue. You mentioned urban decay. What’s going on and how are you fixing it?

Tyrone Garner: How we’re fixing is number one. We, the vision, at least that I have. And I’ve been talking to our executive leadership, at City of Kansas City, Kansas, is we have to, lower our property taxes. And the perception is it’s very high. We have a publicly owned, utility called the Board of Public Utilities.

We have what would be equivalent to a franchise fee and the the average for a franchise fee for, private utilities, about 6%. Ours is 11.9%. And, so looking at how we can lower that as well, when you talk about our working poor, our seniors on fixed incomes and working families that are just trying to make it decide what bills to pay, we see that, as a number one issue, and it is the number one issue for our residents.

Then you talk about we want to expand economic development. Well, to be able to track the right economic development in our town. And we got to make sure it’s an affordable town to be able to do business in. And it’s really hard for a lot of developers to see value in Kansas City, Kansas. If we have high property taxes and things of that nature.

So we’re working on that.

David Martin: And I’m sure everybody likes to hear taxes are being lowered.

Yes, yes.

Yes, indeed. The other thing you talked about, which I know is a problem in lots of cities, is food deserts. Yes. Explain what that problem is for people who don’t know. And how do you fix them?

Tyrone Garner: Kansas City, Kansas is somewhat maybe not unique from other cities. No. If you go in the eastern portion of, Kansas City, Kansas, we have some of the most distressed core zip codes anywhere you find in the nation. We’ve got upwards of 20% poverty rate in some of these zip codes. That’s where our food deserts are.

That’s where the urban decay is. Years of redlining, racist policies, from decades old policies, that were there, as well as disinvestment and disenfranchized themselves. And so one of the things that I looked at as you go west, you don’t see that, you see a more affluent I talked about our, our entertainment district and the number one tourist attraction in the state of Kansas.

And you see a more affluent, lifestyle and amenities and goods and services resources for those folks on the western part of our city. And I don’t like that. What I call that, that invisible line that, I equate to economic segregation. And so I believe in the notion that we have to invest in the disinvested parts of our town, and really pull those people up the rising tide.

We’ve heard that notion can lift all boats. One of the things we’re looking at is just really doing some unique things, for developers to build in these areas, we’re looking at, waiving all fees, permitting fees, any fees to do business, in the eastern portion of our city.

David Martin: Isn’t that kind of cut into the revenue of the city generates?

Tyrone Garner: We don’t have it now.

David Martin: Okay. And so the fees I’m talking about.

Tyrone Garner: Yeah, we’re not we’re not missing that now. So we’ve got to have incentives that, are really going to spur the type of development and see the type of, good services and amenities that those people not only have been asking for, but they deserve. And so, as well as looking at, things, one of the issues I’m pushing forward is any future developments, 25% of any future developments.

We would use that to lower our BPU pilot that I talked about as well as property taxes, and use some of those things, to also help, our homeless population, and those, those seniors that are having trouble fixing up their houses and things of that nature. So we’re trying to do some things different to really address these, these issues.

We did come up with a grocery store. It’s called murk. That’s what we call it. It’s a public private partnership where, we basically have a grocer manage it. Okay. But our city government owns it, and so, we subsidize, all the services, that that grocery store provides. And so we’re looking at doing more of that in some of these areas, where there are food deserts.

David Martin: And I was I was wondering about that. Have you looked at things like, farmer’s markets or fresh produce markets and that sort of thing weekend?

Tyrone Garner: You know, that’s what’s great about our community. A lot of our residents have seen that vacuum.

David Martin: Yeah.

Tyrone Garner: They’ve identified the needs. We’ve got a lot of community gardens. They do just that, where they have farmer’s markets and we have, we have programs such as harvest where we give a lot of fresh produce and foods out, to those, residents most in need in our community.

David Martin: Have you got a point in, you know, you talked about the East-West divide and you talked about the east west a little bit more. Impoverished in the West. It’s that’s a fair word. Have you encouraged people to start your neighborhood backyard gardens in some of the abandoned properties?

Tyrone Garner: You know, we there yet? We are there. We have about 80 neighborhood groups, active neighborhood groups in, Kansas City, Kansas. And, they work collaboratively with, with, the unified government, which is our city government. And they are collectively doing those things, identifying the problems and working together as neighborhoods, to, to find solutions to these problems.

One thing that we learned is, is government is a tool and a resource, but we can’t solve all these problems for our community by ourselves. Right? It’s going to take a collective of, public private partnerships and community working in partnership with, our city government, to not only identify the problems but come up with the real solutions.

David Martin: I think I read this correctly and please correct me if I’m wrong. You’re the first mayor of, Kansas City, Kansas, under the unified government, is that correct?

Tyrone Garner: I’m the first African American man.

David Martin: Oh, sorry. Yeah. Okay.

How long have you had a unified government? It’s the county and city together as one government.

Tyrone Garner: The unified government was formed. The county is Wyandotte. And before the city of Kansas City, Kansas, merged with the county, Wyandotte County back in 1997. Okay. But technically there’s there’s three other cities that didn’t merge with this government. Oh. So. And that’s the cities of Bonner Springs, Edwardsville and Lake Rivera. They still have their own separate, municipalities with they’re all mayors, police departments, fire departments and city services.

The only city that voted to merge with the county was the city of Kansas City, Kansas, and therefore it created the unified government of Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas.

David Martin: And you and you’re the first African-American mayor.

Tyrone Garner: I’m the first African. Yes, sir.

David Martin: How’s it going?

Tyrone Garner: You know, I love it.

David Martin: How long you been in office?

Tyrone Garner: Two and a half years.

David Martin: Okay. And it’s a four year term.

Tyrone Garner: It is a four year term.

David Martin: So another year and a half. Are you ready for reelection yet?

Tyrone Garner: We’ll see what God says.

David Martin: As even speaking to you right here.

Tyrone Garner: Speaking to me.

David Martin: Is. Yeah.

Is he encouraging?

Tyrone Garner: You know what? It’s he’s been speaking to me a lot of folks in the neighborhoods been speaking to me, but, so is a warm beach because I’m retired.

David Martin: What do you what do you retired from.

Tyrone Garner: The police department? I retired as a deputy chief of police with the Kansas Against Police Department after 32 years. And I retired in 2019.

David Martin: You’ve done your term?

Tyrone Garner: Yes.

David Martin: Where is that beach? Anywhere close.

Tyrone Garner: You know what? I love the water. I love the beach. Maybe it’s just I need a vacation because I haven’t had one. And then come on back and, after a little vacation and roll up my sleeves and get back to work for the great folks that love and call Wyandotte County home.

David Martin: They say that, good vacation is necessary. Yeah, especially for a job like you have. What made you decide to go into government? Into to run for office? Did you run for office as a retired chief?

Tyrone Garner: Not well, while I was on the police department, I did serve a, a time on the our local community college as a as a trustee. Okay. And that was my only dwell in the politics. After I retired, some folks came to me, and they said, you know, Deputy chief, would love for you to run for mayor.

We know your passion. We know your love for your community. We know you’re an agent of change, and we believe you’re the right person. That job to bring about the change that, some of the residents in our community wanted to see.

David Martin: So now, are you the boss of your old boss, the police department?

Tyrone Garner: Well, yes. But no.

No, we actually have, Chief Oakman is the new chief okay? He’s done a great job. He’s brought, historic lows and violent crime, in Kansas City, Kansas. And we’re proud of the work he’s doing with community policing, 21st century policing, and the relationship, the positive relationship he’s built with our neighborhoods. He’s brought about a diverse department.

We’ve seen more LGBTQ, we’re seeing more women. We’re seeing more African-American males and females, as well as Latinos and Asians. Unlike anything that I, experienced when I was on the peace department for 32 years. And it’s a great thing because Wonder County is one of the most diverse communities, in the nation. They tell me either second or third.

And so, with that being the reality, it’s always good to have people that have a cultural, connection to the to the community that they serve to better relate and build those bridges of trust, especially in law enforcement, that are needed for the police to be effective.

David Martin: What’s a harder job? Deputy chief of police or mayor of the city?

Tyrone Garner: You know what I. Mayor of the.

City. Yes. Yes, yes. All right. Yeah.

David Martin: So you need a vacation. Go back to the police department. That’s saying something.

Tyrone Garner: Yeah.

David Martin: You talked a little bit about the East-West divide. How can you bridge that gap?

Tyrone Garner: I think we are bridging that gap. How? It just it starts with leadership. You’ve got to be intentional. You’ve got to galvanize the community and cultivate the right, political will, of the elected officials. And I think that we we’re starting to see that and do that. And it’s being realized, last December, I made a recommendation to our commission, which is a ten body commission.

And it was a unanimous vote, that we do, put an ordinance and they did put laws. And we do start looking at, bringing forth proposals to redevelop the eastern portion of our city. We have some iconic, tourist, tourist, locations, on the eastern portion, which is the our ruins, which is, I like to call it the gateway to freedom, west of the Mississippi.

And it was unique than other Underground Railroad sites because it involved abolitionist American Indians and African Americans, that, welcome, slaves that were coming from Missouri into the free state of Kansas. We have we have the call, call point, which is a very, not just scenic, but, historic point where, Lewis and Clark, traverse at the at the river is meeting at the Kansas River in the Missouri River.

And then we have something very unique called the Rock Island Bridge, which is an old railroad bridge that’s going to open this summer. That’s bringing a very unique, they say, one of a kind in the nation, entertainment and, and, restaurant venue, over the Kansas River. And I think if you combine all those and we look at redeveloping our river, it’s kind of like what you’ve seen in Detroit, Louisville, Oklahoma City, and we all know about, San Antonio.

We bring some of the that same low hanging fruit, and we bring about the types of good services that many, you know, that our, those residents deserve on the eastern portion. I think we take that success, we build out and we start, really looking at the infrastructure and really using those funds, to, bring about a resurgent Kansas City, Kansas, on the eastern side.

David Martin: Do you always have to say Kansas City, Kansas?

Tyrone Garner: Yes.

David Martin: Okay. We’re going to take a break. We’re going to come back here. We’re going to get to your personal philosophy of government. Are you ready?

Tyrone Garner: I’m ready.

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David Martin: Okay, so this is the good government questionnaire. We’re now going to get to the heart of your thinking about government. You were a police chief for I think you said 32 years now. You’ve been mayor for almost three years. Define good government.

Tyrone Garner: Good government isn’t so much what I want. It starts with, really being community driven. You’ve got to know what are the issues most important to your residents. And then taking that information you get from your residents and doing every everything you can to meet those reasonable expectations? Be it infrastructure, be it taxes, we talked about food deserts.

We talked about, you know, youth programs, things of that nature and, and entertainment, amenities, good services, resources. Just making sure that good government is providing the best and highest level of quality service and being responsive and being proactive in that, to, to, meet the needs of the residents.

David Martin: You set a high bar for yourself. How do you judge your success? How do you know if you’re doing a good job?

Tyrone Garner: You know, if I if people come to me and they say that I’ve done anything to, this position of leadership to improve their quality of life, that’s my litmus test for success.

David Martin: Are you out in the community? Do you go to, you know, baseball games, Little League games, church?

Tyrone Garner: You know what? If you like.

David Martin: I grocery store.

Tyrone Garner: I’ve been told I’m the most active, engaged out in the community mayor that they’ve seen, at least in the, in the several decades. And so, yes.

David Martin: Does it take, you know, an extra hour to go to the corner store and pick something up and come home?

Tyrone Garner: You know, sometimes it does, you know, because, I, you know, that’s the great part of this job. I love interacting with our residents. I love hearing, their concerns. I love stopping and saying, okay, how do we, what’s the solution to the problem? And I love, trying to take that back and implement, those solutions.

So that’s the fun part. The what I don’t like. And because you got to think about where I come from, my prior profession was law enforcement. It’s black and white. You read the law, you you follow it to the G. You don’t veer off of that, that proverbial box of what policy says.

David Martin: Right?

Tyrone Garner: Politics is. And so much is clear to me. And and that’s something I’m learning. And so I love the people. I love being out and engaged. But I can tell you I struggle with having to overcome the challenges that, that politics brings. So a lot of these issues.

David Martin: Okay. How do you how do you manage that?

Tyrone Garner: Well.

David Martin: Because that’s a that’s a moving target. Right?

Tyrone Garner: It is it. Yeah. It’s, it’s even asking you just, it’s about relationship building. Okay. I’ve got ten commissioners, in our form of government, I don’t vote on anything. I bring forward, agenda items and proposals and recommendations, and they can say yes or no. So really just I have to leverage, the support that I need to get something done for the great folks in, in Kansas City, Kansas by just, having those conversations and sit down, finding common ground and and making sure that we have, good relationships moving forward and that we remove that friction and we find that common ground because it’s not about me.

It’s about getting just getting the job done for the people that love and call Kansas City, Kansas.

David Martin: So those people of Kansas City, Kansas, who call it home if they don’t like what you’re doing or what they see or what they hear, what should they do?

Tyrone Garner: We vote me out. It’s as simple as that. And I’ve told me, well, I’m not ashamed, and I don’t see myself as a regular.

David Martin: Calling me.

Tyrone Garner: Somewhere. Yeah, I don’t see myself as a regular. I’ve told folks, if I’m not cutting it first, let me know. I need to know. Don’t, don’t you know? Don’t let me get by.

David Martin: Are they doing that?

Tyrone Garner: They do. Yeah. They’ll say, hey, mayor, they’ll tell me you’re doing a great job in this area, but, you know, you got to do a little better in this job. But I, I’ve told them I openly tell folks, if I’m a raggedy mayor, yes, please don’t vote for me. I don’t care how much you like my smile or how nice of a guy you think I, I was or am if I’m not getting the job done for you, it’s time to get me out the door and get somebody in the office that they can do and meet the expectations of the community.

And that’s how our democracy is supposed to work. But too often I see, you know, politicians get elected because of who they know, or they’re friends with so-and-so and I, and I tell people, that doesn’t work out very well. Most of the time. So you got to put people in office that are getting the job done for you as opposed to, somebody that, maybe that’s, appealing to you.

I know that’s part of it, but at the end of the day, if they’re not meeting the needs, if I’m not meet the needs for you, by all means, go a different direction and get the right person in there. Male or female, to get the job done for everybody that loves and calls cancer again.

David Martin: So are you the right guy for Kansas City, Kansas?

Tyrone Garner: I hope so that that’s up to the voters, I mean, and they’ll see. And I think they, they put a lot of, faith in me. And I’m honored, I’m humbled. I believe in servant leadership. And, and so we’ll see, how I’m measuring up in the next year and a half.

David Martin: Well, in the, almost three years as mayor, what have you learned? What have you learned about government and what would you like the people, the Kansas City, Kansas, to know about what what government’s about?

Tyrone Garner: I’ve learned about government that, the challenges are ever present. And you, you can fix this problem here. And there’s always another problem. And and there’s also just in leadership. In government. Not like some police department. You’re not going to make everybody happy. No, you can’t. And if you if you try, you’ve already failed. So you got to do your best.

But the main thing is you got to collaborate. Collaboration and relationship building is really key to the success of getting things done. And then what I’ve learned is a lot of our residents, at least in Kansas City, Kansas, they don’t know how our government works. They don’t have functions. They don’t go to the meetings and really try and encourage them to get out, to get educated, to get involved so they can be more impactful in their neighborhoods and knowing what their elected officials are doing so they can hold a mayor, Tyrone Garner, accountable.

You know, I can come out and I can smile all day, but, you wouldn’t know that I voted for something maybe that didn’t reflect your values. You got to come to these meetings. You got to stay educated and in-tune to people that are making decisions for you because you don’t want people, elected officials, making decisions for you and not with you.

That’s not really how it’s supposed to work. And so, that’s a learning process. The other part of what I learned is, is that, it is a lot of work. It can be rewarding. You can be challenging, you know, keep you up at night a lot of times. I mean, if you really care about people, which I do, it’s, government, has a lot of moving parts, and it and it evolves.

It’s not perfect. And I don’t think it ever will be. But the goal, at least I have as good as is being as close to being perfect for our residents as it can be. And government can’t do it all alone. And that’s that’s something that I’ve really learned. Government can’t fix all these problems that we have, in our, at least in our urban, our urban poor and our, our more blue collar communities.

David Martin: So this is a two part question. What’s the best part about being mayor?

Tyrone Garner: You sound the best part of me about mayor is when you know that, you got something done that really positively impacted somebody’s life, be it, I go to the food kitchen and I see the smiles on folks that are really in need. I go in their neighborhoods and, you know, something, that simple that I may not think is important, but, you know, these folks that come out and they want to shake your hand because a street like that fix that hadn’t been fixed for years.

Okay. Just a little simple things, a swing, something as simple as a swing that it was broken in a park and, that family income, you know, this swing is broke. Thank you for making sure that you took care. Just making a positive difference in people’s lives and creating a safe and livable neighborhood for our residents.

That’s what’s rewarding for me, because it’s not about me. And, I tell people all the time, if you if if you’re really genuine about people, number one, you got to love people, but you got to love your community. And that’s what this is about. It’s not about you, and it should never be. And so, I get fulfillment out of just helping people.

And that comes from my background in public safety. That’s what gives me fulfillment. I don’t need anything. I don’t want anything. I don’t need any awards. I don’t need those. I wouldn’t even care if they they didn’t come up and shake my hand. But just sometimes I can see the relief on people’s, bodies language, when you know you’ve done something good for them and it’s improved their quality of life.

And that’s really what it’s about.

David Martin: What’s the hardest part of being there?

Tyrone Garner: The hardest part of being mayor is, not being able to solve issues, societal issues and help people. That, you know, need help. We got homeless. I still haven’t been able to completely find a real solution to that problem.

David Martin: I know it has. Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s not just you.

Tyrone Garner: It breaks my heart. I mean, we’ve got people that are, indigent that have, dealing with mental crisis. People that are struggling with addiction. And, I mean, those are the people that are like, and there are societal issues we’ve got, we’ve got people that, have been incarcerated that came out and they served their time.

They they’ve gotten their lives together. They just want a second chance and society. Sometimes I’ll give them a second chance, and it pushes them back into lifestyles that, normally, if they just had an opportunity to make a decent living to support themselves and the families that, that they want to build, they could become good working citizens.

And so there’s so many issues, out there that, that are challenging and that I, that I wish I could correct, but I’m just one person. It’s going to take a collective of, everybody in every community to find real solutions to real problems, that we know have a profound impact on people’s lives.

David Martin: So you make news in Kansas City, but where do you get your news?

Tyrone Garner: Oh, I get I get my news off the news, you know, everywhere.

David Martin: What do you what do you read? What?

Tyrone Garner: Well, everywhere. I get it from, the, you know, the the the grandmother on, you know, on her front porch, you know, from the from the the the blue collar worker at General Motors, that I see at Walmart. I get it from Facebook, I get it from Twitter. I get it from watching all the the mainstream media news stations.

I get it from my colleagues, coworkers. I mean, it’s just, I mean, news is everywhere. I mean, and unless you’re living under a rock, I mean, that’s the only way you can miss. You read.

David Martin: The local papers or.

Tyrone Garner: We don’t have a local paper, believe it or not, in Kansas City, Kansas, I do read the, the broader Kansas City Star. Occasionally, but, there’s not a lot of information about what goes on in my community in Kansas City, Kansas when I read the star. So so I have to really, pull information for a variety of sources, really, to keep a good gauge on, on, what some of the issues and concerns and needs are.

And in Kansas City, Kansas.

David Martin: Gotcha. Who’s your political hero? Who inspires you? Who and who inspires you now?

Tyrone Garner: You know, it’s a good question. I’ve. I’ve never thought about that. I would say Colin Powell. Okay. You know, even though, you know, he wasn’t a real politician per se, but he’s somebody that I, respect. Sure.

David Martin: He was secretary of state.

Tyrone Garner: You know, he just. If you have to say a president, I’d go back to Abraham Lincoln. Okay. You know, just, Yeah.

David Martin: Okay. I know you came into politics late, but is this something you thought about as an even as a kid? Where were you politically motivated or driven? Did you talk politics at the family table?

Tyrone Garner: No. After I figured out what I kind of wanted to be in high school.

David Martin: I was a police officer.

Tyrone Garner: Well, no, I wanted to be. I wanted to be an attorney.

David Martin: Okay.

Tyrone Garner: Yeah. My mother kind of pulled me into law enforcement when she saw a cadet program that offered free college a job.

David Martin: And you the law school?

Tyrone Garner: No. Never went to law school. So I just, I made a career out of law enforcement and moved up the ranks pretty quick. I was the.

David Martin: Year my both derailed you and set you on the right path.

Tyrone Garner: If you want to say that. So. Yeah.

David Martin: What? What would you say?

Tyrone Garner: Yes. I mean, I think everything happens for a reason. Okay. And, I think just, the experience, on the police department was, rewarding. I got to help a lot of people. I try to do my best, and, it made me have thick skin. And I think that thick skin is really, Been beneficial to me as mayor.

David Martin: And the police department. What did you feel? What kind of jobs were you doing as a as a cop? Were you detective? Were you on patrol or were you?

Tyrone Garner: I actually was the youngest African-American detective recorded or the youngest African-American captain, recorded. I was the youngest, African-American major and the youngest recorded African-American deputy chief of police. And I, when you talk about that East-West divide. Yeah, I was the first African-American male to ever command, in the western portion of our city, which is more affluent and, Caucasian, was the predominant, demographic in that area.

And I’m still the only African-American male to have ever gone to the FBI Academy. I’m from the Catholic and Police Department. So there’s a lot of firsts with me, you know, that,

David Martin: Hijacked the FBI Academy.

Tyrone Garner: Enjoyed it, loved it. Yeah. Where’s your break? I got it, it’s good. Sitting in my house on my desk. Yeah, the yellow brick.

David Martin: Yeah, right. Where do you go? To the FBI police academy.

Tyrone Garner: Yeah, we got a brick. Yeah.

All right, sir.

David Martin: Good. Every once in a while, when I. When I see one of those I like, I know. Yeah. Okay. So we are we are in Kansas City Kansas City Missouri. What must I have? Let’s talk to city barbecue. What’s the best dish? What’s what’s the local food here.

Tyrone Garner: Oh my goodness. You know I got it I got to send a shout out to Kansas City, Kansas, since you asked barbecue. Yes, you. There’s you got to try all of them. There’s just not just one of these that each have their own.

David Martin: I, as you may be able to tell, I’m okay with it.

Tyrone Garner: We’ve got hickory smoke. We’ve got, wine dye. We’ve got Rosedale, we’ve got KC Joe’s, we’ve got slabs. We’ve got, Holy smokes.

David Martin: Have you checked all these out yourself? I have.

Tyrone Garner: And they’re all great. They have their own different flavor.

David Martin: What’s your order? What do you have it?

Tyrone Garner: You know, I’m not going to say on the radio to somehow make somebody mad at me, but, they’re all good.

They’re all good. They leave it at that.

David Martin: Are you a brisket guy? Your ribs guy? Are you,

Tyrone Garner: Are you, you know, I’m more of a, I’m more of a ribs and smoked turkey and, Bernie Bearnaise. Yeah.

David Martin: All right, all good. Anything else in Kansas City other than barbecue?

Tyrone Garner: Oh, there’s so much going on in Kansas City. All right, if you haven’t been to Kansas City, Kansas. Again, we have so much to offer the the, our neighborhoods, our tight knit communities, it’s more of a small town feel. Okay. But but like I said, we’ve got shopping, entertainment that, that’s second to none.

Like I said, chancery chains and one I county as the number one tourist attraction in the entire state of Kansas and village wise. So that’s.

David Martin: The NASCAR.

Tyrone Garner: George’s NASCAR village. Yes, that’s right, NASCAR is out there. Okay, so there’s a casino out there as well. So, I just say come check us out. A canceled Kansas has a lot to offer.

David Martin: This is called the Good Government Show. We always try to bring it back to good government. Give me an example of a good government project you’re really excited about.

Tyrone Garner: Well, one good government project. I’m excited about is, I think we started out with is the opportunity to land the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals in the in the, Sunflower State, right, in Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas. I’m excited about having that conversation. And, hopefully those great organizations see value what the Kansas Legislature did, and hopefully, want to relocate, to Kansas City, Kansas.

They call themselves dots. And for those of you that are out there, Wyandotte County, we’ve got a, we’ve got something where we call people from Wyandotte County dots. Okay. And so I’d love to give, those organization leadership today and all the players, their doctor.

David Martin: All right. Okay. And maybe you get to throw out the first pitch for the first Royals game.

Tyrone Garner: Hey, you know, I’d be good just watching, you know, just saying that, those are those things are happening in Kansas City, Kansas.

David Martin: All right. Tyrone Garner, the mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, Wyandotte County, the unified government. Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure to meet you. And it’s, it’s it’s my first trip to Kansas City. It’s Kansas City, Kansas. Ha! Missouri. So thanks for having us.

Tyrone Garner: Thank you. It’s been an honor. Thank you so much.

David Martin: Thank you. All right.

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Good to hear that the police department is growing and growing, with an eye towards having a department that better reflects the population of Kansas City, Kansas, he said. A few things that struck me. He said, you have to collaborate to deliver good government, collaborate with both public and private partners and with different parts of government. And he urged citizens, all citizens, to get involved and see how government is really run.

Good advice for citizens everywhere. Well, good luck to Mayor Gardner as he looks for that beach to retire to. I really like my trip to Kansas City and of course I love the barbecue. That’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share this with your friends are with us right here, real listening and check out our website.

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**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.