The downtown arts campus project began with several studies and assessments of the myriad options in Kansas City. The reports created in the incipient stages detail many possibilities for location, building configurations, timelines and other details. The decision on location came down to two Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts-adjacent spots. The chosen location is just south of the Kauffman Center between 17th and 18th Streets. Approximately 700 students and staff would use the campus.  

The inspiration for the downtown campus location came from urban-located arts campuses around the country. These include Juilliard in New York City and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, both of which provided cultural growth for their cities.

“With the arts campus would come scores of students, bringing young and creative people downtown. They’d mix with office workers and fill the commercial Power & Light District and the more organic Crossroads area,” Scott Canon reported in the Kansas City Star June 28, 2017.

Additionally, the proximity to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, a world-class performance venue that hosts world-class performers, to the campus has been compared to Juilliard’s proximity to Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera.

Adding vibrancy to Kansas City’s arts scene is not the only selling point. The Kansas City Chamber of Commerce cites a study by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) estimating “that the economic activity associated with the construction of the arts campus and reuse of the Volker campus would average, at minimum, approximately 409 jobs, $30.8 million in real GDP, and $22.9 million in real disposable personal income per year over 25 years. Of these impacts, a little over half results from the construction itself, with the rest generated by the expansion of arts and other educational programs at UMKC.”

Despite popular and legislative support, as well as evidence that the campus would boost Kansas City’s economy and arts culture, in June of last year Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens vetoed $48 million dollars for the project.

The University anticipated the governor’s veto and preempted it. In a statement hours before the veto, the University said that it would seek alternative funds rather than go through the originally planned Higher Education Capital Funds 50-50 matching program. The matching program, established in 2013, gives the Missouri General Assembly power to allocate money “in the form of matching funds for the funding of capital projects.”

Gov. Greitens stated providing funding for the project “would put taxpayers on the hook for over $75 million to build and run a conservatory for dancers and art students.” He then lauded UMKC’s “plan to pay for it by making tough budget decisions and using private funds along with strong leaders in the Kansas City community.”

This decision by Greitens, a self-identified “budget hawk,” is part of a litany of his previous and proposed cuts to higher education. AP reported Jan. 22 that Greitens’ “2019 budget plan would give colleges and universities $92 million less than originally budgeted for the 2018 fiscal year and $68 million less than they actually are expected to get based on cuts Greitens previously made to the 2018 budget.”

Though the new budget would add about $50 million in “basic aid” to K-12 education, AP reported that “it would still fall about $48 million short of what’s considered full funding under state law, because it doesn’t include all the additional money called for in preschool education programs.” Gov. Greitens’ budget cuts have drawn harsh criticism from both sides of the aisle. These budget cuts add to his tenuous reputation. He is currently embroiled in a sex scandal involving alleged blackmail.

After the setback caused by the veto, UMKC decided to raise the money through private donations. The lead gift in this campaign came from Kansas City’s ubiquitous funder, the Kauffman Foundation. The Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation pledged $20 million in 2013 at a presentation in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre attended by civic leaders and UMKC administrators. The gift, according to the Kansas City Chamber of Congress, was “contingent on UMKC raising an additional $70 million in funding for the project’s first phase within a period of three years.” As of this year, UMKC had raised $48 million for the campus, including Kauffman’s gift.

The future of the downtown arts campus is debated. Some call this setback staggering and unsurmountable and say that the project has collapsed. In a recent statement after Kauffman’s announcement, however, UMKC says that the school will continue on the project.

“We are continuing to work through options that bring together the needs of key stakeholders – campus, donors, civic and state leaders — with our practical needs for program space, related facilities requirements, location parameters and financial support for the project.”

Whatever the outcome of the project, its journey has been rocky. The entire process has raised questions about state funding for education and the arts, as well as the future of arts in Kansas City.

Cover photo courtesy of Ontarget Interactive.

In the recording, the hairstylist recounts an encounter in which Greitens, after inviting her to his home, taped her hands to exercise rings and blindfolded her, all with her consent. He proceeded to take a picture of her with his cell phone, telling her that if she revealed the affair to anyone, the picture would be leaked. Later in the recording, the woman says that Greitens eventually deleted the photo and apologized to her.

Though Greitens admitted to the affair, he denies the blackmail allegations. He posted a statement on Facebook Jan. 16 that stated, “Much has now been written about this, and many of the assertions made have not been truthful and have proven extremely hurtful to Sheena, as well as to me. For us, the allegations that go so far beyond the facts have made this much more difficult. I made a mistake, I regret it, and Sheena and I have dealt with it between us.”

According to Greitens’s wife, Sheena, they are working through their problems but maintain faith in the relationship. Sheena released a statement saying, “We have a loving marriage and an awesome family; anything beyond that is between us and God.”

Greitens, a St. Louis native, was elected in November 2016. He rose to prominence as a self-proclaimed “political outsider,” intent on weeding the corruption out of Jefferson City. He passionately avowed pro-family values during his gubernatorial campaign. Since his election, one of his most notable achievements was appointing over 30 women to state boards and commissions, creating a majority-female cabinet. Still, controversy has followed him throughout his tenure, starting with a fine given shortly after his inauguration for violating state campaign ethics rules and, more recently, with a possible violation of public record laws after state government employees were found to be using a messaging app that deleted messages after being sent.

The allegations come a year after his election in January 2017. A St. Louis circuit attorney has launched a formal investigation into the situation.

Legislators from both the Democratic Party and Greitens’s own Republican Party have called for his resignation, fearing that the scandal will impede state proceedings. Greitens has not indicated intent to resign.

Photo courtesy of People.com

Both major candidates have distinguished themselves as servants of the American people, at home and abroad. Koster, before coming to his current position, served as assistant to the Attorney General immediately following his academic career, and then, following a short period in private sector litigation beginning in 1993, found himself in the position of Prosecuting Attorney for Cass County only a year later. He held this position from 1998 to 2004, when he was elected to the State Senate on the Republican ticket. In 2007, he adjusted his party affiliation and ran for A.G as a Democrat. He has served in the position since that time.

Koster’s primary opponent, Eric Greitens, is an ex-Rhodes scholar, white house fellow, and Navy Seal. Since returning from his tour of duty, Greitens has established a nationally renowned non-profit organization The Mission Continues, with the goal of, per the organization’s website, of “[Empowering] veterans who are adjusting to life at home to find purpose through community impact. We deploy veterans on new missions in their communities, so that their actions will inspire future generations to serve.” He has also authored several books on his development as a service member and a humanitarian.

The libertarian candidate, Cisse Spragins, is a native of Jackson, Tennessee, and received her Doctors in Plasma Physics. Between education and politics, she worked for a Wisconsin based rodent control product manufacturer. She then went on to form her own health sanitation and pest management firm in Minnesota, shortly thereafter becoming active in Minnesota libertarian politics, during which time she served as the Minnesota coordinator for the Michael Badnarik campaign during 2004. Following the 04 election, she relocated to Kansas City, MO. Spragins has since been Libertarian candidate for Missouri Secretary of State in 2012, and U.S. Senate in 2010, holding vice chair of the state party beginning 2008, and becoming Chair in 2010.

The Green Party Candidate, Don Fitz, is a Doctor of Psychology who has worked in various pedagogical and research positions across the state of Missouri for over 25 years. He is involved in a number of publications an civic outreach arms of the green party in Missouri.

Independent Lester Turilli III is a Parkway North graduate, who received a bachelor of Business Admin. from Baylor University. Mr. Turilli now sits as an executive for two businesses which operate the system of zip lines at Meramec Caverns.

The views of each of the major party candidates roughly align to national norms. Koster presents a message that issues like failing educational systems and crumbling infrastructure should represent the primary targets of the incoming governor; he speaks to a need for bipartisan action at all levels of government, and he has suggested possible tax hikes on things like cigarettes – whereas Greitens responds to these issues with declarations of flagrant waste and inefficiency. Greitens has suggested going so far as to hire a chief operating officer to manage the state budget through constant rigorous auditing of state agencies.

Spragins aligns with both the green party candidate, on issues involving personal freedoms and mass incarceration, and with Greitens on issues of budgetary management – going so far as to suggest the foundation of a gold-standardized state currency to reduce the power of the Federal reserve in state finance. Fitz positions himself to occupy the electoral space which hopes to attract those who are as of July no longer able to support Bernie Sanders on the national ballot. He is an opponent of mass incarceration, excessive scientific manipulation of agriculture, favors a highly curved graduated income tax, aims for free state universities and colleges, and is a moderate in reference to the second amendment.

During the candidate’s forum, essentially a gubernatorial debate, held in September, the following 8 questions were posed to the candidates:

Would you veto the ban on anti-discrimination laws for clergy members and businesses?
Would you support the Right to Work legislation proposed for Missouri?
Would you accept Medicaid dollars from the federal government?
What is your plan to act on Transportation?
Do you think Missouri is suffering from underfunding of the education system?
Is the budget as it stands manageable, and are there any intricacies that you would be especially equipped to deal with?
Do you agree with larger national sentiments that government is broken at all levels?
Do you feel that management of the crisis in Ferguson was adequate?

The general responses to the questions each candidate are as follows:

The pool of candidates consists of distinguished Missourians, and commensurately contentious competition, especially between candidates of the two major parties. During the debate, and during the election broadly speaking, the most vigorous exchanges by far have been those between Koster and Greitens (Mr. Fritz, in the opinion of this writer, deserves an honorable mention for the vigor which he directed not toward other candidates, but toward the audience. To the character of Mr. Fritz, Mr. Turilli and Ms. Spragins presented excellent foils.)

As the debate proceeded, Greitens managed to negatively correlate every single answer to every single question in some way back to Koster. Generally, these attacks were based upon the length of Koster’s career in politics, which has spanned over 20 years, underlining Greitens’ support of more strict term limits for all state-wide offices, and of his own newness to the political stage (which is, as shall be discussed, not necessarily an indication of his formidability.) Greitens also mentioned a New York Times article in which Koster appeared as a central target of investigation. According to the article, Koster has had very close relations with national law firms which have litigated on behalf of major corporations in recent years, and seems to have allowed special treatment of those firms in court. Koster denies the substance of these claims.

Generally, Koster was able to respond to attacks by Greitens by insinuating that Greitens, considering his lack of experience, had very little ground to condemn a veteran public servant.

However these disputes resolve themselves at the ballot, the outcome will be of great implications. If the A.G finds himself in the Governor’s char come the new year, he would have the citizens who he serves have faith in his ability to bring unity to a divided capitol. Having formerly been a republican, he maintains many personal ties across the aisle, and he clearly is capable of at least publicly supporting both democrats and republicans.

According to the above graphic, Koster has consistently been projected to win, but as the election has approached, Koster’s Cushion has diminished

If, however, the GOP completes its trifecta in Jefferson, there will be a very powerful monopoly, which will have the power to usher in whatever vision they deem appropriate for the state.
What’s more, if Eric Greitens does take the Governors office, there is very serious speculation that it will be used as a stepping stone to national office. The Saint Louis Post dispatch recently ran an article citing the fact that nearly 60% of Greitens’ campaign contributions have come from out of state, piling to the tune of over 3.3 million dollars. Contributors in many cases have never even been to Missouri, and represent a moneyed class of venture capitalists and business men with known GOP affiliations at the national level. Greitens has appeared in “TIME” magazine for his nonprofit work, and frequents national fundraising events and dinners for various national political and philanthropic organization. Beyond that, in 2009, Greitens himself purchased the domain name

EricGreitensForPresident.com. This seems all to suggest that Missourians deciding whether to support Greitens as Governor, would like to see him off to Washington in the near future. It seems apparent that many of his supporters, due to his painfully evident tendency toward ambition -Navy SEAL, special operations division commander, white house fellow, and Gubernatorial greenhorn candidate, albeit many of them from outside Missouri, would.