CHALLENGE: SpeakEasy Kansas City
TOPIC: Economic recovery and public health resiliency.
Challenge Completed on Jun. 30, 2020 at 5:00pm PT
Step 1: Propose a policy idea on the challenge topic Step 2: Share it with others Step 3: Crowdsource the idea with others
Step 4: The policy with the most support by the deadline is chosen to inspire legislation or a new program.
Mayor Quinton D. Lucas
Kansas City, MO
Our city and our nation are in the midst of an unprecedented public health emergency. This crisis has impacted everyone in our community, and we’ll only be able to bounce back if we all work together to rebuild and recover.
Ultimately local and city governments like ours take a front-line role in helping all residents through such an emergency, with or without the support of state and federal government resources. We do these through the laws and programs we enact to prepare our city for times of crisis. And in the end, our city government is accountable to the people we serve—residents like you.
Which is why we want to hear from you: What policy ideas do you have for helping Kansas City bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis? How can we make sure our city is stronger a year from now than it was before the crisis started?
We are working with LawMaker to create a public and transparent forum to hear your ideas. Propose your policy ideas here within one of the four categories, share them with your friends, family, and neighbors on social media, and collect a coalition of supporters who upvote your policy idea. The Mayor and Council will review the policies with strong support, and commit to make a substantive policy action or response to the policy in each category that gets the most votes.
POLICY CATEGORIES
Small Business Support
What policies can the city implement to help support small businesses as they recover from the economic disruptions caused by COVID?
Economic Resilience
Are there policies that will help make Kansas City more resilient and economically dynamic in the long term?
Emergency Preparedness
What are policies we can implement now, to help us better prepare for future large-scale emergencies should they arise?
Public Health Access
What policies can the city implement to improve public health access and availability for our must vulnerable populations, many of whom were disproportionately impacted by COVID?
Quinton Lucas, “Mayor Q,” was sworn in as the 55th mayor of Kansas City on August 1, 2019.
As mayor, Quinton has prioritized making Kansas City’s neighborhoods safer, creating more accessible and affordable housing and public transportation, fostering a healthier community and improving basic services. Quinton created and chairs the City’s Special Committee on Housing Policy.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Quinton has spent most of his life in the city’s urban core. As a child, he moved often and experienced homelessness, sometimes staying with family or friends, or residing in a motel. Despite these challenges, Quinton remained focused on his schoolwork, earning academic scholarships to high school, college and Cornell Law School before returning home to Kansas City.
Since 2012, Quinton has been a member of the University of Kansas Law School faculty, where he served as one of the youngest tenure-track law professors in the country. He is active in the Kansas City community and volunteers extensively in area schools and organizations, including providing mentorship in local prisons.
Quinton lives in the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District, which he previously represented on the City Council.
414 E. 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106
Office Phone: 8165133500
Office Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/city-officials/mayor-quinton-lucas
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quinton.lucas/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MayorLucasKC
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinton-lucas-5839b026/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quinton_lucas
Special Committee on Housing Policy
Kansas City, Missouri City Council, 3rd District At-Large
Associate Professor & Lecturer at the University of Kansas Law School (2012-present)
Commercial disputes & government investigations attorney at German May PC (2010-present)
Law Clerk for Judge Duane Benton, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (2009-2010)
- Improving public safety & reducing violent crime
- Access to affordable housing
- Improving basic city services
- Affordable Housing
- Violent Crime
- Economic Mobility
- Juvenile Gun Ordinance, 190664
- Adult Gun Ordinance, 190661
- Domestic Violence Gun Ordinance, 190920
- Rental Housing Assistance (Tenants Rights) Ordinance, 190935
- Border War Ordinance, 190793
- Mayoral Pardon, 200073
Winning Policy Idea
Public Health Access: Require patrons to wear masks in grocery, hardware and convenience stores
MORERequire patrons to wear masks in grocery, hardware and convenience stores
74% support in jurisdiction
116 votes in jurisdiction
Policy Tracker
Update #4: August 6, 2020
On August 6, 2020, Mayor Quinton Lucas addressed all the winning policies in a public Facebook Live session. He spoke about how KCMO is addressing each policy and took questions from KC residents. See the full video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDj3NpwJifc
Update #3: July 29, 2020
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has postponed his July 31 announcement about his planned actions for the winning policies of his LawMaker Challenge and has issued this statement: "I appreciate that LawMaker has provided Kansas City residents a safe and easy way to share their policy ideas and opinions directly with their elected officials at a time when we need to be hearing their feedback the most. The City has already implemented a mask mandate to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but there’s still much community discussion to be had about our recovery. We will soon host a Facebook Live discussion to discuss the other top policy ideas proposed by the community."
Update #2: July 10, 2020
On June 26, 2020, Mayor Lucas amended the emergency order he issued to reduce the possibility of exposure to Covid-19 for city residents. In this amended order, Mayor Lucas announced that people will now be required to wear masks while indoors at any “place of public accommodation,” including, but not limited to grocery and retail stores, special events, and public transit. Exceptions to this requirement are:
- Minors, though Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance recommends that all individuals over the age of two wear masks.
- People who have disabilities that prevent them from comfortably wearing or taking off face coverings.
- People who have disabilities that prevent them from communicating while wearing face coverings.
- People who have respiratory conditions or breathing trouble.
- People who have been told by a medical, legal, or behavioral health professional not to wear face coverings.
- People who are seated in a restaurant, tavern, or bar and are engaged in consuming food or drink while adequately distanced from other tables.
- While not required, all Kansas Citians are strongly encouraged to wear masks outdoors in any situation where they are unable to maintain six feet of social distance from others.
The official text of Mayor Lucas’ amended emergency order can be found here: https://www.kcmo.gov/home/showdocument?id=5225
Update #1: July 10, 2020
Mayor Lucas has committed to announce his office’s action based on this Challenge’s conclusion by July 31, 2020. Announcements and actions will be logged here to allow Kansas City residents to track the progress of the winning policy idea.
| User Submitted Polices | Support in jurisdiction at challenge | |
|---|---|---|
| Total support (# votes) | percent support | |
| Require patrons to wear masks in grocery, hardware and convenience stores | 116 | 73% |
| Telemedicine Access for All in Public Spaces | 31 | 77% |
| Require masks for essential business where distancing is imparitive. | 27 | 71% |
| Abolish the police force in KCMO | 18 | 19% |
| Allow the people to self govern- lift restrictions | 5 | 83% |
Independent, Community Based Review Board to review police misconduct.
89% support in jurisdiction
100 votes in jurisdiction
Policy Tracker
Update #3: August 6, 2020
On August 6, 2020, Mayor Quinton Lucas addressed all the winning policies in a public Facebook Live session. He spoke about how KCMO is addressing each policy and took questions from KC residents. See the full video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDj3NpwJifc
Update #2: July 29, 2020
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has postponed his July 31 announcement about his planned actions for the winning policies of his LawMaker Challenge and has issued this statement: "I appreciate that LawMaker has provided Kansas City residents a safe and easy way to share their policy ideas and opinions directly with their elected officials at a time when we need to be hearing their feedback the most. The City has already implemented a mask mandate to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but there’s still much community discussion to be had about our recovery. We will soon host a Facebook Live discussion to discuss the other top policy ideas proposed by the community."
Update #1: July 10, 2020
Mayor Lucas has committed to announce his office’s action based on this Challenge’s conclusion by July 31, 2020. Announcements and actions will be logged here to allow Kansas City residents to track the progress of the winning policy idea.
| User Submitted Polices | Support in jurisdiction at challenge | |
|---|---|---|
| Total support (# votes) | percent support | |
| Independent, Community Based Review Board to review police misconduct. | 100 | 88% |
Automatic Voter Registration in Kansas City
83% support in jurisdiction
99 votes in jurisdiction
Policy Tracker
Update #3: August 6, 2020
On August 6, 2020, Mayor Quinton Lucas addressed all the winning policies in a public Facebook Live session. He spoke about how KCMO is addressing each policy and took questions from KC residents. See the full video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDj3NpwJifc
Update #2: July 29, 2020
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has postponed his July 31 announcement about his planned actions for the winning policies of his LawMaker Challenge and has issued this statement: "I appreciate that LawMaker has provided Kansas City residents a safe and easy way to share their policy ideas and opinions directly with their elected officials at a time when we need to be hearing their feedback the most. The City has already implemented a mask mandate to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but there’s still much community discussion to be had about our recovery. We will soon host a Facebook Live discussion to discuss the other top policy ideas proposed by the community."
Update #1: July 10, 2020
Mayor Lucas has committed to announce his office’s action based on this Challenge’s conclusion by July 31, 2020. Announcements and actions will be logged here to allow Kansas City residents to track the progress of the winning policy idea.
| User Submitted Polices | Support in jurisdiction at challenge | |
|---|---|---|
| Total support (# votes) | percent support | |
| Automatic Voter Registration in Kansas City | 99 | 82% |
| Legal Services for Poor People Expansion 42 U.S.C. 2996(2) (1976) | 35 | 89% |
| KC Timebanking - 1-2 year support from local gov't. | 21 | 77% |
| Disband the KCPD | 17 | 22% |
| Compulsory Voting | 11 | 45% |
| Covid Policy | 9 | 60% |
| Providing Broadband Access to all Kansas City Residents | 2 | 100% |
| Expand Access to Financial Services | 2 | 100% |
| Preparing Kansas City for the Fourth Industrial Revolution | 1 | 100% |
