BY JOE ARCE AND COREY CRABLE
A crowd supporters, friends, and newly elected and re-elected council members packed Union Station on Saturday, July 29 to par-take with Kansas City, MO, Mayor Quinton Lucas’ inaugural gala, which kicked off his second term.
Also in attendance were city council members, who were sworn in earlier this week. Among them: Councilman-Elect Crispin Rea, the first Latino to serve on the council in 30 years. Rea will serve the city’s the Fourth District as an at-large councilman.
In his address to supporters, Lucas thanked council members past and present, his wife, his extended family, and city workers.
“There are some very special people here who made it possible for me to be here today. I’ve been blessed my entire life to have a family who believes in me,” said Lucas, who was born at Truman Medical Center in 1984. “We moved around a lot when I was a child. When we were living in the Crown Lodge Motel, I could go outside, see our beautiful downtown, I could see Arrowhead Stadium. I thought about all the people who came before us, who made it possible for me to be here. As I think about our next 4 years, I think about the opportunities we can create for children today – the ones who ask, ‘What are my opportunities ahead?’ The one on Paseo Boulevard who says, ‘I want to be like the mayor.’”
Though much of Lucas’ first term was committed to battling the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lucas said he was proud of what he was able to accomplish in the last four years.
“Over the last four years, we were able to invest millions of dollars in new, affordable housing to people to have safe, stable and quality homes in our city. We were able to give a long overdue pay raise to our city and municipal workers, but I know we need to do more,” Lucas said. “And we stood up for quality health care. Our interventions helped save lives during COVID-19 and we will continue to work to make a safer city – a safer city from gun violence, from vehicular tragedies, a safer city for each and every person in our community.”
Carlos Gomez, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Greater Kansas City, said he’s relieved that the mayor will now be able to focus on such goals.
“We had four great years of development in Kansas City, and the next four years will give us really great traction in Kansas City,” Gomez said. “For mayors to be thrown a pandemic -- it has never happened. Now, we’re excited because he can get the vision he really wanted.”
Gomez also said he’s looking forward to being more involved in the Lucas administration as a leader in the Latino community. Recently, Gomez, along with Guadalupe Centers CEO Beto Lopez and Mattie Rhodes Center President and CEO John Fierro, met with Lucas and asked for Latino leaders to be able to work more closely with the mayor in advocating for positive change for their community.
“The key is for us to be at the table, and for the first four years, I feel like we weren’t at the table,” Gomez admitted. “Now, we’re strategically at the table, we are welcomed to the table, and now we have to have a lot of dialogue that have been barriers within our community, whether it’s with housing, employment, economic development, small businesses or youth. I’m excited by this open door the mayor has given us.”
Pat Contreras, who also attended the gala, said he was excited at the opportunities in Lucas’ second term. “I’m excited, because I think the mayor and council have done an amazing job, especially during COVID. We have to continue to collaborate and work together with the new council, and we want to make sure they are pushing the city forward,” Contreras said, specifically mentioning the FIFA World Cup coming to town, as well as commitments to moving diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives forward.
Councilman-Elect Rea also shared his own excitement in being able to speak for the Latinos in his district on the governing body.
“It’s very humbling. It took a lot of hard work to ensure we have representation on the council. To see it culminate in this moment is truly amazing. A lot of folks worked really hard to make this happen, and I’m just excited to get to work. I’m ready to hit the ground running,” Rea said. “I want to provide a level of representation that does our community justice, that shows we are hard-working, ethical, and that we are professionals and can get things done. We can do this.”
And he won’t do anything alone, if Contreras has anything to say about it, adding that the Latino community supports Rea in his new role.
“Crispin is the best guy for the job,” Contreras said. “His leadership and his ability to get things done is something I commend and will help support. As a member of the Latino community, we all stand behind him.”
As Lucas thanked the other politicians in attendance, he asked them to always remember why they first ran for office.
“For the politicians, think about that ‘why.’ Why did you run? Why are you here? Why do you care about and love Kansas City?” Lucas said. “Think about that child you once were. The next four years are about building opportunities for every person in our community. I am incredibly blessed, but more than anything, I feel a duty and a passion that we continue to spread love, success and opportunity for everyone in Kansas City.”
